My company hired NationalEx Inc to deliver some household goods consisting of 2 garden urns in 3 parts each and 1 fountian base, for a client of mine April 10th. The company damaged one of the urns on the way to their warehouse and did not inform my client of this fact for 2 months (mid June). We did not learn of this until I called the company directly. The damage was minor and to only one of the urns, but the company would not provide any visual evidence that it had been repaired. We made several attempts over a 3 month period to obtain visual confirmation of the condition of the item, but the company continued to refuse our requests.
We then asked the company to release the items to another carrier, which of course they did not do. The company refused to follow any directions that my client asked of them verbally and in writing. The owner of the company Rhonda Zimmermann made it clear that she was the only person who would respond to our requests and she made it extremely difficult to reach her. From the begining Rhonda made promises of pictures of the damaged item and always said she would reply within a certain time frame, only to never respond. The employees of this company acted with the same unwillingness to offer any help. Each time I called they would act like they had no idea who I was or why I was calling, even though I had probably called more than 2 dozen times over a 1 month period.
Throughout this entire 5 month process neither my client nor myself was shown any sort of courtesy and no attempt was ever made to satisfy the concerns we collectively had about the condition of her items. The value of which was over $11,000 collectively. After 4 1/2 months of not being able to resolve this dispute, we came to a breaking point and threatened to sue to get my clients items back.
This only caused NationalEx to dig in further and they began proclaiming "terms" from a contract that said they were acting within their "rights" as outlined in this contract. Unfortunately for us, no contract was ever provided to us until we received by fax a "Revised" contract on August 15th, 4 months after the items had been picked up. Even on this contract which wasnt signed these terms did not appear. The terms were only brought up in email correspondence and used as a threat. At no point was there ever a "signed" contract between my client or anyone else and this company. At this point 1 term in particular made it important that we act fast or we feared the worst.
They told us in a certified letter that if my client refused to pay them what they demanded within 2 weeks, they would proceed in selling my clients items. They made this threat more forceful by claiming to have "buyers" already coming out to look at the items. The money at this point was a factor and their demands had now ballooned to $5,775.00, which is ultimately the amount paid, even though the items were never delivered. During this time we were researching what it would take to sue this company and the costs to file an "emergency injunction" to keep them from selling her items. After speaking with 4 attorneys we felt that paying them this money would probably be the least expensive of our options and it would also achieve what we had been trying to do for 5 months, get the items out of their control so that they could no longer use them against us. So we paid them, which I will break down their costs in detail according to how they broke it down: $1650.75 pick up & shipping to CT, $1585.10 for crating (cost as much as the shippiing and was never given an estimate), which they say this $3235.85 was the "orginal" shipping amount.
This amount changed multiple times in written correspondence and was never broken down this clearly until the very end. We never were given a quote up front. Even though we told the company not to ship anything, they put the items on a truck and told us that it was impossible to take the items off. When we were unable to work things out the following was tacked on: $1650.75 "returned ship from CT" $249.25 handling fees, $300 chargeback fees, $300 uncrating fees so we could finally see that the item was repaired, and $40 storage fees when after 5 months she began charging us for storing the items. The reason for the "return" shipment fee is they claim they tried to deliver these items to my client and she denied delivery. All of this after we told them in writing not to deliver.
All the fee amounts changed in written correspondence throughout this process and some changed multiple times. Never once did the breakdown remain the same. It was as if each time they tried to break it down they thought of a new way to describe the charges. I was able to secure transportation from another carrier including fully insuring the items for a total of $1700 from another carrier once they were paid off and they released the items. Their $3235 did not even include additional insurance. The end result was 5 months of wasteful and unnecessary expenditure of time trying to resolve a simple matter, which only leads me to believe all of their actions were deliberate.
After $5775.00 and countless hours of emails back and forth, and time spent on the phone I would never recommend this company to anyone. I feel they have acted willfully in a fraudulent manner and it is my intent to make that clear to as many people as possible. There is clear evidence of a chain of such deceptive actions over multiple years and several companies, as I only need direct anyone reading this to the other 2 complaints against this company on this website. DO NOT transact business with this company, but if for some unbelievable reason you do decide to use them, make sure you have a signed contract with a firm amount worked out before they have picked up your items. They will use your property against you to only increase your costs or as some have found out break your items beyond repair without reimbursing you for their negligence. Always sign a contract before allowing anyone to pick up anything you need shipped. I learned the hard way as this company's name was given to an employee of mine, but make sure you check the company out on a website like the Better Business Bureau to see if they have a clear history free from complaints.
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