Transport scam

[DrG]

I'm a new T-Bird owner, having bought my '05 Bronze from a dealership in California. To move it to Tennessee, the dealership said it could be sent in an enclosed carrier for $1295, which I paid to them. However, it arrived 10 days after being picked up in an open carrier. I saw the dispatch form from the carrier that says they were paid $750. Apparently, whomever the dealer contracted to send the car to me, turned around and subcontracted it out for the cheaper rate. Additionally, the car had 100 miles more on the odometer than was indicated by the dealership. As I piece together the events, I have identified four carriers involved in this mess. Reliable, Jiffy, Alpine and finally, the carrier that was paid $750 and were blameless. Nobody at any of these carrier companies will respond to me and the dealership is not responding either. I'm not likely to sue anyone in California from Tennessee but I feel the need to get retribution somehow.

[bottomtime]

Re: Transport scam

I'm a new T-Bird owner, having bought my '05 Bronze from a dealership in California. To move it to Tennessee, the dealership said it could be sent in an enclosed carrier for $1295, which I paid to them. However, it arrived 10 days after being picked up in an open carrier. I saw the dispatch form from the carrier that says they were paid $750. Apparently, whomever the dealer contracted to send the car to me, turned around and subcontracted it out for the cheaper rate. Additionally, the car had 100 miles more on the odometer than was indicated by the dealership. As I piece together the events, I have identified four carriers involved in this mess. Reliable, Jiffy, Alpine and finally, the carrier that was paid $750 and were blameless. Nobody at any of these carrier companies will respond to me and the dealership is not responding either. I'm not likely to sue anyone in California from Tennessee but I feel the need to get retribution somehow.

If I were you, I would contact the Ford Regional Manager in that area and tell him all of this - it's really worth a try. You can plug in a search engine as to who and where the Regional Manager is located in that area. The Regional Manager is the "Top Kick" for all the Ford dealerships in their area. Good Luck, AND GO FOR IT!

[4LOWBIRDS+7]

Re: Transport scam

I'm a new T-Bird owner, having bought my '05 Bronze from a dealership in California. To move it to Tennessee, the dealership said it could be sent in an enclosed carrier for $1295, which I paid to them. However, it arrived 10 days after being picked up in an open carrier. I saw the dispatch form from the carrier that says they were paid $750. Apparently, whomever the dealer contracted to send the car to me, turned around and subcontracted it out for the cheaper rate. Additionally, the car had 100 miles more on the odometer than was indicated by the dealership. As I piece together the events, I have identified four carriers involved in this mess. Reliable, Jiffy, Alpine and finally, the carrier that was paid $750 and were blameless. Nobody at any of these carrier companies will respond to me and the dealership is not responding either. I'm not likely to sue anyone in California from Tennessee but I feel the need to get retribution somehow.

Bring that beauty to Birds at Borla II in July and let us all see it.

[merlot4]

Re: Transport scam

I'm sorry to hear about the bait and switch, it sheds a poor light on those individuals. I agree that the regional manager should be informed. There are a lot of members here, I'm sure they would like to know who the dealership was after you are done pursuing actions. Good luck and at least you have a great TBird to tool around in and enjoy!
How could I forget? Welcome to TBN!

[islandtime]

Re: Transport scam

So sorry to hear about your scam. Wish you had checked in here first. I paid less than that for my Cashmere to be shipped from Sacramento to Norfolk, enclosed, in a Barrett/Jackson approved shipper (Intercity Lines).
Welcome to TBN, and hope your ride from now on is a smooth one. Also hope you get your money back.

[Larro]

Re: Transport scam

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. It hurts to get ripped off. I hope that the pleasure of owning and driving the car will overshadow the rough start and you will love it as much as most of us do. Glad to have you with us!

[Greg S]

Re: Transport scam

Are we just assuming it was a Ford dealership or am I missing something?

[merlot4]

Re: Transport scam

Are we just assuming it was a Ford dealership or am I missing something?

Quite right, Greg, the dealership type was not noted, just assumed. Not much escapes the eagle eyes here, so Greg G., what type of dealership was it?

[Icebluebird]

Re: Transport scam

Did the Dealership put the contract in writing stating that it would be shipped in a covered trailer? If so, you should be able to recover the extra payment from them.

[DrG]

Re: Transport scam

It was a Ford dealership. I have a copy of their request form to Reliable Auto transport that specifically requests "covered and protected". However, Reliable somehow took it upon themselves to have the car moved 300 miles to North Hollywood by Jiffy Transport, on a flatbed, where Alpine Auto transport arranged for Carriage Auto transport to bring it to Knoxville in an open carrier for $750. Reliable and Alpine both appear to be brokers. In the process, 103 miles were added to the mileage that the dealership claimed was on the odometer. When the car arrived, it was filthy, bird droppings on the exterior, dead moths and sand in the well below the trunk lid and small scratches and dings that may or may not have been there before the trip. The dealership is saying that they did request covered and protected for my $1295, and it appears that they did, but they didn't take responsibility to guarantee it. The guy at Reliable is not forthcoming with me and I believe he is the dishonest one here as he told me that the dealership requested an open carrier. So, yes, it is a Ford dealership, and they appear to have requested covered and protected, but they failed to follow through with it and will likely not accept the blame or responsibility for what Reliable did. Their website looks legitimate, see it at shipmycar.com, but they did not do what was requested and lied to me about the dealership's request.

[DrG]

Re: Transport scam

So sorry to hear about your scam. Wish you had checked in here first. I paid less than that for my Cashmere to be shipped from Sacramento to Norfolk, enclosed, in a Barrett/Jackson approved shipper (Intercity Lines).
Welcome to TBN, and hope your ride from now on is a smooth one. Also hope you get your money back.

Yes, I wish I had checked here first. But, I trusted the Ford dealership and they clearly didn't follow through.

[bottomtime]

Re: Transport scam

Yes, I wish I had checked here first. But, I trusted the Ford dealership and they clearly didn't follow through.

That's why I suggested to contact the Ford regional manager first for that area. They have a lot of authority over the Ford dealerships that is in their area. It's a good way to start, and I'm sure you will get something back from all of this. I know this because I have had some dealings with Ford regional managers myself over a few problems and they don't want any 'unhappy' customers that was caused by any of their dealerships.

[darsinewman]

Re: Transport scam

Very, very unfortunate, Greg, but it is worth a try to contact the Ford regional manager, if for nothing else than for the added mileage on the car over the dealership's representation. You could also contact the Better Business Bureau regarding the transport company(ies), for whatever that's worth. Unfortunately (coming from a lawyer), it would cost you more in legal fees than you could likely recover if you tried to do more than that. That's one of the things I hate about my job: some of the things that p*ss you off the most don't really lend themselves to a legal resolution.

[DrG]

Re: Transport scam

The link to Reliable is actually shipcarnow.com. I errored in the earlier post. I do plan on contacting the Ford Regional manager. I'm also going to annoy the heck out of the Reliable guy, too. At the very least, he'll end up changing his phone number to avoid getting my calls.

[Dizzbe]

Re: Transport scam

As Darsi states, if you don't get any relief from the dealer, then file a compliant with BBB. If the dealer cares about their reputation, they will act on it ASAP once filed.