I chose Magic Carpet because it was the number one rated auto shipper on Transport Reviews and because Michelle from Magic Carpet claimed she could ship my car for $200.00 less than any of their competitors (including their sister companies). I gave Magic Carpet a four day window to pick up the car, where the last day was hours before getting on my flight to the west coast.
I had to go out of the country just prior to shipping my car from Virginia to California. Before leaving and while overseas, I hadn’t heard anything from Michelle, so I sent an email to check on my pick up date. I didn’t hear anything back. I assumed that she had left me a voicemail letting me know the pickup date, which I could not retrieve. However, when I got back to the states, I checked my voicemail and there was nothing. I called Michelle and she said (somewhat confused) “Oh, I remember you.” She hadn’t done anything to get my car scheduled and I was four days from leaving Virginia.
The next two days were spent calling and calling Michelle to see if she had made any arrangements. Three days before leaving she let me know that she had found someone, but the quote had gone up $250.00. At this point, I was stuck because it was three days before leaving and I didn’t have time to start over. I pointed all of this out and asked for a $50.00 discount, which she took out of her $250.00 booking fee. She said she would call back the next day to confirm the pick up date. The next day, no phone call. I finally called her and she said “I am such an airhead…sorry I didn’t call.” That was the last I spoke to Michelle.
I then called Lloyd in the main office and voiced my frustration and concern. He gave me his cell number and said to call at any time, which was somewhat reassuring.
At this point, I googled “Magic Carpet Auto Transport + Reviews” and, much to my horror, I found a string of scathing reviews that were on other websites, such as yelp and google, describing similar experiences of estimates going way up, non-responsive coordinators, and waiting to the last minute to arrange the transport. I was two days out from leaving, so had to go with it. Clearly, this is Magic Carpet’s MO for getting business.
The pick up went fine. A local flatbed towing company picked it up and did a great job.
The transport company that was taking the car across the country was Do It Auto Transport, based out of Ontario, CA. I went on the internet and couldn’t find any record of their existence. I then called their dispatch. I asked for the DOT number and MC number of the company. They could not produce at DOT number, but did provide a MC number.
The car took 11 days to get across the country, longer than the estimate. I was renting a car during this time, which ended up costing a lot. I had planned for them to pick the car up earlier to avoid this cost, but because they waited so long to get the car, I was stuck.
The driver that brought the car up from Ontario to just south of San Francisco ended up being the icing on my nightmare cake. He was supposed to deliver it on Thursday (between 900-1100 PM) but then said he couldn’t make it. His English was very poor, but he was able to clearly say that I needed to meet him at the 101 freeway to get the car. The 101 was about a 40 minute drive from where I was living. I told him I couldn’t do that and that the service was door-to-door; he had to come to my city. We went around and around with this. He kept saying “You come to 101 freeway.” Finally, I told him I would call his company’s dispatch and he backed down (this was around 9PM). Then he called back 30 minutes later and said I had to pay him more. I asked if I should get the police involved and he hung up.
At this point, I think it is important to note that I am a woman and my husband is stationed on the east coast. I have shipped my car several times, by myself, so I knew what to expect. I also knew that this was turning into a potentially serious problem. I happen to work for the military so called a Navy Officer who is a personal friend to come and provide back up when I met the driver at 0600 the next morning.
The driver arrived at the agreed to parking lot (he wouldn’t deliver it near my house), and offloaded the car. He got very agitated when I popped the trunk and hood to see if anything had been stolen (like the jack or spare tire) or damaged. When I turned the engine over to see what it sounded like, he flipped out and said I couldn’t do that before paying. My friend and he then started to get into a rather heated debate, which bought me time to finish inspecting the car. The car was fine (which I still consider a miracle).
Bottom line—in my opinion Magic Carpet is dishonest in their practices and incredibly stressful to work with. I will not work with them again, and I do not trust Transport Reviews.
