| Contacted Viking in March 2010, was quoted $720.00. At the time checked these reviews and they had 89% good reviews and (what should have been my hint) one of the lowest rates. The break down of the cost was not explained or the fact that they are a "BROKER ONLY". They have no trucks, drivers call them. They put the jobs on a national "board" and drivers call in on the load. Ours was supposed to be picked up on the 8th of June originally, but when my mom talked with Tony on the arrival date in Tenn., he agreed that the pick up should be moved to the 9th of June. This took place at the end of May, first of June. Never heard from Viking again on pick up, so I called on the 7th to check and was told everything looked good, was told the driver would call me and gives me a pick up time. On the afternoon of the 9th called Viking and was told as many as 500 cars in California were waiting to go out of state and they were waiting for a driver to call in. On the 10th called a 2nd company and they, as a courtesy, checked the national "board". They did not see our order listed. Called Tony, he seemed not to know what the "board" was. I called Tony and, thinking mine was listed at $700.00 for the driver which is what Tony led me to believe, I offered to raise it to $800.00 for the driver. An hour later the courtesy company called me and said it was now listed, but at the figure it was listed at was below what most drivers would do it for. Turns out Viking gets $120.00 of the price and they listed the job at $600.00, Average for this type of haul I am told is $700 to $800. In conversation with the courtesy company they checked one more time and it was now listed at $700.00. And I was thinking Tony had it at $700.00 to begin with and would take it to $800.00. Tony even said taking it to $800.00 would get a driver attention. After a couple more days of no notice or calls from Viking (and YES we called 2-3 a day) and since I and my mom were flying out, we called Viking again. At this point my dad was going to stay behind for the vehicle pickup. We called Viking and Tony suggested that we pay $900.00 for the driver we would get their attention. It came down to "NO CHOICE" on our part. If we wanted to ship we had to go with it. When my mom told Tony told him " this is piracy" Tony replied if you wanted to ship we had to go with it or he would refund our deposit and we could find another company, but he had a truck in Los Angeles. We had no choice. We upped the drivers pay to $900.00. Tony sent us the information on the driver. We called him and he hoped to be in San Diego from Los Angeles Monday (6-14) night or Tuesday morning. Turns out the driver got another pick up in Barstow, CA and went there first. And when we talked with him from Barstow he said he would be in San Diego Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Talked with him Wednesday afternoon and he said Thursday mid morning. Called him at 1:30pm on Thursday and he was going to Poway, 20 miles north of the pickup. He asked my dad if he could bring the vehicle to Poway to save time. But my dad could not do this as he would not have a ride back to El Cajon. He said he would call my dad when he was on the way to El Cajon; he called 5 minutes out and needed a spot to load. My dad got him to a spot with in 2 blocks of the house. And a kid offered my dad a ride home. In talking with the driver, my dad was told; he had been in the business 1 year and did not know any driver that would haul that distance for $600 to $700. My dad went home called 12 other companies and they all quoted the job for $1,100 to $1,800. Viking never initiated a call to me to see if things worked out or any problems, I think Tony knew better. I have now seen reviews coming up and have determined Viking "LOWBALLS" the price, to get the haul, then gets you to raise the cost as you are stuck in getting the vehicle hauled. If you switch to another company you have to wait for the refund Tony tells you it will be taken care of. And then the new hauler gives you a 5 to 10 window. Which in our case would have total screwed us, not to mention the EXTRA $400.00 in car rental we had. I will admit the driver left San Diego on Thursday night or Friday morning and was in Tennessee Tuesday morning to deliver. After Tony's double talking, not seeming to care, and other companies saying they have heard of his tactics, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND VIKING AUTO TRANSPORT. And yes I was a customer of theirs, my ORDER ID WAS 42640! |
