I while back, I posted asking for experience with auto transport companies- thanks for all the input. I thought I would follow up with what happened.
I wound up using E-ship as a the broker to find a carrier. They were generally responsive and helpful, though I think my original sales rep must have quit between the time I placed the order and shipping time came. The company responded quickly with a new rep when I stopped getting responses, but they didn't make it exactly seamless (on the other hand, being the impatient sort, I didn't really give them a chance before I acted).
They asked for a pick-up window and drop-off window, and found a carrier that matched up... almost. As people had warned me (and a quick moment to think about how the system works confirms), there's some slop in the timing almost by necessity. Once they found a carrier and confirmed that I was able to arrange for my father-in-law to hand over the keys, all the interaction shifted over to the trucking company.
They contracted Auto Movers, and IMO they were extremely professional. When I called for status, they responded immediately with where the driver's GPS was on the map. Ultimately, the pickup happened 2 days later than my first choice. But on the good side, the driver made it from Texas to California much faster than I did\ and was only about 12 hours behind my "first pick" time for delivery. The delivery was painless- I just picked a hardware store with a big parking lot, he unloaded in the street, and had the car waiting in the parking lot when I called. Other than being dirty (open transport with rain along the route), the car was in perfect condition.
Overall, not bad. Not ideal, but from what I hear it doesn't get much better than that unless you triple the cost for more personalized service. This is an 18 year old Jeep, so that kind of treatment just wasn't warranted.
I wound up using E-ship as a the broker to find a carrier. They were generally responsive and helpful, though I think my original sales rep must have quit between the time I placed the order and shipping time came. The company responded quickly with a new rep when I stopped getting responses, but they didn't make it exactly seamless (on the other hand, being the impatient sort, I didn't really give them a chance before I acted).
They asked for a pick-up window and drop-off window, and found a carrier that matched up... almost. As people had warned me (and a quick moment to think about how the system works confirms), there's some slop in the timing almost by necessity. Once they found a carrier and confirmed that I was able to arrange for my father-in-law to hand over the keys, all the interaction shifted over to the trucking company.
They contracted Auto Movers, and IMO they were extremely professional. When I called for status, they responded immediately with where the driver's GPS was on the map. Ultimately, the pickup happened 2 days later than my first choice. But on the good side, the driver made it from Texas to California much faster than I did\ and was only about 12 hours behind my "first pick" time for delivery. The delivery was painless- I just picked a hardware store with a big parking lot, he unloaded in the street, and had the car waiting in the parking lot when I called. Other than being dirty (open transport with rain along the route), the car was in perfect condition.
Overall, not bad. Not ideal, but from what I hear it doesn't get much better than that unless you triple the cost for more personalized service. This is an 18 year old Jeep, so that kind of treatment just wasn't warranted.