I'd read reviews prior to and after my experience with Larry at Aaall States. In fact, because of the reviews we read, we actively seeked out his services. We had a number of quotes from various companies, including a company that I had used years ago. Some were cheaper, while others were significantly higher.
We were happy to see the quote was reasonable and we were encouraged by the experience and reviews of others. I did have a number of questions (I tend to be quite thorough when vetting services such as this), which I attempted to direct towards Larry. Because of his hours versus mine, we defaulted to email as our main mode to communicate. His email to precede this stated "I am sorry but I am not here after 4pm central time."
I was less than impressed with his brevity and lack of information through email. While I was somewhat educated with regards to the process, I certainly did not have any experience with Aaall States. Certainly I was not comfortable with the replies I was being sent, most ending with "Just send me the names and phone numbers and I will get this moved for you." The questions I asked were often glossed over without any follow-up. I had to ask multiple questions about the process rather than Larry being forthcoming about the process and how it works. He was never directly rude, but was brusque and dismissive at times. Perhaps these were deemed questions too basic to reply to. I also requested after we signed on that we receive 24 hours at pick-up in order to make sure we could be home and without a conflict.
One could ask at this time why we used their services, but I honestly felt that the online reviews were encouraging and we hoped that Larry's behavior would change. It took us almost two weeks to get the car shipped even though Larry said " This is a good route, I would expect this to be picked up within 1 to 3 days after I have it listed."
We got one hours notice from the transporters when they came, resulting in significant difficulty on us, as we were supposed to be elsewhere that evening. They gave us a hard time when we asked if they could do the pick-up later in the evening. The father of the father/son duo got mad at my wife on the phone when she asked this. In the end, given our headaches to date, we just went late in order to get our car shipped. They were nice enough when they arrived but the father was almost impossible to understand. They had never worked with Aaall states, so they were unclear about how/when to collect the $100 fee payable to the company. This I also attribute to poor communication on the part of the company and their shippers. This resulted in significant confusion later on.
We didnt pay them the $100, which later we came to know was not correct, but was never communicated to us in the multiple emails by Larry as being the case. However, it was absolutely clear that when it came to receiving his payment, Larry was more than happy to work after hours. He was available to call multiple times at 7 or 8p CST. It was just disappointing to see that he was able to do this to collect his fee, but not to educate me about the process or their services. While our vehicle got there on time, it certainly was not a pleasurable experience like others have had.
I will reiterate that it was mostly interpersonal rather than professional disappointment. But for that reason, we will no longer use or recommend Aaall States' services.
