A Eastern Connection

On August 29, 2008, I hired this company to ship a car from AZ to VA. They took a direct draft of $940 out of my bank account. Their estimated date of pick up was August 4. The car was never picked up. I was told numerous stories regarding when it would by picked up, etc. According to the contract, I could cancel the order if the car had not been picked up within 14 business days. I did end up cancelling the order by the end of August. I faxed the cancellation order to them.

I have yet to recieve the refund. I have called and faxed dozens of times inquiring as to the status of the refund. I have been told numberous stories, including being told twice that it had been sent. I have been called a liar, and i have been hung up on. Yesterday my boyfriend called and spoke to John who hung up on him. When we called him back, John threatened that if we call again, we will NEVER receive our refund. I am a single mother, a kidney transplant pateient, and am on disability. I need help in obtaining a full refund.

I have since paid another company to ship the car.

We are a Towing comapany in which we were hire by the company mention above. They transport vehicle from east to west back and forth. They found us in the internet and from then on we made a deal. We did some pick ups for them and store the vehicle until they were ready for pick up. We charge for our towing service and for storage of the vehicles. We agree with Juan person who we had contact with, Towing and 5 days free storage from then on $10 a day for storage. In which most of the cars where store for over 40 days.

At the begining we receive a check for $750.00 which was a great start for our few tow service we did. Then we received a $350.00 check that was revoked by the bank. There is still an over $2000.00 outstanding balance in which I still havent received payment of. Ive made many attempt to reach the account payable. Acording to what i was told her name is Margarite, she only works Monday and Thrusday. Ive called her at all time. I always hear, shes busy, she is not in, she will call you back. Its been almost two months and I dont even know her voice. Ive send send her few times the fax of my invoice for my payment just in case she dont want to struggle. Ive call over and over I never hear from her. The operator is very rude and when she knows is me she hangs up right way.

I believe I have a right to be calling and asking for my payment, and I really want to speak with Margarite to know whats going to happend since there is no one else that can help me or give me any info. I spoke with Juan, my contact person over there, he said he was going to help me on Nov. 17, 2008. He called back and told me to keep trying to reach her on Thrusday or Monday because my payment was PENDING. Why would it be pending? We did what was told to do, we did the Towing and we keeped vehicles for over 40 days. I dont see why it would be pending. Also I had spoken with a male name of Greg that told me he would go ahead and take care of it, this was way over a good month and a half.

Emocionaly is very devastading due that I was very exited to do business with them and it was going to help my business especially with economy being so bad. I took the time for the picks up, hire another person to help me do the Tows. I used up my disel that at the point was at over $5 per gallon, and some of the pick ups were a bit far from my business. Also very stressing with owners of the vehicles wanting to know when their car was going to get picked up, and we didnt have an answer. We called A Eastern and didnt have an answer for us either. All I want is my money that they owe us to make up for the salary of my driver, my time, disel and storage that the vehicles took.

As part of moving from Surprise, AZ to North Carolina, my mom contracted with A Eastern Connection to transport her Honda Accord from Surprise to NC. She paid them $970 by personal check on April 24, 2008 with the agreement that they would pick up the car on June 6, 2008 from her address, a date she confirmed with them on June 4. However, no pickup was made that June 6 - nor contact made by them to advise that it wouldn't - and she had to follow through with her travel plans the next day and flew east.

Prior to leaving, she left the car with a friend/neighbor and notified A Eastern who said the car would be picked up the following Monday, June 9. That date came and went without pickup as did a number of other dates in the coming weeks. Not once did A Eastern initiate contact and became increasingly rude and even threatening in manner during her calls to inquire (and my own, her son's, calls........She is an 86 year old woman and solicited my support in trying to deal with the very unpleasant situation). On Friday, June 20, I lodged a complaint with the NY State Better Business Bureau.

A Eastern Connection picked up her car on June 27, but instead of delivering it to NC they instead took it to a parking lot in Phoenix, AZ (about 20 miles from where they picked it up) and, only after a series of increasingly desperate phonecalls in which I even had to involve a lawyer, told her that the car could be picked up at a location and provided a Phoenix phone number of a person who would apprise her of where the car was physically located. They also said that whoever picked the car up would have to pay $360 in cash to do so.

And that is eventually what happened. A friend picked up the car on Monday, July 7 (Phoenix police met him there at his request given the shady nature of things until that point) and did pay the cash and successfully retrieved the car and took it to another auto transport company who have since delivered it to her in North Carolina for the price of $1050. So the transaction with A Eastern cost her $970 up front and then $360 to recover the vehicle...which was somewhat the worse for wear, but nothing that I suppose they could be held accountable for since the vehicle was not in their hands the entire time.

So it initially cost her $1330 to deal with A Eastern and got her nothing but interminable delay, rude and threatening exchanges, a damaged vehicle and another bill from the legitimate company to actually get the car delivered to the new home.

After a couple of exchanges with the New York Better Business Bureau, amazingly, A Eastern did refund the original $970, but my mom was still out the $360 to pick up her own car in Phoenix as well as having been without the car for 6 weeks in her new home. Avoid A Eastern Connection...they are disreputable....

I contracted with A Eastern to transport my vehicle from California to South Carolina on June 8th. Paid in full 915.00 was told car would be picked up by June 17th or 18th. Car was not picked up within that time. multiple calls made to the company for pick up date. car was transported on June 27th to a towing garage (JC towing) and not being transported to its destination.

called 1 week to track car was told they did not know where car was. I called towing company on receipt and found my vehicle still in california. had to pay $250 for towing and storage and then had to locate a new transportation company and pay them $1200 to pick up and transport my car from towing garage to S. Carolina. have been attempting to contact A Eastern refund department for 2 weeks, but never able to speak to person in charge. been given the runaround for the entire time.

lost of initial $915 dollars, car rental $268/week x 3 weeks; $250 to have car released and $1200 for new company to carry out service.

This company is fraudulant. Tom from San Francisco [has] my husban and I car (Ford Mustang red). Can you please contact me. We do not have number as A Eastern Connection will not provide us with information.

Car stolen by A Eastern Connection

Contacted A Eastern Connection to ship car from CA to TN. Took our money (1/2) did not pick up car for three weeks. Finally picked up car. Still do not have car. We have no idea where our car is. Ordered in June car was picked up July 20th and here it is Aug 20th and we do not have our car. We get a run around when we call.

We found a Transport review site on Google and hundreds of people have been scammed by this company. Now they have our money and our car. We know our car is in some lot in San Francisco incurring fees and we will be responsible.

No car, had to buy a new car, lost money, car basically has been stolen.

I transported 2 cars for them and stored a 3rd. I have the 3 cars now for weeks and have not recieved payment and they were never picked up as promised. I am sure I will not recieve payment for all this time. I will continue to hold the cars, but I feel very bad for the people whose cars these are. I am going to try to contact them to let them know they should sue.

I have not received payment and am stuck with 3 cars right now.

I transported 2 cars for them and stored a 3rd. I have the 3 cars now for weeks and have not recieved payment and they were never picked up as promised. I am sure I will not recieve payment for all this time. I will continue to hold the cars, but I feel very bad for the people whose cars these are. I am going to try to contact them to let them know they should sue. I have not received payment and am stuck with 3 cars right now.

We are a transport co. who did some work for aeasternconnection on 4/9/08, and we are still waiting to be paid from them. As of today, it has been 103 days from date of service, and we have been told countless times the check will be sent next week. (that ween has NEVER come)
Then we are told it has been sent, (that time has NEVER come either), now we are told that the bank froze their account, they have opened a new one and can you believe it 4 weeks later they still don't have their new checks to send us one as PROMISED!!!

This is gettin old, so, today 6/24/08, I faxed them about 25 - 30 copies of the bills, that started the ball rolling. I then followed the fax with a phone call, they told me they got the message. You have heard the expression it ain't over till the fat lady sings, well she ain't even got started yet, cause they have not heard the last of me. I have billed them 3 times over the last 103 days, the sum that they owe is $1360.00 (with late fees).

This in now long past the dates mentioned before. It is now July 27,08 and we would like you to help up PLEASE. IF YOU CAN HELP US LEGALEY, PLEASE DO. THANK YOU.

I contracted with these people to arrange transport of my vehicle from MA to WA state in March 2008. I paid $1,190 in advance and was told pickup would be 3/21 or 3/22/08. This company also electronically transferred my money even before they had my signed contract in their hands. I signed the contract in Massachusetts on March 17 and mailed it the following day. They had the transfer of money done on March 18. It takes at least two days to mail something from Massachusetts to New York I would think.

That day for the vehicle to be picked up came and went, I called them and I was told pickup would be the following week and that they were having problems arranging with a carrier. They continued to have problems, according to them each time I called.

According to the contract I signed, I was entitled to a full refund if A Eastern Connection was unable to arrange for pickup within 14 business days. On April 15, I called for a refund and was told I needed to fax them the request. I did so on April 17 and also sent a registered letter. I gave them about two to three weeks before I called and asked about the status of my refund. This is when all the problems began.

When I called I was told that bookkeeping was not in - only in on Mondays and Thursdays. However, when you call on a Monday or Thursday, the bookkeeper, who also happens to be owner and president of the company is not in or available. If you leave a phone number, phone calls are not returned. I have also e-mailed numerous times and have no responses to these. The last time I called I was told to stop calling and e-mailing because I was harassing THEM and if I continued to do so I would not get my refund of $1,190.

It is now June 24, well over two months since I requested a refund. Reviewing their reputation on transportreviews.com, I see that they have a bad reputation, do not provide services they set out to do, do not pay their carriers, and do not send refunds to those who have made the mistake, such as I did, and contracted with them.

We are a transport co. who did some work for aeasternconnection.com on 4/9/08, and we are still waiting to be paid from them. As of today, it has been 103 days from date of service, and we have been told countless times the check will be sent next week. (that ween has NEVER come) Then we are told it has been sent, (that time has NEVER come either), now we are told that the bank froze their account, they have opened a new one and can you believe it 4 weeks later they still don't have their new checks to send us one as PROMISED!!!

This is gettin old, so, today 6/24/08, I faxed them about 25 - 30 copies of the bills, that started the ball rolling. I then followed the fax with a phone call, they told me they got the message. You have heard the expression it ain't over till the fat lady sings, well she ain't even got started yet, cause they have not heard the last of me.

I have billed them 3 times over the last 103 days, the sum that they owe is $1360.00 (with late fees).

20 days late and still waiting. Company has horable customer service. Company does not return phone calls. Dispatchers avoid forwarding you to the Dispatch Office. Upon contacting John the Operations Manager, he was the rudest person I have ever spoken to and suggested that I either keep waiting or cancel my services upon the 14 business day rule in writing which is tomorrow. 15+ phone calls, 3 emails and tons of wasted time have gotten me no where with this company.

Company email does not work. Alternate emails to company address do not get answered. I told him that I was in the US Navy and awaiting transfer for picking up my vehicle and he stated that it was my choice and he did not care about my concerns. Absolutely unreal that they are in the transport business

His email from: aeastern connection aeastern connection. "Mr. Kelly H., Why would you asked us to continue with your shipment and find a carrier when you have slandered us on the Internet. Let me make ourselves perfectly clear, unless that is removed immediately from the internet we will NOT pick up your car and we will not refund any of your money at that point you will need to sue us in the State of New York in Nassau County for you to try to retrieve any of your money and we will sue you for Liable and Slander. A Eastern Connection"

Subject: Operations Manager's Poor Service - Invoice 04029 from: Kelly H. "Sir, I just got off the phone with John your Operations Manager. I must say that he is absolutely the most rude person that I have ever dealt with and that he does not have your company's best interest at hand. In trying to explain that my vehicle is now 20 days late in being picked up and that I am a military member who is awaiting retrieval, he absolutely could not have cared about my concerns. In closing our short conversation, he actually suggested that I cancel my services and use another carrier. I am absolutely sorry that you have such an employee acting in your company's behalf... i guess my only option is to cancel my services tomorrow (14th business day) and find another carrier... I hope you can assist and prevent this from happening. Very respectfully, Mr. Kelly H."

Loss of $940.

This company (formerly Autotrail Transporters) stole our money. We hired them to transport a car down south (Florida). They said they could only accept a check over the phone, so we paid $720. The car was to be picked up two days later, which it was, by a tow truck company. It was then held and given to a transporter. We had no idea that there would be so many different people involved. The transporters called us two days before the vehicle was scheduled to arrive and informed us he had no intention of delivering our vehicle. He said AEastern owed him $3200 from a previous job he did for them, and he was going to keep all the vehicles (said he had nine) until he got the money. When we called AEastern, they told us it was not their problem he stole the cars, and we should call the police. When we asked AEastern for our money back, we got cursed out and threatened by them. We had to pay the transporter $450 in cash and then hire another company to bring the vehicle down to Florida.

This was a month ago. AEasten still has not refunded the money, and when we call they threaten to sue us for harassment and extortion. We are just trying to get back our money that was paid to them, and they never provided the service. Feel like it is a big scam, and they are preying on people.

$2100 in money in this ordeal and in lost wages going back and forth to the police station.

My son and I started a business transaction between Aeastern connection, inc. In the process of them mailing us a contract, (Laura?) insisted that they needed his routing # off his checking account right now, so he felt pressured into that; but he told them not to try to take any money from that account until Friday (which was approx. 3 days later) because he had to transfer funds into that account! They agreed to that; however they immediately proceeded to remove the funds into their account. Once we saw this on his online banking, he called them and they were very rude to him and told him that if we wanted to cancel the transaction, that it would cost him $250.00. We immediately called our bank and placed a stop payment on the transaction--and we were successful (thank God).

However, we're not done with these people. Everyday we have to call them and ask them to stop hitting the checking account, but they hit it everyday (the charge gets placed on there, then the bank kicks it back). We're trying to close that account, but you can't when there's a negative balance. We are on the phone everyday with the bank; we're in the process of filing an electronic claim, so the bank's attorney will call them and start his procedure. Bottom line is, my son says he never gave Aeastern Connection a verbal agreement and would like to close that account.

I called A-Eastern Connection to get a quote on what it might cost to ship my car from Greenwich, CT to Palo Alto, CA. Upon providing me with a quote, the woman, Laura, aggressively tried to lock me into signing up for their service, to which I explained I was only looking for a quote at the time being, but if that changed I would call them back. She proceeded to call the house 3 more times--once that evening, and twice the next morning-- until finally I relented and said I would be happy to have them ship the car. As we began the contract process, I clearly articulated to A-Eastern connection that I would need the car to arrive in Palo Alto no later then the 25th of January. We were assured repeatedly that this would happen, and that the car would be picked up on or around the 14th of January. Never once did they even mention to us that in the 'fine print', they had no obligation to honor this verbal commitment. Come the 14th, 15th, 16th...no truck came, not even a phone call.

When I called to ask them about the situation, I was hung up on repeatedly, yelled at for not reading the contract correctly, and told that if they couldn't find someone in 14 days to take the car, then I could have my money back, or I could cancel today and forgo the security deposit of $250! Ultimately, because of the way that we had been treated on the phone, their total lack of communication to us, we decided to ask for our money, which they had already deposited. In our final call to them to ask for a return of our funds, they were consistently belligerent, patronizing, refusing to tell us who we should send the fax to in requesting our funds. The conversation ended when the A-Eastern gentlemen called my mother an *******.

Essentially, I am fully cognizant that A-Eastern Connection did not legally violate their contract. I just feel that the manner in which they represented and conducted their business was incredibly misleading. For a company that advertises by saying, "Choosing an auto transporter is an important decision: 'why not go with a company that provides you with the courteous, reliable service'--give A Eastern Connection a call", I feel like I got taken for a ride. Ultimately the loss was only the $250 deposit, a lot of time, and I will now have to rent a car for the first several weeks that I am in California, while I wait for another transporter to move my car out there.

On 11/22/06 I hired a company named A Eastern Connection Inc to ship my car from Northern California to Southwest Florida and paid them $925 the same day as the order was placed, using a credit card.

They never shipped my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee or performed any service whatsoever. I called them a minimum of once per week over the next month, and they would always tell me my Jeep would be shipped the next week, never with a specific day or time. But they never once called to give me a status or to let me know that the vehicle would not be picked up, and it never was. Finally, I gave them notice in writing of my cancellation after they told me it would be shipped sometime the next week, but I said no and faxed them notice of my cancellation on 1/19/07.

Since they were not able to ship my vehicle within 14 business days of the approx. date car pick up? (not including holidays), per their contract I am due a full refund without penalty.

They faxed back a response to my written cancellation, the same day, saying a check would be in the mail the next week, but after more than a month I have received nothing.
This operation goes by at least 2 different company names and at least 2 different company addresses:
http://www.autotrailtransporters.com/services.asp?p=3
and

http://www.aeasternconnection.com/

Finally, I had hire another company to do the job, and the charge was made on the same credit card around January 20th for an amount of $1035.00 and they shipped the car as promised.

This company, A Eastern Connection, apparently changes names when the BBB and Attorney General come down on them, but continue to operate. They have used other names such as Autotrail Transporters, and run the same scam by telling customers the driver has been delayed, then never picking the car up and never returning the money.

They took my $925.00 back on 11/22/06, and from what I've read online I'm not the only one.