Though we have been more than accommodating to the movers, the company has consistently provided poor service.
The following is a basic synopsis of events:
The moving company was hired to transport household goods (293 cu feet) from PA to VA.
The movers called the night before the scheduled pickup and requested to come that evening to load the goods. This was inconvenient, but we were accommodating. They stayed well into the early morning hours packing and loading the truck. That night, we indicated that the delivery date was not important, but we would need some advanced notice to take a leave of absence from work. The promised delivery date was within ten days of pick up.
After a couple of weeks passed and with us not receiving word from the movers, we called several times to try to schedule an appointment for delivery. We left several messages with both the voicemail and the secretary.
A couple of weeks following our telephone calls, the movers called at 4:00 pm to notify us that they were 4 hours away and that they would be delivering that night. We explained that we could not receive the shipment because there was no advanced notice (to allow for time away from work), as was guarantied. The movers then tried to harass us into taking the move that night. The drivers then told us that the manager would be calling us to settle the situation.
When the manager called, like his drivers, he was insistent on us taking delivery that night. He said that he was unable to comprehend why we were not accepting delivery of the shipment, even though doing so would have forced us to take time from work and drive over two hours that night and unload the shipment well into the night hours. Eventually, we spoke with the owner of the company, who was just as discourteous. To everyone we spoke with, we constantly tried to explain thatdue to our work scheduleswe needed simply a day's notification before the shipment.
Several times later, the movers tried to deliver the shipment on the same day of notification. Each time we tried to explain that we needed advanced notice. We again explained that we have been more than accommodating throughout the entire ordeal, even saying that we were not in a hurry to receive the shipment so long as it was delivered reasonably soon.
July passed without them contacting us, so in August we decided to check on the status of the shipment.initially, and for several days, they could not find our shipment. Finally, they called and said the shipment would be delivered on 14 August at 4:00 pm at the storage facility. We took off work early and tried to call the driver to confirm he was on schedule. When he did not answer, we called the company headquarters and they said the driver was on schedule and he would be calling us shortly. We drove the hour drive to the storage facility and, on the way, tried calling the driver several times. When we arrived at the storage facility, we continued to call the driver and the company headquarters. The former did not answer, and the company headquarters repeatedly said that he was on his way.
For three hours we waited, and when he neither showed nor called, we left for home. On the way home, we called and left a message on the company headquarters machine (as they had long since closed) expressing my displeasure and asked for a return call as soon as they got back in. 24 hours passed, and no one from the company callednot even the driver to explain why he did not show nor the manager apologizing for the incident. We then called the company asking for the owner. The first response was, he will call you back in 30 minutes. After an hour of waiting we called again, and we were told, He is working on the situation and will call you back in an hour or so.in an hour we again called, but the company office was closed.
The following day (16 August) we called the company and asked to speak with the owner.initially, they said we would be transferred to the owner, but we were transferred to dispatch instead. We asked to speak with the owner, but the individual refused and said he was the manager and he would deal with us.
The manager never addressed why there was no delivery on 14 August. He initially refused to help and tried to get us to wait until the following Monday to call back. He also lied, saying that he tried to call the day before, though he could not explain why his number did not come up on the caller id (as always had been the case when they called the number he cited) nor could he explain why he didn't leave a message on the voicemail (even though it would have been appropriate, as he knew the dissatisfaction we had with the service of the company).
Only after threatening to legal action did he agree to have the goods shipped the next day. He tried to charge us with the storage fees even though we never asked for nor agreed to the extended time they would have our household items. Eventually, he agreed that we would pay only the cost of the shipment.
The shipment was finally delivered on 17 August. The boxes unloaded from the truck were gouged, crushed, and showed other signs of abuse. The driver hand-wrote on the bill of lading the cash payment of the balance.
The hand-written acknowledgement of payment was not accepted by our company, yet the moving company headquarters refused to promptly provide a receipt. The moving company headquarters consistently gave us the run-around' and continually told us to call back at another time and that only one person in the company could write the receipt.
Free
Arlington, Virginia
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