Calling all cars
My LAT friend Astrid Valencia Hodgson tried to ship her son Jason’s car from Beaverton, Oregon to Moon Township, Pennsylvania last month. He plays lacrosse for Robert Morris University. The car finally arrived…YESTERDAY, four and a half weeks later. Did it go through the Panama Canal?
Here’s a bit of what she posted last week on the website of the company she was dealing with. I gather that they subcontract with independenct drivers. The driver in this case appears to have made innumerable excuses, probably lied, disappeared for days at a time, and delivered the car 11-14 days later than promised.
Where is my car! 3 weeks later, No car! Frustrating & Stressful!!!
Mercury Auto Transport made arrangement with Eastern Carrier’s driver to pick-up my son’s car here in Beaverton, OR to ship to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh) since he attends college there. The driver picked-up my son’s car on 8/8 and he is supposed to deliver the car to him between 8-18 and 8-21. My son called t…he driver to find out the status from the driver, and he said he is delayed and will get the car to him on 8/23. No car on 8/23. I then called the driver to find out what is going on, why the car was not delivered yet. He was not straightforward with me, and he sarcastically said, “I am not UPS”. Then he finally said it will get there by the end of the week. I then called Mercury Auto Transport on 8/23 about the frustrating situation. It took me several times of calling and being transferred to Jim before I was able to talk to Jim. Jim said he will call me back and let me know the status of the car delivery. Didn’t hear from Jim that day, so I called him on 8/24 a few times, and emailed Jim. Jim finally emailed back and told me that he has informed his managers about the situation, and they would call me when they are able to get in contact with the driver. I called Charlie on 8/24, and after several calls of going back and forth, they finally got hold of the driver. The driver said his truck has to be fixed, and will get the car to my son by the end of this week. I told Charlie that I will call him on Friday to get an update from him, but the driver never returned his calls on 8/26 and 8/27. Saturday, 8/27, came and my son has not received his car yet. My son called the driver as well and he is not answering his phone. I also called the driver again today, Sunday, but he is not answering his phone. We have been leaving messages on his phone, but he is not returning our calls. The driver has had my son’s car for 3 weeks now.
Mercury Auto Transport made arrangement with Eastern Carrier’s driver to pick-up my son’s car here in Beaverton, OR to ship to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh) since he attends college there. The driver picked-up my son’s car on 8/8 and he is supposed to deliver the car to him between 8-18 and 8-21. My son called t…he driver to find out the status from the driver, and he said he is delayed and will get the car to him on 8/23. No car on 8/23. I then called the driver to find out what is going on, why the car was not delivered yet. He was not straightforward with me, and he sarcastically said, “I am not UPS”. Then he finally said it will get there by the end of the week. I then called Mercury Auto Transport on 8/23 about the frustrating situation. It took me several times of calling and being transferred to Jim before I was able to talk to Jim. Jim said he will call me back and let me know the status of the car delivery. Didn’t hear from Jim that day, so I called him on 8/24 a few times, and emailed Jim. Jim finally emailed back and told me that he has informed his managers about the situation, and they would call me when they are able to get in contact with the driver. I called Charlie on 8/24, and after several calls of going back and forth, they finally got hold of the driver. The driver said his truck has to be fixed, and will get the car to my son by the end of this week. I told Charlie that I will call him on Friday to get an update from him, but the driver never returned his calls on 8/26 and 8/27. Saturday, 8/27, came and my son has not received his car yet. My son called the driver as well and he is not answering his phone. I also called the driver again today, Sunday, but he is not answering his phone. We have been leaving messages on his phone, but he is not returning our calls. The driver has had my son’s car for 3 weeks now.
Later post…
My son is stuck at another state without a car! I never imagined that this would be so frustrating and stressful. Never again will we be using Mercury Auto Transport because you fall for their salesman’s pitch on the phone, but they have no control of the driver. Jim reassured me that the shipping/delivery process would be handled in a professional manner and my son’s car would get there between 8-18 and 8-21. He also reassured me that his company and the driver have insurance. Charlie said the car should have been there in 10 days!!! I took pictures of my son’s car and the driver’s truck with its license plate. I am ready to call the police authorities in Florida to report it as stolen! I am waiting for Mercury Auto Transport (Charlie) to resolve this problem as soon as possible!!! It is now Sunday, August 28th!
And then…
The driver finally called me tonight and apologized for not getting back to me. He said he lost cell phone coverage because of the storm in the east coast. There is still no explanation why it has taken 3 weeks since pick-up for the delivery of the car. He told me that he will get on the road again on Monday and will try to get my car to my son by Tuesday night. If he is held up again, he will let me know for sure. This has been a stressful week.
And still……….
It is not over until he has delivered the car to Jason in the same condition when he picked it up. When I left my phone message this morning I told him if I did not hear from him by Monday morning I would be calling the police and report the car stolen. I’ve told Jason to call me when he gets there.
Still later…..
The Mercury Auto Transport called me yesterday pm to let me know that the driver will now drop off the car to Jason sometime Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Jason is still waiting anxiously for his car. He started classes yesterday. He no longer lives on campus so it makes it difficult for him to get around without a car. I got another update this morning from “Charlie” who will be contacting the driver today to get an update. The broker is crediting my acct for $25 and the driver will also subtract $75 when Jason pays him the remaining amount. The shipment fee was originally $931.00. I feel a little better that I am getting more updates from the broker, but this has been a nightmare!
Almost……….
It is now Thursday, September 1@10:30 ET and The car has not been delivered to Jason! This is beyond FRUSTRATION, this is MADDENING! Jason’s car will now be delivered to him tonight. AGAIN… I’m done believing the driver until I get a call from Jason that he’s got the car. The driver has had the car for almost 4 weeks now.
Finally, last night……….
It’s Margarita time, the driver has finally delivered the car to Jason…all in one piece!
Lesson learned: be very careful about shipping stuff across the country…read the fine print of the contract and make sure you have recourse if something like this happens to you.
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