My Moving Experience With Dale J. Cook in Charleston, SC/Stevens Worldwide Van Lines in Saginaw, MI
The person who sold me the experience was cordial and convincing about what a great company Dale J. Cook would be for my move. She did convince me that I should pay them to pack everything of value and that I should purchase $600 of insurance, “just in case.” She could not have been more wrong! Following is list of some of the reasons:
1. I specifically pointed out to one of the women 2 times that I had 2 shopping bags of Christopher Radco ornaments that had a beginning price of $100 each and that each ornament needed to be wrapped separately and packed securely. They arrived at my destination in the same shopping bags with absolutely no wrapping dropped into a wardrobe box.
2. I have a piece of hand-painted antique slate from the roof of a house in Charleston that was likewise dropped into a wardrobe box together with a heavy camera tripod with no wrapping around it.
3. Hurry, not care, was the name of the game in packing and loading. I halted one trip down the stairs where a steel bookshelf was being scrapped across the ceiling rather that disassembling it.
4. I went upstairs at one point of loading to find yellow paint from the wall all over the floor. The corner of a wall was so smashed in that the repair man they sent over the next morning (before my final walk-through of my buyers) said that it needed the metal corner replaced and at least 2 pieces of sheetrock. The hole was caused by someone later described to me as “a guy who sometimes likes to showoff” “dropping” the headboard of my bed into the wall. The Wesley Allen Queen Size Iron Bed now had yellow paint embedded in the headboard! No one mentioned to me prior to my finding it myself that it had been done.
5. When they left at the end of the day a blade was hanging off the fan in the dining room. Again, no one mentioned that they had torn up the fan.
6. The ceiling all along the stairwell had the paint beaten off of it from all the times boxes and furniture had been scrubbed up against it.
7. There had been a half dozen cokes in the refrigerator when they arrived. They were all missing when the moving crew left. I would have gladly given them one had they asked, but since no one did, in my world that is known as stealing.
8. An iron quilt rack had for some reason been disassembled for the move. They couldn’t get it back together, but broke it while attempting. It was left in pieces all across the floor as the last person ran to the truck telling me to “turn it in.”
9. I moved into a 4700 square foot, 3-story house. I could not watch and check out every single piece of furniture that was run off the truck – again the order of the day was HURRY! I did ask the driver and the receptionist/secretary at Dale J. Cook how long I had to turn in my claim. Both people told me that I had 9 months. DO NOT BELIEVE THAT! In fact, now that I have a claim on a stool that was hidden behind a 3 deep, higher than my head wall of boxes, I am told that I had to turn it in before the driver left!
10. As I began to unpack boxes, I could not believe my eyes. I had 4 picture boxes that had 2 or more paintings in them with the front of one jammed up against the back of another without a single piece of paper in between or around them. Therefore, the screws and hanging wire on one piece scrubbed up against the one behind it the entire move. Needless to say, the frames were destroyed beyond use.included in one of those boxes was a piece of artwork that was a mirror surround by pottery. The “mortar” holding the pottery in had been knocked out all around the edges.
11. We had purchased a signed vase on a trip to Albuquerque. It was chipped.
12. A Drexel Heritage lingerie chest has a huge dent in the top edge. I have inquired of someone who hand built my dining room table and my new cabinets if it could be repaired. He said that it could not be repaired to its original state.
13. I did have a framed photograph of my mother-in-law with her siblings when she was a child. As they have all passed away, it was priceless to us. It was displayed on top of my wardrobe in the master bedroom. It should have been packed by Dale J. Stevens and moved here. After unpacking all of my boxes, it is nowhere to be found. I reported it to them. Their only response has been that they don’t know what happened to it!
14. It says in their sales packet that they will pay you $100 if they damage your house. They did a lot of damage to my house! They did not pay anything.
This move cost me almost $12,000 including over $600 for insurance to protect in case they damaged anything. I have lived in 7 states so I’ve moved a lot. I have never in the past allowed the movers to pack my things and have always done it myself. I have never had anything broken. Neither have I had my house torn up by other large or small moving companies. I have now turned in my claim for all the damage done and expected to be paid for it. The “inspector” they sent over was here with a tiny cheap camera for all of 10 minutes! After that in depth investigation and with the help of eBay, this is what I was allowed:
1. Quilt Rack: Claimed $100 – Allowed $0
Denied liability as it had already been repaired. I did have it welded back together so that I could get my quilts put somewhere, but the repair looks awful and there is no denying that they tore it up!
2. Four framed Paintings that needed custom framing. I had already priced it so that I knew the amount to claim. I had claimed $700. Allowed for “repair” $195. Where does one go to get a frame “repaired”?
3. A framed painting that they decided the damage wasn’t done in the move. Claimed $150 – Allowed $0
4. On the Framed Mirror they decided, “the filler for the pottery frame had fallen out. This is not transit related.” Claimed $100 – Allowed $0
5. Pottery Vase – They did “research” on eBay and found one for $35.99. I had claimed $75. It probably cost me more than the $35 to ship it, as I didn’t buy it on eBay!
6. The Drexel Heritage Lingerie Chest I had claimed $1880 to replace as I had been told it could not be repaired. They allowed $150 to repair.
7. The Wesley Allen Bed that had torn up a wall “was denied because it had many pre-existing paint chips on both the headboard and footboard.” The bed was distressed! It was a new bed that was in a guest bedroom that had probably not been used more than 25 times! It, however, did not have yellow paint on the white bed! They absolutely know they are responsible for it because they had to repair the yellow wall! Claimed $716 (The store where I purchased it still has it on record where I bought it) Allowed - $0
8. Bar Stool that was hidden behind boxes –they deny all liability because I didn’t turn it in at delivery! Claimed $200- Allowed $0
I have called both Dale J. Cook and Stevens Worldwide Van Lines in Saginaw, MI to try to talk to them about their businesses. Neither will return my call.
Please do not use either of these companies it you care about your house or your belongings!
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