Complaint Review: 5 Town Auto/Elite Shipment/ Reliable Auto Carriers - Boca Raton Florida

The owner, Mike, quoted me 2 days for my car to be shipped from AZ to WI. I figured that was a slightly ambitious timeframe but hey, I've driven a car cross country in two days. Realistically, I assumed the car would probably arrive on a Friday rather than a Thursday. Mike explicitly stated that the car would be picked up on a Tuesday and delivered that Thursday. I confirmed this information before booking and paying the $150 "Reservation Fee". My contract stated that my car was to be picked up on a Tuesday (date included). Mike informed me that the transport company (Dirt Racing Motor Sports, Inc) would "call when they were close by".

It was not until 3pm on Tuesday that I heard from the transportation company, only this phone call was the transport company confirming a pickup date for the NEXT day, Wednesday. I informed the transporter that my contract stated Tuesday, not Wednesday, and that this was problematic because I was flying out to WI on Wednesday. The company was nice enough to comply and pick my car up that Tuesday afternoon. As my car was being loaded onto the truck, I asked the driver to confirm the drop-off day/date. I informed him that I was told by the company my car would be delivered to WI that Thursday.

The driver became very confused and stated, "No ma'am, our policy has always been that we pick up the cars on Wednesdays and deliver them the following Tuesday. That has always been our schedule". In other words, Mike quoted me a pick-up/drop-off date out of thin air without consulting with the transportation company that he contracts with. On Wednesday I then called one of the representatives from the transport company (Dirt Racing Motor Sports, Inc) and informed them what had happened. Their customer service was very pleasing and the representative apologized and stated that she had no idea why Mike would have quoted me that timeframe and re-stated their pick-up/drop-off policy.

So had I not inquired about my drop-off date with the driver when he picked my car up, I WOULD HAVE BEEN WAITING ON THURSDAY FOR MY CAR TO ARRIVE BECAUSE MIKE DID NOT INFORM ME OF ANY CHANGES TO MY DROP-OFF DATE. Maybe it's just me, but I personally feel like a business should communicate with you if the agreed drop-off date has now changed to 5 days later. After speaking with the transport company again, I then called Mike to discuss this discrepancy and he simply said, "Oh it'll be there by this weekend, there was snow storms. Call the driver". Again, I called and confirmed the drop-off date with the transport company and again, they stated that the car would not be delivered by the weekend and would be delivered that following Tuesday.

Keep in mind that the contract Mike gave me states that "shipping may take 2-7 days". I fully understand this. However, I decided to go through Mike's company specifically because he had promised me my car would be delivered by Thursday (Friday would've also been acceptable) before I had signed my contract. Had I known upfront that my car was not going to arrive until the following Wednesday, I WOULD HAVE DELAYED MY MOVE FOR A FEW DAYS OR ARRANGED TO HAVE A RENTAL CAR SO I WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT A CAR FOR 6 DAYS IN THE MIDWEST IN WINTER. To make things even better, I start my new job on Monday. Is Mike going to pay for all of the taxi cabs/Ubers/Lyfts that I will have to take to get to work, the grocery store, etc?

I will also be at work on Tuesday and will now have to make arrangements for the transport company to drop my car off at my new job. Is Mike going to compensate me for all of this? Probably not. Nonetheless I have called Mike again to voice my displeasure and frustration and he has yet to return my call. This has been the worst experience I have ever had and I would never recommend this business to anyone... maybe Hitler or Voldemort. My 5 year old niece could run a better business with better customer service. DO NOT USE AUTO SPEED SHIPPING/ELITE SHIPMENT/UNITED RELIABLE AUTO CARRIERS INC (not sure why they need 3 different names, but that should have been my red flag).