Raimy review for Elite Auto Shipping, Inc

Review Description

BEWARE this company! This is SCAM! They only want to pocket your deposit and have no intention of actually shipping your car. My review is long, but I don’t want anyone else to suffer what I have gone through. I encourage anyone else that had been scammed by this company to contact the US Department of Transportation, specifically the division: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to report the criminal behavior of those owning and working for this company. Also, beware of the positive reviews on this website. I learned too late that reviews with a green dot next to them means that the costumer was financially compensated by Elite Auto. The other positive reviews are probably posted by Elite Auto themselves because I find it hard to believe that this company has actually delivered cars and kept their business promise. Do business with this company at your own risk! Approximately 7 weeks ago on April 12th I contacted Elite Auto Shipping to book a shipment of my vehicle from Philadelphia, Pa to California. I explained that I was graduating from medical school in Philadelphia and moving to California to start work. I explained that it was very important that my car be shipped on May 27, 2011 because I would be getting on a flight on May 28th and I had no one in the vicinity to leave my car with if it was not picked up. They assured me with such advanced notice they could guarantee that my car would be shipped on May 27, 2011. With that guarantee I placed an order for $875 and made a deposit of $200 through Google Checkout. Four days before the scheduled pick up date on Monday May 23rd, 2011. I called Elite Auto to confirm my order and to get a pick up window. I was told that the driver assigned to my delivery would call me later that day and if not then no later than Wednesday. When I never received a phone call, I again called Elite Auto on the morning of Thursday, May 26th. I was told by the employee that he himself would call the driver and have the driver call me. When several hours passed without a phone call I called at 5:11pm on Thursday May 26th and I spoke with a person who identified himself as Ruben. When I gave him my confirmation number, his exact words were: “I don’t see a driver assigned to your order, let me call my boss, Serge, who didn’t come into work today. I will call you right back.” At this point almost all communication with Elite Auto ceased and became increasingly difficult. The office phone number went straight to voicemail and no one at the company returned any messages or emails. At approximately 11: 30am of Friday May 27, 2011, after many hours of trying I was able to reach someone called “Serge”. He told me that Ruben had lied and that a driver would be coming to pick up my car between 4-6pm that day. He provided the driver’s phone number.(a Google Voice number that went straight to voicemail each and every time). At this time I got a phone call from another transport company (Capital Auto Transport) that I had called at the last minute when Elite Auto stopped answering the phone. They told me that my car was still posted on Central Dispatch by Elite Auto and that no carrier had been assigned to it. They told me that approximately 150 cars in the region were waiting for pick up, all offering more money and that no carrier would move my car at the Elite Auto price. When I mentioned that Elite Auto had a driver, the new company encouraged me to get the carrier company and driver’s insurance information. If Elite Auto was telling the truth they would be able to immediately email the insurance information of the carrier company contracted to ship my car. I again tried to contact Elite Auto. After much time I was able to contact them using the phone numbers of friends and family. Elite Auto wouldn’t pick up when I called but they would when I used a different phone number. They said that we were annoying them by calling every 5 minutes and that the driver would come by at 6pm. They said that they were also a carrier company in addition to being a broker company and that their own driver was coming to pick up the car. They said that they would email the insurance information, but I have yet to receive it. They also refused to provide the USDOT # of their carrier company saying they didn’t have it available for the particular truck that was coming to me because they had over 60 trucks they owned. At this point I contacted the US Department of Transportation and their FMCSA subdivision. The DOT reported to me that Elite Auto was licensed as only a broker company and had no carrier company license. More and more time went time and we were not able to contact anyone at Elite Auto or their “driver”. As 6pm passed without any communication we started calling other companies. One such company my father contacted at 6: 15 pm was a company based closer to my final destination: “Hayward Auto Transport. 442 Sycamore Ave, Hayward CA, .” We told by someone named “Serge” that they were a broker and carrier company. This made us suspicious and when we couldn’t find this business in the Better Business Bureau website we called back and asked if they had a different company name and they responded “Elite Auto Shipping”. I couldn’t believe it. “Hayward Auto Transport” was some sort of shell company for Elite Auto and they were perpetuating they lie that they were both a broker and carrier company to new unsuspecting consumers. My father took the opportunity to confront Serge as to why no driver had arrived, but all Serge would say was that he would take our information and call the driver and then he hung up, never to be heard from again. That was my last communication with Elite Auto Shipping. No driver called and arrived to pick up my car. No email messages or phone calls have been returned. I believe that Elite Auto lied about being a carrier company and having a driver in order to disguise the fact that they had purposefully underbid in order to pocket my deposit. Or when they realized that no carrier company would move my car at the price Elite Auto was offering they decided to salvage the situation by blatantly lying and behaving in an all round dishonorable and dishonest manner. Either way they have no intention of shipping my car. I believe that their actions are also criminal and constitute fraud in that they tried to manipulate and lie in order to pocket $200 for services not tendered. They have yet to respond to my request to return my deposit and furthermore my car hasn’t been shipped and had to be left behind in Pennsylvania. The smooth and measured way Elite Auto acted makes me believe that I am not the first person that this company has perpetuated this scam/fraud upon.