I recently contracted with Duo Fast Transport to transport my car from Florida to Utah and need to share my experience with everyone who will listen. In dealing with this company and the subcontracted Auto Relocation Services, LLC company, I continually felt abused, mislead and cheated. This transaction resulted in attempted extortion and the police being contacted. The following story is a bit long, but if you really want to know how this company acts, please read. After requesting bids from several companies, I contacted Duo Fast Transport because they had submitted the lowest bid. I discussed my concerns about price and low-balling with the salesman (George Mount) and was reassured that by contracting with them now, I would avoid the New Years jump in prices and lock in a lower price of $835. I was convinced, so I went on to discuss with the company my need to transport personal items in my car at the time of transport and was told this would be fine. It seemed Duo Fast Transport was a match, so I paid the deposit and waited the month until my ship date. The problems began the day before I was scheduled to have my car transported. After repeatedly contacting the company and getting no information about my transport being scheduled, I was concerned that my car and possessions would not be transported on time (I was flying out of town, so I needed it transported on the day I had scheduled). I was told by Katie, a manger, the night before my transport that they still had trucks still coming in the next day and that I would be able to get my car transported at the quoted price and not to worry. The next morning, I was contacted and told that the only driver available would cost $160 more than the quoted price. Despite the reassurance given to me less than 24 hours prior by Duo Fast Transport themselves, the blame was placed entirely on the driver. I did not buy this as it was Duo Fast Transport that had under priced the transport and mislead me, but after some very tense negotiating, I agreed to pay $90 to have it picked up that day. At 11:30PM that night I loaded my car and possessions onto a truck headed for Utah. About 5 days later, I was contacted by Duo Fast Transport who informed me that the driver was complaining of personal possessions being in my vehicle, that he was over weight, had been fined by the DOT and was going to charge me a $300 (eventually cut to $150 by the "kindness" of the driver. I told Duo Fast that these personal items had been OK'd by them and were also visible to the driver upon pickup and that nothing was said at that time. I also requested 1) proof of the fine coming from the DOT and 2) evidence that it was my car putting the entire transport vehicle over weight. I informed them that if any charges were to arise, they should be coming from Duo Fast Transport as is stated by our contract, but Duo Fast simply responded by patching me through to the driver of the transportation truck, who refused to provide any evidence or support for this charge whatsoever. Duo Fast remained uninvolved and left it to me to defend my contractual rights. At this time, no headway was made... Ending this call, I became very worried and discussed my legal rights with a lawyer and sheriff in my town. I was informed that if no evidence was provided, and if the driver refused to release my car without the $150, they would be committing EXTORTION and that I should not go down easy. Fast forward to the day of delivery (2 days later than the scheduled delivery date, with no communication from Duo Fast Transport since the call 4 days ago, and limited contact with the driver) and I was ready for this all to end. Before meeting with the driver, I called Duo Fast Transport to discuss the situation with them directly and see if some resolution could be made before the impending incident I knew was about to occur. What happened surprised me. In this call (Which I have recorded, anyone is welcome to hear it!) they told me that the driver had no obligation to provide me evidence for an additional charge, that it was to the discretion of the driver, and that the $150 was a normal fee which had occurred many times before. They informed me that drivers have a right to charge for excess weight, per the contract (NOTE: This is a flat out lie, nothing in our contract says anything like this, in fact nothing in the contract mentions weight at all) and that I should pay the fine. Having no success with Duo Fast Transport, I discussed the situation with the driver for Auto Relocation Services, LLC in person. Again, he informed me that he didn't have to provide me ANY kind of documentation showing that 1) he was ever over gross weight 2) that it was my car that caused him to be overweight, or 3) that he was actually fined by the DOT. In fact, he recounted his story and said that he was never charged by the DOT, that he was just assessing me a fee for being over weight. As I told the driver that 1) these charges were illegitimate and 2) any charges he wanted to attempt to collect should be sent through Duo Fast Transport, he said that if I would not pay the additional fund he would not release my car. I had enough, and contacted the local police. Although this is a civil case, the police informed us that if he left the parking lot with my car on the trailer, he would be committing theft and would be arrested. Once they were on site, they were able to convince the driver to drop the illegitimate charges (which, even to the cops he did not provide documentation for) and release my car. In relaying the events to Duo Fast Transport, Katie told me that I was being uncooperative, and that Duo Fast had no obligation to me to prevent this from occurring. She told me that I was not her priority, that she would support the driver over me, and that she had done enough. It was the worst experience I've ever had with a company, and they still felt they were in the right. They maintained this was the fault of the driver, and denied that they were at fault for misleading me about the contract (saying things that were never in it) and for never defending me as their customer. Although these are the facts of the case, plain and clear. Again - I'm sorry this is such a long story, but I hope you've gotten a glimpse of the 7 day torture that I went through with this company. Every day I felt sick to my stomach, wondering if I would even see my car or possessions again, and if I would be extorted for more money then I had already been. I hope that you thoroughly investigate the company that will be moving your vehicle, and STAY AWAY from Duo Fast Transport.
