If you're shipping a motorcycle, don't bother, they farm it out to Daily Direct
Written: May 06 '05 (Updated Jun 03 '05)
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Pros: Polite customer service on telephone. Not helpful, just polite.
Cons: Late, unreliable, unorganized, unhelpful, farms bike jobs to Daily Direct & their customer service.
The Bottom Line: Tracking service only for cars. Unreliable customer service. Bike was delayed by Daily Direct ten times. Has tons of excuses. Late.
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| complain_jane's Full Review: Dependable Auto Shippers |
There was a link to Dependable Auto Shippers on the page where the motorcycle I bought on ebay was listed. I checked out a few other places and "DAS" seemed to have a decent price so I went with them. On the phone they told me they ship motorcycles and ship them in enclosed carriers, gave me an estimated time of pickup and delivery (a timeline of 5-10 days for pickup and another 5-10 days from that day until dropoff), and said the bike would arrive in 21 days or sooner.
The first deadline passed and the bike was picked up three days late. Every phone call to them provided me with completely different information, none of which was accurate.
Once the bike was picked up, DAS suddenly started referring me to "Daily Direct", telling me that they farmed out the job. I asked why they didn't tell me this in the first place, and their reply was "Why would we?".
Here is Daily Direct's website: http://www.haulbikes.com
I researched quite a few motorcycle shipping services before going with Dependable Auto Shippers; if there was some outstanding reason that I chose not to go with Daily Direct, I would have been furious to find that "DAS" chose to simply use them anyway. There was no outstanding reason that I chose not to go with them but shouldn't a company be honest about this up front, and not pretend that they are going to handle the job themselves?
My bike is currently en route now. I was told it would be delivered this weekend. Then when I called yesterday, they told me it would be delivered yesterday. No phone call, no advance notice. The "Daily Direct" phone attendant said that she would have the driver call me yesterday to tell me when it was coming. The driver never called. I called back today, they said they're hoping now that it will come next week. Next week it will be late.
It still may turn up within the 21 days I was promised but I'm not holding my breath. "DAS" online "tracking" service said the bike was picked up two weeks before it actually was picked up, so that's useless.
When you have a full time job, and need to plan accordingly to be home when something arrives, or - God forbid I actually needed this bike by a certain date - FORGET DEPENDABLE AUTO SHIPPERS. The bike might still show up in the time frame but their customer service and reliability is a joke. They'll tell you anything to get you to shut up, hand over five hundred bucks and get off the phone.
From here on, all of my communication is now with "Daily Direct", since "Dependable Auto Shippers" seems to have stopped taking responsibility for supporting my account from the moment "Daily Direct" had the bike in their possession.
Update #1: (Daily Direct) I was told for a second time that the driver would call me, and for a second time he did not. When I've called and asked for an update on the status of my bike I was told the driver will call me back that day. The first time they said this, he never called. Now again I was just told he would definitely call me over the weekend to tell me if he is bringing the bike on Monday or not. Once again they didn't follow through. I'm not asking for the driver to call me, I'm just asking for an update. Now if the bike comes today to my house I won't be there to receive it, I'm at work.
Update #2: Just called again for an update. The woman I spoke with told me with a jovial laugh that all she knows is that the bike's been picked up on May 3, hah hah ha. They're having all sorts of problems with their drivers, she said. They're slow, they're not returning phone calls. Especially this one, he's new! Hah hah ha. And the East Coast? Oh gosh we're late on everything going to the East Coast. That's just such a busy section of the country, hah hah ha, we're just swamped. So hopefully you'll have your bike by the end of the week, hah hah ha. I said that's pretty unacceptable, hah hah ha, because at this point the motorcycle will be late. And at this point, I've been told twice that the driver is going to call me on this day or that day (not something I requested, mind you) for an update and he's failed. The other phone receptionist said she would return my call numerous times with updates, she failed. There's no tracking system, there's no updates and Dependable Auto Shippers promises a tracking system on their website and on the phone PLUS Daily Direct claims to have a tracking system in their brochure, telling you you'll know where your vehicle is at all times- well it's BS because my bike was picked up weeks ago and DAS doesn't show accurate information, and Daily Direct should take that out of the brochure because it doesn't even exist. When I brought this up to Dependable Auto Shippers, the salesman laughed and said "Yeah, that's not really working out too well for us". Now that the job's farmed out to Daily Direct, obviously they're no better at customer service or tracking your vehicle or even providing the services paid for according to the timeline set forth. So far a very frustrating experience and I'm getting worried about where my bike is. The driver's "late", won't return phone calls to his own company, I was promised a tracking service which is completely nonexistent and I have absolutely no confidence in Daily Direct or Dependable Auto Shippers.
I was promised the bike shipped in 21 days by Dependable Auto Shippers, they failed and are now saying it's going to be late.
I was promised 24/7 tracking service by Dependable Auto Shippers, they failed, it doesn't work and they've even acknowledged the fact and Daily Direct has none.
I was promised a driver by Dependable Auto Shippers who had "years of experience shipping motorcycles" and specialized in motorcycles only, and they even failed to provide this, since the dispatcher blamed the delay on the truck driver being "new" and apparently quite unreliable as they can't even find out where he is most times.
Update #3: Called Dependable Auto Shippers and requested a copy of my contract faxed to me. I was transferred to someone's voice mail. Left message, requesting contract be faxed to me and explaining my discontent. They never bothered to return the call either and that was two days ago. This is one crap company.
Update #4: Called this morning for an update. Bike's officially late, today was 21 days. Yesterday dispatcher told me bike would come Thursday (tomorrow). This morning dispatcher said bike would come in three days. Tonight my phone call from update #3 was returned, and I was told bike was coming on the weekend. I was also given a very elaborate story that changed somewhat each time it was repeated. Dependable Auto Shippers says that if I look on their website, it says clearly that CARS are tracked 24/7 by satellite. That means ONLY cars. She said that the "problem is that you just assumed, and you can't do that."
Newsflash: Insulting my intelligence scores no points.
Then she explained that this big delay, and the fact that nobody's been able to track my bike, and the fact that they never seem to know where the driver or my motorcycle is, and the fact that they delayed my bike 10 (yes, at this point we're up to ten) times, has been caused by two of Daily Direct's drivers simply walking off the job two weeks ago.
Now that's odd, because I spoke to the jovial dispatcher last night at Daily Direct, and asked why I've been delayed so many times, and she said it's always this way. She blamed it on the East Coast, she blamed it on being swamped, she blamed it on a brand-new driver who's very very slow and never returns phone calls. No mention of two drivers walking out.
Then she follows up the tale of woe about the drivers with by saying, very emphatically, "And as you know, it's the right of every American to quit their job if they don't like the conditions! It's every American's right!"
What?
I just want my bike. This is ridiculous. As the story went on, the drivers walked off the job. Then other times the story changed somewhat, and they called in out of the blue and resigned and never came to work. Sometimes they quit weeks ago. They quit two weeks apart, then after I questioned the whole story by telling her what Daily Direct told me last night about blaming the whole thing on the East Coast with no mention of absconding drivers, she started to say that maybe it was even my driver who quit.
What?
I've had it. I just want my bike. I just want the service I paid for to be completed, and I want my bike, damage-free. I've been delayed ten times now. I've been told to wait for phone calls that I was told were coming the same day five times now and no one until tonight has returned my phone call. Supposedly Daily Direct uses drivers that are reckless enough to just walk off a job and I'm supposed to have confidence in this company? Are you kidding me? I can't believe I trusted my bike to these people. I will never, ever do this again.
I can only guess as to why these drivers quit their jobs mid-trip (if that story's even true), but my hunch is that they bombarded these drivers with pickups and deliveries, since the entire reason that my motorcycle (which was only 9 hours away by car) is taking nearly a month to arrive.
Another problem is this - Dependable Auto Shippers told me I'd have my bike in 21 days or less. Yet Daily Direct's website says that customers need to allow 21 days - 1 month for delivery. And when I spoke to my salesperson on the phone at Dependable Auto Shippers, he (as I stated early on in this review) didn't tell me that their tracking service was only for cars; all he told me was that it wasn't very accurate. "DAS" needs to get their story straight and provide honest information. This angry review may not even exist if they simply told me the delivery would take a month or so upfront, told me upfront that they would subcontract the job, told me upfront that they don't have 24/7 tracking for bikes at all, used drivers that didn't just wander off somewhere mid-trip (or create situations to make drivers want to do that), and didn't insult my intelligence by explaining to me that I need to understand "how the auto shipping industry works". I might not be well-versed in the auto shipping industry but that's no excuse for lacking common courtesy, honesty and good customer service.
Any further problems with my bike and the next step will be to contact eBay, who offers Dependable Auto Shippers' services in their eBay Motors auctions, and then the Better Business Bureau.
Final Update: Bike arrived and in good condition. It was a few days late but Daily Direct had finally just given me the cell # of the driver and once I called him, he kept me updated, was very informative (saying he knew nothing about drivers quitting that week), and brought the bike. He was honest and professional - not the way I would have described the customer service.
But here's one more item you should know: When I booked the shipping, nobody on the phone ever asked me if my street (or the streets in the area) was big enough for an 18 wheeler to fit through. It is, without a problem. But it was suggested to me more than once, when the driver was down to my stop as the next stop, that I come out and meet the driver somewhere, even as far as another state, since he was running late and maybe my streets were going to be too small...
Pretty lame, since Daily Direct requests that the gas be drained from the tank prior to pickup. And since the bike was just purchased and neither registered nor insured yet, but they were suggesting I come get it and tow or ride it home.
The suggestion that I meet him in the next state to make it easier was just so over the top I ignored it. I paid for shipping door to door. Don't then ask me to meet the driver in another state because you've screwed up.
Recommended:
No
Punctuality: Showed up late
Ease of Filing Claim: N/A
Lost Goods: No
Amount Paid (US$): 525
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Epinions.com ID:
complain_jane
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Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 2 members
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