While federal agencies such as US
Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
are changing policies regarding auto shipping scams, fraudsters are also
changing their tactics to lure consumers. The changing policies have changed
mind of rogue auto transporters and they now do illegal in a legal way. As a
result of these change of tactics, fake companies are yet able to surprise
consumers quite surprisingly. Even customers who know auto shipping process
very well are becoming victim of these fraudsters. Therefore, it is imperative
to educate consumers on what is trending to ensure they do not become a victim
of such fraudulent auto shippers.
A Registered Auto Shipper is Not Necessarily Reliable
About two years back, people only
used to consider legitimacy of car shipping company prior to hiring it. If it
were registered, they used to hire it. However, with law being restricted, fake
companies, that used to disappear after picking car, do not exist. Almost every
auto shipper is registered with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Therefore, you cannot discriminate between fake and reliable auto movers. However,
you can minimize the risks by seeing what you are complying too i.e. auto
shipping agreement.
Auto Shipping Agreement is the only Legal/Authentic Binding between You
and your Auto Mover
Most fraudsters know the fact that consumers
do not even bother to read what is writing in the car shipping agreement. So they
take advantage of your ignorance with terms and conditions of shipping car with
them. In case you miss out reading a term, they will get a chance to make most
money out of you. Therefore, to avoid these things with your next
transportation venture, you ought to check following things before signing
vehicle transport contract:
Check Cancellation Details
The foremost tactic used by fraudulent
companies is cancelling contract but not refunding full deposit. A considerable
percentage will be deducted from your deposited amount. So do not forget to
check cancellation terms. While you deal with auto mover, consider following
two suggestions:
1. Ask
it to guarantee you that your contract will not be cancelled. If it does, get
it in writing form.
2. In
case your contract is cancelled, you will get full deposit in refund.
Make Sure Your Car is Insured
Some auto movers write car-shipping
agreement in a way that you are agreeing not to get your car insured for
transportation process. So if your car undergoes a car accident, you would not
be able to claim. Therefore, make sure you car is fully covered for
transportation process.
Make sure you hire professional auto transport companies such as http://www.autotransportdepot.com to avoid regretful car shipping experiences.