Estes Express Lines

Our church recently ordered a load of decorative bricks to create a memorial walkway, and the company shipping to us used Estes to do so. Because of the fragile nature of the bricks, we were given strict instructions by the shipper to inspect for damage before accepting the shipment. Consequently, we scheduled the shipment for a time when the parishioner in charge of the project could be here to do that inspection. We had agreed to accept the shipment between 3 and 4 p.m. (during standard business hours!). Then the day they were supposed to arrive, they called to complain that they couldn’t deliver after 3 (um, what? You’re a delivery company!). I explained that they needed to deliver at a time when the person accepting the deliver could inspect it, and their representative flipped out on the phone with me, telling me that the driver couldn’t let us inspect the shipment. I explained that we had instructions from the shipper to do so, and would not sign for it until we’d gone through the checklist they sent us. She told me to have the parishioner call her to reschedule. About 10 minutes later, I got a call from the brick company telling us that Estes had called them, telling them that I said we needed to open every carton in the shipment before they could leave. (I had said nothing of the sort!) I repeated what I had said to the Estes rep, and was told I was correct, and they would call Estes back to make sure they knew that the inspection was necessary, but that we wouldn’t be opening every carton.
At about 2:30, I got another call from Estes, saying they WOULD be delivering, and right after that, my parishioner walked in, saying she’d spoken with them, that they’d been quite nasty to her on the phone, but that she was expecting them after all. When the shipment arrived (in a Budget rental truck!), the bricks were undamaged, but the cardboard cone strapped to the top of the pallet to ensure than nothing is stack on top of it was completely crushed flat. The driver shrugged and said that «sometimes people sit on them».
Long story short: Their staff is rude (and they lie!), they make delivery appointments they may or may not keep, and someone may sit on your fragile shipment. AVOID ESTES!!!