Sirena Moving
Ruined my belongings, destroyed my apartment, delivered late, non-responsive

To Whom It May Concern:

In May I contracted Nationwide Relocation to assist me in my upcoming interstate move. I was promised prompt delivery and options for insurance.

My scheduled move date was 11/29/07 (I was told there was a two day window - including 11/28). I was not informed who the actual sub-contractedcarrier would be until the day of the 29th - when I called to inquire about an estimated time of arrival. When I asked previously, I was told that I would be notified closer to my move date.

Sirena Moving was our carrier, and they did not arrive until 8:00 pm with a small U-Haul brand truck - too small to fit my living room furniture let alone the rest of my house. They told me that they would be back the next day, 11/30, to get my belongings with a correct sized trailer. I informed them that I had to depart Phoenix that day - not the 30th. I was left with no option but to give my keys to these strangers.

I called the company supervisor, Maya (no last name given), and spoke to her several times on 11/29. I inquired about insurance - which I was informed by Nationwide on that day - must be purchased from the carrier. She told me that she would call me back the next day with a quote. I left messages on November 30, December 1 and finally, on December 2, she answered the phone when I called from a different cell phone number. She told me that it was too late to purchase insurance as my belongings were already loaded. She also promised me delivery by December 6.

Originally, my date for delivery as promised by my Nationwide agent was December 4.in our contract, they snuck in the window of December 4-15. I called Maya from Sirena almost everyday between November 29 and our final delivery on December 17. She rarely answered the phone, and when she did, she promised delivery within 3 days of the call. I was promised first delivery on December 6. Then it was December 8-9. Then, December 11. Finally I was told that the movers were stuck due to bad weather in St. Louis for 3 days. Granted, a bad storm did pass through, but when the movers arrived at my house at 6:30 pm on December 17, they told me that they were never stuck anywhere. They were sent all over the country, and were in Tennessee when I was told they were in St. Louis.

On Saturday, December 8, I called to inquire about method of payment. I was told by Nationwide that this must be negotiated with the carrier company - although my Nationwide agent did tell me that a credit card would be fine when I was signing my contract. My problem was that my bank, Bank of America, is not located in Wisconsin. It would have been best for me to go to the Chicago branch of the bank and figure out the best method of payment if I was not allowed to use credit. When I called Maya, she told me she would check into allowing a credit card for this purchase. Each subsequent call, she told me that most likely, she would allow it but that there was an issue with the credit card machine. Finally on Friday, December 14, at nearly 3 pm, I was told by Nationwide, not Maya and Sirena, that credit would not be allowed and that I would need to come up with $2980 in cash by the next day. Banks close at 5 pm. That left me two hours to try and scramble up nearly $3K. I had to take out a loan against my Bank of America credit card through Chase bank at 24% interest. To help me with my trouble, Maya finally dropped off $80= $2900 even.

Mover arrival: 6:30 pm on December 17- 2 days past the window of delivery. Upon arrival, movers would not unload without my signature on all forms presented to me. This includes a bill of lading/order for service (written in poor English) and inventory list which is hard to translate as well as a Delivery Exception Report, also in poor English. How could I state that nothing is damaged or missing before my stuff was unloaded? Needless to say, at 6:30 pm less than 48 hours before my family was scheduled to fly home for Christmas, I had no choice but to sign to get my stuff into my house.

I watched in horror as my stuff was unloaded - there were other peoples items in front of mine - and the movers just tossed their stuff into the snow beside my driveway as they made their way into the back of the truck where my belongings were located.

The movers finished unloading at 10:30 pm - at which point I left a message with several people at Nationwide (Harryman - my Nationwide Rep, the main Nationwide line as well as Inez, the supervisor for customer service) to document the progression of my move and to inform them that I was forced to sign forms before my items were actually in my home. The movers insisted they must leave for Minneapolis immediately, so there was no time to inspect my items.

Upon first glance, nearly every item I own was damaged in some way. I was told in an email (attached to the Nationwide contract) that all furniture would be blanket wrapped. Nothing had a blanket or a protective covering. It was too dark to get a good photo - we tried. Our guess is that is why delivery takes place after dark.

First items: our bedroom set - purchased 9/28/05 for $2500. This furniture was brand new when purchased - the mattress was a floor model. There are huge gouges out of the head and foot board as well as one of the nightstands. There was also blood on the bottom of the mattress from one of the movers who cut himself (more on that below.)

Second - our new table and chairs - brand new from the Room Store $350- chairs still packaged and the table was wrapped with cellophane and foam. Somehow, the table obtained several gouges, scratches and dents.

Third - our living room set. One black end table has a gouge so deep it shows the color of wood under the several layers of black lacquer. The TV stand is scratched through the black layers to reveal the original plastic color. The face of the TV is scratched. Gray marbled table - scratched.

Fourth - bookshelves, hope chest and file cabinet. The bookshelf with glass windows and the filing cabinet were purchased two years ago as gifts for Christmas. The single wood shelf was purchased several years ago by me and the hope chest was a gift for my 17th birthday. All sustained major scratches and the expensive bookshelf with glass has a deep gauge on the face of the door. The filing cabinet is shifted so that the top doesnt align with the drawer anymore. The hope chest is missing every handle and the keyhole hardware on the front.

Fifth - computer - banged up and the plugs were bent completely so that we had to use pliers to bend back.

Sixth - all personal items, such as statues, plaques and photos in frames were thrown collectively together at the bottom of our wardrobe boxes. None were wrapped or carefully placed. Many are scratched beyond repair - photos are bent. We were extremely lucky nothing broke. Many are heirlooms.

Seventh - and the most disturbing - our baby cradle. It appears that one of the feet (where the wheel axle is) broke off sometime during the packing of our belongings or during the unpacking of our stuff to allow another customers belongings to come out of the trailer. The movers apparently used a wood glue to try and reattach the foot. This put my baby in direct danger - and we were lucky to discover it as my husband attempted to move the cradle into our room - the wheels came right off - revealing a very poor glue job. This was purchased by us for $185 brand new at Babies R Us on 4/28/07.

Eighth - other baby furniture - purchased by my mother on 4/28/07- totaling $900 not including tax. Crib still in box - ok. Changing table - feet broken revealing wood under the antique white lacquer.

Ninth - Kitchen items - microwave scratched. Items wrapped in bloody paper from injured mover.

Tenth - box of underwear and socks was completely soaked. Much had to be tossed due to mildew smell.

Eleventh - missing items - reappeared on our doorstep upon return from Christmas holidays. Apparently, the movers must have found our boxes while still in the vicinity - we left for holidays on December 19 and returned on December 26. We found two boxes on our front porch covered in snow. Telephone unit ruined - baby breastfeeding pillow ruined. Wooden ship ruined by wetness and sails entangled in other items.

Finally, when we returned to Phoenix for the holidays, we had to clean up the apartment we left behind - what we found was utterly disgusting. The movers had left all their trash in our living room in one of our trash cans. They left behind all of our baking pans and trays in the kitchen. There were particles of broken wood all over our bedroom which tells how much damage there was to our items before they even left our apartment.
There was blood all over the entryway to our apartment. One of the movers had cut himself while packing - so we were told - and he did not bandage it up. There was blood on our bathroom sink and the best part - there was blood and urine all over the back of the toilet seat. I do not want to fathom how that may have occurred, however, this is a biohazard which I personally had to clean up so that I did not owe money on our apartment. They had broken the blinds in the living room and the deadbolt to the patio door (deadbolt pieces were discovered in the two snowy boxes on our front porch when we arrived back in Wisconsin.)

Overall, I was completely dissatisfied with Nationwide and their carrier, Sirena. I was treated rudely by many staff at both places when I was inquiring about my move. I believe, once Sirena documents are reviewed, anyone can see that I did not elect this company nor would I have ever elected a company whose contract is written so unprofessionally and in such poor English. It is clear that we paid Nationwide for nothing as they refused to work on my behalf to resolve anything during the move and after.

This was our first holiday season with our brand new baby, and it was completely ruined by this chain of very negative events.

Jody
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
U.S.A.

Company: Sirena Moving
Country: USA
State: Arizona
City: Phoenix
Address: 22235 N. 29th Ave
Phone: 6232424444

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