I have moved myself personally four (4) times, including from San Francisco to San Diego. After making the decision to move back to N.ca from Southern CA, I reserved a van from Penske and planned to move myself again.
After receiving a quote from Across America Movers ($1,250 and any packing supplies), I decided to let them move my small one-bedroom household and cut out the stress and hassle of moving myself... Was I ever wrong! I plan to take this company to small claims court!
When I spoke with a person, Jessica, and told her that all I needed was their company to load, drive and unload my stuff and I would pack everything, she said "no problem, " Across America Movers could accommodate me and I would be doing all of my own packing and unpacking.in the contract, they state that if they have to box anything or pack anything for you that you will have to pay for supplies. They also "recommend" NOT require that you put mattress covers on your bed, and use furniture covers to safeguard your furniture.
The "fun" started the day before Across America Movers was supposed to pick up my items. The original agreement was that they would arrive on a Saturday and deliver the following day, Sunday. On Friday, I received a voicemail from another girl at their offices stating that the truck didn't come in and that the movers would be at my apartment on Sunday - "please call to confirm."
I called only to find out that they "may" deliver on the following Wednesday at the earliest! This was completely unacceptable as I had to start work on Monday and be set up for that endeavor. After much arm twisting on my part, they relented and said they'd be able to deliver on Monday, but that they were still unable to be at my apt until Sunday... FIRST thing. Now I don't know what First thing is to moving companies, but mid-morning ain't it. I expected them to be at my place by 8 A.M. Around 10:30 A.M. They arrived.
Then I had the "pleasure" to deal with Nir Elder, the supervisor for the day. He begins by explaining that all of the tiny boxes that I have packed, taped, and labeled need to go in larger boxes that they supply, AND it is required that they wrap all of my furniture... Which translates to, "you stupid sucker, I am going to charge you for the materials and labor, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Now, while I was at the apartment (and I had to leave while they were still there because they took so long), Nir was pleasant... The moment I left and they had difficulties with moving some items, he became Mr. Hyde -according to my friend who stayed behind to supervise.
Nir charged me for stairs, even though the supervisor at there presumed headquarters assured me that I would not have to pay for stairs since they were a day late and not at my place first thing on Sunday. But Nir claims that there supervisor can only write off stairs at one end of the move, not both... So I had to write a check for $75 to Nir (seems sketchy).
Next, Nir begins to calculate everything additional I will need to pay because of them having to re-pack all of my medium and small boxes into wardrobe boxes. No where on the contract or website did Across America Movers say that this was protocol. I do have to say that nothing was broken; however, that's due to the fact that they cocooned everything - which of course uses up more supplies and costs me more money. Supposedly, Nir gave me a break and only charged me $420 some odd dollars more for the supplies - wow! (read this in the facetious tone it's meant to be).
Nir also told me the supposed base weight of the truck so that when they weighed it with my stuff, "I would know how much my stuff weighed." Interestingly, when Nir looked at my belongings, he said he would be surprised if it hit 2500 pounds but that was the minimum requirement of the company. Nir was supposed to call me after they went to the weigh station (that afternoon) and give me the final number. I never heard from him.
The following day (Sunday) as I was en route to my new home, I received a call from the new driver hauling my stuff who proclaimed that the weight of my items totaled 5000 pounds and my total cost was going to be a little over $3,000. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I don't have $3,000 - I have the amount that was agreed upon, and a tiny bit extra "just in case." I explained to the driver that a) there was no way that figure could be correct; b) not even if my car had been on that load would it have totaled 5000 pounds, and c) I was calling the supervisor at the office - David, whom I had spoken to previously.
I called my sister from the road as my move was to be closer to her and the family. I cannot tell you how happy I am that my brother-in-law is a former Sheriff's Chief. He got on the horn and contacted people to help out.
Prior to the movers arriving at my new place, we called David and left a message for him... When he didn't call back after a couple of hours, we called again and I spoke to him. I told him the situation, what I was quoted originally and what the driver had quoted to me. I told him that I wanted to take the moving truck to the nearest weigh scale, weigh it, unload my items and then weigh the truck again... And I would pay whatever extra there may be (of which I was sure there would be none). David said that they would not unload the truck without payment and that they had a weigh station certificate. Big Deal. I gave the phone to my brother-in-law to speak with David. Here are some curious thoughts:
1. I never saw the weight of the truck myself (only took at face value what Nir told me).
2. I don't know when the truck was initially weighed, but it was driven from North Hollywood to San Diego. How much gas was in it when it was weighed?
3. They had another pick-up after my place (which they must've been terribly late for). How do I know they weighed the truck between pick-ups? How do I know they didn't add more gas to the truck after they picked up my truck.
As a customer, I am apparently expected to accept what the people at Across America Movers tell me... Without any concrete proof.
Now I thought I was being quite fair to have the truck weighed again and then pay if my stuff actually was more than 2500 pounds. But David was having none of it and refused this solution. He told my brother in law that he was even at my apartment and saw all of my stuff (CAN YOU SAY LIAR?!). We gave David some time to contemplate on this situation and he promised to call back. He never did. So we called him again and I let my brother in law handle it because I was stressed out... Yea, wasn't that what I was trying to avoid by hiring this so-called moving company?
So my brother-in-law gets him to agree to the original quote that I was given because this has been a real hassle all the way around and Across America Movers has really screwed me over. The thing is though, what I finally ended up paying was still nearly $500 more than I was quoted. Oh, and the driver tried to get another $75 out of me for stairs. EXCUSE ME? He didn't get the money.
When the truck finally showed up, it was a different truck than the one that picked up my stuff to begin with. Um... How much does this truck weigh? Why were my things transferred? What the hell kind of operation is this? These were just some of the questions swirling in my head...
I have read some of the nightmares caused by Across America Movers and clearly my episode wasn't nearly as horrific. But it was stressful and costly to me nonetheless. This is a crooked operation run by people (and drivers) that know you're stressed over your move, and they absolutely take advantage of you and your predicament.
Let's face it, can you really back out of your move at the last minute when everything has been set into motion? No. And they use this to their advantage. I will NEVER use another moving company again. I feel like I was raped and pillaged. If any of you attorneys out there want to sink your teeth into a juicy lawsuit - this could be a class action one.
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