Charlie was happy because he got off work to start an early vacation. Instead of driving his Volvo, he thought car shipping would be an excellent moving plan. So he founds an online car transport company website with promising services and a low rate enough to make him click on the process.

Little did he know things were going to be a disaster for him. A professional customer service agent called him for the credit card details. Once he arrived at the destination and received the call from that very nice customer representative once again, to inform him that the cost of shipping has increased.

His car was put on hold after loading until he agreed to pay the new price. Looks like Charlie was not thorough in his research when looking for a shipping company.

So what happened with Charlie? He got scammed.

Car shipping scams are rare but they do happen. A website may look professional but a good cover is all it takes for scammers to con the online users. Sometimes the rates offered for car shipping on such websites are too good to be true but a naive customer may fall into the trap easily. Poor Charlie.

When you are looking for a car transport company, you expect it to be an easy process and we believe it should remain that way too.

In this blog, we will outline the major doubts that customers are often oblivious about and the ways you can avoid an auto transport scam right under your nose.

What is Meant by Car Shipping Scam?

These unscrupulous criminals pose as the auto shippers operating around the world and targeting the naive customers looking to ship their vehicles online.

Copying the legitimate auto transport company websites, they use the information to develop their own scamming sites.  The next agenda is to target people, the victims who fall into the trap easily.

The customers send the checks or make the payments online only to be conned for more money or lose their credit card information. This is known as a car shipping scam. Usually, once the payments are cleared, the representatives instruct you to send money through untraceable means.

After some time your bank informs you that the original check is bounced and the money you wired through Moneygram or Western Union is left for short. It vanishes into thin air.

Crucial Steps to Adopt for Avoiding Car Shipping Scams

No matter how enthusiastic you are about car shipping, there will come such a time when car transport will become more and more challenging than expected.

It can be either that your car is not delivered to the location it should but somewhere else or there is a delay in delivery.

    • Company Information and Insurance

You should be completely familiar with the car shipping companies you would like to use. And this will help you in avoiding car transport scams by knowing whether the car transport company is reliable or not.

Get all the basic details like full company name, addresses, and phone numbers. Always ask for the DOT and MC license numbers too.

Once you have the required details, you can take a thorough look if the car shipping company is a feasible option for you or not.

    • Ask for Insurance Coverage and Breakdown Assistance

Car shipping scams can easily occur if a car transport company does not provide insurance coverage or breakdown assistance.

The car carrier has no obligation to your vehicle during the car transport process so they may abandon your car and its shipment anytime.

So before signing the car shipping agreement, make sure that the car-shipping company provides you auto insurance at least $250,000 worth of coverage, as well as $500 toward emergency repairs.

    • Read Online Reviews

Any car shipping company with a proven track record will have online reviews on the website as well as on various other platforms.

Any online user who wants to ensure that the website is authentic and not a scam will make sure to go through these reviews.

For instance, Yelp, and Clutch, etc are just two of the most common review sites where authentic companies are listed.

Reading reviews, and taking a look at the star rating alongside the brief company profile gives you a clear understanding of the service or product. Therefore you must go through such review sites too.

    • Never Skim Car Shipping Contract

Contracts are binding. Your contract with the car shipping company includes all the minor and important details from the date of pick-up location to the pricing (quote).

The customer representative should make the information transparent and easy to understand for you. They walk you through the car shipping process, step by step, in case you have any questions you can ask them right away.

An auto transport scam company will withhold critical information (similar to Charlie’s case) so make sure you have all the details.

Learn From Charlie’s Mistake

Only if Charlie had a search through the right channels he could have survived the bad car shipping experience. Ship and Deliver are always careful to deliver the best shipping experience to its customer which is affordable and easy to process.

So if you want to avoid auto shipping scams, Ship and Deliver are right here for you to share any information you ever need.

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