Patience is required, but DAS came through.
Written: Feb 14 '06
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Pros: Tracking worked great, very fast once the car gets assigned. Car was received undamaged.
Cons: LONG initial wait, LONG hold times, customer service reps are like zombies.
The Bottom Line: Recommend, but realize everything is a gamble in terms of time and whether your car will be damaged or not. The wait times will test your patience.
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| whoadude1's Full Review: Dependable Auto Shippers |
After buying a car sight unseen from Ohio, I needed to find a way to transport it to CA. I contemplated flying out and driving, but decided it would be more cost and time effective to get the car shipped. Trying to find a shipper was the most difficult part, but I went under a recommendation from a person who used DAS before and chose them.
I had the seller drop off the car at their terminal in Cincinnati where the car would sit for 2 weeks. This was the most difficult time to get through. EXTREME patience is needed during this time while they try to get your transport assigned to a truck. How it works is your car will wait at a origin terminal until they have a full truck to the destination point, or points along the way. Most people (understandably) get upset that their cars have not moved for weeks on end, and this is why I suspect that DAS' hold times on the phone are so long. Everyone is calling to figure out what's going on. I was guilty of this myself, and in the end realized that all the customer rep would tell me, I could find on their internet tracking system, the car is still at the origin waiting to be assigned.
I was so crazed in trying to figure out when my car was being shipped I read every review and even started inputting made up order numbers into their tracking website. I found some other cars waiting for transport and started tracking those to see how long they would take. I found that using DAS is almost like a gamble in terms of how fast you will get your car. It's all timing of when your car is submitted and where in line your car is relative to how full a transport is and where it is. I did find that out of the reviews I've read west coast to east coast transport times were always faster than the reverse though.
Anyhow, the car finally started moving after 2 weeks. Seeing that on the tracking screen for the first time after only seeing "still at origin" was exciting. The car made it to Louisiana in a day, then through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, then finally to California all in a span of 3 days. Once the car gets loaded, it moves FAST. The tracking was very accurate when I used it. I also downloaded google earth to track where the car was as well.
The website showed that the car had arrived on 2/7 and I called to verify. I had to take an extended lunch because the DAS terminal closed by 5. When I got there it took about 30 minutes to finally see my car. Take your time when you inspect the car for damage, once you take possession of the car you cannot go back and blame them for damage. Since I had not seen the car before I could not tell if some of the imperfections were caused by them or were there before. Upon closer inspection I realized they have already been there (little rock chips on the front etc,) the car was in otherwise pristine condition although a little dirty from sitting for 2 weeks and traveling across the country.
side notes - decide if you want their valuation coverage BEFORE dropping off the car. Once it is their possession you cannot add the coverage later. Also opt for the top loading. They are not responsible for another customer's leaky car should yours be on the bottom.
Recommended:
Yes
Punctuality: Showed up on time
Ease of Filing Claim: N/A
Lost Goods: No
Amount Paid (US$): 896
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Epinions.com ID:
whoadude1
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Reviews written: 1
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