BestWay Moving has violated numerous consumer protection standards, including bait and switch, failure to meet the terms of a contract, failure to provide services paid for, damage to property not associated with the actual move (i.E. Movers damaged the walls and floors of the new home we moved into), etc.
We needed to move in June. I met with the sales representative (who came to our home for a visual and video assessment/estimate ONLY because I requested it, even though the company IS REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW to do so if we live—which we did—within 50 miles of the business) who surveyed our materials and provided a written estimate. On the day of our move, June 23, movers arrived and loaded and packed some of our belongings (which we paid for). Once all our materials were loaded, the mover estimated that the cost of the move would be DOUBLE what the original estimate said.
This meant our only option was to say no and have everything unloaded, or go along with the bait and switch. Some increase in estimate is logical. But DOUBLE? That's either a classic bait and switch or the sales person is entirely incompetent.
We were originally told our shipment would load on the 24th or 25th of June. We left for Illinois ourselves on June 26. On June 27 I spoke to the salesperson (my only contact at BestWay) who told me he would send the certified weight tickets and and update on the ETA of our shipment that day. On the 28th I still had not heard from him.
On July first I got the following email from him (Marc): "The truck loaded on Sunday. I am unsure of what crew is driving. The Drivers name is was not on the paperwork. That is not a big deal it just means they changed drivers The driver will give you a call and setup a time to delivery. I think the delivery will be made on Wednesday."
Sunday in this context means June 30. Wednesday means July 3. But even though we were told the shipment had loaded, that was a lie.
On July 3 I received this email: "Can I give you a call on Friday? Sorry Michael your stuff did not load last weekend. It's going to load this Friday. I am trying to get things delivery to you this weekend. The truck I thought it was going on was going on went to New York. Sorry about the mix up. I will call you Friday about 3 pm when I have all the information. I will get this worked out for you. I will see what I can do go get you a break on the price."
No price break has been extended. As it turn out, our shipment did NOT load on Friday, July 5. It supposedly loaded on July 6, but when we spoke to the driver he informed us that he drove a truck straight through from Maryland (which is less than a 12 hour trip, 14-15 hours at most, which means it did not LEAVE until at least July 9. The movers were supposed to call us 24 hours in advance to schedule delivery. I have this in writing from BestWay.
On the morning of July 10 at 8:31AM I received a call from the driver who said, "I'm 5 hours away." I was in a corporate strategy meeting and could not leave work; my spouse was home alone with our three dogs, so my mother had to drive from Madison, Wisconsin on the spot to help her with the movers. July 10 was 17 days after our shipment was taken away. BestWay promises delivery in 1-14 days to the Midwest. 17 days violates the terms of the contract.
In addition to breaking and or damaging 4-5 pieces of antique furniture, 2-3 pieces of art, 4-5 glass items—all of which we paid to have packed by BestWay, the movers damaged the walls in our newly remodeled home and tracked or spilled oil on a 5-6' stretch of carpeting. This is a newly remodeled rental property which we are financial liable for. When my spouse saw that the movers were damaging the walls carrying in a table, she asked them to stop and be careful. Their response was: "This is heavy."
We paid, in cash, the FULL BALANCE of the amount owed (again almost DOUBLE the original estimate). The movers would not unload anything from the truck until we paid.in additon, the movers left numerous boxes labeled "kitchen" or "bathroom" in our garage, so even though we paid for movers, we now have to move them in. Several pieces of furniture that BestWay disassembled while moving were not put back together. Other pieces of furniture that were partly disassembled have missing screw and bolts, many of which were custom hardware. Bestway is running a scam, and on top of that a horrible business that takes advantage of consumers, violates contracts, and damages personal property. To this date we have not received an apology and have been told that the "price break" we were promised may take up to 30 days to adjudicate.
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