In May I hired AAA VanLines to move our household goods from the house we sold in West Virginia to AAA storage in Norcross, Georgia. We then purchased a house in Florida and our goods were delivered there on July 14. Hiring AAA was a disaster and it seems there is no way to recover losses or damage caused by the negligence or misrepresentation of the company except to file an expensive lawsuit. I have made complaints to the Better Business Bureau and to the Federal Motor Carriers but neither has any authority over the moving company with regard to settling claims. FMC will investigate AAA only after receiving a number of complaints.
The owner of AAA, Nick Paz, has done nothing to try to resolve our issues. He told us that if our items were valuable, we should have purchased the full insurance! He also refused to answer phone calls and letters and told me not to call him again. He told me to sue him! I believe he can afford to be arrogant because he knows the customer has no alternative but to file a legal case which most won't do because of the expense and the emotional toll.
It is time for laws to protect the consumer. For most people, moving is an emotional experience as well as physically exhausting.in addition, many times people are dealing with two distant locations. Movers take advantage of this. They are protected and have no incentive for taking care of the possessions entrusted to them. They are paid in certified funds prior to loading and are paid in again in certified funds before they will unload the goods. I can't think of any other business where this is the case.
In our case, the only two boxes that did not reach our new home were the two containing Wedgwood china and crystal the only valuable items! Mr. Paz told us he had nine months to find the boxes which of course, he never did. They were lost. We were offered $583.30 as a settlement and we were required to sign a release. We couldn't do it so we received nothing. How do we know the boxes weren't stolen?
The following is a list of grievances we have with AAA Van Lines to give you an idea of what our move was like.
On May 31, AAA employee, Ronnie Winslow, called at about 9:00 A.M. And said that he was at an exit on Interstate 81 that was a forty-five minute drive from our home. At about 11:30 A.M., he called for directions from a street that was on the other side of town. He did not arrive at the house until 1:30 P.M. With no explanation other than that he had knocked down a stop sign in town. The intersection is only five minutes from our house.
At no time, did anyone at AAA Van Lines ask about accessing the house with a semi. Upon Mr. Winslows' arrival, he informed me he could not back the truck into the driveway and I would have to pay $100 per hour for a smaller truck. He proceeded to make phone calls for about half an hour before he began the move but he was unable to find a smaller truck. He then walked through the house putting stickers on some of the boxes. When I said he missed some, he said he would put stickers on those later. Upon checking our Inventory, we found that there were boxes not listed and that some items were miss-labeled. Two crew members are not enough to move a four-bedroom house with full basement, garage, and pool/garden equipment but Mr. Winslow spent hours sitting in the truck while the other two crew members worked.
Three times prior to the move I called AAA and asked what was necessary to prepare the motorcycle for the move. All three times I was told that the moving crew was trained and would know how to prepare it. However, at 1:30 A.M. On June 1st, Mr. Winslow and the two other crew members were unable to get the motorcycle into the semi. At that hour, it was impossible for me to move it anywhere and the house had to be vacated before 8:00 A.M. When the new owners were moving in.
Prior to the move, I asked if the goods would be crated and was told yes.in fact, they were just stacked inside the semi and when they arrived in Florida, they also were not crated. The boxes were in deplorable condition. Most were squashed and bent or broken.
I was told by AAA employees that they did not subcontract with other movers. When it was time for our goods to be delivered, I was contacted by Ben of Jet Van Lines, who said he'd been contracted by AAA to make the delivery.
On July 13, the day before the goods were to be delivered, Ben of Jet Van Lines told us we had to pay an additional $785 because he wouldn't bring his moving truck into our neighborhood. The trees scratched his roof. He rented a small truck and moved the goods from the van to the truck and then to the house.
AAA advertised on their recording that they are specialists in handling pianos and fine antiques. Prior to hiring AAA, I confirmed with Christina, the sales associate, that the moving crews would be specially trained in handling grand pianos. When Ben of Jet Van Lines delivered the goods, he did not even know how to put the piano together and didn't connect the pedals or the humidifier or know how to replace the music holder! Yet we were charged $140 for handling the piano. Our dining room furniture, while not antique, would certainly be considered fine furniture. The dining room buffet arrived with a scratched and gouged top. One of the glass shelves for the china deck was smashed to pieces!
We never received a statement of the actual weight of our goods even though we requested it.
Two boxes of Wedgwood china and crystal are missing. Mr. Paz said he had nine months to find them but of course he never did.
When Ben and the Jet Van Lines' crew left, we discovered they had taken my husband's green dolly (theirs were a different color) and a gray quilt pad from around our dining table board that came from the furniture company. I called Erica at AAA and asked her to get these items back. When I didn't hear from her, I called again and she told me that Ben said they weren't on the truck! Nothing further was done about it.
We eventually received an offer of $583.80 settlement from Anthem Claim Management. However, we had to sign a release saying that no further complaints, statements, action, etc. Would be taken or reported. The amount wasn't even a tenth of our losses and damages and we just couldn't sign the release. We would rather make sure other people don't make the mistake of hiring AAA Van Lines, Inc. Or dealing with Mr. Paz!
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