Rob Stenhouse review for Dependable Auto Shippers (DAS)

Review Description

We went with DAS on a referral from our moving consultant despite reading several terrible reviews and noting the company's F rating on the BBB website. We regret this decision. Everything was fine, including our initial conversations with Brad Simon, right until they charged our credit card (which happens before they do anything). We have 2 cars and staggered their shipment so as to avoid have a long rental car expense at our destination. DAS provided us a due date for the first car of June 25th, our arrival and picked up our car June 10 (they charged our credit card on June 8). 3 days before our move we called to make sure our car would be waiting for us, only to find out it hadn't even left the departure terminal. This was 2 weeks after pick up and 16 days after DAS was paid. We called Brad Simon, our sales rep, but he essentially wanted nothing to do with us at this point and sent us off to customer service. You see, your sales rep is nothing more than an order taker, and likely paid on commission, so that once your credit card is charged, they get paid and you are no longer of interest to them. So Karen steps in, and she is polite and courteous, but has no control over when your car will be shipped. Our car finally left for California on June 28th, 3 weeks after DAS got paid, and 18 days after picking up our car, which essentially sat in a parking lot for all this time. We finally received it one full week later. DAS excuse was it was a busy time of year. Well, aren't they in the logistics business? Isn't it essentially the crux of their job to anticipate this? They are the ones that set the due date knowing it was a busy time of year, so why should I pay for that failure? (by the way, due dates are essentially meaningless, per customer service!). I paid them because they are supposed to be the experts in anticipating delays and forecasting the time it takes for this transit, so blaming a delay on seasonal business just makes them sound stupid. DAS is incompetent, or simply doesn't care about its customers. As a result, we incurred nearly $1,000 in incremental rental car charges (so essentially the transport cost us $2,400, not the $1,400 seen above). DAS offered $150 in goodwill, but that is clearly not going to cut it. We paid DAS to do a job in a certain amount of time, and they were unable to fulfill their obligation. That failure resulted in significant costs to me, which they are unwilling to compensate me for in any meaningful fashion. As the process has gone on, it has become harder and harder to get anyone in customer service, and as I mentioned, your sales rep is completely worthless once you pay. Karen no longer takes our calls and refuses to call us back. We are currently awaiting our second car, which was picked up 16 days ago, (and the move paid for nearly 3 weeks ago). We have no idea where it is, as the website simply says "in transit". I may be writing a second review for this car if it doesn't arrive soon. In the interest of fairness, their was one bright spot, and that was Shannon Klempa, a dispatcher in New Jersey who actually seems to care and was extremely helpful. But as an organization, DAS does not care and makes you sign terms and conditions so skewed in their favor it's not even funny. Great business model, get paid up front and have no responsibility for delivering in a timely fashion thereafter. Sweet for DAS, bad for customers.