Anyone use Haulbikes.com - Daily Direct Transport for shipping bikes?

[yoreese]

Just wanted to find out if anyone else has had a bad experience with this company?  After contracting them for service that was to be only a few days after pickup they are now after delaying my pickup 5 days that they want another 10 days to ship the bike to their warehouse and have no idea the possible delivery date.  I am in the transportation industry and have been for 22 years.  I am in operations for a 48 state general commodities carrier so I know a little about trucking.  But this is unacceptable.  I am in the process of canceling my shipment with them and finding another carrier or driving to Houston, TX to get the bike myself. 

[El Matador]

Hey, I'm in houston. If you need anything let me know.

[mcskeeto]

I had an 848 track bike shipped to Virginia from Seattle with haulbikes. They did take longer than originally estimated. The good thing was, I could always call them and there was someone assigned to my shipment. She would always let me know the status of the bike and where it was. I had it shipped to me for $600 so I can't really complain that much. The bike was delivered in perfect condition albeit about 1 week late.

[yoreese]

Thank for the offer, I am almost thinking of flying out and riding the bike back or driving my pickup and hauling it back.  The thought of riding a bike that I know nothing about even though it is suppose to be in perfect condition is not a very smart idea in my mind.  Glad to hear that you had a good experience with haulbikes.com  so far I am not so pleased.  I will keep you posted.

[El Matador]

Thank for the offer, I am almost thinking of flying out and riding the bike back or driving my pickup and hauling it back.  The thought of riding a bike that I know nothing about even though it is suppose to be in perfect condition is not a very smart idea in my mind.  Glad to hear that you had a good experience with haulbikes.com  so far I am not so pleased.  I will keep you posted.

Only crazy people do such things 

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=26965.0

[hbliam]

I am in the transportation industry and have been for 22 years.  I am in operations for a 48 state general commodities carrier so I know a little about trucking.  But this is unacceptable. 

I'm surprised you didn't use your resources to ship the bike in the first place.

[DrDesmo]

For another perspective, I had HaulBikes.com pick up my S4R and they were absolutely 100% professional about the whole thing.  I got a call:

1.) When the buyer booked the shipment
2.) The next day, letting me know they'd be picking it up "in 5-6 days"
3.) Two days later, letting me know it would be picked up Sunday
4.) Saturday night, from the driver, letting me know it would be picked up in the morning
5.) Sunday morning at 9:30, letting me know he'd be there around 11

10:59 a monster semi showed up, completely, and I mean completely, set up to haul bikes.  The driver was super careful loading the bike, did a full inspection, and used soft ties to tie it down next to some other bikes, much more expensive than mine.

I have used a couple of other shippers (JC Motorcycle, who straps it to a pallet and tosses it in the back with a forklift -- and ForwardAir, who has you strap it down to a tin box and then throws it in a truck) and I wouldn't use anyone else.

Calling them out as "scam artists" because they might be having logistical issues picking up your bike is a bit overkill - as someone in the industry i'm sure you can appreciate that they're not sending a truck to pick up your bike, it's a hub and spoke operation

Good luck in either case - you could always ride it back and have an excellent adventure 

Cheers,
Adam

[yoreese]

I may be over reacting but not very happy so far.  My trucking expertise is in general freight and we have our trucks thru that area almost daily but my bike would be destroyed because we have no way to secure bikes in our trailers  and this is the case with most other carriers unless they are specialized in bikes.  I am going to talk with the operations manager at Haulbikes today and see if we can resolve my issues.  Thanks for the help and wish me luck! 

[yoreese]

Well got a call from one of the managers at Haulbikes.com this morning and they are going to work out my issues.  Will give you an update when the bike picks up and delivers. 

[yoreese]

Bike got picked up Sunday morning at 8:30AM.  Let's see how long it take to get it to Florida.

[hbliam]

I have used a couple of other shippers (JC Motorcycle, who straps it to a pallet and tosses it in the back with a forklift -- and ForwardAir, who has you strap it down to a tin box and then throws it in a truck) and I wouldn't use anyone else.

JC caused over $3K in damage to an S4R I bought and shipped through them. Then they refused to help sort it out. I ended up having to have my insurance company pay me and go after theirs, rather then be able to take advantage of the insurance I bought through them.

Lesson learned: Make sure you add the new bike to your insurance now rather then when you get it. Most companies (like mine) automatically cover anything you buy for 30 days but having added it on nullified any possible dispute.

[yoreese]

I'm with you there!  I added the new bike to insurance before it was shipped.

[DrDesmo]

JC caused over $3K in damage to an S4R I bought and shipped through them. Then they refused to help sort it out. I ended up having to have my insurance company pay me and go after theirs, rather then be able to take advantage of the insurance I bought through them.

Lesson learned: Make sure you add the new bike to your insurance now rather then when you get it. Most companies (like mine) automatically cover anything you buy for 30 days but having added it on nullified any possible dispute.

Yeah, I was mortified when they (JC) rolled an ST4S I sold up onto a moving truck filled with appliances and mattresses ( ! ) and other boxed goods.  And then proceeded to almost drop it several times when they put it on the pallet.  Yeah ... not so much. 

[cyrus buelton]

www.uship.com

The Ebay of shipping

[DrDesmo]

www.uship.com

The Ebay of shipping

I've found great great rates if you're shipping a couple bikes at the same time, but for single bikes it was $800+ from the guys on there (at least when I shipped my monster from boston > eugene OR)

Adam