After receiving online estimates of $900 for 1500 lbs and $1040 for 2000 lbs, I call Interstate Moving & Storage to make arrangements to have my belongings shipped from one state to another.
I speak with Edna and advise her of the date I need my things to be delivered to my new residence. We then schedule a pick-up window of 3 days, which allows 2 weeks for delivery. Edna assures me that this is sufficient time for delivery by the requested date. I then pay the required $200 deposit over the phone, and Edna advises me that the remaining amount can be paid in cash or by check, money order or credit card. The movers do not arrive within the 3-day window.
Prior to pick-up, I make a list of the items (pieces of furniture, the number of boxes and their contents) and weigh each piece to get an estimate of the total weight. The amount I calculate is 1720 lbs, and I even add a few pounds to each item to overestimate. At an overestimated 1720 lbs, I knew I still had a 280-lb margin before I hit 2000 lbs, so the most I would have to pay is $1040.
When the movers finally arrive for pick-up, there are items from other orders already in the truck. I watch them fill out the inventory list and mark the things I was having shipped with stickers, and make sure that their list matches my own. I ask for a receipt or work order, and he tells me I will get one at the time of delivery and when the balance is paid in full. I confirm another 3-day window for delivery and request vacation for that week with my employer.
The 3-day window for delivery is Mon-Wed, so I call the company on the previous Friday to confirm delivery. The dispatcher, Manny, tells me he has to locate my paperwork and that he will call me back with the information. I receive no phone call.
I call back on Monday and speak with Manny again. He tells me he has not found my paperwork yet, but he will call me by the end of the day. No call.
Tuesday passes, and I call again on Wednesday to let them know that it is the last day of my 3-day window, and no one has called regarding my shipment. Manny advises me that the delivery was going to be the following week, and the remaining amount can be paid in cash, by money order, or credit card. I am disappointed but not too upset yet because I still have 2 weeks of vacation left, so I request another week.
The following week comes, and my things are still not delivered. At the end of the week, I call and speak with Manny, and again, he tells me he will call me back. I also specifically ask him how the remaining balance needs to be paid, and he tells me CASH ONLY?! I tell him that he has made 2 prior promises to call me back, yet I have not received any calls from him, so I want the information now. He tells me he does not call back because I ask him questions to which he does not know the asnweres, so I ask to speak with his supervisor.
I advise the supervisor, whose name happens to be Danny, that my shipment is now 2 weeks overdue, and his dispatcher Manny keeps telling me he is going to call me back with information and never does. Danny then tells me that he is Manny's manager and promises to call me back the next day and confirm a delivery date. NO CALL!
The following Monday, I call back and speak with Manny the manager, and he GUARANTEES that my shipment will be delivered by Wed of the following week. At this point, I am livid. I tell him that when I spoke with Edna, she also guaranteed that it would be delivered within 3 days of my requested date. He tells me that he does not know why she told me that because she is not knowledgable about these matters.
He then tells me that because he is the manager, he is certain and can guarantee that my things will be delivered by Wed of the following week, and the remaining amount can be paid in cash, by money order, or by credit card. So i request my LAST week of vacation. Of course, no call and no delivery the following week.
That weekend, I receive a call from a truck driver telling me that he will deliver my things by Wed of the upcoming week. On Wed night, he calls and says he is coming on Thurs. On Thurs night, he calls and says he is coming on Fri morning.
Four weeks late, the movers actually arrive on Fri morning. They tell me my remaining balance is $1175 ($1375-$200 deposit) because my shipment weighed in at 2650 lbs. He does not want to go to a weighing station but does not have a certificate of weight either. He also has to fill out another slip because he was told there was no inventory list from pick-up. The only way to recover my belongings was to pay this amount, so I do.
Since I had my own inventory list and could veirfy if anything was missing, and luckily, nothing was missing or damaged. Again, the truck contained items from other orders, and when the movers were unloading everything, I noticed a pair of bikes that did not belong to me, and I informed them that they were not mine. They insisted that they were, and I told them NO, THEY WERE NOT. They shrugged their shoulders and reluctantly put them back into the truck.
Anonymous
Doraville, Georgia
U.S.A.
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