Dependable Auto Shippers D.A.S. Take my advice and this warning - NEVER USE DEPENDABLE AUTO SHIPPERS (DAS)!!! Dallas Texas

We decided to go with Dependable Auto Shippers after two co-workers recommended them.  Both of the co-workers used DAS over two years ago.  I called their toll-free number and was connected to Stephen Linders. He told me that I should schedule with them as soon as possible so I would have the quickest shipment.  I booked with them the next day, March 10th, 2014. I was also told by Stephen that it would take 10-14 days for my vehicle (a midsize SUV) to ship from Long Island, NY to Los Angeles, California.

My scheduled pick up date was May 20, so on May 18^th I tried to call twice to contact Stephen to confirm everything but he never returned my call.  I called the toll free number again, and pushed buttons until I got a live person who told me everything was on schedule.  Every time I attempted to call Dependable you would get an answering service that would ask you to press a bunch of buttons to only get disconnected or hung up on. Their automated phone number is completely useless and you have to try at least 5 times, calling back and back again before you can finally get a human to answer the phone.

The driver arrived on May 20^th and picked up the vehicle without an issue. It was picked up in Long Island New York, and taken to their holding facility in Linden, NJ.  I waited till May 29th – when I arrived in my new home to check the tracking information I was given.  There was no information on their website.  I assumed my car was in transit, so I didn’t worry.  I used another shipping company (Mayflower) to ship my household items and they arrived as promised on June 2^nd.   June 3 was 14 days from the time Dependable picked up my car. So I again tried to track the truck on their website with no results. I attempted to call and because of their answering system I was forced to leave a message, which I did, and never received a call back.

On June 5^th, my wife called numerous times and finally got a hold of a female who answered and said her name was LaDonna. She said that our vehicle was leaving on the 6^th, and would be arriving in California on the 9^th, but she didn’t know exactly where it would be delivered. I asked if that meant our car would be delivered to our home on June 9^th, and LaDonna responded she didn't know the answer to that but our vehicle would definitely be in California on Monday, June 9.

On June 9, I called Dependable again and after multiple times I finally spoke to LaDonna again. This time she said our vehicle was still at their warehouse in New Jersey. We were stunned and completely baffled by this. I asked how could our car not have left New Jersey, why was it still in New Jersey, and why did you tell me the previous Thursday (June 5^th) that our car would be in California by June 9th? None of these questions were answered and LaDonna was rude and completely unapologetic. So I asked to speak to a manager or supervisor. I was transferred to someone name Karen- the reason we know her name is not because we ever spoke to Karen, but because we got transferred to her voicemail where we left a message and asked for her to call us back. A few hours went by and I received NO return call. This was unacceptable and completely unprofessional to say the least.

I called back again and spoke to LaDonna - I told her that if they couldn’t guarantee my car was delivered to me by the end of the week, that I wanted a full refund.  She said she would transfer me to a manager, which again was Karen’s voice mail.  I waited an hour or so and called back and this time insisted that I speak with an actual person that could handle this situation. I was transferred to someone named John Kreuger, who said he was a sales supervisor. John asked me what I would like to do so I told him that I wanted my vehicle returned to my home where it was picked up from immediately.  He refused to return the vehicle without charging me $179.  I told John I wasn’t going to pay his company another dime.  He said he would cancel the service but I had to have my vehicle off their lot in New Jersey within five days or I would be charged a storage fee.  I told him I would find someone else to pick up my car and hung up. I immediately got on the phone and called 7-10 different transport companies. 

A company named American Car Transport called me back at 8pm that same day to confirm that they had a driver that would pick up the vehicle the following morning.  I had to call back Dependable as well because John advised me that I had to sign release paperwork for them to release my vehicle to another company.  The next morning I called Dependable and LaDonna emailed me the release paperwork I had to fill out.  I returned the paperwork via email within 15 minutes, and called back again to confirm.  LaDonna told me that she received the release paperwork and would fax it over to the manager in 10-15 minutes.

When the driver from American Car Transport arrived later that same day, he was given the run around and at one point was told that he should leave because I cancelled their service.  Lucky for me, the driver from American Car Transport had my personal cell phone number and called me. I insisted that he was to take custody of my vehicle and not to leave without my car in his possession. He finally got my car off Dependable’s lot and delivered my car FIVE days after picking it up.  My vehicle sat on Dependable’s lot for 21 days without movement and at no point during all of these phone calls or emails was there an apology or any acknowledgement of their inability to do their job or what they promised.

Both LaDonna and John Kreuger said that it normally takes them 20 days to deliver a vehicle, and I when I told both of them that it had been 21 days and the vehicle hadn’t left New Jersey, neither of them had an explanation or an apology for the situation.  John insisted that I was told by the Stephen Linders that it would take at least 20 days for delivery, which clearly didn’t matter when even if my vehicle left New Jersey on June 9^th – it would have been a month before I saw my car in California! Why would anyone pay and wait 20 PLUS days for their delivery when they could get it in 5 days for the same money?

Take my advice and this warning - NEVER USE DEPENDABLE AUTO SHIPPERS (DAS) !!!!!!