Car picked up 2 weeks ago yet no communication about the status of delivery and the car was NEVER DELIVERED
Jesse
Submitted this review about
Maks Logistics LLC
Review made Live: 8/1/2016 10:08:00 PM
I booked my car through the broker, Passage Auto Transport, on Monday, 7/18. My two main points of contact at this company were Armani and Michael. My car was then subbed out to a shipping company which I never received any information about until the driver was outside my residence ready to load my vehicle. The vehicle was picked up in NJ on Tuesday, 7/19 at 11:30PM by Alex with Maks Logistics LLC. I had a bad gut feeling about this from the start because the car was supposed to be picked up in the afternoon yet I did not receive a call from the driver until later in the evening about the delivery window, 9PM-11PM. Alex, the driver, arrived late in the evening and drove an oversized pickup truck (maybe an F-350 SUPER DUTY) with an extended trailer that could fit 2-3 cars lined up in single file. My car was the only car on the trailer. Alex told me that the car was going to be brought the a shipping yard in North Jersey where he would then personally load the car onto a larger 18-wheeler truck that would be transporting the vehicle across the country and then it would be delivered to the California residence on a similar trailer or flatbed truck. Alex promised that my car would be shipped out within the new few days and would arrive by Wednesday, 7/27, 1 week from the date it was picked up. He told me that this company was his family's company and that the driver worked directly for him so all shipping updates could be filtered through him at the cell phone number that he provided.
I gave it a few days and then reached out to Alex on Saturday, 7/22 to check on the status of the delivery to make sure everything was running smoothly and we were still on track for the Wednesday, 7/27 delivery. Alex never answered this text message. I then reached out to him by phone and text message again the next few days yet heard no response. I was beginning to get worried about the lack of communication especially since there is little information on the internet about this company. I then contacted my broker directly on Tuesday, 7/26 (one week since my car was picked up) and spoke with Armani at Passage Auto Transport and confirmed he and his colleague Michael were both receiving zero communication from Alex as well but instructed me to wait until Thursday, 7/28 (one day after the scheduled delivery date) before taking further action.
Now the curve ball comes in - I reached out to Alex on Tuesday, 7/26 from a different number since he was ignoring all of my phone calls and text massages and inquired about getting a shipping quote and he ended up calling this number back immediately. I answered the phone and told Alex who it was and that I was waiting on the delivery of my vehicle and he told me that there were delays leaving NJ due to other customers not getting their cars to him on time so the delivery was going to be 3-4 days late. I asked him if it would definitely be there by Friday, 7/29 since I really needed the vehicle by this point and he confirmed that it would be there on Friday. Of course, time went by and the car never showed up. I called and sent text messages several times yet I never received any response from Alex. Again, I called from a random number on Friday, 7/29 and Alex answered the phone and confirmed that the car was in LA and would be delivered within the next 2 days. At this point, I told him that I live an hour south of LA so I will meet the driver if he gives me the location of the truck and/or my vehicle. He told me he was going to call the driver and then call me back but he never called back.
By the end of the day on Sunday, 7/31, I still had no response from Alex and no update on the delivery of my vehicle. At this point, I called my broker and left a voicemail on Sunday evening about the lack of communication and the tardiness of the delivery of my vehicle. I then gathered all of the information I could (Passage Auto Transport contract, the slipshod inspection bill from Alex when he picked up my car, the log of unanswered text messages and phone calls, information about both companies on the internet, contact information of all parties involved, etc) and decided that I would be calling the police and reporting the vehicle as stolen on Monday morning. I called the broker first thing Monday, 8/1 and the broker actually told me to put in a claim with Maks Logistics insurance carrier, Biz Brokers LLC which I came to find out they also subbed out the insurance policy to Progressive Insurance yet they were helpful enough to provide the policy number for Maks Logistics. I then proceeded to put in a stolen vehicle claim with Progressive (Maks Logistics insurance provider), Geico (my personal automobile insurance provider), the local sheriffs department in Orange County, CA and also the police department in Long Branch, NJ (the jurisdiction that my car was picked up at) and updated all 4 sources on the situation. Progressive, Geico and the OC Sheriff's Department reached out to Alex and surprisingly he answered all 3 calls and provided the exact same response that there were delays but the car was still in LA and would be delivered in 1-2 days. All of these calls were placed on Monday, 8/1 and I was told by all parties that if I do not receive my car by Wednesday, 8/3 I should definitely file the stolen vehicle report that is currently on hold and move forward with this process. Hopefully my car is delivered free of any damage and/or theft of personal items in the car within the next 2 days, otherwise claims will be filed with both insurance companies and the vehicle will be entered into NCIC (national police tracking system) as a stolen vehicle.
I know there is a similar post to mine that was posted yesterday by Biance under AAA-Transporters which then subbed the job out to Maks Logistics (both of us have origins of the NY Metro Area and deliveries scheduled in California) so I believe that this other customer is likely in a similar predicament as I am.
All others, beware of this company as this is my first and last experience shipping a car across the country. DO NOT USE MAKS LOGISTICS and please do your due diligence, not only researching the broker but ALSO the shipping company that will be transporting your vehicle.
