Jackson moved us from Chicago to Naperville in early June. One of their salesmen, Kevin Conklin, came over and went through our entire house, including the basement and the garage in order to provide us with an estimate.
The estimate for our move was for approximately $4,917.30, and they were supposed to provide 1 truck and 3 packers on June 9, then move us in using 1 truck and 3 movers on June 10. They sent only 2 packers, and billed us for 16 hours of labor the first day rather than the estimated 8, which increased the labor costs by well over $1,000.
One of the reasons for the excessive labor charge is that although they provided only 2 packers, they billed us at the rate for 3. The other reason is that because of the low-ball estimate, we really needed 2 trucks for our belongings, but the estimate only provided for 1. The packers waited around for hours for the second truck to arrive, and Jackson billed us for the time. We also got billed for the packers lunch hour.
Jackson also went approximately $1,000 over the estimate in packing materials, but despite repeated requests, they still have not provided us with a list or inventory of the materials used in order to substantiate their claim for the materials.
Jackson's final bill went thousands of dollars above the estimate. When we expressed our dismay over the final bill as it was presented to us on the day we moved in, Jackson's agent just shrugged and told us that, "You guys got low-balled, but sorry, my guys can't work for free." He also told us that the salesman who did our estimate had done this before.
The funny thing about that guy was that even though he was honest with us about the fact that we were low-balled, he clearly altered the final bill of lading in order to add time to the labor charge. Our copy of the bill of lading was the bottom copy of a transfer sheet, and you can see where the times were altered in order to pad the bill.
We had a horrible experience, and we are still haggling with Jackson over the final bill. They went a total of 55% over the original estimate, which brought the cost from $4,917.30 to approximately $7,622. We paid them only 10% over the estimate on the day we moved in (this is allowed under Illinois law), and they are still attempting to collect the balance.
When we complained to them about the bait and switch and about the problems that led to the serious increase in labor time, their response was to accuse us of adding items to the move in order to try to blame us for the enormously inflated charges.
I would rather strap my house to my back and walk from Chicago to Naperville than ever use this company again. The only good thing I can say about them is that only three items got broken in the move; a wine glass, a wooden carving, and a piece of particle-board furniture that was already in shaky condition.
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