I can't say that my post about West East Van Line, Inc. Will be any different but here goes. We intially contacted Allied Moving Systems, who by the way, is not the national company Allied Van Lines, which we found out later. They are a small scam company from Sunrise Florida. Their address is 10101 NW 46th Street, Sunrise, FL 33351.800-209-6818
They gave me and my fianc a $1,200.00 estimate via the internet to move from Los Angeles, CA to Danville, VA. This may seem low but we had already gave away our sofa and mattress so they only things we really had were dining room table and chairs, a bakers rake, a butchers block, a refrigerator, boxes of clothes, boxes of household items and a bed frame (the later three we packaged ourselves).
The movers showed up on February 25th to pick up our belongings. They were from a company called West East Van Lines, Inc from Northridge, CA. They told us they were a third party for Allied Moving Systems.
Most of our stuff was already boxed by my fiance and myself prior to the movers arriving. The movers packed the truck with the already packaged items and they packaged the few items we did not already package. The foreman then had my fiance sign a form that inventoried the items that were not already boxed by us. (which really wasn't a lot). I looked over the form as well and I then watched him sign the form. There was NOTHING listed in the "Condition at Origin" column which is a column that the mover is suppose to list the condition of each item upon pick-up.
They packed up the truck and then told us that our charge had gone from $1,200.00 to $3,286.00. The charges were $2,950.00 for the move, a $100.00 credit card service charge (which we were not informed of until the card was used), and a $236.00 for packaging which is really interesting because they only used 4 boxes and, according to them, 24 rolls of tape. 24 rolls of tape to wrap up 4 boxes. First off, our initial quote from Allied Moving Systems said we were allowed 5 large boxes yet we only used 4 boxes and were charged for all 4. Then they claim they used 24 rolls of tape to wrap those 4 boxes and charged us $96.00 for the tape. We boxed practically our whole apartment and didn't even use 24 roles of tape. And we really taped our boxes well! We had to charge $1,581.00 to the card at the time of pick-up leaving a balance of $1,705.00 to be paid at the time of delivery. We also paid $140.00 in cash for the movers tip and put an additional $125.00 on our card for an ADDITIONAL tip for the drivers, which the foreman asked us to do. The foreman then gave Ric a copy of the papers that Ric had signed hours earlier.
We were told by Kery (no last name and probably a fake first name), our rep at Allied moving systems, that our belongings would be delivered on March 5th in Danville, VA. We arrived in Danville on March 3rd. When March 5th rolled around and there was no delivery or phone call by mid-afternoon, we called Kery. She said it may be 3 days.By Friday, March 7th, still no delivery or call. We call West East Van Line, Inc, 800-803-0702, and they told us the driver was in Kansas City, MO unloading another mover and would be here in Virginia late Saturday night or on Sunday.
On Sunday March 9th, still no movers and no phone call. We left messages with West East Van Line, Inc and also Allied moving system. Neither had called us back by the next day.
Today, Monday March 10th, we called West East Van Line, Inc and spoke to John. He said he was not sure were the driver was and he would call him and email him to check in. He said that he did speak to the driver over the weekend and he was held-up at the scales for 24 hours because his load was too heavy. Even though he supposedly just unloaded some of the truck in Kansas City. We also called Kery who said she would follow up. After a couple hours Ric called West East Van Lines, Inc. And spoke to John. At that time Ric asked for the name and phone number of the driver. Ric then called El'dad the driver on his cell phone. The driver told him he was in New Mexico. Practically back in California 5 days after our scheduled delivery date.
We then started doing research on both Allied Moving Systems and West East Van Lines, Inc. I called Allied Moving Systems and asked for their address. The receptionist asked me what for. I told her that I am intrusting their company to move my belonging across the United States and I believed that I had the right to know their address. After being placed on hold several times, she then gave me the address listed above in Sunrise Florida.
We have been given the run around with almost every phone call we have made when we have reached someone and when we have not been able to reach someone we have left messages and have never gotten a return call. We have been overcharged and on top of all that, we noticed that the itemized inventory I mentioned earlier, was altered after my fianc Ric signed it. They noted that our bed frame was scratched and chipped. As we wrapped this with packaging paper covered with green stretch wrap, several days before the movers arrived, I have no idea how they could possibly know this. They also said that our side by side Kenmore refrigerator was scratched and bent. This refrigerator was in pristine condition. Then they listed our metal baker's rack as being bent. This baker's rack was in perfect condition when it was picked up. There was also a butcher block that was brand new (never used) that they listed as scratched and chipped. We just picked this up at Ikea literally days before the move and it did not have a single scratch let alone a chip to be found. As I noted before, these notes were added long after Ric ever signed the inventory. I am amazed at how sleazy this is. According to their accounts of our belongings, we would pay over $3,000.00 to ship a bunch of junk. That makes a lot of sense.
Well, now we have been told that our stuff will be here in 3 to 4 day from today. That would be over a week after our scheduled delivery date and over two weeks after pick-up. The rough part is that after being told our belongings would be delivered on 3-5-03 we packed accordingly. We decided which items would let go with them based on the fact that we felt we would only have to deal without them until March 5th. Here we are on March 10th having to purchase all these basic necessities just to be able to get by until our things arrive. There are many things we are running out of and I'm sure this will end up costing us a lot more money in the purchases of even MORE duplicate items that we already own and just haven't arrived yet.
We will keep you update the next delivery date.in the meantime, here is some helpful advice. Make sure you videotape all of your belongings before pickup. Also, if at all possible, video tape the pick-up. When you get to your destination, videotape all of your door jams, walls and carpet before the movers arrive to deliver your belongings. Then make sure you have the tape rolling when the movers arrive to deliver your belongings. It might not keep the company from ripping you off but it helps add to your case later on when you need evidence. Also, if the company will not take credit cards, make sure you get a cashiers from a reputable bank. This will allow you to be able to stop payment after the fact. The video documentation will assist you in the event that you charge back your card or stop payment on the cashiers check and they try to report you to a credit agency. Also, keep all the negative information you read on the company in the event that there is ever a court date.
Here's hoping we will be seeing out stuff (intact) very soon!
Paula
Danville, Virginia
U.S.A.
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