Writing this on behalf of my 82-year-old ex husband:
On April 1, I contacted Autotrail Transporters to transport my Dodge Grand Caravan from New Mexico to Florida. A few days later, when the sale of my house fell through, I telephoned them again to cancel the order and was told that my information would be kept on file and I could just call them again when I was ready to have the vehicle transported.
Several days later, when I drew cash out of my ATM and saw my balance, I discovered that Autotrail had already charged my debit card for the full amount of $770. I immediately contacted my bank, and they sent a letter to Autotrail telling them to reverse the charge. When I re-sold my house the following week, I telephoned Autotrail and told them to disregard the letter from the bank, and arranged for pickup of my vehicle. I was told the van would be picked up on or about May 20th.
May 20th came and went with no telephone call from anyone, and no pickup. I telephoned Autotrail several times over the subsequent two weeks; each time I was told "a couple of days, " "a couple of days, " but nobody ever called me back and the van was never picked up. On May 30th I closed on my house, and on May 31st I flew home to Florida, leaving the van at the home of my sister. Every time I telephoned Autotrail, I got a different story. When I pleaded for an explanation, I was told that my order had been placed in the cancellation file and that they'd need written authorization from me to reopen it. I faxed them a letter doing so.
A week later when I still hadn't heard back from them, I telephoned them again and this time was told that I needed to sign the Terms and Conditions, which they faxed to me upon my request (this was the only communication of mine they responded to). Feeling I had no choice (they already had my money and I needed my vehicle), I signed it plus the credit card authorization they faxed at the same time, writing "Card already charged in April" in the "amount" field on the form because I didn't want them to hit my bank for another $770. (This was on June 4th.) I continued to call Autotrail every other day only to hear "a couple of days" when I asked when the vehicle would be picked up. My ex-wife telephoned them on my behalf and was snapped at by the woman who answered the phone, who told her, "You've been calling every day!"
One time when I called, the man who answered was extremely rude and said he'd call me back after he contacted the driver. I told him that I have cancer and needed the vehicle to get to my doctor appointments but he just repeated, angrily, "I have to contact the driver" and hung up on me before I had a chance to give him my phone number or even my name. Finally, on June 12th, the woman who answered the phone said her boss had authorized a refund for me because of my constant telephone calls. (I didn't ask for a refund; they offered.)
It is July 7th as I am writing this and I still haven't received a refund, either a check or a reversal of the debit to my checking account. I am 82 years old and on a fixed SS income of $608 per month; I cannot afford to lose $770. I just had to pay another (reliable) company to transport my van, which they did with no problem inside of two weeks of my call to them, so I'm at a loss as to what Autotrail's problem was in arranging a service I already paid them for.
As far as I'm concerned, since the only paper I signed (apart from the credit card authorization a full two months after the money was taken from my account) was their Terms and Conditions, which basically protects their interests and not mine and doesn't give even an approximate date the vehicle will be picked up, we never had an enforceable contract. I want every penny of my $770 back. These people put me through hell.
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