Best Way Auto Transport and Shelly out of Westport New York were given a chance to redeem themselves from all of the negative reviews here.
All they did was disgrace themselves by cancelling the contract TWICE, failing to communicate this to me TWICE, and more.
When I first called to discuss the negative reviews with Shelly, he assured me that they could indeed transport my classic car from northern California to southeastern Wisconsin. I made it clear that the vehicle had to be moved by a certain time as the people at that location were moving and dealing with an ailing parent in Texas, who has since passed away.
Based upon Shelly's stated oath of integrity, I anted up the $200 and that's when the disasters began. I specified a window of time weeks in advance. About the time the car was to be picked up, I called Best Way and was rudely informed, "That order was cancelled."
Then I had to call back and got Shelly on the line. He stated that a mistake was made, claiming that the number associated with my order was similar to another order which had been cancelled. Shelly assured me that the car would be transported.
I gave Best Way a little bit of time to do their job, then emailed a brief message outlining the events thus far and included what Shelly had called a mistake. All I was doing was trying to find out where my car was in the move process. Instead of addressing this, Shelly shot back an email titled, "What mistake?" and denied that any mistake had been made.
The following week I called to ascertain the status of the move. Now, get a load of this: again I was told that the order was cancelled. The Customer Service woman (not a lady by any means) on the phone had no explanation for the cancelled order.
I asked why they couldn't have at least called me and discussed this dramatic change to our contract. She sarcastically commented, "You should have called us."
So, I called Shelly again and he became obnoxious, loud, and extremely angry, claiming that there was no way that the car could be moved for the amount he had quoted, and that the order had been cancelled. This childish outburst was made even though we had agreed via contract that there could be up to a $300 surcharge for rising fuel costs.
These illogical developments make all of us wonder why someone in the auto transport industry would present a quote that they couldn't fulfill, then fail to inform the customer in advance of any need for modifications or changes.
I then tried to get my downpayment refunded. Another salesman handled the phone call and told me that the money had been refunded. I had at the time on the computer screen in front of me my entire credit card statement over the last several months and there was no record of a refund.
The salesman said he would fax the refund receipt to me. When it arrived, it was obvious by the time and date stamp that the refund had been processed AFTER he had told me that it "had been refunded" to me.
Once again I called Shelly and asked about the lie told by his salesman. Shelly said, "He was confused."
For these and other reasons, no one should trust Best Way Auto Transport. They are certainly the worst way to try to get your vehicle moved. Dishonest, angry, childish and certainly unprofessional in how they breach contracts and fail to deliver as agreed.
I have the entire email record of all correspondence and phone calls with them; my attorney agreed that there was a Breach of Contract which carries certain legal penalties for infractions beyond the downpayment amount. These include punitive and compensatory damages for Non-Performance and Breach of Contract.
The basic rule is that parties to contracts must perform as specified in the contract unless (1) the parties agree to the change in the contract's terms, or (2) the actions of the party who deviates from the terms of the contract are implicitly accepted ("ratified") by the action or non-action of the other party.
If there is no acceptance of deviation from the terms of the contract, and the deviation is serious enough to make any real difference in the intended result of the contract, then the deviating party is said to have breached the contract. His justified prevention or interference with the performance of the other party is also a breach.
Of course if one party fails more or less entirely to perform the contract, or totally prevents the performance of the contract by the other party, the situation is straightforward. The situation becomes more complex where the argument is over the quality of materials, the timing of work, or something of that sort.
Breach of contract leaves the nonperforming or improperly performing party open to a claim for damages by the other party. The non-breaching party is relieved of his obligations under the contract by the other party's breach.
If you've been burned by Shelly and Best Way Auto Transport, join me in a lawsuit against them. If you're considering having your vehicle moved, use another company.
