Ship Happens

Due to the topic of this post being about shipping, I felt compelled to share this amazing commercial:

Now that you’re laughing, it’s time to share my story of shipping my car across the country.

It all began with a connection a family member had to a shipping company. After a quick discussion on the phone, they scored a great deal. I then had to do the dirty work of scheduling. Easy peasy!

Not so much.

I spoke with the agent on the telephone and she, being brief in communication, gave me details on how the process would work, including an overview of the pricing. I paid the “deposit” that was included with the transport and she said she’d get back to me when she “found a company that can take the car” which should be “in a few days”.

I wait.

A few days pass.

No updates.

After over a week, I reach out to her. She says she’s still waiting to find someone.

The following day, she calls stating she found someone. I book it. I then call the driver to confirm.

All is set for a Wednesday morning pick up! I have since moved 2 hours away from where my car was, so I book a trip back down south to help with the shipping.

Less than 24 hours prior to Wednesday morning, I receive a text message…no call, no email…a brief text message from the driver of the truck stating they cannot pick up the truck after all.

WHAT?!

So, I reach out to the agent again as well as my family member who organized this. I never hear back from the agent but my feisty family member calls and gives a piece of her mind. The agent responds, shocked this even happened, and she scurries to find another truck company. However, the one she finds is slightly more expensive…but we don’t learn that until the car is delivered in California.

Le sigh…

So, we set it up anyways, for Thursday morning.

I arrive to where my car is on Tuesday night (as my original plan was a Wednesday morning pick up) around 7:30pm.

I receive a call moments after asking if they can change the date and pick up the car at 9pm that night.

Le sigh…

Overall, my car was picked up successfully at 9pm that evening. I won’t get into the emotional part about it but I’m going to miss my car!

However, I’ve learned that with car shipping companies, this is the norm. But, should it be? Should we come to expect certain levels of service from certain industries as being acceptable? Have you ever had a positive or negative experience with shipping your car? I’d really like to know!

 

[custom_author=jenny]