AY Transport INC., and National Moving Network are filthy crooks who will lie and steal money away from you and keep your belongings. Both companies have absolutely no morals and will do anything they can to gain your trust and then take everything you have. I would like to make sure that my story is added so that people are educated and do not fall into AY Transports or National Moving Network's disgusting, stealing hands.
I researched a variety of moving companies and truck rentals to use for my move from Arizona to Washington State. The representative I spoke to at National Moving Network, Monica Ramirez, assured me that they could beat any competitor's price. I gave her an exact list of the items I would be taking which included very few large items. She told me they went off of the standard DOT weight guide and gave me an estimate of 3500 lbs. She also informed me that they add a weight buffer to prevent any overcharging from occurring (because customers get upset when they are surprised by excess weight charges-exact quote from Monica) She told me my total charge would be around $1300. I compared this with other companies and truck rentals and found it to be comparable. I didn't want the hassle of loading a truck and driving it by myself from AZ to WA, so I decided National Moving Network would be the best choice. I called Monica back at National Moving Network and booked my reservation. She said the charge would cover all packaging, movers' fees, insurance, and gas fees, I gave a deposit of $530.00 and was told that someone from National Moving Network would contact be 3 days before my scheduled move to inform me who my movers would be.
My move was scheduled for August 15th.By August 13th I hadn't heard anything from National Moving Network. I called the to speak to Monica but the switchboard would not put me through to Monica since my move was less that 2 days away, they told me I would have to speak to Nancy Andradi, I left her a voicemail to call me back. She called me back to let me know that the AY Transports would be picking up my stuff and gave me a phone number to contact them. I confirmed with her about the weight estimate and also the cost. She assured me that everything was set and that National Moving Network adds a buffer to prevent overcharging from happening. After talking with Nancy, I called AY Transports.
Now, most businesses would answer their business phone with their business name, instead they answered it with a gruff hello. Ay Transports had no idea I had made a reservation with National Moving Network or that I was scheduled to have my belongings picked up on Thursday, August 15th. They told me they would have to call me back. At that point I should have known I was in trouble and cancelled my service, but I didn't, I waited for AY Transport to call me back. About 3 hours later, AY Transports called me back, I spoke to Amit, and he told me that the driver, Tal, would be there on the evening of the 14th. I told Amit that I was scheduled to have my stuff picked up the 15th and I wasn't ready for it to be picked up on the 14th. He said I had to have them come then or it wasn't going to work out. He gave me the driver's (Tal) cell phone number so I could contact him to give him directions to my house.
Wednesday, the 14th, I spent the entire day trying to finish up packing so I would be ready for the movers while trying all day to get a hold of Tal, the driver.By 6pm I still hadn't heard from Tal, I had left numerous messages. Finally at 7pm, I got a call from Tal. He did not understand why I was calling him and said that he was not scheduled to come to my house. He said he would call me right back after he talked to Amit. 30 minutes later he called to tell me that he would not be there until the next day because they were still in California and it would take them all night to drive to AZ. So, he told me they would be there first thing in the morning.
On Thursday, the 15th, they showed up at around 10 am in an unmarked small size truck. They began to take my boxed belongings out into the garage. Tal told me that I would need to purchase additional boxes for my mattresses, and a variety of other items. I told them that National Moving Network told me that all packaging was included. He said, no just the blankets, tape, and plastic wrap. Any additional boxes would cost extra. I told them to just wrap the mattresses in blankets and he told me that they wouldn't take the mattresses unless they were boxed. So, in the end, I had to pay an extra $150.00 for boxes. I asked Tal how they did inventory on my stuff, and he said they put numbers on the box and recorded the numbers on the inventory sheet. I asked him if I should put more specifically what was in the boxes and he said that it was not necessary, they had tagged all the boxes and wouldn't get anything mixed up or lost. Once everything was laid out in the garage, they began to load the truck. The front of the truck was already loaded with other items clear from the floor to ceiling. The other set of items in the truck was tied off with 2 mattresses blocking my items from the other items. They began to load my items; some of my boxes were being stacked on top of the stuff already in the truck. I asked Tal why he wasn't separating my stuff from the items already on the truck and he said not to worry, my stuff had a different color sticker and when they got to the warehouse they would separate it again. This was the first I had heard about my stuff going to a warehouse and then loaded onto another truck. Tal told me that this was the way they did their business.
They continued to load (throw) my stuff into the truck. When they were finished, Tal told me that I needed to sign up for insurance. I told him that National Moving Network said insurance was included. He told me that it was only the standard insurance and that if I wanted better coverage, I would need to pay extra. Already hit with the extra packaging fees, my moving budget was dwindling, so I said I'd just use the standard. He then had me sign an additional 10 forms saying that my stuff had been loaded. After signing the forms, he said that if I wanted to tip them that was a separate fee and could be given directly to him. I was caught off guard and felt that since they had my stuff, I would tip them. I ended up tipping them $40.00 and they seemed ungrateful for it. Tal told me that they would have my stuff to me by Saturday the 17th. I told him that I wouldn't be in Washington until Sunday, the 18th. He said to call them once I got to Washington and they would be there if they could by Sunday.
Thursday night I got a call from Amit who told me that my items weighed an additional 900lbs and would cost $530.00 more. I asked him how it could possibly be that much extra weight and he told me that my estimate was wrong and not a guarantee. So, left with the fact that they have all of my belongings I had no other choice but to pay for it. I left Friday morning to drive to Washington.
I got in contact with AY Transports on Saturday to see when my belongings would arrive; Tal was once again one of the drivers. He told me that they would be there Sunday. I arrived in Washington Saturday night. I had to run to Seattle on Sunday to pick up a car, so I called Tal to see when he would be arriving, he said probably late afternoon. So, early Sunday morning my boyfriend and I went to Seattle to pick up his car (it was a 4 hour round trip). We got back home at 11:00am.By 4:00pm, I still had not heard from Tal. I called Tal and he told me they were in Seattle and needed to stop for dinner and then they would be there.
They arrived at my house at 7:00pm. Tal said that they would not unload the truck until I paid them the money I owed, so I handed him over $1800 cash. He said, Okay, we unload and then we sign paperwork. They began to unload the truck. I immediately noticed some items missing, he said he would let the warehouse know and send it up in the next truckI still haven't seen the items. When they were finished, Tal told me that I needed to sign paperwork before they could leave. He said not to worry, they would bring the missing items to me when they were making their next trip through Washington, and so I signed the papers. Once again before they left, Tal told me that I could tip him and the other driver for their hard work; I decided that I would not tip them since I had to already pay an unexpected additional weight fee.
I was unable to go through and check every box against the inventory sheet because I started my new job on Monday. It wasn't until Wednesday, August 21st, that I was able to check for everything. I pulled every box out of the room and checked it against the inventory sheet, once I was finished; I realized that there were 16 boxes missing and a variety of dishes broken. I immediately called AY Transports to report my missing/broken items. I was transferred to the claims department and spoke with Lee, she told that I needed to fill out claim form but in the meantime, she would check the warehouse for my belongings and speak to the driver and call me back.By Thursday, I still hadn't heard from Lee so I called her back. She told me that Tal said there was no way they could loose that many boxes and that I needed to fill out the claim form and they would assess the situation and see what would best fit my needs. I told her that they lost my belongings and she said that she could do nothing until I filled out the form and basically hung up on me. So, I waited until the claim form came in the mail.
Meanwhile I tried to call National Moving Network to put in a complaint with themnot realizing that they are all a part of this scam. I left 5 messages for Nancy Andradi to call me and I have still not heard a thing from National Moving Network. The switchboard will not transfer my calls and have been extremely rude to me. National Moving Network have washed their hands of me after they put their grubby little hands on my $530.00 deposit.
I received the claim form from AY Transports, filled it out and requested my boxes be found or a refund of money. I also wrote a letter to Amit (President of AY Transports) and sent if certified mail. I gave them a 10-day window to hear back from them. I received a letter on October 1st that stated:
Please be advised that you have signed that all your belongings were tendered to you. This signature is on the bottom of each page of the inventory in which it is said in BIG, RED letters: All claims for missing items and exterior damage are to be supported by exceptions noted above.' It is the legal duty of the shipper (i.E. The customer) to read it and mark ON the inventory the missing and damaged items. Since your claim for damaged/missing items is not supported by marks on the inventory it is denied.
So, basically AY Transports never had any intention of returning my stuff from the beginning since I had signed all the paper work. Does AY Transports think their drivers will stay for 8 hours while their customers go through EVERY box to make sure each items is not missing/broken/damaged. I DON'T THINK SO! My next plan of action, since I have found many wonderful and helpful information and sites on the Internet about these SCAM ARTISTS, I will be contacting BBB, DOT, the California State Attorney General, National Bureau of Consumer Affair, the San Jose Police, FBI, INS, IRS, an ATTORNEY, and post my story about AY Transports and National Moving Network on every single website I can to hopefully prevent them from scamming others.
AY Transports and National Moving Network, I am on to your SCAM, you are scumbags and eventually this will all blow up in your face!
Jamie
Cle Elum, Washington
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