For starters I deeply apologize for anyone who has been scammed by Starving Students. I've worked for Starving Students for 2 and a half years and counting. And from day one I've noticed what they do. From workers removing personal items from customers homes to the company deliberately misleading customers so they will be forced to move with them.
I'm still employed by Starving Students, like an idiot. However, I'm tired of their dishonesty and have been embarrassed on numerous occasions while working for Starving Students. I've been in a customer's home when we had to leave a customer to fend for themselves because they were not going to pay the prices quoted once my partner and I arrived there. And when we call the corporate office to side with the customer the corporate office will always claim "the person who booked the move" has been "terminated" the day prior for misquoting a customer. But yet they claim to monitor all calls, so why don't they honor the quoted price in the name of "customer service"? They won't because they are greedy. They have some many evil practices that I and many, many other co-workers do not agree with.in their slight defense, there are some customers who have been less than corporative with us. But for the most part Starving Students brings the turmoil on themselves.
Starving Students definitely charge for boxes and other services which is understandable in the nature of business. But to charge a customer $29.99 for a "Priority Pick-Up" is ridiculous. For instance, we tell a customer we'll be there from the window of 8am-12pm for a morning move. So when a customer asks us to be at their origin at lets say 9:30am. Starving Students managers are told to charge the customer without their knowledge. But why? The time requested is within the window we told them will be at the destination! So why the extra charge. Then Starving Students drops the driver (s) hourly pay when we don't sell material such as boxes are mattress bags et cetera. As an actual mover we try to save the customer as much money as possible. Just for personal satifaction of saving someone money, but for also possible repeat business. But Starving Students wants us to move slow. Most of at co-workers at the branch I work for, San Fernado Branch, are hard fast workers. But we get fussed and most times cussed out by out manager because his boss Sarah and Kim are angry at him because we aren't doing long moves. Starving Students also gets upset when we tell them the customer has refused their "Stretch Wrap" service. And even with the customer's signature for not wanting the "Stretch Wrap" service they still charge the customer for the service. Yes it helps keep nice furniture clean, but it's still a customer's right not to be charged for the service.
As a mover we work on tips because the hourly pay we receive sucks. So in order to possibly receive a tip we work professionally, swift but not too fast where items/possessions get broken. Starving Students charges customers for gas twice: The double drive time as well as 10% for fuel. Why??? The double drive time is already covering the fuel. But I guess since I'm only a worker I'm too stupid to understand this. (Let Starving Students tell it.)
And yes they do hire ex-cons, which I'm not. But I do applaud them for at least giving someone a shot at a second chance. However, even in this they abuse the priviledge. (Of course they receive tax credit or some sort of government/state kick-back for employing ex-cons.) They purposely short our paychecks as well as make us work for free. They believe we cannot say anything because most of us haven't finished college. (Well for me I haven't finished college.) But most of my co-workers haven't either finished high school or maybe worse. So they prey on this. So I say if they will cheat their employees they will definitely cheat customers.
I can go on and on with what Starving Students do. And I am embarrassed with what Starving Students has been doing. They have forgotten it started out as helping the community and those around it. But as the money grew in Ethan's bank account he soon forgot the customers are the reason he can live on the top of the hill. Its sad when greed enhances the true nature of a person. I guess Ethan, the owner, has always been greedy. It has been enhanced since more of it is at his grasp. And further more what really puts a hair across my ass about Starving Students is that they recently docked my paycheck because I chose to help a customer on my own time. The customer had cancelled the move due to misleading quotes. So because the customer couldn't lift his flat screen television on his own I decided to give him a hand and place the customer's television into his car. His car! Not the truck. And since the customer's home was on the way to the office and the local Ralph's store to which I wanted a drink and something to eat from we followed the customer to his house to help him place the heavy television into his home so he couldn't miss his appointment with the cable personnel. It took literally forty seconds to remove the tv from the customer's car into his home. And Starving Students accused me and my co-worker of moving the customer's entire apartment with their company truck! Which is impossible. Even when the branch manager checked out the story and saw that we didn't move the customer's belongings they still forced us to sign a payroll deduction for two hours of pay!!! What they don't know is I have proof in black and white all they have done.
They get upset when a customer asks us to move them instead of paying Starving Students high misleading prices. We don't use their equipment. We rent a truck on our own accord and yet they still fire people for doing things on their own time. We can't request days off unless they think it's okay.
I have more to get off my chest, but I know karma is coming back to all involved with Starving Students corporate office. So I will get my back pay and then some. I'm going to start my own moving company and I will not treat my employees in this manner. If I do I hope one of my employees slap the hell out of me to get me back on the right track.
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