Hawaii Car Transport

All the negative reviews on Hawaii Car Transport are absolutely true. First of all, the sales side is very easy to get a hold of because they want your business but after that, it is impossible to get a hold of customer service. I've waited hours on 20+ occasions and just gave up. Second, they are very expensive comparatively speaking. When you use credit card, they pass on the fees of $80+ to the customer. Third, the shipment actually arrived earlier than expected but the customer service misinformed me that it would be arriving a few days later. By the time I called Pasha, they said that I picked my vehicle up a few days late and incurred an additional $50 to release my vehicle from 'storage' fees. Hawaii Car Transport never responded to my reimbursement request. Seriously, I never write reviews but I had to just so that potential customers are warned. The sales side, Connor, has a good way of defending the company (BBB negative reviews) and the overall rating of Yelp is extremely accurate. Two months later, I never received any payments to the claim that I made when I picked up the vehicle as well based on a considerable scratch. Use any company but this company.

Unprofessional. Lacking integrity. It is not great that they scratched my 2019 TRD PRO 4runner in two different places, but what is really appalling is how difficult they have been to deal with over the claim. Auto repair shops on the Big Island do not want to write a repair estimate because they consider it a waste of their time because in their experience, HCT does not pay claims. They said this to me. So getting two estimates as HCT requires has been a nightmare. One estimate cost me $250, which is more money out of my pocket on top of the scratched car! I think HCT requires the two estimates **because** they know estimates are so hard to get and HCT does not want to pay the claim. HCT delivered my car in a timely manner but they delivered it with scratches in two different areas and have done all they can to avoid fixing the damage. From interacting with auto body shops, I have learned that HCT does not have a good reputation. Especially given that we purchased insurance, their behavior is scammy. I would not use this company again. I think at this point I am headed for small claims court with HCT -- more money and hassle.

I cannot express more, the absolute frustration I have had with this company.
They mislead me into believing all I need was my insurance, registration and ID to ship the car, I asked multiple times if I needed anything else with all of the booking information to ship my car. I was told just fill the departure information, name of who is shipping the car, all necessary information was taken care of the last thing they needed was my money.

Every time I called to reverify, they answered until I paid. Now I cannot get any help.
And after asking for help (yes I was frustrated on the phone, who wouldn't be) I was hung up on.

She told me there are only two shipping companies and I don't really have an option

If I leave it at the harbor it will be stolen or broken into and vandalized… if I don't figure it out, it isn't her issue

I understand it is my car and my responsibility… I understand, I just needed the proper information prior

You need a notary and forms from your bank along with your title, registration and id and insurance.
If I had known the notary and other forms, I would have been aware and ready… I would have planned accordingly.
They did not tell me anything, they continued to ask for all my payment methods and tried to sell me more insurance. As soon as I gave them this they refused to help.

And when I told them I was going to write the reviews, Michelle, Chase and Laura all said we don't care.
So if they don't care, please please do not use them.
They don't care about you or anything but your money.
He told me they would make sure this would not happen and it happened
Chase told me they would help me every step of the way.
They don't care and basically told me the car will be vandalized and or stolen.

08/03/2020
Craig Erickson helped a lot via a phone call earlier. The site was very easy to navigate. Great customer service so far.

09/02/2020
I believe my vehicle is still on the ocean coming to Hawaii. I am being contacted by another shipping/delivery company called Pasha Hawaii. They gave me a pickup appointment date and time.
Hawaii Car Transport asked me to conform that I received an "order" e-mail. I'm assuming these two agencies work together and that once the barge docks, Hawaii Car Transport hands the car over to Pasha Hawaii for delivery to me.
Communications continue to be excellent and I know exactly where my car will be once it hits land.

Picking my car up in LA was a total cluster. I arrived to the lot where there were about 20 people standing around in a fenced in area. It was difficult to find someone who worked there. I was asked to wait outside until they called my name twice, then I had to ride in the back of a rickety bus to be dropped off 47 rows away from where my car was parked. For the price I paid for ship my car, this experience was messy and exhausting.

The people I felt with were kind, but the overall system needs major improvements.

I could not believe how easy the process was and Hawaii Transport made that happen.
First, THEY contacted me the day after I put in a request on line.
Second, they told me exactly what I needed to do and when I needed to do it.
Third, they gave me valid and distinct reasons why I would or would not want to upgrade.
Fourth, they always responded quickly to my phone calls and emails.
I felt like a had a personalized experience.
Were there some glitches? Well yes. 2 of them
1.They were upgrading their computer systems and I was not able to track my car... but that is understandable... they were up front about it.
2. We were given an incorrect address as to where to pick up the car. Because the port is only open until 3 and only a few days a week, this meant a longer period for me to rent a car. But honestly, EVERYTHING else was so superior it would not affect my choice to go through them again.

My car was dead and after getting the car jumped I noticed it was in the "Tow Mode" when we picked it up along with other settings. It appeared someone who drove it did not realize what buttons/switches they hit. It is not good for a car to sit with all those gears turned on. The ABS alert was also on- the car had a full inspected with a mechanic prior to shipping it. Hopefully its just a simple thing and maybe the alert was caused by all the random buttons that had been turned on. Ill be taking it to the shop this week and hopefully its not a big deal and hopefully completely unrelated to the shipping.
Otherwise the customer service was awesome and they were quick to respond when I had questions. Way better experience than when I shipped our other car with another service.
Thank you

Poor communication, no updates unless we asked, but even then they didn't update the "Transportation Tracker" that they provide. We had no idea where our car was, when it arrived at the port in California, when it was loaded on the ship, or where it was in transport. Every date they provided was wrong. I understand that they can't predict when it will arrive in Hawaii due to the ships travel but updates on the date or confirmation that it made the trip from Wisconsin to California would be nice. VERY poor communication and, considering there are several options for shipping, I will never transport with this company again.