I contacted Town and Country Auto Transport on January 12 for a price quote and information on transporting a car from Florida to Oregon.
"Kevin" (I don't believe they use real names) told me they were not a broker and assured me that they owned their own fleet of transport trucks, gave me a price quote and required a deposit of 200.00.
The fact that they owned their own trucks and my car would stay on the same truck the entire trip which Kevin emphasized (minimizing any chance of damage to my car) are the reasons I picked this company.
I put down a 200.00 deposit on my credit card and "Kevin" told me my car would be picked up from the dealership on January 16.
I was notified on the morning of January 17 by Lexus of Palm Beach that no one ever arrived to pick up the car or had even called.
I called Town and Country for an explanation and was told no one was available to talk to me. I also emailed the company.
I did the same - placed a phone call and emailed - for the next 5 days. No one would talk to me or email me back about what was happening with my car. I then realized I was not going to be contacted at all.
Meanwhile the 10 day time frame they gave me passed and I still had no idea of when someone was going to pick-up the car.
On January 22, ten days after I had hired them and they would not return any of my calls or emails, I told the woman who answered the phone that I was terminating them. They were no longer authorized to touch my car.
I also called the dealership and explained I needed to find another transport company.
Within THE HOUR of my terminating them, Town and Country remarkably returned my call and a man who identified himself as "Tom" the manager (but sounded like "Kevin") said they would pick up my car within 48 hours.
I told them they were fired as it had been 10 days and I was hiring another company. "Tom" tried to talk me out of it and when I would not relent he said I could "kiss my 200.00 deposit good-bye".
My credit card company reversed the 200.00 charge after I provided them the details of this transaction.
Now in retaliation, Town & Country has sent a claim for the entire 1150.00 transport fee to a collection agency saying they had incurred costs by hiring a driver. That is outright false because rememberm on the 22nd Tom admitted they still hadn't hired a driver!
They falsely claim they are not a brokerage and did not live up to the contract terms.
They also told my credit card company flat-out lies about this entire incident and claimed I fired them one day after hiring them. Every rebuttal they've made: to my CC co. The BBB, the collection agency gives different versions and dates of the events.
My credit card company was satisfied with my explanation and records proving what actually transpired.
I have the records of everything that transpired with this company and have informed the collection agency of that fact three times.
I have also filed a report with every agency I've come across including the Atty Gen of FL, The BBB, The FBI Internet Fraud Divisionand many others. I've also come across complaints weekly from other people who've been taken by this company and also new agencies to file a report with about Town & Country's practices.
There are many complaints of the same fraudulent practices by T&C happening to other customers on various websites.
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