We contracted with Carmack to move our household goods from Virginia to Utah. Carmack promised us a local crew to help unload but failed to secure one. Our new neighbors volunteered and thus the unload occurred in a timely manner. We feel we paid for the move and should be entitled for a small refund between $150-$200.
Carmack's truck driver had offered my neighbors payment for their labor, which would have been a very small amount after dividing $150-200 by the number of neighbors and the number of hours worked. Neighbors helped because of being neighborly, not because of money. However if I was to throw a block party for show our appreciation to our neighbors, I am they would certainly welcome that. I fully intended to use the refund to pay for that block party but Carmack refuses to refund, citing that local crew is not a mandatory part of moving industry practice.
We have moved before and never encountered a moving company that would not have sufficient work force to unload. I have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and Carmack simply tried to skirt the issues by citing acceptable industry practices. Carmack even tried to put the onus on me by saying that I should have been the one to offer to pay my neighbors instead of the truck driver making the offer. That is so ridiculous. I already paid for the move itself. I shouldn't have to pay extra. Besides money payment is not the proper form to show appreciation for neighborly actions.
As part of the contract, we opted for full replacement value for damaged or lost items. We filed our claim in early July which was a very small claim in terms of number and dollar amount. I was told by the claims analyst that the documentation I provided with the claim was very good. I was led to believe that it would be a simple matter to get reimbursed.
Not so, I did not receive a check until Oct 10, more than 90 days later. Carmack cites that the moving industry allows 120 days to process claims and therefore they are within the acceptable timeframe. The 120 days may be reasonable for large and complicated claims. Mine was clear cut and small. Due to length of time, I tried to call to get the status of the claim. I left numerous phone messages but nearly all did not receive any return calls.
I eventually found out on Aug. 21 that the claim was approved and that it was being sent to accounting for payment. That meant more than 6 weeks to just approve the claim. It took me couple hours to research the replacement costs of the damaged / lost items. Why does it take Carmack over 6 weeks to approve the claim? Why does it take over another 6 weeks for accounting to write a check?
I was told that accounting only cuts checks twice a month. If that was the case, the worse scenario should have been couple weeks from Aug. 21, not over 6. I have asked for a verbal and written apology for their non responsiveness and of course, par for the course, Carmack does not communicate.
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