We hired A Professional Move aka Fidelity Van Lines, Inc. To relocate our family from the Oregon coast to Pocatello, Idaho. We were contacted by the company via internet when we were looking for quotes. We hired them on June 5th and agreed they would store and relocate our household belongings to begin on June 8. I sent Irina an inventory list and was quoted $3166.00 and we agreed on the contract included in the following pages. I made a $500.00 deposit and was told the truck would be at my house by 10am on June 8th.
6/8/07 I called A Professional Move at 9am to get an ETA on the truck that was to move us. I was told that the truck had broken down and was 40 miles away. They would be at my house as soon as the truck was fixed. I called again at 11am, 1:20pm and again at 4pm. I was told that they would be getting a Budget truck and would be there soon.
6/9/07 Approx. 7:30am I tried to contact the office of A Professional Move. I was given a cell number of the office manager Kari who was very helpful through the process of informing me about the situation of the truck. She stated that she would try to get the amount owed reduced for the inconvenience and extra expense her company caused.
The truck finally pulled in about 11am. The two movers began to load my items. I watched as a large box that I had packed my CD collection in was stacked on top of two smaller boxes, teetering as the lift gate button was being pushed by the mover while trying to steady the unstable boxes with his foot stretched out.
Consequently, the top box fell about 3 feet landing on its corner with a loud crunch. This is the box that is missing. This box contained approximately 600 CD's. A collection we have been building for many years. My husband is a musician and there are many CD's that are not even replaceable. Also, there was an expensive set of earphones and cables in this box.
At the time of loading I was already so stressed out about being so late getting out and on the road, I did not want to hinder the progress by complaining. I thought that we would be able to take care of any problem at the time of delivery. I was very wrong with this assumption. We did not get on the road until after 4pm. My daughter and I had to stop and get a hotel as a result. The movers had what seemed like a very efficient system of marking and inventory boxes and furniture.
However, they repacked a lot of my boxes into bigger boxes and charged me and extra $475.00 for this repacking that also included a large cast iron out door fire pit that weighs about 300 pounds. It seems to me that a lot of this repacking was redundant and was only to rack up the charges. The inventory list they provided is very hard to read.
Nevertheless, I was just relieved that they showed up at all at this point and I did not question these extra charges at the time. When I had the extra time I compared the inventory list I sent for the original quote with the inventory list that was made as the truck was loaded and they are almost identical.
Regardless of the similarities, I was still charged and extra $1102.50 for the extra cubic feet that my items took in the truck. At the time I was fine with all the extra charges and I do not mind paying for the services rendered - but with the next few weeks of dealing with this company my attitude has changed considerably.
6/18/07 I called A Professional Move to begin to plan the final delivery. I spoke with Kari and was informed that it would be 3 to 21 days from the time I give the final destination address.
6/27/07 Brian received a phone call on his cell from the driver Tom stating that he would be at the house between noon and 1pm. I called Tom at 1:30 to get his location he said he was 40 miles away. I asked him where he was and he stated just leaving Salt Lake. Salt Lake is 3-4 hours away.
I had tried to reach Kari at the office that entire morning to discuss a reduced rate for all the inconvenience but she would not return my calls. When the truck arrived I submitted the payment that I had calculated to be fair.
Since I repeatedly was ignored by the company I was surprised to get a call from Don, the truck drivers manager. Don began to yell at me and tell me that he is not stupid and that I owe him $3200.00 and if I do not give it to the driver they will take all my stuff. I argued that I did not owe him that much money. He ordered the drivers to leave with the truck full. He threatened that if I did not give him the money he would store my stuff and sell it in 30 days. He continued to yell at me and insult me. I tried to explain that I was told I would get a discount because of the late pick-up. He stated that will not happen, that he does not agree that as a customer I have any rights.
He went on to state that he is not stupid, has been in this business for 20 years and that customer service means nothing to him. I replied that I was not calling him stupid that I only want to be treated fairly and I had spoken to Kari about this. He stated that I never called Kari and never called his office to discuss this matter, I have phone records to prove my actions. He yelled are you calling my top secretary a liar?!
When I was finally able to inform him that the driver was expecting the final $1773.00 and I would pay that if the truck would return, he agreed and slammed the phone yelling at his crew in the foreign language that is spoken in Israel where they said they were from. The truck returned and they began to unload.
The first thing I noticed was the rented Budget truck was not as full as it was when they left the pick up in Oregon. There was a lot of someone else's stuff plus all of the movers equipment. The pictures I have of the loaded truck show a completely full truck - this is where the extra cubic foot charge came from - so I must question this charge too.
When I asked the driver if it was a bigger truck he said no, it was the same size as the first. I refused to sign the inventory sheet after they unloaded because I could tell there were missing items (CD's I wanted to open in front of them to see any damage - the box was missing). I could tell there would be damages when I had time to open and inspect because of the condition of the boxes. I had everything clearly marked and labeled and box direction was disregarded. The pictures show their broken hand truck and movers tipping boxes upside down. The dining table they disassembled (with a borrowed screwdriver that was never returned to me) was left unassembled and missing the bolts to reassemble.
I have edited the content of this claim report - I realize this is a huge problem in this nation. I am going to forward this info to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.com. And try to get some results.
Tammy
Pocatello, Idaho
U.S.A.
0 comments