Beware of nationwide van lines!!!
The purpose of this letter is to warn potential moving customers to seriously DO YOUR HOMEWORK and check the records of a moving company before you sign anything. Just because a company is cheap does not mean it's good! You get what you pay for!
I contacted Nationwide Van Lines in Hollywood, FL for a move from Lincoln, NE to Tuckahoe, NY in the Spring of 05. My initial conversations were very pleasant and I had done much homework before choosing Nationwide based on their price ($1500 with a $100 off coupon from their website) and customer service. Boy was I schnookered!
After some minor adjustments on dates (within the 72 hour schedule change guidelines) we settled on a pick up between August 28 & 29th and were told we would be contacted within 24 hours of the pick up but were also told that we could contact them as soon as August 24th to see when the actual pick up would be. I called on Thursday August 24th and received a recording that the office was closed until the following Sunday (August 28th) due to Hurricane Katrina. Called at 10am Sunday August 28th and was told that the pick up would occur Tuesday August 30th due to the hurricane. I'm just thinking a company based in Florida who knows that a hurricane is on the way (mind you, there were SEVERAL days notice of it) would have a back up plan to be sure their customers would be taken care of.
Tuesday, August 30th the driver (Not a Nationwide driver but a contractor) called and said he was stuck in Ohio and could not pick up until Thursday Sept 1st.
The key here is that we were moving for my husband to attend seminary classes started Sept 8. We had to drive cross-country (a 3 day drive) with 3 small children and had hoped to be somewhat settled in before classes started. I had JUST been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis weeks before and stress is a MAJOR factor with flare ups with my disease... Little did I know what kind of stress we were in for.
I called the office to complain and we were offered additional $75 discount due to delay. Thursday Sept 1st the driver never called and after several messages were left on his cell voice mail he called and said he was stuck in Chicago and could not make pick up until Saturday Sept 3rd between 8a and 9a. Again, I called office and complained and were offered additional $100 off were also offered an additional $100 to cancel the pickup and get a refund (which I should have taken and run), but we thought it was just too late. Important note, with each call to the office the customer service is gradually going down.By the last call I was dealing with a quite snitty operator.
Finally, Saturday Sept 3rd came and the driver never called. We left several messages on the cell voice mail (office is closed on Saturday). Finally got hold of him in early afternoon and he said he would arrive between 5p and 6p. 6:15p my husband called and reached the driver who said he could not pick up until Sunday or Monday because he couldn't find a u-haul truck, which was required for our move due to some tight corners in our neighborhood. My husband told him to cancel the order. The driver was nice and very apologetic. He thanked us and said he would never contract for Nationwide again.
Sunday Sept 4th - my husband, Alex, called the office (just after we got on the road and left our stuff behind with no clue how we would get it) to complain and ask for deposit back. He was met by a very rude agent who argued with him and ultimately hung up on him.
From our empty apartment in New York I called office (Thursday, Sept 8th) personally to be sure the refund was arranged. Asked for a supervisor. The supervisor, Orit Gmach, was arguing with me and would not let me get a word in edgewise. She said she had an obligation to defend her company... EXCUSE ME! What about an obligation that 'the customer is always right?' When I told her the agent hung up on my husband she told me I was lying and that the agent was disconnected and tried to call back immediately. I told her that was not true because I was holding the cell phone in my hand and it never rang after his conversation with her. She claimed there was obviously something wrong with our cell phone. Whenever I tried to talk to her she would constantly talk over me. It was not until I mentioned that no one had ever even apologized for the inconvenience that she gave me a half hearted I'm sorry. She also claimed that they didn't know which address to send the refund to and tried to contact us on several occasions to get the right address. Again, our caller id never showed their call and they never left a message on voice mail. This is during the time numerous other calls came through from family and friends during our drive out. She claims our phone was not working.
We received the $500 refund check rather quickly it was in sloppy handwriting with no correspondence.
I reported Nationwide to the BBB and just got an email of their response. It was a glib letter and didn't have a signature. It said We do apologize for the inconvenience we put Mr. And Mrs. Mytnik. Our hope is that they had managed to move successfully and we wish them Good Luck.
Our hope is that they had managed to move successfully and we wish them Good Luck."
This is how we finally did manage to get our stuff.
My brother in law has a friend who is in the moving business and he offered to weigh our stuff and see if they could get it to us. Nationwide charges by the square footmy brother in laws friend said there was no way they would have delivered it for the price they quoted ($1500) and would have surely demanded more money upon delivery. His friend could not make the delivery which would have been close to $3000.00. My dad (WHO HAS HAD THREE HEART ATTACKS) and my brother in law drove 24 hours straight out then straight back with a u-haul to deliver the stuff in one weekend.
As Christians, I believe that there was a protective element to thisperhaps God was protecting us from any final demands for funds. Stillour experience with the company was miserable and stressful and the company needs to be held accountable for their lack of business ethics. I was diagnosed with MS in June of this year and this situation just caused added stress to my health in an already stressful time.
Thank you for reading about my experience. I hope this complaint has dissuaded you from hiring Nationwide (or whatever name they might change to due to their shady dealings) on State Street in Hollywood, FL.
SIDENOTE: I notice their website is stripped down now and it just refers you to their phone number. That right there should be an indicator.
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