I was contacted within a day of sending in my electronic request. After returning their call and making my deposit, I was informed that it might take awhile until I was contacted for an actual pickup date, but not to worry, I would be contacted. My pick up dates were fragmented as there was a period of roughly 5 days that I would be unavailable (ie, they could pick up before the 24th of May, or after the 29th of May).
Around the 21st, I was called by Specialty informing me that my car would be picked up "in a day or two." I found this an acceptable warning, although it would help to have more specifics in order to plan for a pick up.
On the 23, having not been contacted by the driver, I called Specialty to ask if they had more specifics for me. They made a call and found out that the driver was in the area and would be ready for pickup shortly. I was unhappy that I had not been contacted by the driver - it is understandable that precision is not possible, but it would certainly help to have a pickup window (ie, sometime between 1pm and 5pm on the x day) so work schedules can be arranged, cell phones can be on, etc.
I notified Specialty that "shortly" would not work and we found an acceptable arrangement for pickup in the afternoon between 3pm and 5pm. The driver called when he reached a landmark where I met him and dropped off my car. He was friendly and courteous and the proceedure took roughly 15 to 20 minutes. The driver told me that he would call roughly 24 hours in advance to deliver the car in Virginia.
This didn't happen; he called at roughly 7pm looking to drop off the car that evening. The person taking possession of the car is a single mother with the children already asleep and the phone turned off, so the message was left on voicemail. This can be mitigated by giving a simple call, as was expected, providing a reasonable amount of notice. Since there is not a specified delivery day, it should not be expected that 1 to 2 hours notice on someday in the future will suffice.
As the next day, Meg, the person taking possession of the car, had a critical appointment to attend at 12:00, she notified the driver that anytime was fine for delivery, expect during this time period. His answer was that he does not work around individual schedules and that he had to get the car off his truck. If she was not there, then he would drive it to North Carolina and leave it at a yard to be picked up later. I MUST NOTE THAT UNBEKNOWNST TO US AT THIS TIME, THE DRIVER HAD A FAMILY EMERGENCY TO ATTEND TO. Still, this was not conveyed to Meg or myself. I called the driver to inquire about the status (having received an angry call from Meg about be warned about the car being delivered to North Carolina) and we were able to work out an acceptable arrangement to all parties. The car was delivered before the 12:00 appointment, clean and in good shape.
Overall, I would recommend Specialty Mobile as a shipper. People were friendly and easy to deal with, accepting the problems we had at delivery. The most glaring problem is communication. Without a specified delivery or pickup date, keeping in constant communication would help out. The driver has a phone and knows roughly when he will be at a certain location to at least pinpoint 24 hours out an approximate time period. Arrangments can be made to ensure that phones are on or appointments are moved to smooth the flow. If something occurs and the set time period changes, so be it - I doubt anyone reading this hasn't had to be flexible in the past. Still, good communication in advance is important, as was the case in this delivery where we had no knowledge the car was imminent for arrival, but the phone had been put on vibrate and the person accepting delivery was (fill in the blank - in the bathroom, in the shower, gone to bed, didn't hear the phone, was on another line, didn't take her phone to the store...).
That being said, I would use Specialty Mobile again.
