Avoid: PNC Express
While this may well be "par for the course" when dealing with auto transport, I have to say the experience really sucked and therefore it deserves a blog post.
So as noted, I moved to NYC. I decided to keep my Lotus, and find a place in NJ near to a train to keep it. Luckily I did not have to find a place to keep it before I moved, as an old childhood friend's parents still lived up in Duchess County so I could keep the car there for a while as they have space in their garage.
So, I called Cascade Auto Transport to hook me up with a ride for my ride.
They had really good reviews on-line, and the bid, while the lowest, wasn't very much lower than the rest, so it seemed like a good deal.
The pickup went very smoothly. The guy called me that morning (mid-June.. the 16th I think), arrived soon after, did the inspection, picked up the car. All is fine.
I had told them that I couldn't take delivery of the car until after July 1st.
My first sign that something went wrong is that a week later (i.e. a full week before July 1st.) I got a call from the guy, "your car is ready to be delivered, I'll be there shortly!" So I told him well I can't take it until the 1st.
So then I moved and things were busy. I figured I'd call the guy once things settled down somewhat. I received an email from Cascade saying my car would be delivered on the 4th, but I didn't really want to train up to Duchess County on the 4th, what with the movers scheduled to arrive on the 5th. But if the guy called to say he'd deliver it, I'd go take delivery, of course.
I received no call, nothing.
Then the next week I received a call from Sara at Cascade asking if my car had been delivered, and she was quite surprised when it hadn't. She said she'd get the driver on the line. She got his voicemail. She said she'd keep trying. As soon as I got off the phone with her, I got a call from the driver! "The car will be delivered tomorrow afternoon!" "Great". So I went and called my friends up in Duchess County and discussed when they could pick me up from their train station, etc., and decided I needed a better window than "afternoon" for delivery. So I called the delivery guy back and asked him if he could be more precise. He said that would be fine, just call him in the morning.
OK, so I called him in the morning and got his voicemail. Left a message. Called him later in the morning. Left another message. Didn't hear from him until the next day.
Apparently he got stuck 1000 miles away with a broken transmission. Apparently his phone was linked to his transmission because it prevented him from calling me to tell me he wouldn't deliver the car that day. Luckily I was waiting for him to call before I took the 2 hour trek up to Duchess County.
So when he called the next day, he said, again "I'll deliver the car tomorrow." This time he gave me a specific window, between 4-6PM. OK, well I had dinner plans Friday night, but I should just cancel them to take the car. Fine. So the next morning, to confirm that the car would be delivered, I called him in the morning to confirm the delivery window. Left a message. He called me back, and confirmed delivery between 4 and 6.
So I trek up to Duchess County in the afternoon. Six o'clock rolls around. Of course he does not show up. I call. His voicemail is full. I wait an hour or so. I call again. He finally answers. "I'm in Baltimore!" he says. I can deliver the car tonight! That's not going to work, I can't inspect the car in the dark. I have to be in NYC by noon Saturday, I tell him. He says, ok, he'll deliver it in the morning at 7am. He'll drive up to Duchess County that night and stay nearby so he could deliver it in the morning.
7am the next day rolls around. Of course you can guess what happened at 7. Nothing. So we went to breakfast. I started calling the Phoenix police department to report that he had stolen my car. Finally, at around 10am, he calls to say he is five minutes away. 45 minutes later, he arrives.
When the car arrives, I ask him "what happened to 7am?" "oh we stayed close by and slept". I inspect it to discover some minor peeling on the starshield. I note the damage and tell him about it and he starts to get very angry, accusing me of not wanting to pay him because I am angry. He is all in a huff and demands that I pay him or he will take the car. At this point I am of a mind to offer him half what I owe him and if he doesn't take it I'll just call the police and report it stolen. My friends calm me down and tell me to just pay him and take the car and be done with it. So I pay him and take the car, and I no longer have to deal with PNC Express.
AVOID:
Adam Katowicz
PNC Express
Elizabeth, NJ
