Company Response Review Report Review
Experience with this company!

Ernie W. Submitted this review about Direct Express Auto Transport
Review made Live: 9/21/2007 4:58:00 PM
My initial contact with this company was with one of their phone agents, Renee. She was friendly and helpful; and, I was quoted the price of $1250 for the transport of a 1925 Ford Model T Tudor. I had won the car on eBay. I required transport in an enclosed carrier. I made a payment via credit card of $150 to Direct Express Auto Transport, and was told to pay the balance of of $1100 to the driver upon delivery in the form of money orders or bank cashier check. I was pleased in the timely fashion in which a truck was located by Direct Express. I talked with the assigned driver, Tom Havens of Illinois, and he stated it would take 7 or 8 days for him to pick up the car in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Eight days later Havens called and stated that he was in the process of picking up the car, but that the car was too tall to fit where he wanted it on his trailer. He demanded an additional $400, or he would just leave the car in Souix Falls. He stated also that the car would not start (a $200 extra charge), and it was too tall (another $200 extra charge). In reality the car just required a jump start because someone had left the ignition key in the car and it had been turned on and wore down the battery. Once the car was jumped the seller of the car drove it onto the trailer because Tom Havens did not know how to drive a Model T. When Havens told the seller to put the car up on the second level above the 5th wheel of the trailer, the seller told him there was no way the car would fit up there. The driver insisted that it had to fit there because he had two other cars to pick up. Eventually the driver (Havens) accepted the fact the car would not fit there, and became angry and called me to demand more money. At that point I called Direct Express Auto Transport and talked with an agent named Melissa. Her first reaction was...."he can't do that." She put me on hold for the purpose of calling Tom Havens. When she came back to the phone she stated that Havens had every right to charge the extra $400, but that if I desired it she would cancel the transport by Havens and schedule another transport. She stated it could take up to three weeks to locate another transport because of slow activity in that region of the country. I argued my case with Melissa stating that I had no way of knowing my car would be too tall to suit Tom Havens, and that the car only had to be jumped and was then capable of being driven onto the truck. Melissa refused to budge, then put me on hold. A few minutes later a third agent came on the phone; named Natalie. I went thru the same conversation with her, and then I asked her if she was Melissa's supervisor. Natalie said..."No, she is my supervisor." It became apparent that Melissa, as the supervisor, had passed me down to one of her subordinates. Natalie asked me what I wanted to do relevant to the car transport. She said that Havens was already on the road with the car, but she could call him back and tell him to unload the car. Frustrated to no end, I told her to just leave the car on the trailer and I would pay the extra $400. When the car arrived 8 days later it was delivered at approximately 7:30 PM. It was already dusk, and getting dark fast. I could not see the car very well in the darkness of the trailer, and wanted to get it off the trailer onto the street under a street light to check the condition of the body. Havens refused to allow this....demanding that I sign the delivery form before we backed the car off. By this time I was getting pretty frustrated with the whole process, and signed the form. It was only after the car was off the truck that we learned that the driver (Havens) had not performed an inspection of the car at the time of pick up in Sioux Falls, and that is how it was written on the form. We became really concerned when Havens mentioned that he had loaded a four wheeler into the upper level space after our car had already been on the trailer for several days. We asked him if he had backed our car off the trailer, and he had not. He stated he had wenched our car back and forth because he did not know how to drive a Model T. To say the least...our experience with Direct Express Auto Transport was less than good, but even worse with Tom Havens Transport of Illinois. We cannot recommend either one.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
South Dakota
Pickup:
On Time
Destination State:
Texas
Delivery:
Late
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
21248
Quote or Order Cost:
$1650

Company Response
Mike Rupers from Direct Express Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 2/18/2009 5:11:00 PM
Reading through customer Ernies submission, we at Direct Express Auto Transport are gratified to learn that all three representatives from our company acted courteously and professionally. Ernie described our Renee as "friendly and helpful". He's right, she is both of those things. Ernie quoted our supervisor Melissa as saying, "he can't do that", showing that her first concern was for him, the customer. Then Ernie says of our Natalie, a wonderful representative, "Natalie asked me what I wanted to do relevant to the car transport. She said that Havens was already on the road with the car, but she could call him back and tell him to unload the car." Exactly the right thing to say to the customer. Ernie had the option of waiting for the next driver and chose not. His issue, such as it is, is with Mr. Haven, and not Direct Express Auto Transport. May we kindly suggest to Ernie that the next time a good company asks him whether they should get someone else more agreeable, he should answer yes.