To: Chad Smith
From: Adam C*
Date: September 1
Re: Strong Customer Dissatisfaction with Move Handled by Team USA Moving
Dear Chad:
I am writing to express my strong disappointment with Team USA's customer service with regard to my yet uncompleted move and to seek compensation to reimburse me for out-of-pocket expenses as a result.
As a result of Team USA failing to deliver on its promises to me or respond to my concerns in an effective or prompt manner, my start to business school has been a very uncomfortable and expensive one. I will detail my grievances below and appreciate your response today detailing an offer to assist and constructively seek resolution between your organization and myself.
1.in selecting Team USA for this move, yours and Aaron's confidence of delivering my goods within the established window of August 24-26, was the clincher as time was the most important factor to me in this move.
After our discussion, I agreed to a very long pick-up window of August 13-19 to ensure on-time delivery. Even given this long pick-up window, Team USA did not secure a carrier to pick up my goods until August 20, which resulted in my household goods not arriving during the drop-off window.
It is now September 1, and my goods have not yet arrived. On August 26, Team USA notified me that the carrier would be delivering my goods on August 29 or 30 at the latest and that the carrier would call me to arrange a delivery time. I was anticipating delivery then and by the 30th, I had received no notification of time or an update.
Upon calling Team USA on the 30th for an update, Team USA informed me that the carrier would now deliver on September 1 with no rationale for yet another delay. To find out what time the delivery would occur on September 1, I had to leave two unreturned messages with the carrier prior to speaking with someone there on September 1 to confirm that delivery would occur today. I have no confidence that the movers will come today, given the track record, and they are already significantly later than forecasted.
2.in selecting Team USA for my car move, Aaron's verbal assurance to me that my car would definitely arrive by August 25, at the latest, convinced me to trust Team USA with this additional move. The car was not picked up by August 19th, the last date of the pick-up window, and still has not been picked up as of September 1. When I spoke with the selected carrier today, they noted September 11 as the earliest my car would arrive in Glendale. This is 17 days after the date promised to me by Aaron.
3. Between August 17 and September 1, there were nine instances where Team USA personnel promised to research, act or get back to me about my various concerns, which were not fulfilled.
In addition, there were over ten instances in which I left a voice mail message for customer service, sales or management which was not returned. This demonstrates to me a fundamental lack of follow-through on behalf of the customer, a lack of empathy, concern and respect for my situation and time, and an organizational disregard for customer service.
4. On August 26, I expressed to you my concern over my rising out-of-pocket expenditures with regard to the missed fulfillment dates. You asked me to send a note to Shane detailing the expenses so that customer service could assess the impact and work with me to meet these expenses by August 29 or August 30 at the latest. Although I have left several messages with Shane since I sent the note to get Team USA to follow-through, as of September 1, no one has returned my calls regarding this issue.
5. On September 1, the carrier informed me that the driver would not unload without a cash or a money order or cashier's check made out to the driver, himself, and that a credit card payment was unacceptable. When we signed the deal, I was told by Team USA that I could pay the balance to the carrier with a credit card upon their arrival. The carrier mentioned that for me to do that, I would have had to make a credit card payment to Team USA at least three days prior to delivery and that Team USA should have alerted me to this when calling to tell me the new delivery date. Team USA never mentioned this change of payment policy to me, and as a result, I was not able to put this payment on a credit card, which I needed to do for financial reasons.
In addition, I had to depart early from my mandatory MBA Boot Camp to find a bank, pay a six dollar fee, and obtain a cashier's check before the bank closed, resulting in a major inconvenience. This instance demonstrates to me a general lack of knowledge about carrier policies on the behalf of Team USA and an inability to communicate crucial information to the customer.
6. Another instance of this lack of knowledge occurred when the mover arrived and told me my goods would not arrive until far after August 26, the close of the drop-off window. When I spoke with Aaron and Bob about this at Team USA, they mentioned that the carrier had signed a contract with Team USA and were legally obligated to get my goods to me within the window, even going so far as to say that the carrier would have to "put my goods on an airplane" to get them out there in time if they had to. The carrier completely denied that it was under any such contractual time obligation and demonstrated no effort to move my goods in an expedient manner.
7. On September 1, the carrier insisted that they would not move in my goods unless I provided a cash payment, money order or cashier check for $2480.65. Upon reviewing my Team USA deposit form, I only owe the carrier $1552.30 for 3000 pounds shipped (and this amount should be less $25/day for every day late beyond August 26 as stated in signed Terms and Conditions). The carrier was uninformed about the $25/day late fee or the original amount due from the estimate. This again demonstrates a lack of effective communication between Team USA and its carrier.
8.in general, I have experienced a general sense of Team USA willing to say what is necessary to "catch the sale, " including verbally assuring me of delivery dates, combined with a total lack of follow-through and attention to my concerns which consequently developed. As a result, Team USA has expended a lot of my productive time (e.G., frequently tied up on hold on the phone for over 15 minutes trying to get someone to address my concerns or provide an update, juggling phone calls between the carrier and Team USA to resolve delivery or payment issues that should have been coordinated without me) and has caused me to incur significant tangible expense which I will detail below:
A. Car rental starting on 8/26 at $132.89/week ($29/day) until car arrives.
B. Plane ticket change fee of $100 to depart on 8/26 and not 8/23 because home shipment would arrive later than window.
C.$25/day beginning on 8/27 for cost of living in empty apartment (e.G., restaurant meals, interim supplies, etc.) - continues until goods arrive, per our discussion.
D.$12 fee for two cashiers' checks, one for the incorrect amount requested by carrier and one for the correct amount as agreed to with Team USA as Team USA noted that I could pay with a credit card and avoid these fees.
9.in consideration of these sums that as of today total $400.89 and will total $580.89 as of the anticipated car delivery date of September 11 (assuming no additional delay in delivery of household goods beyond September 1), I am requesting this amount of a refund against my initial deposit of $893.51 (total for household and car move) to Team USA.
10. I am extremely concerned about Team USA's ability to deliver satisfactory or even nominal customer service and comply with agreed upon pick-up and delivery windows. I would like to provide Team USA an opportunity to acknowledge my grave inconvenience and do right by me for the first time over the course of our business relationship. Doing so will result in a satisfactory report to the Palm Beach County Consumer Affairs Department and Better Business Bureau that although customer service and delivery issues occurred, Team USA promptly and fairly addressed my concerns at the completion of the move and compensated me via a refund for additional incurred expenses and inconveniences.
Chad, while I've appreciated your expressed concern for my situation during our phone calls, at the end of the day, this has been a miserable customer service experience which no one within your organization has addressed. As I begin a similar course of study to you and delve deeper into issues of customer satisfaction and corporate ethics, I believe it is fair that you be provided a detailed explanation of my concerns regarding your business and be given an opportunity to rectify this situation and better develop your organization to avoid further complaints.
Would you please call me today at xxxxxxxxx to discuss my concerns and suggested course of action? I have also attached this files as a Word document.
Regards,
Adam
Adam
glendale, Arizona
U.S.A.
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