I wanted to warn anyone who is looking for a company to have your vehicle shipped to NOT USE AUTOSTAR TRANSPORT. Because of this company I am having to drive my own vehicle 2,000 miles from Arkansas to Washington state.
I was about to move from Arkansas to Tacoma, Washington, and did not want to have to drive my car that long distance with a 5 year old. I found AutoStar transport via an Internet search. I had compared their prices with many other car shipping companies, and they were the lowest. After a few days of debating, I decided to use them. They even gave me a link to a website (which I later determined that most of the reviews are written by company employees to boost their sales) to go see how great their reviews were. Everything seemed legit, and I was assigned to a transport coordinator who was very friendly, John Imbastari.
I was not set to move for another month. My moving date was December 23. I gave him my deposit of $175 on November 18, which is the day I signed the contract. Mr. Imbastari assured me that they would have a carrier well before December 17, which was the earliest pick up date for my car. I stressed to him that I wanted to be absolutely sure that my car would be picked up before December 23rd, because that was the day I was flying out to move to Washington. He told me that of course it would be picked p well before the 23rd and that we had plenty of time, and there is nothing I should worry about.
Fast forward to around the week of December 12. I still had not heard from Mr. Imbastari or anyone else from AutoStar and I was starting to worry that they had not found a carrier, so I thought I would give him a call. When I called him to ask him for an update, he seemed surprised and a little shocked that it was so close to the 17th (my pickup date). It was like he had FORGOTTEN all about my car needing to be shipped. He began talking real fast and stuttering and saying that he would get right on it. I informed him that he could even come pick the car up earlier than the 17th, if that would make it more convenient. He said "okay" and that he would be working on it.By this time, I am starting to get worried and upset that my car would not make it up to Washington in a timely manner.
December 17th finally rolls around and SURPRISE SURPRISE, AutoStar Transport has not found a carrier. Mr. Imbastari is now having several of his fellow employees (instead of himself) take my calls and call me with excuses such as "All of the truckers are on Christmas break so it we wont be able to have your car shipped until January." This continues on until I finally said enogh is enough and told them off around December 27. I now am having to fly back to Arkansas and drive my vehicle down here myself. I couldn't find another company to ship it on such short notice and within a reasonable amount of time. I was so upset it was unreal. I was (and still am) stranded in a state I barely know without a vehicle and a 5 year old son. This all could have been avoided if Mr. Imbastari would not have waited until the last minute to try and find a carrier for my car. He should have started looking for one on November 18 when I signed the contract with AutoStar.
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