This is why I would never use Uship - must see photo! - Page 2

ubii_911 · 09-16-2013, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unobtanium-inc

We sold a 356C project to a guy recently. The shipper we referred him to (Tim Stears Auto Transport, our favorite) was on vacation when he called so he decided to get a quote from Uship. A week later these three "dudes" show up pulling a converted camper. They open the rear door and it's full of furniture. "Don't worry," says the driver, "we'll get it in there." And so they did, sliding the wrapped couch into the trailer on TOP of the 356. It's a project car that is getting a full resto, and we've learned the hard way to let our buyers make their own decisions on transport rather than try to interfere, especially at the moment of pickup. But WOW. Their next stop was Myrtle Beach, SC to "chase skirt." We sent the photo to the car's buyer so he can be sure to give it an extra full lookover when it arrives.

So I hope this dissuades anyone from getting a Uship quote. -- Matt

Wait, are you sure that is a couch or just "padding" to protect the top of the trailer from getting damaged by the 356, should the drivers decide to go hill jumping?

Janna James · 08:16 PM

If you can afford a Porsche, can't you afford a truck to haul it in? Just get one of your husband's workers to drive the truck. Just sayin'. I didn't mean this as it sounded.

afterburn 549 · 09-18-2013, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djwhite

Don't blame U-Ship....like Ebay, the quality of the people on there varies widely and you need to do your homework on who you are dealing with. Clearly you didn't vet this shipper very well, or they hadn't done enough to have adequate feedback to tell. I use U-ship all the time and have always had outstanding service. The last time the truck that showed up had only 5k miles on it...and mine was nearly the only vehicle in it. Very professional and white glove door to door service.

I DO Blame USHIP for the lack of quality and the promoting of people DBA- When they know anyone can sign on there promote them selves as a shipper. In fact they have no insurance, No DOT numbers, no nothing (most of them)
USHIP requires nothing
NOTA
When you pay less you usually do not get more.
These are mostly folks going somewhere and trying to buy fuel going back.
They would not know air ride from a Cert of insurance
I tell people over and over, GET a cert. of insurance from their underwriter.
If they so much a stutter about it do not touch them

175K911 · 09-18-2013, 08:24 AM

Hey Joe Bob- remember they were stopping in North Carolina to "chase skirt"? Probably still there.

Unobtanium-inc · 09-19-2013, 03:33 AM

If you can't get enough of transporting nightmares, we have a bunch on the blog:

transport | Search Results | THE UNOBTANIATE

---Adam

fast_e_man · 09-19-2013, 05:01 AM

Unobtainium --- So rather than suggesting the buyer of a service (in this case U-Ship) performs due dilegence, you would rather just bash U-Ship?

j911brick · 09-19-2013, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janna James

If you can afford a Porsche, can't you afford a truck to haul it in? Just get one of your husband's workers to drive the truck. Just sayin'. I didn't mean this as it sounded.

Just because somebody buys a Porsche doesn't mean they can afford a Porsche. Allot of people who money aren't always willing to part with it and believe cheaper is always better. I have met quite a few millionaires that drove beat up 20 yr old cars.

CCM911 · 09-19-2013, 05:27 AM

It is apparent that Janna may be better off on a forum with more like-minded folks.

And fast-e-man, why not bash a bad shipper?

Scott S · Scott S's Garage

"I did not mean to offend anyone. Sorry."
You have posted this statement six times in two weeks.......

I have been so damned lucky shipping cars - I really count my blessings. The only time I had a bad experience was with Reliable. Was shipping a car from Idaho to Denver. They drove right past our place (down I-25 - literally 5 blocks away) and took the car to Phoenix for "consolidation of freight". I was not happy. Then, they said they said two of the other trucks they were waiting on were delayed and could not give me a firm date on the actual delivery. The thought of the car sitting in a warehouse did not sit well, so we called another company to go pick it up. What a mess.

Unobtanium-inc · 09-19-2013, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fast_e_man

Unobtainium --- So rather than suggesting the buyer of a service (in this case U-Ship) performs due dilegence, you would rather just bash U-Ship?

You and I know what questions to ask and what to look for in a transporter, but a one-time buyer doesn't even know that these questions are necessary, let alone what to ask. We did suggest a reliable service, but the customer wanted faster, so he went with Uship without our having anything to do with it. I think this is the perfect opportunity to point out the weaknesses in the Uship model, if you consider that bashing I still have no apologies. The problem with Uship is the fact that they present their service in a way that makes the customer feel like they are choosing from a selection of pre-qualified, approved by Uship, transport companies. In reality anybody can become a Uship transporter with very little, if any, oversight. While it is very possible to get quality service by booking a transporter through Uship, they masquerade as a broker who puts customers in touch with "good" transporters, when in reality they put you in touch with anyone who raises their hand. Unless a customer has been given a heads up by somebody to look into who they choose as a shipped, how are they to know they should do this? Seasoned car buyers and dealers know they should choose wisely, but a customer who has never bought a car at distance before doesn't know what to do, so they go with a company who has a nice logo and good marketing because they think they are protected. We've seen over and over that there is no protection.

I'll continue to warn people of the dangers of using a low-bid broker like Uship. It's not a good plan for the novice. Experts can go for it and benefit from the rates after doing the homework. My arm hurts from all of this bashing. Anyone want to take the hammer for a bit? -- Matt

Unobtanium-inc · 09-19-2013, 10:19 AM

... the Roadster we just sold will be traveling on an enclosed Inter-City truck!

fast_e_man · 09-19-2013, 10:23 AM

Quote:

And fast-e-man, why not bash a bad shipper?

I agree with "bashing" a bad shipper, not the U-Ship site. I've had great success on U-Ship, albeit a sample size of 4.

As the potential buyer of a shipping service you can ask the bidders lots of questions to gain confidence that they are a good match to your needs. Why not take responsibility for your decision, rather than looking for U-Ship to protect you in the abence of your own due dilegence?

Unobtanium-inc · 09-19-2013, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fast_e_man

As the potential buyer of a shipping service you can ask the bidders lots of questions to gain confidence that they are a good match to your needs. Why not take responsibility for your decision, rather than looking for U-Ship to protect you in the abence of your own due dilegence?

I feel like my point was missed. The U-Ship model presents itself as a place to buy safe, reliable shipping for anything under the sun, including vehicles. Most of its customers would never think they need to independently look into who is doing the shipping, because they assume that U-Ship has already done this. I don't think that U-Ship is acting fraudulently or even intentionally hiding anything, but unless you know to ask questions in the first place, and know what questions to ask in the second place, U-Ship is not a good place for an inexperienced, one-time shipper of an expensive car to book their transport. -- Matt

javadog · 09-19-2013, 12:04 PM

They list 112,683 carriers under auto transport. You know they don't vet any of them.

In this day and age (what with access to the internet and search engines like Google) anybody that doesn't do a little homework on how to ship a car, or who to use, probably deserves what they get, if they think going with the low bidder on anything is a good idea.

Fear not, U-ship will reimburse you for a loss up to $500...

JR

Unobtanium-inc · 09-19-2013, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by javadog

...anybody that doesn't do a little homework on how to ship a car, or who to use, probably deserves what they get...

JR

This is a little too harsh for me. -- Matt

javadog · 09-20-2013, 03:47 AM

Sorry. I think of it as the WalMart mentality. Some people think only of price when buying a product or service and there are people that have been preying on these folks for eons. Back in the day before computers, it was a little harder to do any reasonable due diligence. Now, with the internet and smart phones, you can figure anything out in 5 minutes, without even getting out of bed.

I've sold off quite a few of my cars and motorcycles in the last 5 years, probably a couple dozen. In each case, I have recommended certain shippers. Most buyers have followed my advice but a few have not. In each of those cases, bad things have nearly happened. I say nearly, because in each instance I supervised the loading and prevented something bad from happening. A guy in an open carrier very nearly took the left door off of a pristine early Audi quattro. Another clown almost raised the front end of an E30 M3 into the underside of another car. A third guy was just getting into the business with a partially converted box trailer and wasn't set up to properly tie down a car. Had he done it his way, he would have ruined all of the (new) suspension bushings in a Ferrari. Then there was the crew that loaded an expensive limited production motorcycle into a box van that also delivered any cargo you wanted to ship. I loaned them some tie downs so they wouldn't damage the irreplaceable bodywork on the bike and then helped secure the rest of the cargo in the van, so it wouldn't hit the bike.

In each of these cases, had I not been there, the buyer would have received a damaged vehicle.

JR

wayner · 09-20-2013, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unobtanium-inc

This is a little too harsh for me. -- Matt

I agree. Harsh.

I don't want to have to be the expert when hiring a service to do something that is new to me.

I think sites like that provide a false sense of security to the initiated. For example, even higher price doesn't necessarily mean that the service will be any better. It is just one indicator. (I suppose if someone wanted to steal high end cars they could advertise at the highest price to attract the right audience).

Thanks for the warning.

afterburn 549 · 09-20-2013, 05:01 AM

USHIP is just a dotcom, they will in NO way come to your rescue when shet goes wrong

j911brick · 09-20-2013, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

USHIP is just a dotcom, they will in NO way come to your rescue when shet goes wrong

Yep. They are just a broker, in auction for, like ebay. Just watch Shipping Wars to see what the drivers are like.

KTL · 09-20-2013, 07:47 AM

Go visit the car, check it out, decide if you want it. If you want it, make a deposit. Then return in person to trailer it home.

That's what I did when I bought my racecar from mm86911 in Atlanta. Took a short vacation with the wifey to coordinate car inspection and a nice Atlanta area vacation. Liked the car so I agreed to buy it.

Conned a good friend into road-tripping with me to go get it. Gave him a nice 911 adjustable rear sway bar in exchange for his weekend (all expenses paid) to ride with me from Chicago area to Atlanta & back again. Worked out fantastic.