On April 28th, I called All My Son's to obtain a quote for moving my belongings from a three bedroom apartment located in North Port, FL to a one bedroom with study apartment located in Tampa, FL. Before I was asked anything about contents in my apartment I was quoted a price of $99.00 per hour PERIOD. I told the lady the distance to the new location was exactly 111 miles from one apartment to the next in case that made a difference in the quote/time frame required. She did not comment as to the distance making a difference in price or creating a problem with time.
After I was given the hourly rate I was then asked when I needed to move, I gave the date, then was asked many questions regarding the size of the apartment, the type of furniture, including whether I would be moving appliances, and if I was moving from an upstairs apartment to an upstairs apartment. This was the only comment made regarding stairs in the questions on the move.
The lady I spoke with was quite familiar with the location I was moving to and even gave me information on how to exit the apartment complex from the rear without having to deal with the very busy intersection at the main light. We also had a conversation regarding the downsizing from a three bedroom to a one bedroom and the fact that I only had ONE bedroom set of furniture, that one room in the current apt. Was used for miscellaneous items and since the new apartment had a study that is the same size as a bedroom at the old apartment, it would be used in the same way. I also stated I had been giving away, and was continuing to give away, many items in order to not need the third bedroom any longer. I advised her I had numerous boxes packed and stacked in the current third bedroom ready to be picked up by the movers and all they had to do was wheel the boxes out.
I asked the lady how I was to handle the items in the dresser and highboy of the bedroom furniture, if I was to pack the items in boxes or leave them in the drawers since each moving company has their own preference as to how these things are handled. She indicated they would remove the drawers with contents intact in order to put the furniture on the truck, then place the drawers back into the furniture, so there was no need to pack the items themselves into boxes. THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY DID.
At no time during any of the conversation with the lady making the arrangements was there any mention that the normal work day for the mover's considered to be eight hours, nor did she ever indicate during our conversation any additional charges for anything beyond the $99.00 per hour fee. She did however tell me I would only have to pay for travel back to the Sarasota warehouse in her words that will save you $99.00.
When the movers arrived they claimed to be totally surprised at the fact I was in a three bedroom apartment! According to them the order indicated they were to pick up from a one bedroom and move to a one bedroom and had been allotted three hours for the move. The drive alone from North Port to Tampa is almost three hours so I did't understand why the allotment of only three hours. They could't explain it other than to say the girl who took the information was always getting everything incorrect and had entered the information as a one bedroom instead of a three bedroom so they were not prepared for a three bedroom move.
While one worker began to load boxes onto the truck the supervisor of the two had paperwork to be completed. This consisted of several forms, one being a list I had to complete of any pre-existing damage to my furniture, another was accepting the pre-quoted charges of $99.00 per hour, then at this point I was advised of the EIGHT HOUR WORK DAY AND THE OVERTIME CHARGES NOTHING ELSE!
I spent time explaining to each worker which items were to go with them and which items would go in my car that day with me such as my computer, printer and scanner, plus a few other personal items that had yet to be loaded into my car. While they loaded the truck I loaded my car. The movers loaded boxes throughout the morning, with the supervisor spending time talking on the telephone about every 30 to 45 minutes. At one point he commented to me that his boss was on his butt because the job was taking too long. He constantly complained about the mistake the girl in the office made over the difference in the number of bedrooms and, he would stand talking about things of a personal nature, wasting time which extended the length of the move time. When he started complaining about his boss calling all the time to complain about how long the job was taking, my feeling was if his boss was the one calling him all the time then he should STOP because EACH TIME THE WORKER STOPPED TO TALK ON THE PHONE THE WORK WASN'T GETTING DONE AND THE JOB WAS BEING DELAYED WHICH ADDED TO THE NUMBER OF HOURS I WAS BEING CHARGED FOR.
I packed my personal belongings into my car, including some items the movers were supposed to take but they requested I take instead. During the course of the movers taking furniture out, one worker was transporting the night stand of the bedroom set. The night stand was wrapped with a moving blanket, however it was strapped to the dolly with plastic packing tape, not strapped with a dolly strap! The drawers also were NOT taken out of the night stand prior to it being put on the dolly to transport to the truck as I was advised they would be. The tape broke and the night stand fell off the dolly at the top of the first step of a 14 step stairway and dropped to the bottom of the stairs. Both drawers came apart in the fall even with the thick movers padding. I was told I would be able to complete a claim form for damages once I reached the new destination.
Phone calls continued to be made by the boss to the supervisor delaying the work he completed during the day, increasing the amount of time it took them to do the job. As items were moved out, the movers used plastic packing tape to tape items to the dolly instead of using a cloth dolly strap. The dolly's did not have dolly straps on them. The movers ran out of tape and had to borrow packing tape from me to complete their work. Mine was the more expensive tape that would not break or tear without scissors or a knife as one of the movers found out when trying to rip it after wrapping something with it. The tape they were using was very cheap tape that would tear with your fingers.
Finally, at approximately 4pm the truck was loaded and we were ready to leave for Tampa. The supervisor wanted to stop at a store to get something cold to drink. He followed me to a 7-11 that was basically 4 miles out of the way of where we needed to travel. I didn't say anything as I wanted to obtain additional gas myself before making the trip. When we arrived at the 7-11 I got my gas, completed my transaction while the supervisor was in the store, then pulled over to wait for him to return to his truck. I waited for approximately 20 minutes before he finally appeared. Many people went in and out of the store while he was in there. This is an additional amount of time I am being charged for even though I was told when I initially called about a quote that any lunch time or break times I would not be charged for. I would consider this a break!
We finally entered the Interstate only to have bumper to bumper traffic almost immediately. Within approximately 15 minutes it was apparent there was a problem further ahead as a rescue unit and several police cars passed on the right of the cars that were now at a total standstill. We lost approximately 45 minutes in travel time due to a traffic accident on the Interstate before leaving Sarasota. I am also being charged for this time even though I had no control over this.
We stopped at the Skyway Bridge long enough for everyone to take a bathroom break then we proceeded on to the final destination. Once we arrived things became very unprofessional to say the least. Our arrival time was late in the evening, approximately 7:30 pm or shortly thereafter, so people in the complex were beginning to settle down for the evening which was a Monday, meaning the next day was a workday for most of the tenants in the complex.in addition, being new to the complex I had no idea who might have small children and who didn't, so I had no knowledge of who required the movers to use discretion in the manner in which they moved my contents into the apartment (meaning the noise level, language, etc.). All the time the moving was going on the workers were screaming at each other loudly across the parking area up until 1:45 am with no regard for anyone that might be sleeping.
Foul language, groaning and hollering loudly as they pulled items up the stairs could be heard for several apartments away. They both seemed to have physical limitations due to injuries, one with a bad ankle, the other with a bad knee and with each trip up the stairs each one would groan and yell out some epitaph loudly because of pain. While I can sympathize with anyone in pain, if they were not in the proper physical condition to do the job they should not have been sent out to do it. I had to apologize to the Manager of the apartment complex the following morning for the noise and extreme commotion caused by the movers and any inconvenience that might have been caused to my new neighbors.
When they began moving items into the apartment I attempted to show them where the various items should be placed so they would be able to determine which items to bring in first to make their job easier and more streamlined.instead of paying attention to this information they began to just move items in, placing them anywhere they wished to plop them without regard as to what might have to go in that spot later, or if something might have to go behind that item, or on the other side of that item which would require that item be moved again in order to get another item inside. This all added to the time of the move and the time I was billed for without justification! For example, I was told by one worker that the recliner would be brought in next, but the couch had not yet been brought in although it was to be placed on the far side of that room (the cushions for the couch had been brought in however and were laying on the floor where the couch was to be placed which meant they would have to be moved out of the way AND the coffee table had already been brought in and placed in the center of the floor and was also in the way of bringing in the couch!). I stated that if the recliner was brought in first then the couch couldn't be brought in because the recliner would be in the way and would have to be moved out of the way again extending the time on the charges. The worker agreed. I overheard him telling the supervisor what I had said about the recliner and at that point the statement was made by the supervisor well if the lady wants the couch in first then we'll take the couch in first!
My daughter, who lives across Dale Mabry, approximately three minutes from where I moved to, came over to bring me some dinner and coffee while the unloading was taking place. She watched for a few minutes, and herself, not being able to stand by and watch the ineptness of the movers, got involved in rearranging the items the movers brought in to make room for more items. She has moved several times and was appalled at how inept these movers were in how they handled themselves, how they wasted time, and the manner in which they brought items in without thought as to how it would fit or should be placed in a room or which item needed to be brought in first in order for it or other items to fit.
Just about everything the workers did in bringing items in caused delays in time because of the manner in which they did the work. It was as though they didn't know how to unload a truck and move the items into the residence OR, THEY INTENTIONALLY DID THIS JUST TO INCREASE THE BILL AS HIGH AS THEY COULD AT THIS POINT!
The original room the boxes were being moved from was the same size as the room they were to be moved into at the new residence, yet the workers ran out of space on two occasions and still had items to be unloaded off the truck. I had to rearrange the boxes/containers twice myself in order to make more room for them to put items in the room. They stacked large heavy boxes on top of small light boxes that could be crushed. They paid no attention to the markings on the boxes that stated CRYSTAL/BREAKABLE AND PLACED BOXES THAT WERE MARKED BOOKS ON TOP OF THOSE BOXES! Some stacks of boxes were beginning to topple and would have fallen over if not braced by other stacks of boxes.
I moved many boxes from one place to another in order for them to have a place to bring in new items AND for them to have room to manipulate furniture items yet I am being charged as if they are the ones who did this work! Pockets of space were left between several stacks of containers, and my electronic equipment was thrown into a box instead of being placed on the entertainment center where it belonged or without them asking me where I wanted it placed when they brought it in. Boxes were marked kitchen and bathroom, yet they were stacked in the far back corner of the study where they were unreachable by me until I unpacked almost all the boxes/containers later.
A large table with a glass top was left in front of the laundry room doors so the doors could not be opened. This would not be an issue IF they had not opened these doors several times to look into this room to look at the washer and dryer and comment on this room. I had to move this item after the movers left so I could access the laundry room area.
The workers did not acknowledge damage to two pieces of furniture before leaving, and, one wooden piece of furniture that was damaged was left on the lanai against the outside screened area instead of against the concrete inside wall area where it would be protected from the night air. Another item was found to have been damaged only after being able to move boxes from the back area of the room which also was not acknowledged by the movers. This item is a plastic file cabinet. The front of the file drawer door is cracked down the front. This was not broken when it was picked up at the original site. This was hidden behind boxes at the new location when the items were unloaded.in addition, metal file cabinets that were not bent when picked up at the original location now have two drawers that are dented but were not acknowledged at the new location either. Boxes were just stacked in front of them so the damage was hidden.
When most all items were unloaded the movers had to be reminded several times the mirror on the dresser had to be attached. The screws had been packed up at the original site so I found my box of three inch screws in my large box of tools and handed it to the supervisor to use what was needed to attach the mirror. I cannot find that box of screws, nor can I now find another box that contained multiple screwdrivers of various sizes and types (flathead and Philips) that was in the large tool box, open and accessible to them during the move. These tools were used by them on several occasions, such as taking the mirror off the dresser and putting it back on, as they did not have proper tools to do what was necessary in taking apart the furniture or the electronics when moving from the original site.
Over a period of several days of unpacking boxes I have gone through many boxes that the box of screws and the box of screwdrivers could have been placed in but have not found them. I wanted to be certain they were not in my possession before making any accusations about their disappearance.
It wasn't until most all items had been unloaded that I learned the FULL EXTENT OF THE CHARGES, HIDDEN AND OTHERWISE, THAT HAD NOT BEEN QUOTED when I called to book the movers. At this point is when I was told that in addition to the overtime charges, I was responsible for fuel charges, some type special service charge and the charge for stairs on each end. These charges were never mentioned to me at any time during my first call to arrange the move. I was only quoted a charge of $99.00 per hour PERIOD Nothing Else! When the call was made to the office to obtain the total in charges for the move by the supervisor the total came to $2,288.01. The largest portion of the charges being for 9.5 hours overtime which were caused in part by the boss calling the supervisor continuously on the phone and delaying the work that was done, and the manner in which the movers removed the items at the new location which caused them to have to move things more than once in order to get them where they needed to be. While the supervisor was on the phone with Russ Alaimo (his supervisor) he told him I had a problem with the billing and was not very happy with it because of the overtime charges and I would be calling the next day.
When I asked about a claim form to fill out for the damages to my night stand (not knowing about the other pieces since they were not acknowledged before the movers left) I was told there wasn't a form to be filled out that I could only make a note of how the damages occurred by writing it on the list where I listed the pre-existing damages. I don't have a copy of that note since of course no means existed at that time to make a copy and none was offered to be sent to me.
Naturally, any time that extends the days work time is always added to the end of the day so it is considered in the overtime part for the higher cost that is why Russ Alaimo called so many times throughout the day - to extend the workday. THIS COMPANY IS GUILTY OF UNETHICAL AND DISHONEST BUSINESS PRACTICES BY NOT DISCLOSING ALL CHARGES THAT WOULD APPLY TO THE MOVE AT THE TIME OF GIVING A QUOTE AND CREATING A LONGER DAY THAN NECESSARY BY THE BOSS CALLING CONSTANTLY DELAYING THE WORK BEING DONE SO THE TIME WOULD EXTEND INTO OVERTIME.in addition, time was lost in having to move things more than once at the new location in order to get items in because the movers did not use common sense in bringing items into the apartment in the proper order, plus they damaged items and did not acknowledge this to the owner of the items. The supervisor also lied about how to go about filing a claim for damages at the initial loading location as well.
I called Russ Alaimo on Tuesday morning to file a complaint about the movers and the charges, and to ask about filing a report for damages to my property. I explained to him I was told there were no forms to complete. He told me there weren't any forms, that I would need to write a letter to the company and attach pictures. He also stated he didn't understand why the order for the move was for a one bedroom when in fact it was a three bedroom and asked me WHY it was that way as if the mistake was of my doing. I advised him that i did not know why his records showed it that way, it was not my problem that someone in his office entered it incorrectly and that in placing the order it definitely was discussed about my move being for a three bedroom to a one bedroom with study and the problem must be on his end. He kept putting me on hold to speak to someone else, asking me questions as to why the order was from a one bedroom as if it was my fault the order was entered incorrectly in his office? I told him I didn't know why it was that way and that wasn't the issue, the issue was the length of time it took to move me and the charges, that I was upset with the manner in which the movers did the work, the damages to the items and the fact that he kept calling the supervisor every 30-45 minutes which delayed the moving time and the costs to me because of it plus the items NOT QUOTED TO ME IN THE BEGINNING WHEN I CALLED TO ARRANGE FOR THE MOVE. He said to send a letter and he would see what could be done to adjust the billing because of the damages but did not state anything else about adjusting charges due to HIS CAUSING DELAYS IN THE TIME, or in any of the other issues! His main concern was WHO made the mistake in the data entry rather than taking care of any customer service issues or problems.
When I returned to my original apartment on Tuesday to begin cleaning so I could finalize my move out of that apartment I was overwhelmed to see the damages to the apartment caused by the movers. Marks, gouges, and black wheel marks on the linoleum from the dolly's were all over the apartment. The doors had marks that were caused by the handles of the dolly's scraping against them leaving gouges in the wood and in some areas the plaster in the walls had gouges. It took me an entire day to fill the gouges in the walls and doors, then paint over the areas, plus scrub the black wheel marks off the linoleum before I could begin my normal check out cleaning. This caused me an entire day's delay in my schedule, plus additional costs for repair materials. Now I find also, after being able to get to several items that were behind boxes, a white two door cupboard was taped with the brown packing tape to keep the doors from coming open while transporting it down the stairs instead of wrapping it with a blanket first. When trying to remove the tape not all of it will come off unless I scrape it which will damage the paint, or I can use a solvent which will also damage the paint so this is another item that has been damaged simply because the movers used the cheap brown plastic packing tape instead of dolly straps to move the item down the stairs.
Ironically, I have a friend who is in the process of selling her home and preparing to move to VA. I e-mailed her to let her know I had arrived at my new location and also gave her a brief overview of my experience without giving her the name of the company that moved me, just the most crucial highlights of the problems of the move. After reading the e-mail she responded with some information of her own regarding quotes she had gotten from several moving companies and one of the company's representative having advised her to stay away from All My Son's but did not elaborate on the reason! She happened to have gotten a quote from a representative of All My Son's, then was told the quote would be confirmed in writing in a few days when she got the written quote in the mail it was different than the quote she had been given when the representative was at her home! She has since advised me the company she has contracted with will pack up her belongings in her three bedroom home in Ft. Myers, FL, transport them and unload them in VA for just slightly more than All My Son's charged me to move items already packed from North Port, FL to Tampa, FL. Clearly something is wrong with this company and the way they do business and charge for it.
Aurelia
Tampa, Florida
U.S.A.
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