The price went up after I paid the car shipping deposit

If the price went up after you paid the deposit, do not pay the new amount until you have read two sentences. The one that says whether the price was allowed to move. And the one that says whether you can cancel and get the deposit back. People pay the increase because the date is close and the deposit feels spent. That is a common outcome. It is not a rule that you owe the difference. This page does not promise a refund. It is general information, not legal advice.

RideShipper did not take the deposit and cannot return it. The company on the charge is the one you write to.

Step 1. Put the two numbers on one page#

Write the original price, the date you accepted it, and the deposit amount and date. Write the new price, who told you, and the deadline they gave you to accept it. Save the texts and emails. If the new price arrived only by phone, email them the same day. "You told me the price is now X. Confirm in writing." Their silence, or their confirmation, is the record.

Compare the new number with the range for the route. A first number far under the range, followed by a deposit, is the pattern in the Better Business Bureau's July 21, 2023 alert. The alert also describes a harsher version, in which more than the agreed amount is demanded before a vehicle is released. If the car is already on the truck, leave this list and open the price increase with the car on the truck. Do the writing there before you hand over more money.

The quote checker will not unwind the deposit. It will show you whether the first number, and the second, sit inside the range. Use that when you decide if the new number is a correction of a bait price or a plausible rate you might have accepted on day one.

Step 2. Read the change clause against the facts#

Open the contract to the price paragraph. The change clause splits the world in two.

• The price could change until a carrier accepted. Ask whether a carrier had already accepted the old price. If yes, ask what contract reason allows a change now. A different car, a date you moved, or an address change can be that reason if the contract lists it. "Nobody would take it" after they told you a carrier was assigned is a reason to challenge, not a reason to pay in the same hour.
• The price could change even after a carrier was named. Then the first number was an estimate, and the contract may still let you reject the final number. The rejection only helps if the deposit comes back.

If you cannot find the paragraph, email them and ask which sentence they are relying on. Pay the increase only after you see it, or after you decide the car's timing is worth more than the argument. Those are different decisions. Name which one you are making.

A broker explaining the increase still has to be a broker. 49 CFR 371.7 says a broker may not represent itself as the carrier. If a new carrier is the reason for the new price, get that carrier's name and USDOT number and look it up. FMCSA's 2015 advisory says to check the MC docket. The steps are how to check authority.

Step 3. Decide, in writing, before the deadline they invented#

You have three choices. Pick one in an email so the phone call does not pick it for you.

1. Accept the new price. Say you accept it, state the total, and ask them to confirm the carrier's name. Pay the difference by credit card if you pay at all. The BBB alert recommends a credit card over a wire, a wallet, or a prepaid card. Watch the account. The 2015 FMCSA advisory says the amount you authorize should be the amount that posts.
2. Reject the new price and cancel. Quote the cancellation sentence. Ask for the deposit to be credited to the same card by a date you name. Do not pay a fee to "release" the refund. The follow-through is how to ask for a deposit back.
3. Reject the new price and ask them to perform at the old one, if your reading of the clause says the old one was locked. Give them a short time to confirm. If they refuse, you are back to choice 1 or 2, with their refusal in writing.

Do not let the deadline in their text be the only clock. If the contract gives you longer to cancel, say so. If you need the car moved tomorrow, choice 1 may be the one you can live with. Write that you are paying the increase to get the car moved, and that you dispute the difference, if that is your plan and they will still move the car with that sentence on the record. If they will not move the car unless you say you agree the new price is correct, decide with your eyes open. A false "I agree" is a bad fact later. A written "paid the difference to obtain delivery, original price was X" is a better fact, if they still perform.

Step 4. If you pay, or if they keep the deposit#

Same day, call the card issuer if a new charge posted or if the deposit should have been reversed. The CFPB page last reviewed April 15, 2024 says a written billing-error notice must be sent within 60 calendar days after the charge appears on the statement, and that the issuer has 30 days to acknowledge it unless the dispute is already resolved. The same page says a problem with the service may follow a different process. Ask which one fits a deposit or an extra transport charge. Send what they tell you to send. Keep copies.

If the company has stopped answering and the USDOT lookup does not show them, report the pattern to BBB Scam Tracker as the July 21, 2023 alert asks, and use FMCSA's complaint line from the 2015 advisory, 1-888-368-7238. A report is not a refund.

The way this setup looks before you pay is bait-and-switch quotes. Other moments a price moves, including a missed window, are in when the price changes after you book. Next time, the sentence to find first is the change clause, and the deposit waits until you have read it.