Damaged my Car --- Failed to Fix It
Mark
Submitted this review about
Kanter Transport
Review made Live: 6/24/2004 2:27:00 PM
Kanter did $1000 worth of damage to my car and I submitted a claim to them a couple days after I took delivery of my car. As of this writing (one month after delivery), Kanter has still not responded to my claim. I am the one calling them 100% of the time --- they are never the ones to call me to get the claim moving --- and all I hear is “the person you need to talk to is still out of town” and then “I can’t handle this claim now, I’m busy”. What they did have time to say (only because I called and asked) was that I couldn’t just go fix the car and eventually send the bill to them or their insurance company, because at that point they would not honor the claim anymore. I don’t see the reason for this, unless Kanter just thinks it can delay long enough that I get tired of driving around my banged up car, and that I then go fix the car, thus giving Kanter another excuse not to cover my claim.
Despite my taking and submitting to Kanter multiple photos of each damaged area of my car, and despite this damage not being written down by Kanter on their bill of lading at the point of origin, the only response I have received from Kanter regarding the substance of my claim is “I don’t see how we could have done that damage”. Well given that the damage is to my front fender and to the paint on the roof, I’d say most trained monkeys could see how an auto transporter could cause such damage.
So now I have given up and I will just have my credit card company ask Kanter to justify their charges in light of the damage. When Kanter finally understands that its own money is at stake, my hunch is that then it will pay attention.
I can see why the other reviews of Kanter have been positive, because these reviewers fortunately never had to deal with Kanter under circumstances like mine. These positive reviews are the main reason I went with Kanter, the other reason being their general attentiveness to me while trying to get my business. But the real test of course is how they deal with adversity, and in my situation they have failed. If anyone reading this is interested in seeing documentation of the damage, feel free to contact me for it. I hope I can save others from this grief.
The reason I give Kanter the one star is because they “only” did $1000 worth of damage and were “only” a few days late in delivering it.
Rebuttle To Company Response
Kanter’s response to my original posting is a gross mischaracterization of my words and of the facts, to the point that at best it shows a pitiful lack of reading comprehension, and at worst it is plain dishonest.
Kanter: “Mark claims that trained Monkeys could notice the damage on the roof. It seems mysterious that Mark did not notice the purported damage when the car was delivered to him.”
Reality: If you read my original comment, it is very clear that I was saying even a trained monkey could see how an auto transporter could cause such damage, a connection that Kanter claimed not to see. I did not say anything about a trained monkey actually seeing the particular damage on my car, because in fact my car was so dirty upon arrival that neither I nor a monkey could see much at all. It remains true that a trained monkey could see how an auto transporter could scratch a car’s roof, a very simple point that Kanter would like to twist and deflect attention away from.
Kanter: “No roof damage is noted on the delivery Vehicle Inspection Report.”
Reality: As I made clear to Kanter, I did not mark down roof damage because the car was delivered to me so dirty that I could not SEE that damage at the time. Once I cleaned the car a few days later and saw the damage, I immediately reported it to Kanter. These facts are conveniently not mentioned by Kanter.
Kanter: “the faint roof scratches are located only inches away from a roof antenna that sticks up several inches above the roof panel but remains mysteriously undamaged.”
Reality: This is false. The roof antenna was damaged and in fact was replaced by the repair shop. Why does Kanter pretend to know this antenna was undamaged? Now they are just making things up.
Kanter: “At pick up Mark signed a Vehicle Inspection Report verifying the existing damage to front bumper and fender.”
Reality: I acknowledged tiny scratches caused by rocks in the road, but I did not verify anything close to the damage Kanter caused. Almost every car has a few rock chips on its front fender, and this is all I acknowledged, at the insistence of the Kanter employee who picked up my car. When I received my car, it had a dent a half inch deep and three inches wide on the front bumper. Kanter’s response basically says that if they pick up the car with a tiny scratch on a particular panel, they are then free to do any further damage to that panel without compensating the owner for it.
Kanter: “Mark filed a $1,000 demand supported by a $553.19 repair estimate.”
Reality: Does Kanter know no shame? I filed a two-part estimate totaling in the mid-800s. Kanter’s $553.19 figure fails to include the estimate for fixing the scratched roof, but Kanter certainly received this so why would they claim they only received an estimate for $553.19? And I never filed any demand for $1000 --- Kanter is lying and I’d like to invite them to back up this claim of theirs by posting any such demand right here for all to see. Why would someone file a $1000 demand supported by a $553.19 estimate? If Kanter is going to make a practice of lying, I recommend they at least use a little common sense.
Kanter: [referring to the broken tow loop] “to that end we will pay for the repair”
Reality: Kanter has made zero effort to pay for this repair.
Kanter: “Mark’s claim contains numerous inconsistencies and irregularities requiring an extended investigative period”
Reality: Jim did not even attempt to evaluate or investigate my claim until three weeks after it was filed.
