All too often when searching for the lowest car shipping cost around, we risk falling prey to scam artists and false companies that are only after your money and/or car. To prevent that from happening, there are certain things you can pay special attention to, which will help you avoid the worst of them.

Today, we’ll be looking at what approaches work best when trying to decide if any given car shipping company out there is legitimate. Don’t plan to ship your car so soon? You never know when this might come in useful, for a friend or family member.

Research

We know it can be tempting to go for the best option on hand, without delving into it too deeply, and spending hours upon hours making sure the company is legitimate. However, due diligence pays off in the end.

The simplest way to ensure that the company is legit is by surveying all likely channels of communication – do they have a professional website? Is there a social media presence? Are they licensed to perform their job? Is the company registered with the proper governmental organizations that keep track of legitimate shipping companies? Look around, see what you can find. If all you can get is a website, lacking solid contact information, or other ways of getting in touch – be aware.

Word of mouth

One of the safest methods of choosing the best among auto shipping companies is through a personal recommendation of a friend or acquaintance, who received help from their services in the past. Not only is that going to prevent you from coming across duds, companies who exist with the sole purpose of scamming good people out of their money, but it will also come with a review.

You’ll have a rough estimate of what you can expect from the company, from a trusted source. That can be worth more than gold, these days. Failing that…

Public reviews

Online reviews can be another major source of information when it comes to the company’s legitimacy. Keep track of negative reviews, see if there are commonalities. Be wary though, sometimes a disgruntled customer who simply didn’t have everything go exactly their way may decide to get vengeance. Alternatively, shady companies might post reviews themselves, which all sound suspiciously similar, and hit the same beats.

A solid company will have a sizable number of reviews, with everything ranging from terrible, or negative to positive, as no service is perfect for everyone.

Read over the contract

A legitimate contract will involve comprehensive details on everything ranging from insurance to delivery schedule, as well as added costs. For car shipping, ill-intentioned companies might insert hidden costs into your deal, which you’ll find yourself contractually bound to deal with at the end of the day.

Take charge of things ahead of time, by poring over the contract and asking questions when appropriate. Remember – your contract is binding, which fraudsters might take advantage of.

Alternatively, it might be possible that either there is no contract, and the money transfer is prompted prematurely. Or, perhaps, the payment options are suspicious, such as gift cards or untraceable transfers, such as through Western Union.

Finally, if you get a bad gut feeling, or it seems that something is amiss but you’re not sure what you should do, consider switching your company. There are dozens of companies near you, and so many more around, who will be able to give you better peace of mind and guarantee that nothing wrong will happen with your car. That’s, often, the best way of avoiding issues down the line.