YOU CAN LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES - Sue rescued me
Steve Gibbs
Submitted this review about
Wheeler Shipping
Review made Live: 12/8/2006 2:29:00 PM
I learned a lot from this transport.
1. I did one of those "10 quotes for free" website offers. Immediately started getting bids ranging from $1000 to $1700 for the move from NY to CA. I was naive, but eventually found this reviews website which immediately eliminated most of the bidding companies (in my mind at least). I settled on Level One Transport who had good reviews and was near me in CA. They were very nice. I learned that the broker posts the move on a "board" somewhere for a price (in this case $950 of the amount they bid). The car sits on the board waiting for a carrier to offer to do that move. In this case, the $950 was not enough incentive for any carrier to pick it up -- the pickup was outside of town a ways and was a non-op. So it sat on the board for almost two weeks with no takers. Meantime I was wearing out the hospitality of the person on the pickup end who was waiting for the car to leave. So I cancelled the move and Level One was very nice about it.
2. So I tried Uship.com. That looked like a good deal, so I posted it, got a couple of offers, but nothing in the price range I wanted. There didn't seem to be that much activity on that website, although it seems like a good idea. Once again, you have to offer enough money so somebody is motivated to respond. The other thing I was nervous about was that nobody seemed to be accountable if there was a problem,
and potential movers don't necessarily have ratings on this review site.
3. Three weeks had passed now, so I went back and looked at some of the original higher bids. I decided to try Wheeler Shipping because the price was not bad ($1265) and the comments on this review board were great. So I dealt with Sue Wheeler who was very helpful and professional. She posted my move for $1100, and we both anticipated somebody would pick it up at that price. Some number of days passed and no carriers took the bait. So I had a revelation that now, after 4 weeks of the car sitting there, that a couple of hundred $$ were not important -- winter is coming! So I talked to Sue and she was willing to work with me, and we agreed to raise the posting to $1200. After a few more days with no takers, I asked her to raise it to $1300. In just a couple of days she got a response and booked a carrier for the transport. We were pretty happy.
4. Unfortunately the any broker is at the mercy of any carrier, as far as what actually happens. The carrier (Empire) said they would be out Friday, didn't show, said they would be out Saturday, didn't show, and this went on until Tuesday until they picked up the car. During that time I emailed and called Sue, and she was as frustrated as I was, and she made calls and demands to the company of the carrier. Anyway, the car got picked up and we were happy.
5. After the delays in pickup I was fearing a long transport time, after reading some of the reviews of other carriers on this site, which are quite entertaining and enlightening. I was surprised to get a call on Sunday and the driver said he would be here Tuesday. He didn't actually show up until Wednesday, but at that point I was so relieved that the car wasn't sitting somewhere in Kansas in a yard. The transport took like one week which was great. The unloading was quick and easy and I paid the driver and the ordeal was over. No damage to the car.
So in summary I would highly recommend Wheeler shipping because they work in your best interest and are willing to work with you to get the job done. The End.
