DAS Dependable Auto Shippers Still waiting for my car after 21 days. Mesquite, Texas

My husband is a Naval officer and we were transferred from Northern Virginia to the Seattle area this summer. We elected to ship our two vehicles and fly to the west coast to avoid an 8 day trip with our large dog, a cat who likes to wander and our four year old daughter who would be stuck in her car seat for hours on end. We shipped my car with DAS and my husband's car with another company.

I dropped my car off at Scottie's Wrecker Service in Manassas VA on 6/24. Sometime in April I had done a google search for auto transport in Northern VA and Scottie's was what came up. I spoke to someone there who quoted me $938 to get my car from Manassas to Washington, and that it would take about a week. On June 17, my husband made the reservation, but it was now going to cost $1100. He paid via credit card and we received a confirmation via email. 

I wasn't given a delivery date on the bill of lading I received from Scottie's, but I vaguely recall the man (Melvin?) who received my vehicle putting a tag in the car that said 7/6 or so. He said that my car would be going on the truck with a bunch of vehicles of Microsoft employees moving to their headquarters here. A day or two before the 6th, I called Lakewood Towing to see if they knew of my car being delivered in the next couple of days. I was told to check online for a status update. 

We just moved into our house and for about a week we had no internet access and had to use the one at Starbucks periodically. After we checked the status online and learned that my car was still sitting in Manassas (per the online tracking service and from Scottie's in Manassas), we called the toll-free number for DAS provided at the top of the bill of lading. I spoke to a female who said that my car had never actually been assigned to anyone. She said that the car would be assigned, picked up in Manassas and transported to Linden, NJ in the next day or so, to be delivered in Lakewood, WA on 7/10/10. Since I didn't have internet at my house, I asked the female to please call me when my car was picked up and to keep me posted until 7/8. She said she would but unfortunately did not keep that promise.

When we finally got our internet connection on 7/9, I saw that my vehicle was still sitting right where I left it, at Scottie's in Manassas. Called Manassas to confirm and they said they were still in possession. I then called DAS to see why my vehicle was still sitting there.

Let me say that DAS call center employees are very polite. They tell you exactly what you want to hear, but they are unfortunately unable to make promises or make anything happen. But they'll tell you that they're working on getting your car there just as fast as they possibly can and that they apologize for the delay.  They say what they need to to shut you up and get you out of their hair. 

So on 7/9 I called DAS and spoke to a second female. She said that my car would be put on a truck that very night at "9:44" (really, she said 9:44 like it was a flight out of Dulles) and transported to Linden, NJ. My delivery date was moved to 7/14 with all sorts of apologies for the delay.

On 7/10 my car was still sitting in Manassas per the online tracking. I called DAS and got a third female this time. She was very polite and said that traffic out of Manassas has been especially heavy which was why my car was so delayed. She was neither able to confirm nor deny that my car was in Manassas but that she would "assume" (her word) the vehicle got picked up as discussed on the 9th. She said she was sending a message to the dispatcher and copying the operations manager.

My husband said that we should call Scottie's once again to see if my car is there rather than "assume" it was picked up the night before. Sure enough, Scottie's still had my car. I then called and spoke to another female (who I think is actually the first female I spoke to) and let her know that my car is still in Manassas. When I pointed out that they were quick to take our money but were having a difficult time actually providing the service we paid for, I was told that 95% of their customers are experiencing delays right now. On the one hand, I feel better knowing that everyone is (allegedly) in the same boat, but on the other, 95%?! How does one run a business when only 5% of customers are getting what they need?  Since my delivery date was now moved out 4 days, I asked if I could be reimbursed for a rental vehicle. She said I could submit a claim form. She didn't tell me where I could get the claim form, but I'm sure I'll be calling again.

On 7/11, the delivery date was moved out to 7/15.

Needless to say, I regret my decision to use DAS to ship my car cross-country. There is unfortunately little I can do at this point either. 

Since Sunday the 11th, my delivery date has been bumped out to 7/16, 7/19 and finally 7/20. On 7/12 I phoned the DAS call center and reached a male (who informed me that he was the highest person in the company I could speak to myself). He, like his underlings, said that he doesnt know when my car will be picked up. Not sure if its an excuse or the truth, but the truck that should have picked my car up on 7/9 broke down and that they are a week behind. Pretty much the same run around Ive been getting.

After speaking with the highest person I could speak to myself, my cars status was changed on 7/12 to To Be Loaded with a new delivery date of 7/19. I did receive a voice mail message in the afternoon on 7/13 from DAS saying that my car would be loaded that evening and make its way out to Washington. 

Its now 7/14 and my car is still in Manassas. In the hope that their tracking system just hasnt been updated, I called Scotties to see if they were still in possession of my car. They are. The man I spoke to said that he thinks that either the truck broke down or the driver had to legally stop driving for the day. I asked him if this level of delay was standard operating procedure and he said that they are busier than they have been in three years. He also said that a lot of the cars have been sitting there for 20 or more days waiting for a truck to pick them up. Some cars were picked up yesterday, but mine wasnt one of them. 

I called DAS after that and reached the same female who left the message yesterday. She said that my car is scheduled to be loaded today and their tracking system should update my cars status to In Transit. My delivery date at this point is now 7/20, 27 days after I dropped it off.

If you're reading this review because you're thinking about shipping your car and flying to your destination, I implore you to try another company. Or just drive yourself. We spent $1700 to fly ourselves and the pets out here plus another $1100 to ship my car. Plus another $1300 to ship hubby's car. While our close quarters would have resulted in we a big murder-suicide scene on about day 5, we could have stayed at nice hotels and done a bit of sightseeing along the way for the price of this debacle.