My father contacted World Wide Moving Company to help us plan a cross country move from Los Angeles, Ca to Philadelphia, Pa. He dealt with a woman named "Suzanne" who gave us a not to exceed quote of $2925.00 I put together a very accurate list of all the items that we would need move and included an estimate of 30 medium sized boxes. We were moving out of a small 2 bedroom apartment and had a rough idea of what the weight would be in the truck. My father expressed his concerns about using a broker moving company and was assured by "Suzanne" that not only were they not a broker moving company but that they also had their own line of moving trucks.
Their estimate seemed considerably more reasonable then many of the other moving companies my father had contacted. We decided to go with worldwide and had a set moving date of December 5. We discussed parking on the street and decided that Friday was the best day to fit a truck that large on the street due to street closing. I had moved across country once already and was expecting a rather large truck to come and pick up our belongings.
As my moving day approached I realized that we would have about 15 more boxes then we originally anticipated so I made sure that we contacted World Wide with the updated box amount. We were told that 15 more boxes would be fine and that it would not raise our quote because we still had our alotted space in the truck for our 2 bedroom move.
The day before our move the driver still had not contacted me with a pick up time so I called them first. I was told between 10am-12pm for our pickup. On our moving day the driver finally called and told us he was on our street and asked if we could come meet him outside. The driver told us his name was "Mike". As we walked outside expecting a huge "World Wide Moving" truck to come down the street we stared in disbelief at a the 26ft Yellow Penske rental truck coming down the street. The driver parked and introduced himself as "Mike". Two other men climbed out of the truck and I noticed a female also sitting in the front seat.
At this point I was getting upset and my concern was growing. Once I walked them into my apartment I asked "Mike" if the big truck was parked near by and if this was just the shuttle for our stuff? I was instead informed that they had no trucks and that all of my stuff was going to be taken to their storage unit until one of their trucks could pick up my stuff and head east. At this point I was extremely confused and I called my father to ask if this was what he had agreed to.
My father had no idea when he hired World Wide that they were a broker moving company. Apparently, when you look on World Wides website in very small print it clearly states that they are a broker and that their sales reps are allowed to lie and say whatever they deem necessary to close a sale and they will not be held responsible for what happens once their end of the transaction is done! What kind of a legitimate moving company is allowed to say that?! Mike told us that he worked for "Energizer Moving and Storage" out of North Hollywood and that they had no affliation with World Wide Moving.
At this point we had already paid World Wide a deposit of $824.37 and were told that the remaining balance would not be due until all of our stuff was delivered in Pa. "Mike" however had a different story for us in Ca. He came in and took a two second look at our stuff and brought out papers for me to sign. He told us that World Wide had underestimated our weight and that we had close to 15,000lbs worth of stuff in our two bedroom apt. He also told us that his quote would now be $5500.00 and that we had to pay him 50% of his quoted fee before they would even begin loading our stuff. This was a stressful move for my boyfriend and I as we already had a non refundable flight scheduled for ten pm that night and had to ship our two dogs on the same flight. We had to very carefully plan this whole move because of our animals and World Wide and Energizer quite literally had us by the balls at this point. And they knew it.
My father spoke to Mike directly on the phone and contacted World Wide dispatch. We agreed the money would be paid once our stuff was weighed. I was not aware that during this time the movers were supposed to give me the weight of the truck prior to loading our stuff in as well. We never saw that document. The two other men began loading our stuff, slowly. Mike sat at the table and filled out our inventory list half assed and then left to go out to his truck to talk to what I then realized was his girlfriend. As if watching three men load up everything I own into a Penske rental truck wasnt bad enough, but the guy had his girlfriend sitting in the truck!!!
As time went on the second mover disappeared too, and there was now only one man packing and loading the truck. One man doing the job of three. When they were finally finished Mike brought me papers to sign. He told me that World Wide had indicated that we would only fill about a quarter of their truck. I honestly didnt see how that was possible with the detailed inventory list I had provided them up front. He said that we had about 19,000lbs worth of stuff. So now we had gone from 15 to 19,000lbs. He assured me that it was in my "best interest" so sign the box that agreed to pay the drivers weight estimate because if they took the truck to get weighed my price was going to be even higher. They had taken so long to load our stuff now that I didnt even have time to stand there and argue with him because we needed to leave for the airport. So I signed the papers and "Mike" assured me that my stuff was in good hands. He then asked when I wanted my stuff delivered. I told him I would be in PA tomorrow so I wanted it ASAP. Of course.
As we were leaving Mike had the nerve to bring his girlfriend out of the truck and ask if she could use my bathroom. Yes, after watching them load up all my stuff, knowing in the pit of my stomach that Id be lucky to see any of it again I was thrilled with the idea of doing him a favor and letting her use my bathroom! Before they left my father had told Energizer that they would be paid in cash and in full when my stuff arrived on the other end. They agreed and left. I watched everything I owned drive off with three Mexicans with tattooed necks in a Penske truck. With his girlfriend in the front seat.
5 days later we got a call from the driver that would be delivering our stuff. He spoke with my father and told us he was in Montana, and that they were planning to be in PA two days later. I really didn't see how that was possible but I was trying to look on the bright side. Three days passed; no driver. My father called the driver again and he said they had gotten stuck in Montana with heavy snow. We looked online at the recent weather in Montana and they hadnt gotten a flake of snow in over a week. So we waited again.
A couple days later we were told Ohio and that theyd be in Pa the following day. He assured us that he had to deliver the next day because he had to be in New York for another delivery right after. That day passed and no delivery. Spoke to the driver again and this time he told my father that he was at a holding facility and he couldn't work that day because it was a Jewish Holiday. He said he wasn't allowed to work or talk on a phone for a whole day. I honestly couldnt believe that we were hearing this BS. So the day after this apparent "Jewish Holiday" the driver said hed be at our house by 7am bright and early. He wasnt there by 7am but he did arrive by 1pm. I was having my stuff delivered to a storage unit near by so we met him there.
Once the truck pulled up the two drivers didnt want to open the trailer until we paid them in full. They opened the side door for us to peak inside but didnt want to open the back door. I realized later that was because when they had unloaded their last customers stuff they hadnt secured mine so many of my boxes had fallen over and were spilling out. The driver told us that they werent the ones who had loaded the truck that he just picked up the trailer and drove it. He told us Energizer loaded it so any damages were because of them. We paid them so I could unload my stuff and check it.
About 70% of my boxes had obviously been opened and they clearly didnt even try to make it look like they hadnt been. All my big boxes had been rifled through, the boxes had holes in them and they were dented and smashed in. They looked like they had been in world war three. I had a couple of key boxes I was specifically looking for as they unloaded it. I had 3 pieces of furniture that had broken legs and were damaged. One of our boxes had my boyfriends brand new playstation 3 in it along with all of its equipment.
When this box was pulled out the top was dented in like it didnt have enough in it to keep its shape. We opened it and the box was half empty and my playstation was gone. The only thing left in the box was a printer for my computer; they hadnt even bothered to put the paper and stuffing we had in it surrounding the game system. So my $500.00 gamestation was now gone and that didnt include the extra controllers and parts we had with it. I also had a new girls snowboard with bindings on it that was INCLUDED with my inventory. The board was $300 and the bindings on it were another 300.00 and that was missing too. I assumed "Mike" had found this to be great present for his girlfriend.
We contacted the owner of Energizer Moving and Storage about our missing stuff and he was apparently shocked. He told us that he was going to "look into this, and that if this was true that his driver was going to lose his job and be arrested." He did tell us that the drivers name wasnt even Mike, his name was Rob. The owner promised us that he was going to pay us back for the stuff that was stolen and that he didnt want his customers upset. We waited a few days and we called him again. This time the owner claimed that the police had gone to Robs house to question him but that the police had sided with him. The owner asked what was stolen and he was in disbelief that his employees would do such a thing. Ironically when we looked up Energizer online I found many similar horror stories from other people that had been screwed by these people. Identical stories right down to Rob and his girlfriend.
At this point Im counting my blessings that the majority of my belongings were returned at all. I believe that I got lucky that my stuff got picked up almost immediately from their storage center so they couldn't finish raiding my boxes. I guess they ran out of time and were too rushed. We have attempted to call the owner repeatedly in the last few weeks but he isnt returning our calls now. Surprise surprise.
I intend to take this as far as possible so that I can sleep at night after having been violated like this. Im going to post my story on every website possible in hopes that this will help other poor innocent victims from being taken advantage of.
Bottom line here's how it appears to go down: World Wide reels the poor suckers in and takes their cut. Then they bow out. They sell it to Energizer and they pick up your stuff and make their own rules and prices. They put your stuff in their storage unit, take what they want, and then sell it to another company to pick it up. Quotes mean nothing with these people and they completely take advantage of all these people doing these huge moves knowing full well that you are on a time constraint. My items were never even weighed. I know for a FACT that I didn't have 19,000lbs of stuff in that truck. I filled 3/4 of a 26ft rental truck. At the high end the MOST my weight would have been was 6,000lbs. Oh and then there's the complete violation of privacy as their movers go through your clothing and personal items and help themselves to whatever they like.
This move was the worst experience of my life and after this I think if I ever have to move cross country again Ill save myself the trouble and rent my own Penske truck and drive. I hope one of these days that both World Wide and Energizer get what they have coming to them. You can only take advantage of people so many times before karma comes back to haunt you. Enjoy the new playstation and the snowboard.
Stoleninpa
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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