NTT Transport & Go 2 Transportation: Problems and Lessons Learned

[Ed Sims]

I'm sorry to hear of what you had to go through jaxgt. I will never use those 2 companies!

Ed

 

[Specracer]

That sucks!! We used that combo of companies to get to the TX rally, and I later used, go 2, again, to get a car I bought from CA, and one rear wheel had curb rash, and just assumed it was there. Wonder if it was done in shipping. At least in my case, was only a $200 wheel, that I bought a long time ago.

As you stated, the worst is the sheer time you had to spend.

 

[MNJason]

Good lessons for us to remember. Thanks!

 

[HHGT]

Mitch, I am sorry for all the trouble you had to endure.

 

[Fubar]

Well they suck… and you’ve got a Ford GT and a 458, sometimes the nice guy wins.

 

[Thugboat]

Jax, Everyone

I am in the trucking business. Every reputable company should have a Cash Bond on file for just such instances. Usually 10K! Talk in our business is to raise it to 100K. Very easy to file on and you will find that STUFF happens quickly when you threaten or do file on their bond. I posted in a thread years ago that the first place trucking companies compromise in a bad economy, IS THEIR INSURANCE!!!! Ask for a copy before you ever hand them your keys or your money. Then call the insurance company. Some will file long enuff to get the paper copy then cancel. Sound familiar? Same as do people with their cars.

Larry Boatner

 

[jaxgt]

Mitch, I am sorry for all the trouble you had to endure.

Fortunately, just wheels and nothing that can't be easily replaced (though still waiting for replacements). It would have been much less of an issue had they not falsified paper work, then denied it even after I showed it to them, then made me jump through hoops for near two months.

 

[jaxgt]

Jax, Everyone

I am in the trucking business. Every reputable company should have a Cash Bond on file for just such instances. Usually 10K! Talk in our business is to raise it to 100K. Very easy to file on and you will find that STUFF happens quickly when you threaten or do file on their bond. I posted in a thread years ago that the first place trucking companies compromise in a bad economy, IS THEIR INSURANCE!!!! Ask for a copy before you ever hand them your keys or your money. Then call the insurance company. Some will file long enuff to get the paper copy then cancel. Sound familiar? Same as do people with their cars.

Larry Boatner

Thanks for the tip. I hate to admit, but naively, I never checked on their insurance or even asked. Fortunately, they were insured.

 

[Black GT]

NTT Transport & Go 2 Transportation: Problems and Lessons Learned

Gents – as some of you know, I purchased a great Ferrari 458 out of California about 2 months ago. After finishing the deal, I chose to use a transporter recommended by some, NTT Transport (Norwalk Tow and Transport Inc). Several folks have asked me about how the shipping went, as they heard whisper of some of the problems. This is in no way a criticism of anyone who recommended them – but rather I hope it to serve as useful information for folks who are considering shipping a car and may have to deal with issues later.

I spoke with the owner of NTT Transport shortly after buying my car. He arranged a very timely pickup within 1 day. I was told my car would stay on the same truck from California to Florida, and not be off loaded anywhere or swapped to another truck, as some companies do. I had to pay him in advance via bank wire to transport the car. Because the price seemed good, and some good guys here recommended them, I went with NTT Transport.

Car arrived about at my house a week or two later, as promised. First thing of note, I contracted NTT Transport to ship the car, but it arrived on a truck labeled Go 2 Transportation out of Arizona – not sure if an affiliated company, or NTT Transport sub-contracted shipping out – which he was not supposed to do. (Lesson 1 – best to get this all in writing, which I did not). When car was off loaded, I immediately saw some big road rash on one front wheel and a big chip on the other. Since I had the car inspected the day before pickup, and had photos, I knew it wasn’t there on pickup. The Go 2 Transportation Driver assured me it was present when they picked up the car, and even gave me a copy of his pickup inspection report showing both wheels damaged at pickup. I asked him if it could have happened when car was off loaded to change trucks (baiting him as it wasn’t supposed to be), and he said it was only off loaded once in Arizona and they checked it there. Hmmmm. I had to sign for car as his inspection papers from pickup showed damage and I already paid them. I figured I’d deal with it later. ( Lesson 2 – best to pay at pickup if at all possible)

I called seller and inspector, both of whom assured me no damage at all was there at pickup. Fortunately, seller kept his copy of the pickup inspection report (** LESSON 3 – make sure seller keeps this for you). This was critical, because his paperwork was different – it did not show any damage to wheels. Somehow, trucking company must have changed paperwork and falsified the pickup records. After speaking to seller, he also said he was actually so concerned with how driver was loading car on truck (approaching ramp at sharp angle, not straight on), he actually took photos of him loading it because he thought something could happen to wheels. He saved them too (VERY HELPFUL).

I immediately contacted Vick, the owner of NTT Transport and described the story. I had already got a quick price to replace the 2 wheels from the aftermarket company that made them. Trying to be a nice guy, and because the owner of NTT Transport is a bud of some guys here, I said in effect that I know sh-t happens - just pay me for the 2 wheels and I’ll handle mounting and balancing costs and getting car to area Ferrari dealer, and we’ll call it a day. Sadly, after being run around for a week or so, I was told to contact Go 2 Transportation, as they delivered the car. I’m still not sure if it is a subsidiary company of NTT Transport, or affiliated, or ?. The manager at Go 2 Transport then was offered same deal by me – settle quickly and I’ll take care of mounting etc… He said no way. In fact, he denied they changed paperwork, in spite of me providing copies of both, and said his driver must have just missed the damage on pickup. He then directed me to his insurance company. When I emailed him the photos of the 2 paper works, he didn't really know what to say.

Their insurance company, like most, loves to drag things out as much as possible. I provided them an estimate for replacing the 2 wheels, and now to pay for the transport of the car to the nearest Ferrari dealer and labor to mount/balance/align. This added quite a bit of money to the claim. It was a very straight forward claim. 2 invoices – one for the 2 wheels and one for labor. What the insurer tried to do is to keep low balling me and dragging things on and on to get me to take less money. I gave them receipts for everything and they tried to sneak in a long document for me to sign for a different price, at 30% less than the claim. I called insurance rep and said no way. It took another week, then they sent me another document, this time about 15% less than claim. It then took another 2 weeks and finally they settled. I had to threaten them with loss of use and loss of value claims to get them to resolve it. (Lesson 4 is never let an insurance company short change you). I am sure they thrive on desperate folks who might need whatever portion of claim money they can get to get their only car and transportation fixed, so they try low balling. It’s sad, and made me feel bad for desperate folks who have little leverage. Of course, a typical Ford GT or Ferrari buyer is not going broke if 2 rims are damaged. I was ready to have an attorney make their life hell for another $30,000 claim if they didn’t take care of it.

NTT Transport and Go 2 Transportation handled this horribly. What would have been a simple problem easily fixed, became a royal hassle for me. On top of all that, they lied about transferring my car to another truck on route. They falsified their paperwork, and weren’t even concerned enough to accept my overly generous offer to settle quickly at a less than fair price to me and call it a day. I have been advised to forward copies of their falsified documents to the ICC. Personally, I think they should also refund my transportation fee and reimburse me for time spent handling this. Overall it has been about 7 weeks since they were first contacted with a simple claim. I finally deposited the insurance check today. The 2 replacement wheels I ordered are still on their way from the aftermarket wheel company.

I WILL NEVER ever use those bozos to even ship my son's bike!!! Thanks for the heads up. Can you please post pics of the 458s??

 

[HIRISC]

Well they suck… and you’ve got a Ford GT and a 458, sometimes the nice guy wins.

:thumbsup

 

[Specracer]

http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?22982-New-addition-Ferrari-458

Can you please post pics of the 458s??

 

[peiserg]

this will make your toes curl.. as a consumer..

I had my 1975 landcruiser shipped. When it arrived, it was furthest forward. He unloads a couple of cars, and then realizes that one of them (a 1970's or 60's Tbird) won't start. Then it turns out his loading winch doesn't work either. So now he can't get the tbird loaded. So he asks me to push the car UP the ramp. I point out that in front of my bumper is a TOW BALL, welded in place. he says "hey now problem, this guy has never seen this car, he bought it off of ebay."

Well, i tried using 4-low so i could slowly push the car up. turns out my transfer case was stuck in 2-high. So in order to get the car up, I had to get a running (5-6 mph) start, and bang the rear end. I stalled the first couple of times... so ended up rear ending this car....with my TOW BALL...5 times.. after the first crack, i asked the guy "are you sure about this?" .... "oh yeah... no problem...

the rear end of that car was smashed to shit by the time i was done..

on the bright side.... not a scratch on my landcruiser... long live the beast..

i was incredulous... so this story surprises me not at all...

 

[2112]

this will make your toes curl.. as a consumer..

I had my 1975 landcruiser shipped. When it arrived, it was furthest forward. He unloads a couple of cars, and then realizes that one of them (a 1970's or 60's Tbird) won't start. Then it turns out his loading winch doesn't work either. So now he can't get the tbird loaded. So he asks me to push the car UP the ramp. I point out that in front of my bumper is a TOW BALL, welded in place. he says "hey now problem, this guy has never seen this car, he bought it off of ebay."

Well, i tried using 4-low so i could slowly push the car up. turns out my transfer case was stuck in 2-high. So in order to get the car up, I had to get a running (5-6 mph) start, and bang the rear end. I stalled the first couple of times... so ended up rear ending this car....with my TOW BALL...5 times.. after the first crack, i asked the guy "are you sure about this?" .... "oh yeah... no problem...

the rear end of that car was smashed to shit by the time i was done..

on the bright side.... not a scratch on my landcruiser... long live the beast..

i was incredulous... so this story surprises me not at all...

Remind me not to share transport with you. :eek

Also, who was this shipper? We need to add them to the list.

 

[OzarkGT]

I'm sorry about what happened to you. I too believe in "hand shake" agreements, and I sometimes get caught failing to do my due diligence. Its threads like this that help guys like me to be forewarned.

I agree with your thinking regarding how this event should of been handled. I have always believed that the true measure of a business isn't in how they handle themselves when things are going smoothly, but in how the company handles themselves when things go badly. I don't like problems in my business, but when they do occur, I personnally take the opportunity to turn lemons into lemonaid. Thankfully my competition doesn't have the same philosophy as me. It has made me prosperious.

Since I think this thread underscores business practices and ethics, I must also comment that I never worried so much about first impressions but more on the last impression. Early on in a relationship with a sub-contractor thats woes and fawns you at the beginning of a project, sometimes becomes the devil themselves when it comes time for them to finish what they promised.

Wally

 

[peiserg]

wish i remembered... this is about 10 yrs ago. Yeah, the dude was a scumbag..