After my bad experience, I felt compelled to warn other consumers of the risks of moving a car on http://www.transportreviews.com, a key site for consumers of auto transport services. I left what I considered to be a fair and fact-based review of my experience, as is common in today's day and age. About a year later, I was appaled to find the following inaccurate response from the company. I'll respond to it here, blow by blow:
"The roof of the vehicle was damaged. The insurance carrier sent out an independent auto damage appraiser to look at the vehicle. They determined $1600 in damage as did a preferred body shop. The transferee wanted their 2008 Honda Civic repaired at a Mercedes body shop, the type of shop that only does high end repairs. The insurance company would not cover the additional cost because they could get the vehicle repaired to factory specs at their preferred shop for less money. That is simple business sense. The transferee was unreasonable in their expectations. In the end, his own insurance company only requested that we reimburse the $1600 that was originally offered".
1. They determined $1600 in damage as did a preferred body shop. No sir - their insurance adjusted came up with $1600, and no other Body Shop saw the car. Not true.
2. The transferee wanted their 2008 Honda Civic repaired at a Mercedes body shop, the type of shop that only does high end repairs. So what if it was a 2008 Civic, does that make me less entitled to good service? And it wasn't a Mercedes Body Shop. in fact, Auto Relocation Plus towed my car to this body shop. Why would they do this, you might ask? BECAUSE THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP SUBCONTRACTS ALL OF THEIR BODY REPAIR WORK TO THIS SHOP! The place was filled with Hondas! Look at the picture I posted of my car above - it was taken at the Body Shop in question. Look at the cars in the background - do they look like Mercedes to you? I don't think so. I also asked my (nice, reputable, and highly rated) insurance company if it was common for an insurance company to dictate where something could get fixed/terms, and he laughed and told me flat out "no". Nice try, thanks for playing, ARP.
3. The insurance company would not cover the additional cost because they could get the vehicle repaired to factory specs at their preferred shop for less money. The preferred body shop didn't have 1) a website, 2) a location I could identify, or 3) a listing in the phone book. It wasn't near my home. In fact NONE of the preferred body shops were near my home. Nobody I asked in the area had even heard of it. If this is what you prefer, people should know, because it's not what most rational people would prefer if they were put in my situation. Furthermore, what trained technician would do the work for $26/hour in today's day and age? A teenager won't cut my lawn for that little money. Come on.
4. That is simple business sense. So you f'ed up my car, and you think using what makes more money for you to be the rationale for ALL of your decisions. Okay, but people should know this if they consider doing business with you.
5. In the end, his own insurance company only requested that we reimburse the $1600 that was originally offered". Really? If my memory serves me correctly, the sub-par insurance company your driver worked with DIDN'T RETURN MY INSURANCE COMPANY'S PHONE CALLS FOR MONTHS. $1,600 was probably all they could get. at the end of the day. I do know that the damage was well over $6000 (probably closer to $8000), and my insurance company covered everything. I asked the Body Shop if they had trouble with the carrier's insurance company before. They candidly told me that they have a ranking of every insurance company, and the one in question was number 19 out of 20 in terms of being reputable. Sweet.
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