[TejasV]

Hi folks,


I am here to share an unfortunate experience I have had with transporting my car from Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad. The car is an Alto, my father's actually which we wanted to use as a second car in Hyderabad.

I went about looking for car transport providers on the web and found a host of sites and providers like justdial who connected me with many transporters.

You can give your number and you get a call back, whatsapp messages and smses of services being provided. I got unbelievable quotes from VRL and Gati logistics. I should've been more careful in hindsight. They quoted Rs.5000ish respectively.

I specifically asked those guys if that is all that needs to be paid and they said taxes may be extra and will be calculated when shipped (inster-state taxes and gst is what they said).

When I probed further, I was assured by an English speaking operator that the cost is possible as they send the car back in empty car transport trucks which have delivered new cars from the factory to showrooms in Vizag and hence the low price. They offered a door-to-door service.



Day 1:

I am asked to send Rs.1000 as advance to the Gati UPI scanner code that they messaged. the name checks out, the logo is the same as Gatis and I thought I could pay up.





Day 2:

They send a guy to pick up the car, I ask a relative to click pictures with him and also of the reciept and was assured delivery in 1 day.


There was no response for a day after pickup, with the local driver who picked up saying it has been taken to a warehouse at Anakappale (a small town which is on the bypass outside Vizag).

The next morning I get a quote of Rs.15800 for the same. Saying I need to pay it for the car to be delivered.

I was shocked and tried to reach out to Gati (went to their official site, customer support and all of them casually said this is not the same Gati and there are a lot of fake companies like these which use reputed company names and logos. They even register the companies as firms with small changes - Agarwal packer mover instead of Agarwal packers and movers etc.)

Now the tone and the person speaking on the other end changed from English to very rural Hindi. These guys were now operating from Haryana. They were not based in Hyderabad or Visakhapatnam.


Day 3:

I told them I will not pay and need my car back. They said it will cost Rs.3000 for the same, I wasn't willing to pay and also did not have a person in Vizag who could go pick it up, so let it be and asked them for a breakup of the cost.



They said transport insurance is 3% of car value and that I will get a copy of the same soon after payment. Knowing I was being scammed but with no other way out and lack of time I went ahead and paid in full.

No tracking code or insurance copy as promised.

Day 4:

Now I get messages saying they need another thousand more, from random numbers to get my car delivered. I went ballistic and said I will register a case (which I intend to soon, when I get time). They finally do a conference call with the guy who is actually transporting the car.

He says, the same is safe and will arrive today. I believe him as he is the actual truck guy who picked up my car. Was following up with him parallelly and he says there as many such operators who only use whatsapp, get customers using google ads and ape known companies while actually using empty trucks from transport companies to deliver cars.

This guy who is actually delivering says he is paid a few thousand at max and assured my car's delivery tomorrow.

Hoping for the best and wish everyone who reads this double checks and pays only when the bill is clear and the company is actually what they say it is. Unfortunately the official sites of these reputed brands are bad and the response to queries/leads is pathetic. But I'd still be patient and hope you will not repeat my mistake.

Lesson Learnt, Things To Keep In Mind While Transporting A Car:

1. Always reach out to the official site
2. Get a detailed bill
3. Check all taxes upfront
4. They generally dont have tracking but ask for a loading unloading picture
5. Keep some balance, don't pay in full upfront - official sites accept 75% advance
6. Take Aadhar/ID proof of the guy taking the vehicle and check company ID

Would I have done it differently? Yes! Should I have been more careful, Yes! I was in the middle of a medical emergency in the family and let things be going by the brand name/also with Gati's HQ being next door to where we live, I was naïve. I just don't want others to fall into the same trap and hence putting it up here.

Thanks,
Tejaswi

[GTO]

Sad scene, thanks for sharing your experience with us. Will definitely help others.

Reminds me of this other scam on Google where scammers hijack the business listing and change it to their own phone number. You call the business (from this kind of Google search result), they ask you to transfer them monies. Once you pay them online, comes the disappearing act and no product / service delivered. Restaurants, grocery stores, wine shops etc. are the most frequent targets. Check out this news article on OvenFresh, there are plenty more on others.

[condor]

Originally Posted by TejasV

. the name checks out, the logo is the same as Gatis and I thought I could pay up.

@Tejas,

This is more impersonation and fraud-like thing than hijacking.

The logo checks out, but check that bill.

Gati Packer & Mover ?
basic english - most such companies are PackerS & MoverS.

The name printed on top of the receipt and the URL is different.

The mentioned URL is not even valid.

If you had checked closer, the name GATI is in a different font - and the combined mark (logo + name) are something else.

The stamps of BVQI etc are freely available, and anyone can put them (till there is a raid on them).


But thanks for sharing - should be helpful for others before one checks for cheaper options.

[TejasV]

Originally Posted by condor

@Tejas,

The logo checks out, but check that bill.

Gati Packer & Mover ?
basic english - most such companies are PackerS & MoverS.

The name printed on top of the receipt and the URL is different.

The mentioned URL is not even valid.

Absolutely, got the full bill a day after car was picked up. That's when I fully realised my folly. The previous one, which was for Rs.5000 was completely different and more like the original brand bill. I should've been careful there too as they left the taxes empty (in my weak defence, they said the total would be Rs.5000). Just putting it here so that others dont make the mistake I did.

Good news is the car has arrived safely.

[RedTerrano]

This is one of the instances where I absolutely wouldn't mind a tracker on the car. Trucks move slowly. If the physical location of the car is know, the concerned truck can be tracked and with a bunch of friends your prized possession can be recovered.

Originally Posted by TejasV

I will register a case (which I intend to soon, when I get time).

You might want to crank up the priority for this. Authorities are there to help us, but they can swing into action only after input from our end.

[akshaymahajan]

This isn't one off. This seems to be the standard mode of operation of any of these "non branded" logistics providers sadly. Had the same issue while transporting my bike to BLR 5 years back. Same tactic - Provide low price, pick up vehicle and then before delivery, jack up rates.

[chinkara]

Commiserations.

The logistics sector for personal movement is one of the most scam-prone in India. In the past I have lost a carpet received as a marriage gift in an inter city transfer. Insurance @3% - what insurance?
Complained at Gurgaon consumer court (there was confusion as to whether I needed to file in Mumbai where the service was booked). However, I had to move abroad shortly and gave up the claim as it was not possible to attend hearings any more.

[bharanidharang]

Keeping our fingers crossed for you to receive you car without any further issue. For these high value products, makes sense to get a known driver locally and ask the person to drive the car back. Will defenitely be more expensive but I don't think there is any proper solution considering even big names, we seem to encounter frauds.

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by TejasV

Would I have done it differently? Yes!

I was on the lookout for packers and movers in 2017 owing to relocation from Mumbai. I had zeroed in on Agarwal packers and movers which is a reputed brand. While googling , one can see two identical companies but one's website ends with .com while other ends with .in.

Coming to the fun part , both these websites have an advisory to warn against fakes. I went with the Topiwala Agarwal since I've seen their moving trucks multiple times. But an uninformed customer can easily fall prey for frauds.



There was an incident similar to yours' which happened to a senior executive who retired a few years back. Upon retirement, he chose the cheapest moving company to shift his household stuff from Mumbai to Andhra. The truck driver reached his home in AP in some 5-6 days and instead of unloading his goods, drove off to some unknown location. He switched off his phone for another 3-4 days. This was due to some tussle regarding unpaid wages from employer.

Ultimately it all boils down to selecting the most reviewed company to avoid making ourselves hostage to their tactics.

[veyron999]

Thanks for posting this!

Even a google search returns many fake companies, which are even promoted. Sad state of affairs nowadays. Everyone wants to make a quick buck by hook or by crook

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by TejasV

Hi
When I probed further, I was assured by an English speaking operator that the cost is possible as they send the car back in empty car transport trucks which have delivered new cars from the factory to showrooms in Vizag and hence the low price. They offered a door-to-door
Tejaswi

Sad to read this. It’s terrible how we seem to be encountering scams everywhere. Anyway, it’s best to spend a little more and go for a proper, reputed packers and movers service. If possible get the whole reference and even booking done via your company or large corporate and pay for the service directly.

I have encountered this ‘empty truck transport’ thing before. In ~2015-2016, I bought a white Gypsy from a chap in Noida and he had had it sent down to Bangalore using once of these empty trucks along with proper insurance and all that. The car reached Bangalore in a week. And the truck transport chap delivered the Gypsy to my house. The total cost for this was 20K including the insurance which premium is a standard calculation at 3% of the Invoice value.

This empty truck method seems to be used by all the Gypsy restorers in Northern, Central and even Southern India. It seems to work.

[RaviKBobba]

Thanks for bringing this to the notice of other members of this forum. This is a pretty common scam by these guys. Quote less & jack up the price during delivery.

Cybersecurity teaching & learning is - Never blindly trust the search results we receive in Google. Always verify.

[sukhbirST]

This has become common as more and more people are moving on new jobs or transfer. When free one must keep contact of some local guys during shifting house etc. I normally keep nos of movers & packers whom my friends have used recently.

[NerDriver]

Sorry for what you went through Tejaswi, but Glad that you shared here so others are bit more informed and aware about these scams. Let me take this opportunity to name and shame one such operator HSR logistics , they’re a so called legit business moving cars all over India. I had my Suzuki Dzire moved from Gurgaon to Bangalore from them. Before the sale
1. Promised that car tracking is available , shared a link also which worked for first 3 days
2. Was told they will take 5-7 days which is understandable but they took 3 weeks
3. Real reason for taking so much time that they lost one of their container trucks missing , driver went rogue and was untraceable for a week or so.
Just imagine your car is in a container and the container goes missing and container owner has no clue ? Well yeah this happened .
4. They found the driver and recovered the container thankfully
5. My car had almost everything stolen from it , including my powered sunglasses , though I was told I can keep stuff in the boot and it’s fine to be carried with the car. Luckily I only had basic stuff in it like the tyre inflator , jump start cables , sunglasses etc

This whole experience taught a few things : always go with reputed logistics company even if it costs more , ask for a separate insurance receipt ( I didn’t do that as I was told insurance is included in the actual bill and not as a separate bill)
Don’t keep anything valuable in the car no matter how much the carrier says it’s “safe”
Sharing the address and URL so others can do their due diligence before hiring them. My recommendation- stay away from these folks , don’t go by Google reviews at all. They take no responsibility of their business after the sale and will make you run around to get the delivery of your car . Not to mention - their drivers or transport crew can go rogue or missing at any point and they take no responsibility for that either.

HSR Logistics Private Limited
091487 09709
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xhdm3PiEXMF4iUXXA?g_st=ic

[bhphog]

I am patting myself at the moment, was about to get scammed twice when I recently had to take my car from Delhi to Bangalore and back.
The relocation policy at my employment offered to pay up the cost but I really could never trust any of the logistics, real or fake.

Delhi to Bangalore did in it strict 30 hours with a 4 hour halt.
Bangalore to Delhi, I took the scenic route. Bangalore - 5 days at Goa - 2 nights at Udaipur - Delhi.

Going back to Bangalore November end and will drive again.