Car shipping fees and deposits: questions and answers

Ask in writing, and ask for the credit to post to the same card. The refund, if you have one, is the cancellation sentence in the contract you signed. A spoken promise does not replace that sentence. If no carrier is assigned yet, ask whether that sentence returns the fee before dispatch. The company that charged the card is the company you ask. This page does not guarantee the money comes back.

There is no federal schedule that sets the amount. A small deposit after a carrier is named, with the refund rule in the contract and the credit going back to the same card, is ordinary industry practice. A deposit due before any carrier is named, or sent to a payment app, matches the pattern in the BBB's July 21, 2023 alert, which describes a deposit of a few hundred dollars before a pickup that never happens. This page will not invent a cutoff for large. Read the cancellation line before you pay.

Read the line you paid for. An exact date is not the same thing as a first available date, which is only the first day the car may leave, not an appointment. If the contract sold you one day and the driver arrived four days early with an hour's notice, ask in writing for that extra fee back and quote the sentence. Early can still be a missed date. The company that charged the card decides the refund under the contract.

Treat it as a red flag when the deposit is due before any carrier is named, when the deposit is the only thing the company will talk about, or when the refund is a spoken promise instead of a credit back to the card. The BBB alert of July 21, 2023 describes digital-wallet deposits and, in some reports, more money demanded before the vehicle is released. A card charge should be watched. FMCSA's February 10, 2015 advisory says to confirm that only the authorized amount is taken.

Stop before you pay the difference. Read whether the contract lets the price move, and whether you can refuse the new number and recover the deposit. People pay because the date is close and the fee already feels lost. That pressure is not proof you owe the new price. The BBB's July 21, 2023 alert describes a low price used to take a deposit, and reports of more money demanded before a vehicle is released. This page does not promise a refund.

Do not sign the new number, and do not hand over the keys, until you compare it with the contract. Call the company you booked, using the phone number on that paperwork, not a new text thread. A change you did not agree to is not required just because the truck is outside. If the car is already loaded, write down what is said and use the steps for a price increase with the car on the truck. This is practical guidance, not legal advice.

The clause says whether the number can still move after a carrier accepts the load. Either the price can change until a carrier is assigned, or it can also change after that. Find which one your paragraph says. Read the cancellation line beside it, so you know whether you can reject a new price and get the deposit back on the card. Contracts do not share one official paragraph. A household-goods binding estimate does not automatically apply to a car.

No. The 110 percent cap on a non-binding estimate is a household-goods rule, in 49 CFR 375.405, for movers who must follow 49 CFR 375.101. Do not assume it caps an auto-transport bill unless that bill says the car is household goods. The sentence in your car-shipping contract is the rule that applies. If a driver quotes the 110 percent figure at the curb, ask them to show the clause in your contract, not a rule from a furniture move.

The price you pay a broker can split into the broker's fee and the amount the carrier is paid to move the car. Federal rule 49 CFR 371.3 requires the broker to record its compensation, who paid it, and the freight charges, and each party to the shipment may review that record. The record is kept for three years. Ask for the split before you pay a deposit. The broker's bond is not the carrier's pay and not cargo insurance on the car.

A booking fee is a charge to reserve, and it is not the same line as the freight the carrier is paid. Ask whether the booking fee is refundable, and whether it is counted inside the price or added on top. The quote should show a card fee before you pay, if the company charges one. This page will not invent either amount. Get both numbers, and the cancellation rule, in the contract before any money moves.

No. You see a price range first, without giving contact details. If you ask for quotes, you give your name, email, and phone and tick a consent box. Licensed auto transport companies that serve the route then contact you. Any deposit is charged by the company you hire, under its contract.

If the charge is on a credit card, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says a written billing-error notice must be sent within 60 calendar days after the charge appears on the statement. The issuer has 30 days to acknowledge it unless the dispute is already finished. A fight about a bad service may use a different process. Ask the issuer which one applies. Call the company that charged the card first, in writing.