A lesson cheaply learned (at least monetarily)
Apr 03 '01 (Updated Apr 05 '01)
The Bottom Line Research, research, research! Get it in writing! Watch out for crooks!
Your first concern should not necessarily be money.
That said, when you set your moving budget, remember that there are many factors to account for:
1. What’s the hourly rate?
2. How many people does that hourly rate get you? What is the size of the truck they will be using?
3. Is there a minimum number of hours you will be charged for?
4. Do they charge for travel time from their facility to yours? In other words, do they start their clocks when they begin loading at your site or when they leave their offices?
5. This is standard across the industry: Double drive time between sites—the place they are taking it FROM and the place they are taking it TO.
6. How do they account for breaks?
7. Do they charge extra for having to go up and down stairs? For moving refrigerators or major appliances?
8. Will they pack your things for you?(And what is the charge)
9. Do they accept credit cards (and is there an additional fee for doing so) or is it a cash-only transaction? This is an important point to consider, because if you are dissatisfied with the service, you have the option of disputing the charge with your credit card company.
10. Are they licensed, insured, bonded? In short, if they break, damage, destroy, or otherwise harm your furniture or property, are you going to have some recourse?
Other things to consider (and these are mostly common sense):
1. Check the Better Business Bureau for any complaints against the company. One or two may not indicate a "problem" company, but several should be a warning to you.
2. Ask around. Have any of your friends moved recently? Who did they use?
3. Just because a company says they are licensed, bonded, etc., does not necessarily mean they are telling the truth. Always verify the information before signing the contract.
4. Watch out for companies who send out a "rented" truck and movers not in uniform. They may NOT be company employees and might have been hired off the street just for your job.
5. Get everything you are quoted in writing. Far too often a company’s representative will tell you one thing on the phone to get you to use them, and then when the people show up with the contract it’s completely (or even a little) different. Usually it’s more money. It’s illegal. It’s called bait-and-switch. Don’t put up with it.
6. If, for whatever reason, you do not feel comfortable with the people moving your things, you do not have to use them. Ultimately, use your best judgement. If you feel more comfortable moving your own things, by all means rent a truck and do it yourself.
I will now take the time to warn you AWAY from a specific moving company that employs a bait-and-switch advertising technique.
I put out a request for moving quotes on the Internet (using one of the links from those apartment-search websites), and received phone calls from several.
When I spoke with the representative at Nation Wide Moving (a.k.a. Nationwide Moving, located in Van Nuys, CA, website: (http://www.ibcnet.com/dir/moving/nation/), this is what I was told:
1. $65/hour would get me two men and a truck
2. No minimum hours
3. They would be there at 3 p.m. on the date I arranged, and this was confirmed at least twice. I wanted to make sure they had plenty of time to do the job, since my storage facility closed at 6:30 p.m. I was assured this was no problem.
This is what actually happened:
3:00 p.m. No movers. I was a little surprised, but I figured they might have hit traffic (although on a Saturday it didn’t seem likely).
3:15 p.m. Still no movers. I called the office and asked to speak with the representative who had arranged it all, and was told that she wasn’t working that day. The person answering the phone claimed that she was "new" and didn’t know anything about it. No apology. What I got was "they probably hit traffic and they’ll be there any minute." I asked to speak to someone who knew what was going on and could help. I was told that the owner was out of the office and would return in "about an hour." When I complained that it would delay my move, I was told that she couldn’t do anything about it and I would have to call back and talk to him. I asked for the name of the owner and received "I don’t know" as an answer. Incredulous, I said, "You work there and you don’t know the owner’s name?", to which she replied, "David, I don’t know his last name." I then attempted to get his telephone number and got a "I’ll have him call you" response.
3:50 p.m. Still no movers. I called the office again and asked for the owner. I was told again that he would call me. A few minutes later, I received his call. The news: the movers had been delayed at another job that should have been completed at 2:00 p.m., but they would be on their way shortly and would be at my storage facility between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. I explained that this was unacceptable and that they had promised to be there at 3:00. I explained that the facility closed at 7:00 p.m. and expressed doubt that they would be able to finish in time. I was told that I could reschedule for another day and that I would receive a discount on the price. I explained that the whole purpose of scheduling for Saturday was so that I would not have to pay an additional month’s storage on my unit (UHaul does not prorate storage rent). If they were going to delay the job, they would have to pay the storage on the unit. David said that, of course, they would pay if it came to that, but his men were very good and I didn’t have to worry, they would get it done in time.
5:05 p.m. Big surprise! No movers! Again I called the office and got the response that "the drivers would be there closer to 6:00 p.m." Again I was told not to worry, they could get the job done. (Of course, at this point, SMART people would have said "enough" and either rescheduled or canceled—unfortunately I was not having a SMART day.)
6:10 p.m. Lo! And behold! Movers arrive…but what movers! No uniforms, driving a rented Ryder Yellow truck…and to be honest, I outweighed both of them put together. Now they have roughly 45 minutes to remove a dresser, 3-piece entertainment center, king mattress and box springs, a desk and hutch, a refrigerator, and miscellaneous boxes from a 10’ x 15’ storage unit, down a flight of stairs and into their truck…
6:50 p.m. Needless to say, the job was not finished…in fact, they had only managed to get about 1/3 of the things out, and of course those didn’t include the refrigerator or the dresser or the entertainment center. During the course of their activity, they managed to break a floor lamp and nearly destroyed a microwave cart; boxes marked "fragile" were carelessly loaded onto a dolly and other boxes were stacked on top of them.
7:00 p.m. On the phone again with the owner, who is now telling me that I am being "problematic" because I "ask too many questions." I said that they needed to transport the furniture they managed to get in their truck to the apartment, 3 ½ miles down the street, and return at 9:00 a.m. sharp the next morning to finish the job. I also told him that since it wasn’t done on the last day of the month, he needed to hold up his end of the bargain and pay the storage fee for the next month. He told me no, that he wasn’t going to pay the whole thing, but he would pay a prorated amount. I told him that UHaul doesn’t prorate. I got no satisfaction, he wasn’t going to pay it. And now, since I was being "problematic," I was not going to be able to use my credit card to pay, because he "didn’t trust me to pay." He then instructed the drivers to lock up the truck and drive back to the offices. (And so they did.)
9:00 a.m. (next day) Fully expecting them NOT to show up, I went to my storage facility. They arrived at 9:10 a.m. and produced a contract for me to sign. Having my wits about me (finally), I read the contract over before signing it. The contract was as I had discussed with the original representative…but before I signed it, they began telling me that they had a two-hour minimum and the hour’s worth of work they did the night before was going to cost me two hours. They were also going to charge me drive time between their facility in Van Nuys and my storage facility in Covina. They were also going to apply the two-hour minimum to this day’s work. At this point, too angry to continue with them, I handed things over to my fiancé. He talked to the owner and explained that things were not as advertised. He got the response that (basically) that was too bad. We were apparently "not worth it" because of all the phone calls that had been made to his office staff who were "expensive"… that any time they had to "provide customer service it was not worth it"…we "asked questions" so we were "problematic." He then instructed his drivers to unload the furniture and leave. He was going to "cut his losses" and said that while he wasn’t going to charge me now, he might at a later date. My fiancé told him no, that wasn’t how it worked. If he did the job, he got paid; if he didn’t do the job, he didn’t get paid. Plain and simple. It was like talking to a brick wall, nothing we said made any difference. The drivers unloaded the furniture from the night before onto the dock of the storage facility, got in their truck, and drove away.
At this point, angry and frustrated, we rented a truck from UHaul and moved the furniture on the dock to the apartment. The rest of the furniture is still in storage, and I ended up having to pay the extra month’s storage.
This nightmare could have been avoided, if I had visited the Better business bureau page (http://www.labbb.org/), because under the heading Bureau File Experience:
"Most complaints allege damage occurred or items were lost during the move. One customer alleges the company refused to provide a copy of the inventory sheets. Other complaints allege no responses were received to calls made, discounts were not given for rescheduling, and the price on the invoice was higher than the quotes provided. The company responded to lost or damage claims by instructing the customer to send photographs of all damages, issuing compensation, denying claims, or mailing a claim form. The company responded to other complaints by stating the customer had the option of agreeing to a new date, choosing another shipper, or explaining the final charges are determined by weighing the goods. Some complaints were closed as disputed, meaning the customers were not satisfied with the company's response. This company falsely states in its Internet advertising that it is a member of the Better Business Bureau in good standing. Nation Wide Moving is not a member of the BBB. Consumers should be aware that this business is not in any way affiliated with the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend or disapprove of any company, product or service."
Fortunately for us, all of our furniture is still with us, and we didn’t pay the drivers or the company for the complete lack of service. A lesson cheaply learned (at least monetarily).
Addendum 4/4/01: After further research, we discovered (by calling the California Public Utilities Commission, who regulates movers) that the license/permit had been REVOKED in February due to no insurance. Rest assured that we have reported this company to the CPUC...our understanding is that the CPUC aggressively enforces the laws regarding Household Goods transporters...and hopefully our complaint will assist in stopping these movers from taking advantage of anyone else.
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LLFigment
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Member: Laura La Borde
Location: Pomona, CA, US
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
"When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will."
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