We initially received quotes from several moving companies, but decided to go with All My Sons due to the fact that their North Carolina office had moved our parents from Long Island, NY to Raleigh, NC, as well as our brother and his family with a high rate of satisfaction. Our parents were so impressed that they recommended them highly.
We were put into contact with Kenon from the North Carolina office to assist us in our move from Denver, CO to Raleigh, NC during the second week of September with the date of delivery being September 15th.initially, we were told that the North Carolina branch would handle our move and that our price was to be an exceptional $3200.00 due to the fact that All My Sons North Carolina had done so much business for our family. Kenon also told us that his workers would come in, disassemble furniture and wrap it all in plastic wrap to help prevent potential damage.
A few days before our truck was to arrive, Kenon informed us that his branch would no longer be moving us and that we had been routed instead through the Florida office to help maintain the excellent price quote. He also told us that he didnt know this crew and suggested we obtain additional insurance on the property as a precaution. We then contacted Robin at our State Farm office to find out if our homeowners insurance policy would cover our possessions through the move. When we found out we had ample coverage, we decided against even further insurance.
When our truck arrived on the 7th of September, there was three crew members: Kevin, Rios and the driver whose name was Hector. One of the first things Hector told us was that our furniture needed to be broken down which was completely the opposite of what Kenon had told us. We proceeded to break down the furniture. When they began wrapping our brown leather sectional, they only wrapped it in blankets no plastic wrap. They then proceeded to wrap both of our televisions in blankets only no plastic wrap. Which, once again, was NOT what Kenon told us would happen. They had plastic wrap, but for some reason they chose not to use it on anything at all.
The entire time they were packing our possessions into the truck, Hector continually made comments that the weight would be more than 10,000 lbs. We werent sure if he was joking or not but it unnerved us all the same as we were not bringing any large appliances whatsoever and were estimated to have approximately 6,000 lbs. One of the crew (Kevin) was lazy, complaining and dragging his feet the entire time so Rios and Hector were rushing to compensate for Kevin. As the final items were being loaded onto the truck, Hector informed us that although our delivery day was to be the 15th, he would be making it to Raleigh by the 10th or 11th of September. Since we could not move in until the 15th, we were told by Kenon that our possessions would be put into storage in North Carolina and that his North Carolina crew would then deliver our possessions on the 15th. Kenon also told us that he, himself, would be there to oversee the delivery.
We then left for Raleigh on the 12th of September, scheduled to arrive on the morning of the 15th. Once we arrived in Winston-Salem, NC for our final night on the road on 9/14/07, Damian from All My Sons Florida contacted us. He informed us that our weight was actually 8,600lbs and that the price had jumped dramatically from the original $3200.00 quote to approximately $4,500.00. Not only that, Damian also informed us that our possessions never went to Raleigh at all and instead were taken back to Florida, where our belongings apparently sat for 3-4 days. As a result, our possessions would not even arrive until the 16th (a full day later than scheduled). Of course, we were less than thrilled with all of this news.
After all the questionable things had happened with All My Sons Florida, we attempted to contact Kenon regarding all of the inconsistencies. He would not return our calls.
Finally, Sunday September 16th arrived and we were eager to see that our possessions had been handled with care particularly since the price for the move had skyrocketed and the delivery day was late. All My Sons arrived with Hector, two crew members from the North Carolina office and one crew member from Florida who spoke absolutely no English. The North Carolina representative, Kenon, was nowhere to be found.
Upon Hectors arrival, our parents were there and we all began to notice something was very wrong. He was shifty, irritable and his eyes were extremely bloodshot. He appeared to have very little patience for anything or anyone and took to shouting a lot. He wanted payment, which we provided without complaint even thought it was so much more than we expected. Then he began to demand that we sign all of the paperwork before he had delivered a single thing. Upon reading the papers he wanted us to sign, we discovered that the information was wrong (incorrect name and address) and that one of the signatures he was demanding was to clear the condition of the property. The problem was, we hadnt seen a single item off the truck yet. We refused to sign off on anything regarding damage until we were able to see our items. David clearly said Why do I want to sign anything that says no apparent damage when we havent even seen our stuff? This was our first red flag.
As they set up the ramp Hector gave us what he called a BINGO sheet. A piece of paper with numbered boxes on it. As each item was brought into the house, the tagged boxes/items were to be called out by the number on the yellow sticker and checked off of the so-called BINGO sheet.
The unloading began and the fiasco ensued. Boxes labeled fragile were literally being thrown down the ramp. I saw my Christmas decorations get thrown onto the ramp and I raised my arms in a what the hell? Gesture to which Hector replied, What! Then the leather sectional sofa came in and it was literally dripping on the floor it was so wet. It stank and the blankets were soaked through completely. David looked at Hector and asked, Did the truck get wet? To which Hector replied, rather gruffly, Yeah. The truck got wet. We unwrapped the blankets to discover moldy, misshapen wet spots all over the leather and the interior fabric where the sections connected (see photos). This piece of furniture was immaculate before and now it is damaged. Then the 12 floor speakers came in. One was no longer wrapped and the other was still wrapped.
Regardless, both speakers sustained heavy water damage to the point of warping and coming apart (see photos). The blanket covering a 27 Panasonic television was also soaked through. This television no longer has sound and has suffered tube damage. As more items began coming off the truck, we began to see that water damage had affected quite a few items. Boxes were coming in shredded from sitting in water for some amount of time, much of which was expensive electronic equipment including the TASCAM US-2400 professional sound mixing board and the Macintosh G-4 CPU (see photos).
Boxes then began to come in covered in grease and black soot. Someone had carelessly turned our grill upside down onto the boxes in the truck. For professionals, they sure didnt seem like they knew what they were doing.
The mishandling of carefully labeled items continued even as we were telling them that the items were fragile. Finally one of the North Carolina crew members (who were polite and helpful) had to shout in Spanish for it to make even the slightest difference. Even then, the Florida crew members continued to treat our possessions with absolutely no respect. One of our mattresses, which we had painstakingly bagged and wrapped ourselves, was almost completely out of the torn, shredded plastic bag. We watched one of them throw a box containing another CPU off the truck. When this CPU (Intel Studio BeBop recording computer) was unpacked a few days later, it was discovered to have internal damage from being thrown. A faux leather ottoman was torn from what looked like having heavy items stacked on top of it. A large stained glass lamp base was marred and scratched despite being packed with utmost care.
As the unloading began to wind down, we began to notice some of our possessions did not appear to make it at all. First off, and most obviously, was Davids completely stocked toolbox. It simply wasnt there. Hector refused to let us look through the truck ourselves. As everything was unloaded it became apparent that several of our possessions were gone. Our BINGO sheet boxes were not all filled and according to the descriptions on the original paperwork, all of it was boxes containing various items. The moving crew, the truck driver, as well as David and I double checked every single box in the house only to discover that these boxes simply never made it into the house. So, on top of extensive water damage and mishandling, approximately eight boxes failed to appear. At one point, David asked Hector, So someone in Florida went through our stuff and took my toolbox? To which Hector replied, Oh, undoubtedly.
All of this was noted on the BINGO sheet the damaged items as well as the missing boxes. As Hector returned to the house to settle the paperwork, he then asked us to sign the same waiver as before stating that all items had been delivered with no apparent damage. David once again refused to sign anything that stated we had received our property without any apparent damage. Hector then called Damian in Florida to tell him that we refused to sign the damage waiver because of extensive damage particularly the electronics and lost/stolen items. At this time we were all sitting in the kitchen and we all heard Damian yell through the phone at Hector, DID YOU GET PAID? Did you get the money? Apparently, all Damian cared about was getting the money, as he didnt seem to care that our possessions had suffered extensive damage and had been lost or possibly stolen.
Then Hector tried to leave without giving us copies of any paperwork whatsoever. I then stood up and began to demand copies of any and everything that we had signed. He refused. David then began to pull carbons from anything he could get his hands on. He pulled the carbons from the BINGO sheet and the itemization sheet. He had to do it practically by force as Hector was literally refusing to give us ANYTHING. I then began to yell (and basically pitch a fit) that I wanted a carbon of the damage waiver that we refused to sign. Hector flat out refused. I began to say that it was too easy for them to play games if we didnt have copies of everything we signed and did not sign. He refused again, folding it up and placing it in his pocket, saying to me, I cant give you these papers, lady. They would kill me. I began to cry with rage, screaming that we were entitled to a copy of any and every bit of paperwork regarding our move and our possessions. Needless to say, we never received copies of anything that we signed or refused to sign regarding contractual agreements, liability or condition of delivered property.
During this entire ordeal on the 16th, we attempted to contact our original North Carolina rep, Kenon. We called him several times and he would not return our calls. Finally, hours after the movers had left, he called us back. He arranged to visit the next day to survey the damage and loss. He arrived the next morning with the All My Sons claims form and he spent all of ten minutes looking at our belongings and telling us about how things may go from there. I told him over and over we felt violated and totally screwed over. We asked him why our stuff hadnt been safely stored in Raleigh as originally stated and he simply chalked it up to attempting to save us money. He then proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes talking about himself and his personal interests, completely forgetting the fact that our possessions had been stolen, lost and/or damaged.
Approximately three days later, we received a call from All My Sons customer service. We were unable to take the call at the time so we asked if it would be possible to call back. We returned the call no more than FIVE MINUTES LATER to hear that the person whose call we were returning had just stepped out. David then said, I just spoke to him, he asked me to call him right back to which she replied, Oh, oh. He didnt step out of the office, hes with another client. To date, have received absolutely no return calls from All My Sons at all.
As we began to unpack we made notes of all that was missing and damaged. Everything has been written down and described to the best of our knowledge. The toolbox, a few boxes of womens and mens clothing, linens, small kitchen appliances, wind chimes, our brand new Nintendo Wii gaming console as well as several miscellaneous items included in some of the boxes.
We are still waiting to hear anything from All My Sons.
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