I am an active service member in the US Army. Coming home to California from a two-year-long oversea tour of duty, my mother-in-law gave me her old car. We called around looking for a transport company that can ship the vehicle to Georgia—the location of my next duty station, in the shortest possible time. On June 2nd, we placed a deposit of $425 with A-Blue Knight Inc (they asked for our bank information over the phone), whose representative promised us that their driver in the area will pick up our vehicle either on the 4th or the 5th of June, and that the approximate delivery date will be in 7-10 days.
We were told that the truck driver will call us before he/she picks up our vehicle. We never received such a call on the 4th or 5th of June. We called A-Blue Knight Inc, they told us that there could be a number of reasons for delay and that the pick-up time will be that weekend. So, over the weekend we waited for the phone call, and none came. We called again and they said it will be around next Wednesday. Again, no call. Every time we would call, they told us to wait for another 3 or 4 days, and every time we waited in vain.
I flew over to Georgia on the June 8th, my wife would join me later. During this period, I was driving a rental car. We were originally anticipating getting our car towards the end of that week around 12th or 13th.
We never received any call from anybody associated with A-Blue Knight Inc. My wife called them a number of times during the week between June 8th and 12th, and their representatives said that it's in the contract that the actual pick-up date could be 14 business days after their original projected day. (My wife further told me a guy, possibly the manager, named John was very rude. Between my wife and I we spoke to John and a lady named Margerie/Marjorie who always picks up the phone and says "Transport".)
However, we were not fully informed in the first place, and that A-Blue Knight Inc purposely neglected to mention such possibility before they asked for our deposit over the phone. Since renting a car is expensive, it's only reasonable that we would not have chosen their company. When I last spoke to their representative on June 18th, Margerie/Margorie told me that the driver will pick up my car sometime this weekend. When I asked her to cancel my order and refund the deposit, she told me that we need to write a letter, and based on the clauses in the contract, they will still keep $250 administration fee. Granted, we are asking to cancel the order; however, it is the result of their failure in management and substandard business practice, which has already led to unnecessary financial loss to their customer.
When I pursued the issue, Margerie/Margorie told me that she had another phone call and had to leave. I knew she just wanted to hang up, I became a little agitated and told her if she hangs up on me the next phone call would be from my lawyer. She kept on refer back to the clause in the contract (the 14 business day delay) and told me she would not sit there and listen to me verbally abusing her. I didn't cuss at her, just raised my voice when she wanted to hang up without the sincerity to resolve the problem. I left my contact information and nobody ever called me back.
I did not write the letter because it's their fault, and instead filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau of NY and want full refund of $425. BBB of NY has received my complaint (as of 20th of June), but nothing has happened since.
We ended up paying another transport company (a normal one) to ship the car. When the driver came and picked up the car he brought the contract for my wife to sign, that's the usual way to do it. I received the car on June 23rd, and it was actually 2 days before their projected day of delivery. To sum it up: we lost our $425 deposit to A-Blue Knight Inc., and because their bad business practice we had to pay another $1,000 going with another company, one extra week of car rental, approximately $300, the total cost to us is $1725. If A-Blue Knight Inc. Had kept their end of the business agreement (their price is $800) we didn't have to spend the extra $925. They also cost us emotionally as well, i.E. Unnecessary stress and worry. Watch out, A-Blue Knight Inc. Ran big ads in the yellow pages, and they are a lot cheaper than other companies. Don't fall for that, do a search on Google and see how many people have complained about them.
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