We contracted with United Van Lines and its Subcontractor Suddath Relocation Systems of Texas to move my 83 year old Mom from Texas to Colorado. We had to move a lifetime of memories and because of that we bought extra insurance to cover losses up to $40k.
When my mother’s goods arrived, two boxes were missing, but the moving supervisor insisted that a "mistake" had been made. Two boxes had two tags on them, and his explanation was "we must have gotten busy and doubled tagged them". Even though we protested, he insisted that we sign the paperwork or he would not leave the house. He explained that we still had 9 months to file a claim if we discovered anything was missing. Reluctantly, we signed the paperwork and made the assumption that the company would make good on their promises of outstanding customer service.
After unpacking the goods over the next few days, we indeed discovered missing items – we were able to determine that there were indeed two missing boxes. We asked United for a trace, and nothing turned up. We were instructed to file a claim with United, which we did. Many of the items missing were family treasures, (e.G. My grandfather’s set of hand tools, my grandmother’s collection of antique scissors, my father’s collection of antique records.). We did not attempt to recover the sentimental value of these items, but only filed a claim for minimal replacement costs. Then for the next 4-5 months all we received was the runaround. The claims representative denied the claim. The managers refused to return our letters, emails and phone calls. The United Van Lines In House Adjuster insisted that our claim was not legitimate because we had signed the paperwork stating that the goods had been received. Even when we told them what had happened with the moving supervisor, they refused to listen. We have complained to both companies repeatedly, we have reported them to the BBB and to the Department of Transportation. All of this effort resulted in nothing.
This company convinced us to buy extra insurance to protect my mom’s treasures, which we believed was thru a third party but was actually just additional money that was charged. They never had any intention of paying us for the goods we lost, and have used the flimsiest of excuses to deny our claim.
I believe their actions are not only unethical but illegal. Our only option now is to file legal action against them in small claims court and then attempt to recover the money on our own. Since Mom is elderly, the requirement to appear personally in court in another state is making it impossible for her to recover a reasonable settlement.
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