My mom has advanced breast cancer and can no longer walk. She is confined to a chair all day. We ordered a mobility van from California, but during transit to New York State, the original delivery truck (not from ACT) got stuck in Dayton, OH.
The original delivery company was not resolving the problem and we really needed the van, so we turned to American Century Transport. That was a huge mistake.
I spoke to a nice sounding woman named Mercedes and explained our predicament. I explained that we were desperate for our vehicle and needed it this week, Saturday at the latest. I told her "if it doesn't ship by Friday, I will drive to Dayton and pick it up myself"
Mercedes assured me it would "probably go out Wednesday or Thursday morning". I asked her REPEATEDLY if I could cancel should it get delayed past Friday, and she assured me I could. Repeatedly. So she faxed me the contract and said I had to sign the contract quickly because they could possibly get a truck out the next day. This sounded like a hard sell, but I was desperate and she sounded honest, so against my better judgement I signed quickly and paid the deposit.
You know what happened next. I called today (Thursday) and spoke to Mercedes, who quickly transferred me to "dispatch" without even giving me a chance to talk. I called back thirty seconds later and asked for Mercedes again, but the receptionist said Mercedes was "out until next Wednesday" - this was thirty seconds after she had cut me off! So I spoke to someone else and asked whether our van had been picked up, she said it was "scheduled for Saturday"
I said I needed to cancel, and of course she told me I would lose my deposit if I did. I told her Mercedes had ASSURED me I could cancel if it didn't ship by Friday. Her response: "sir, didn't you read your contract, we have 14 days to deliver!" After going back and forth a bit, I told her I had trusted Mercedes word, and she basically said I was stupid to trust them. I know, I was stupid to trust them, but with my mom's predicament I was desperate enough to trust someone who sounded honest.
Lesson: there are people like ACT who prey on those who are in a bad situation. They heard my desperation and they saw profit potential. They went into hard sell mode and took advantage of someone in a bad situation. READ YOUR CONTRACT and don't listen to a word your rep says.
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