Top Questions That You Must Ask to Your Auto Transport Service Provider
When relocating to a new place along with moving furniture, car shipping also counts as an essential factor. Since most people aren’t properly aware of the concept of car transportation, I becomes one of the most daunting tasks to handle. When relocating to a new town, moving a car is one of the high-priority tasks. You can get detailed information related to car transport services over here. Meanwhile, here is a list of questions that you must ask your transporter before you decide to utilise their services.
Are they a registered company?
The last thing you would want, when getting your vehicle shipped to a different place, is to get into a scam. This is why doing background research on your own is important. As a customer, you have the full right to ask for the company’s documentation including their licence and registration certificate. This step is crucial, if you find that they are avoiding providing you with proof then do not risk getting your vehicle transported by them as the likeliness of them being illegal or scam artists is extremely high.
What services does their package include?
Once you’ve made sure that the service provider is legit, you can further ask what the exact facilities they will be providing are. Knowing if the car shipping company is transporting single vehicles or more than that, if they ship them by air, land or water carriers, if they transport non-operating cars or if you will be eligible to get a discount if you decide to get 2 or more vehicles shipped at the same time. Knowing about this and then comparing these very services with the ones from other companies will help you make a better decision.
Is the company insured?
Mishaps are not uncommon when it comes to the transportation of heavy loads. You can never be 100% sure that your vehicle will be in good shape when you hand it over to the transporters. Therefore make a habit of asking this question every time you are availing of such services. Most big and reputable companies are already insured so you can simply ask them for their certificate as proof. Apart from this, you might inquire about specific details like what the standard shipping options are? If they provide an option to buy additional insurance or if the insurance covers your entire vehicle or just some specific parts of it.
Are there any restrictions?
To make sure that you aren’t getting into any trouble make sure to ask the auto transportation company if they have any restrictions regarding the vehicles they are shipping. If your car is new, rare or antique then ask them if they will be providing a safe journey by using special equipment like cables, cords etc. You could also check with them if they allow keeping your belongings inside the vehicle when it is being transported so that you can cut the cost of moving them along with your furniture.
How do they decide the rates of shipping?
Transporters generally provide the customers with a price quotation but you shouldn’t accept their offer right away and instead question on how they came up with the rate and why is the cost high or low, depending on the situation, so you can further compare this with the price quotes from other companies and choose the most pocket-friendly option.
The rates usually depend on the distance of shipment, model or type of vehicle being transported, seasonal fluctuations of price, size of the vehicle being carried, need for special equipment to handle rare models, demand and supply going on at the moment, prices of gas, petrol or diesel, method of shipping etc. International shipping costs more than transporting within the country due to the additional taxes and fares.
Do they have customer care centres?
When the vehicle, in the transportation carrier, is on the road communication isn’t frequent. But if your vehicle that is being shipped is on a tight schedule or is a rare/antique then you would want to get updates about its safety and delivery from time to time. Customer care centres are very uncommon when it comes to smaller auto transportation companies, so if you need to constantly know the whereabouts of your vehicle try to ship them through large nationwide transport management companies.
What are the options in the mode of payment?
Asking the transport company about the available payment options they accept is important. Smaller companies get their customers to pay a deposit or partial payment when they pick up the vehicle for delivery. Many reputable companies do not have any such criteria’s. They generally take the money after they have delivered the vehicle to your location.
These are a few of the many questions that you must check with your auto shipping company and be sure to see if there are any red flags. These are not very difficult to see, if your transporter is dodging answering any question you ask them, then it is time to reconsider your choice of the shipping company.