Just to give you a brief summary, Paramount Transportation Systems was hired by the defense contractor Lockheed, to move my property from my home in California to Maryland. During the packing and loading at the origin, the property was improperly packed and the house was damaged to the point where it was unsellable. Some of the items that were picked up were sent to a temporary apartment we were staying at; 1/3 of the items showed up, 1/3 were broken, and 1/3 were missing.
I then attempted for several months to have the problems rectified by first attempting to get Paramount to repair the damages to the house. Their refusal to do so caused a sale of the property fall through. I then indicated that due to their refusal to fix the house (to make it sellable) would result in them either having to buy the house outright or return all of the property to the origin point. Both Paramount and Lockheed refused to buy the property, indicating that they would not be held responsible for the damaged they caused and that they would not be able to help in any other way due to economic issues; (basically they were over budget and didn't have enough money to pay for the additional relocation services they had agreed to). I requested the location of the property and asked that it be returned form storage to the origin point at the end of October. I then left the employment of Lockheed in mid November due to their breech of contract and after they asked me to violate several federal laws at the workplace. I then informed the government of the federal violations, which then prompted Lockheed to respond with retribution for the whistle blowing act. Before leaving I was told that they would make sure my personal property was never seen again; which seems to be a creditable thread due to the relationship the two companies (Lockheed and Paramount) seem to have.
In the interim I've been trying to figure out where my personal property is. Multiple communication attempts to Paramount were not responded to until late November. Communication with Paramount has been very difficult, in the sense that they change their story frequently, and take multiple weeks to respond. After noticing the continued erratic behavior, I started to do some research into Paramount. That's when I discovered that they didn't have any federal authority (a license) to operate in any capacity, nor did they have any insurance on file with the FMCSA. Furthermore, I discovered that several of their actions were also violations of federal law: operating without authority, moving hazardous materials across state lines, not responding within 30 days (in writing) to acknowledge receipt of a damage claim, etc.
Paramount's story changes continuously; from we can have our property back, to we can't have it back, to we can have it but will have to pay about 100% more than there estimate on the bill of lading (and the estimates provided by other companies), to you can't have it back again. Other issues such as storing the property in New Jersey, going for weeks without responding to me, no license, etc., are just raising one red flag after another.
Basically, I'm looking to have the property returned as soon as possible and the damaged items replaced. I no longer have the time to play their game due to our new baby being born two weeks ago, nor do I feel that I should have to pay in to the situation that they created. It seems to me that the whole situation is a scam in the sense that they pick up the property, damage the house at the point of origin (making it unsellable), then the obvious result is going to be that the property has to go back to the origin. I've already lost about $50,000 by not being able to sell the house when the offer was made due to depreciation. And being that the handful of boxes that I did receive had almost $2,800 in damages, (if we extrapolate that figure out) I wouldn't be surprised if the combined loss and damages doesn't end up between $75,000 and $100,000; on the just the house and personal property alone.
Please be advised to look out for these two companies. I highly recommend that you don't do business with either one: Paramount Transportation Systems and Lockheed.
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