Too cheap may be just too cheap in motorcycle shipping

Do you know that too cheap may be just too cheap in the motorcycle shipping industry? I spoke to a customer the other day and arranged the shipment of his motorcycle. He related a story to me that I thought may be relevant to the motorcycle shipping community. Upon booking his shipment with me, this guy, let’s call him Mike, provided me feedback on a recent experience he had with a discount shipper in the industry.

Mike was searching the web in early April for a discount motorcycle shipping quote. He was trying to get his motorcycle shipped from San Diego, CA to Portland, NH at as low a price as he could find. He searched online and called a number of companies. He received a number of quotes in the 700’s but was looking for something cheaper.

Mike then stumbled across a company that advertised a rate of $498 from anywhere to anywhere. So he called the company and got voice mail. He thought that they may have been based further east and may have been closed, so he called again the next day. A lady confirmed the rate. He was quite chuffed with his find and was happy that his extended Internet-surfing had paid off. He pressed the lady from the motorcycle shipping company for a schedule. She was non-committal and suggested that Mike place his booking, pay upfront for the shipment and the company would revert back to him with the schedule.

Well, he did just that. He was then told by the shipping company that the rate booked was for a shipment on a space-available basis. Upon inquiry, he was told that space-available means just that. His motorcycle would be loaded and shipped when space became available. So Mike patiently waited a week, then another, for the call from the shipping company. Well, it never came.

He then called the company to follow up and was told that they are really busy and that space may not be available for another three months or so. He was flabbergasted! Why did they not just say that at the beginning? He tried canceling his shipment but was directed to the small print advising that the full payment would be lost should he cancel. So Mike was now out $500 and still had his motorcycle in his garage in San Diego.

I received the call from Mike and he related his sad story to me when booking his shipment. Well, he booked the shipment with our company, 1aamotorcycles.com for pick-up the next day and delivery 7-10 days later at a rate of $715. You pay a little more but you get the service done! Too cheap works out to be expensive in the long run.

Too cheap may be just too cheap in the motorcycle shipping industry!