Here are some reasons you should avoid this company at all costs:
1. Showed up late first day. Said they'd be there at 9AM, got there at 11AM.
2. Effie was the foreman. He came with 3 other guys. Everyone seemed to have a stomache ache, so he asked for medicine for the guys.
3. The stomache aches went away with the Tums we gave them; however, two of our three toilets were stopped up and all the toilet paper was gone.
4. Effie says, "We're hungry! Can you order pizza for us? And also, can you ask if they use vegetable oil, since we're Jewish and need things to be kosher?" He asked this after informing me that they were "a professional moving company."
5. Effie tells shows me a list of prices for boxes, and then prices for him to pack the boxes. I assume the "packed box" price includes the box. Nope — you pay for the box and then you pay additionally for them to pack it. You pay both prices.
6. Everything has to go into a box. That includes all the things you wouldn't expect to have to go into a box — large silk plants, 30 inch televisions — EVERYTHING. Do you have enough boxes? Not if you assumed that huge things wouldn't go into one!
7. The estimate I had been given was based on an inventory I filled out, plus information I had been given by another company. It was for $6300. The actual cost of the move was $11500.
8. Oops! Effie didn't bring a big enough truck! They had to come back the second day. Effie tells me he will be there at 9:00AM. They arrived at 1:00PM. This 4-hour delay at least gave us time to get more large boxes and pack up several things.
9. There is no delivery date noted on the Bill of Lading. We find out that it will depend on "when they have a truck leaving for the east." This is after everything has been loaded.
10. End of day two: we find that "we carefully pack and load all your items" means that we pay $3.00 for every roll of tape they indiscriminately and generously used. We also pay for all the bubble wrap they found necessary. NOTE: Did they ask us if it was ok to use this stuff? Of course not! If I had known this, I would have provided the packing materials myself, as well as had absolutely every single thing packed into a box.
11. After all this, the move costs double the estimate, there are $550 in "packing supplies" charges, Effie asks for tips. We did give them one, because now they had our stuff and we wanted it treated well. Don't do this. It doesn't work.
12. My husband and I left CA the same day (Thursday) to drive to our new home in IN. We were on the road on the second day when Heidi, the Dispatch Coordinator, calls us and tells us that the personal check we wrote against a credit card account will take up to 15 days to clear, and they can't accept it. After a call to the credit card company, we find that it probably won't take that long. We tell Heidi that and they still refuse to deliver our household.
13. We arrive in IN on Saturday, and on Monday I FedEx a cashier's check for the amount to Heidi. She then tells me that the truck will not even be loaded until the next Thursday, which is a full 9 days after the pick up date. It is important to note here that we chose to take the northern route for our drive east, which entailed driving through weather in the Rocky mountains. The less scenic but faster and better weathered route was the southern route through AZ, NM, TX, OK, MO, IL and IN.
14. The truck is supposed to leave on Friday. Heidi assures me that she will call and give me the driver's name and phone number. Friday comes and goes, no phone call from Heidi.
15. On Monday, (this is 13 days after the pick-up date), I call Heidi. She gives me the number of the driver and advises I call him to see when he'll be there. She tells me that it should take 3-5 days.
16. I call Motti, the driver. He immediately asks if I can have his money in cash when he arrives. Then he tells me he will be here on Friday. He tells me he will call on Tuesday or Wednesday and confirm his arrival date.
17. I called Heidi back and explained that I have 5 children, all in school, and I have no belongings. I ask when the truck left. After putting me on hold, she tells me that it left Friday. I tell her that if he arrives on Friday, that is 7 days, not 3-5. She tells me she's sorry but there's nothing she can do. She tells me that apparently Motti has had to drive on icy roads.
18. Tuesday and Wednesday pass with no phone call from the company. Thursday night, Motti the driver finally calls and says he will be here at 8:00AM Friday morning. Please note: this is a full 17 days from the date they picked up our household. We are a family of seven that has been without our things for over two weeks.
19. Motti the driver shows up about 8:30AM, in a semi truck that has "Wheaton" painted on the side, and the two local guys hired to help have been not just on time, but early, freezing in their truck for about 45 minutes. Motti comes in and asks for his money. Nothing has been unloaded.
20. They unload our household and leave most of it in the driveway. They did not assemble our kitchen table, which they had disassembled, of course, to fit into a box! Motti asks me if I know where the screws are to one of the twin beds, which were disassembled by Effie and crew in California, and put in an unknown-to-me place.
21. Motti then asks my husband for a tip. My husband refused because of the poor service received from this company.
We are finally in our new house and unpacking boxes. I have only found one broken dish thus far — but I packed my own dishes and took the time to label boxes as containing glass and fragile. My beautiful and expensive silk trees are ruined from having been wrapped tightly in plastic for over two weeks.
I made the huge mistake of going with the lowest price found. Lauryn, the representative for CTCE, was persistent in calling me. I thought I had found a good company. I was very wrong. I wish now that I had called United Van Lines, North American Van Lines, Bekins, Mayflower — any one of the national companies that will give you an estimate in pounds instead of in cubic feet. We moved from IN to CA in 2000 and had a great experience. We did use one of the bigger, national companies that uses local contractors. I didn't do that this time because of price — but it turns out that it would have probably cost less to have gone with one of those companies. The cheap estimate I got proved to be only half what I paid.
I am just sorry that I read all these horror stories after this company had all my things. I even considered looking into having another national, well-known company repack everything from CTC's trucks to one of their own. However, after they had everything and we had given them $6000, I thought it best to just tough it out.
This company made several committments and promises to me, virtually all of which were broken. They do not care about customer service or you. They care about taking your money. DO NOT USE THEM.
Jen
Ellettsville, Indiana
U.S.A.
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