For a move from Louisiana to California, I chose to use Ace Worldwide after receiving a handful of estimates. The customer service representatives explained their insurance policies and other procedures, which led me to deal with them even though their estimate was not the lowest.
The estimator told me that he estimated on the heavy side by adding some weight, which would cover items he may not have surveyed. I thought that was nice, but looking back, I wonder if he was just in a hurry to leave.
After the movers loaded all of my belongings, the moving company sent me a credit card release form to cover costs that my employer would not cover. I told Ace that I would not give them the form unless I received the total cost, which surprisingly took three days to receive. The total cost was 170% over the estimate even though Ace assured me that the estimate would be within 110% of the total and that I would only pay for 110% over the estimate (but might be billed for anything over that 110%).
According to the estimate, I expected to pay $600 after my employer covered most of the costs.instead, I was told that I would need to pay $2900 but would only need to pay $1060 up front. I immediately contacted my employer's travel representative and informed her of the discrepancy. Ace did tell me that they requested a reweigh of the items, but they did not tell me that meant I would not receive my belongings on the final delivery date (so I have been sleeping on an air mattress in my new house). It took over a week to receive further word from Ace, and that was only after my employer contacted the company.
While Ace Worldwide conceded to the excessive charges, they did not seem to know why there was such a discrepancy. They lowered the final bill by $1800—to their limit of 110%. Although they kept my belongings at their facility, they agreed to let me view a reweigh of the belongings—at the Dump. I called the movers for instructions and they told me that the dump does not have certified scales and they would only reweigh at a truck stop with certified scales, which makes sense to me. Then the movers told me that the estimator left off all of my tools, which I showed to him, as well as a closet full of books, which I showed to him. The book estimate was low by 1200 pounds (I'm a teacher).
I called Ace Worldwide with this new information and to tell them that I budgeted for a $600 move, not a $1000 move. While the representative was friendly and understanding, she would not work with me—even in light of the drastically faulty estimate. I told her that Ace should charge the estimator P of the difference since he made a huge mistake. The answer was "It's an estimate, etc. Etc." Well, I could have given a better estimate than this person who they paid to come to my house to inventory belongings. I asked if they would use the estimator again. Answer: yes. I asked if they would penalize the estimator. No. I asked if they could take any action against the estimator for a faulty estimate. No. Why on earth would a moving company keep an employee who made such a huge mistake? An estimate needs to be close, or it's just a spit in the wind.
I will never, ever work with Ace Worldwide again. I'm sorry that they are a corporate mover, as many companies probably just pay the tabs rather than inspect the service.
If an estimate is outlandishly incorrect, then the company must absorb their errors.
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