Bunch of crooks

Carl Submitted this review about Agape Auto Transport LLC
Review made Live: 3/9/2008 10:00:00 PM
Summary:
These people are very much con-men.
1. Left my car 6 hours away from destination, asking for a 2nd transport order.
2. Damage to car, shirking responsibility with "Too dark to inspect vehicle" note during pickup.
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-Cost above includes my travel expenses to pick up my car. I also lost several days of time to deal with this incompetency.

Ok, so these companies are simply middlemen who connect you to a carrier, in my case Exotic carrer from NJ. The Agape people were friendly enough (and spoke english) on the phone, but since they contracted the actual work to Exotic, they are responsible for the poor service from Exotic.

The driver called me at 11PM on a Sunday wanting to come Monday morning at 6AM to pick up. Everything was rigid, no room for discussion. With a 1-week window to pick up, it's obviously all about their needs. I then get a call at 4:00AM asking for directions. I had also stayed up late to pack the trunk so I got little sleep and lost productivity on Monday.

The worst part: the driver flat out lies. I tell him to deliver between Feb 20 and 22. I went on vacation from Feb 13-18, without access to a cell signal. The driver tried to delive when I was on vacation, telling my friend in CA to get ready. My friend gets cash and leaves work *during the day* to meet with him but he never shows up. When I get back from vacation, they tell me they left my car in LA (delivery destination is San Fran area, about 6 hours away) and that I need to pay $350 to get it up there, or pick it up and pay $20 per day in storage fees. The driver is on the phone as well and just plain lies, first claiming that I never mentioned the 20-22 delivery window. When I got the driver on the phone, he then changes his story to: "you never reminded me to write it down, I told you to remind me". Which is absolutely an irresponsible lie. He told me he would make note of it. I'm surprised he lies so easily and shamelessly.

To save some money, I took a bus to LA and drove my car up. The car has a pretty thick layer of dust in the interior... the driver probably had my windows down for god knows why. Also, I had a long crack in my dashboard. I call Agape, who told me to call Exotic (not your problem, right Agape?) The Exotic guy actually tries to argue with me and was very irrational. He even says "I dont' know why my driver would do that". He pulls out the original order form, and tries to use "too dark to inspect vehicle" as an excuse to do damage. The pickup was before sunrise, and it's really telling to see that comment, "Too dark to inspect vehicle", first being written down and then used as an excuse. The Exotic guy didn't seem to understand that the damage is in the interior, and it really wasn't too dark to see the dashboard with the lights on at night. Or, more likely, he just doesn't care and doesn't want to take responsibility.

I had been delaying my review because I was told a claims form for the damage should have arrived. It is now way past the expected date and I will have to call to check up on it.... what a surprise. I wouldn't recommend these guys to my worst enemy.

Company Response
Rebekah A from Agape Auto Transport LLC Submitted this response.
Response Date: 3/10/2008 8:51:00 AM
The total transport amount for Mr. Carlos Wang was $955. Agape nor it's carriers are responsible or liable for rental costs. Mr. Wang placed his order on Jan. 29. He told us that his vehicle could be picked up as early as Feb. 1. He told us that he would like his vehicle delivered before Feb. 20th but to try and deliver as close to the 20th as possible. But he would have his friend available to accept delivery of the vehicle if it arrived before he did. We got his vehicle assigned to a carrier to be picked up on Feb. 1st and delivered approximately Feb. 12th. All dates are approximate because the drivers can not know what delays they may run into when traveling across the country (i.e. weather, traffic, customers, mechanical issues, ect.). When the driver tried to call the customer and his friend a couple of days before delivery, NO one was available. We tried to call as well, and we could reach no one. It is very important to provide numbers that you can be reach on so that the driver can call you and give you an update and make arrangements for pickup and delivey. This is the reason the vehicle was delivered 6 hours away. The customer nor his friend were available for 2 days and they did not return any of our calls. Mr. Wang did tell us about the crack on the dash. We do not who is responsible for this. The drivers do not inspect the inside of the vehicle, only the outside. We did advise Mr. Wang to call the carrier to file a claim. This is a standard procedure. When our customer service representative was trying to help Mr. Wang with the claims process, he became verbally abusive. We wanted to help him with this process but he wouldn't let us. We and the carrier can only do so much. He was unreachable, unresponsive, and unreasonable with our staff. We are not crooks and Exotic Carriers has always done a very good job for us. If Mr. Wang decides he would like us to explain the claims process to him, he is free to call us again and we will help him.