I set up my move for June 21, with Spartan in April. I went over what I had to move, including all furniture, electronics, the fact that I have loads of clothes, books and artwork. I was told there was no way I had more that 2000 lbs worth of stuff and was quoted a price based on this. I took the rep's word for it. After all, I'm not a moving specialist and I really have no idea how much my stuff weighs.
I am told I will get a call the day before my move to set up what time my specific move will be scheduled. I call a week in advance just to check in and make sure that everything is okay and I'm not blindsided by anything and I really understand the procedure.
The day before my move I got three calls from Spartan asking me if I'm flexible on my moving date. Each time I got a call I told them I'm only flexible on my moving date if they are flexible on the price. Each rep that contacted me the day before my move seemed to be unaware of the other reps that had contacted me earlier in the day. Each call ended the same way, with the rep saying they would figure something out and would be back in touch with the time frame of my move. The last rep that called me told me I "needed to be more flexible or the move just may not happen at all". At this point I was really nervous about my choice in moving companies but it was too late to do anything about it since I needed to be out of my apartment the next day.
I finally get a call from a guy saying that he will be picking up my stuff at 8am the next morning. Perfect. Crisis averted... Or so I thought.
The next morning at the dot of 8am I get a call from the same guy saying his driver didn't show up and he can't make it to my place till noon because it's father's day and he has a bunch of people at his house to celebrate. And he promises to be there at noon, apologizing for the inconvenience. I'm a little annoyed, but realize I can't do anything about the situation so I tell him noon is fine.
Noon arrives. No movers.
1pm arrives. No movers.
1:30pm arrives. No movers. I call the guy that promised he would be there at noon. I get his voicemail. I leave a message.
2pm arrives. No movers. I call the guy again and leave another message. I also call the Spartan 800# that is advertised as a 24/7 Live Customer Service #. The # just rings and rings.
2:30pm arrives. No movers. I call the guy a 3rd time and leave a 3rd message. I call the Spartan Customer Service # again. Again the # just rings and rings. That
3pm arrives. No movers. No return phone call. I call the guy a 4th time.
At 3:30pm I decide it's time to call every 10 minutes till I get someone on the phone. I do this till 5:00pm, when he finally calls me back saying he's on his way but there is a lot of traffic and he will be there as soon as he can.
5:45pm the movers show up. It's the guy that called me and one other guy! He then proceeds to tell me that I have WAY more stuff than he was told and this was going to take longer than he had anticipated.
At this time I find out that this is not even the company I hired in the first place (Spartan Moving), but a company called First USA Van Lines. Spartan had contracted the work out to another company without my knowledge or having it in the contract that this was a possibility! I'm also told I need to sign new contracts with First USA, even though I'm assured that "the First USA contract is not a binding agreement" because I already signed a contract with Spartan. Why would I need to sign a non-binding agreement with First USA?!
I am then asked when the first date I'm available to take delivery of my belongings in Atlanta will be. I am told that my belongings will arrive within 7-14 days and if I don't want my stuff to go to storage and then have to be loaded onto another truck for delivery (which can slow the process), I would need to make sure my 1st available date is within those 7-14 days. I tell them not a problem & give them an availability date of July 1st. If they picked my stuff up on June 21st, an availability date of July 1st would mean that my stuff should arrive no later than July 7th. I confirm this with the First USA guy. He says yes and assures me that they will call 24 hours in advance to let me know what time they will be delivering. He does say that they can't guarantee a specific delivery date because they can't predict what may happen on the road, but barring any unforseen issues on the road, my stuff should arrive right around my availability date.
It's now July 14th and I still don't have my furniture or my belongings. On July 3rd, I called to get an update and I was told my stuff was still in a storage unit in Portland, Oregon. It wasn't even on the road yet! My stuff had been sitting in a storage unit for 13 days for no reason. I am told my stuff is scheduled to be loaded onto a truck on the 5th and it should take about 7 days for it to reach me in Atlanta, making my delivery date right around the 12th of July. On the 13th of July I call to get another update, thinking that any day now my stuff will be here. I am told that my stuff was JUST picked up "the other day". The lady on the phone was unwilling to give me a specific date at this point that my stuff was picked up from storage. I am also told that the truck was just now in California and I am looking at accepting delivery "no earlier than the end of next week" (the end of next week being 26th of July).
Not only was the quoted price of my move off by $ but I am having to stay in a hotel for almost an entire month (if my stuff actually arrives by the 26th) and possibly longer. Not to mention I'm paying over $1000/month for an apartment I should be living in, but can't since I don't have my belongings!
Jessica
Atlanta, Georgia
U.S.A.
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