Auto Driveaway NJ/NY

Dear Sirs, In the first part of August we received a call from this complainantrequesting quotes to transport his [redacted] Sonata from New York to long BeachCA. At that time he was quoted with three different options to transport hisvehicle. The complainant was given...

an option of having his vehicle transported ona truck for $1599.00. He was also given a quote to have one of our professionaldrivers to drive it across for $2600.00 and a quote for our Casual service for$600.00.In addition to the quotes for each service the time frame andprocess for each service was explained to the complainant (by me). The complainantchose to take the cheapest service of $600.00 for the casual service. At thattime it was explained again by me to the complainant that this service isopened ended and there is no Guarantee on delivery date due to the nature ofthe service.The complainant was emailed a shipping agreement thatoutlines the rules and procedures for using our transport service. Item 6 of the agreement states:Item 6. “AD/Carrier agrees to transport your vehicleas promptly as possible in accordance with your instructions but cannotguarantee pick-up and delivery on a specific date unless expected Driveawayservice is engaged at expedited service rates. Driveaway does not agree to payfor your rental of a vehicle nor shall it be liable for any non-use of your vehicleunder any circumstances. In no event will Driveaway be liable the shipper or toany third party for loss of profits, consequential, special, incidental orpunitive damages arising out of or related to this agreement regardless of thebasis of the claim.”This agreement was returned to me to proceed with the casualservice. The vehicle was picked up on 8/22/2014 at the request of the complainantand stored at my office until we could match the vehicle with a driver. A driverwas located and the vehicle was sent to my Long Beach office for the complainantto pick up.The complainant contacted me with his complaint and I again explainedthe process for a casual delivery and I did apologize at that time that therewas a misunderstanding (on his part).We meet and exceeded the service request by the complainantand feel this complaint is unwarranted. Thank You,[redacted]Vice-PresidentAuto Driveaway

Review: I contacted Auto Driveaway about having my car driven from NY to CA. They informed me that the cheapest "casual" service would involve them finding a person to drive my car cross country. They asked me what date I needed the car to be there and provided me with a "pick up" date. They also informed me that their driver had a period of 10 days to arrive at the destination regardless of my desired delivery date. I agreed to this service. My car was picked up on the 22nd of August. My desired date of delivery was 8/29+ the grace period from the 22nd that would equal 9/1. I called the office on the 29th to set up arrangements to pick up my car and only got a voicemail. Someone from the office called me back 3 days later(understandable as it was a holiday weekend) and informed me that my car had not left Jersey until my original desired CA delivery date! It would have been nice if they called me the week prior to this to make other car arrangements. My car was finally delivered Monday, Sept 8th, a full week late. Since I had already traveled to CA I was forced to spend hundreds of dollars on rental cars until my car arrived. At pickup I called the Jersey office, explained my situation, and asked if some of the money I paid for rental cars could be taken off of my charge. I was told there is no set delivery date with their casual service(so technically my car could have been delivered a year, or two, or three years later!!). This was never communicated to me prior to entering an agreement with them. I was also told there would be absolutely no refund and was not even given an apology.Desired Settlement: I believe the company should adjust my bill somewhat due to the hundreds of dollars I shelled out for rental cars during the time period my car was originally agreed upon to arrive in CA.

Business

Response:

Dear Sirs, In the first part of August we received a call from this complainantrequesting quotes to transport his [redacted] Sonata from New York to long BeachCA. At that time he was quoted with three different options to transport hisvehicle. The complainant was given an option of having his vehicle transported ona truck for $1599.00. He was also given a quote to have one of our professionaldrivers to drive it across for $2600.00 and a quote for our Casual service for$600.00.In addition to the quotes for each service the time frame andprocess for each service was explained to the complainant (by me). The complainantchose to take the cheapest service of $600.00 for the casual service. At thattime it was explained again by me to the complainant that this service isopened ended and there is no Guarantee on delivery date due to the nature ofthe service.The complainant was emailed a shipping agreement thatoutlines the rules and procedures for using our transport service. Item 6 of the agreement states:Item 6. “AD/Carrier agrees to transport your vehicleas promptly as possible in accordance with your instructions but cannotguarantee pick-up and delivery on a specific date unless expected Driveawayservice is engaged at expedited service rates. Driveaway does not agree to payfor your rental of a vehicle nor shall it be liable for any non-use of your vehicleunder any circumstances. In no event will Driveaway be liable the shipper or toany third party for loss of profits, consequential, special, incidental orpunitive damages arising out of or related to this agreement regardless of thebasis of the claim.”This agreement was returned to me to proceed with the casualservice. The vehicle was picked up on 8/22/2014 at the request of the complainantand stored at my office until we could match the vehicle with a driver. A driverwas located and the vehicle was sent to my Long Beach office for the complainantto pick up.The complainant contacted me with his complaint and I again explainedthe process for a casual delivery and I did apologize at that time that therewas a misunderstanding (on his part).We meet and exceeded the service request by the complainantand feel this complaint is unwarranted. Thank You,[redacted]Vice-PresidentAuto Driveaway

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:There is a little bit of truth in [redacted] response, and that would be the rates I was quoted. More importantly he is making false statements about the time frame I was told. I would never agree to "open ended" on a time frame where I could potentially not see my car again for weeks, months, years! I find it interesting that he felt he had to quote Item 6 of the contract. I was told by [redacted] that even though I had asked for a delivery 7 days later from my pickup date that the driver was given 10 days total to reach the destination. This is what I agreed to, and that is what I believed item 6 was for. They asked me what date I would like my car delivered, and then told me the driver had 10 days total from the pickup date to complete the journey.Also, any business with the slightest hint of customer service would have given their customer at least a courtesy call or two after they realized the customer would not be seeing their car for at least a week after the date they originally requested.In summary, I believe [redacted] is interpreting the terms of item 6 in a way that could only favor the company after the original intent of the contract and our verbal agreement was not honored. If I wanted an "open ended" delivery date I could have assumed the same risk and found someone on a certain [redacted] site to drive it out there for free.

Regards,