Anthony Milano of All My Sons Movers came to my New Rochelle home and gave me an estimate for $1975 to move my apt contents to All My Sons storage facility in Ardsley NY for one month and then to my new apt in Croton on Hudson NY. This price included the p/u, shrink wrap & blanketing, take apart bed, kitchen table, grandfather clock, etc., one month in their (AMS) storage, and then deliver to my new apartment & set up the bed, table, clock, etc. We discussed in length replacement insurance. Anthony assured me AMS was a top notch company & the price he quoted was firm. He further told me $1100 would be payable upon p/u and the remaining $875 when they delivered my things to Croton.
AMS picked up my things on August 4. The driver, Rick, and his crew were very polite, seemed to know what they were doing, and when they were done for the day, they wanted $1615.24. This was much higher than Anthony's quote. I was charged $302.64 for boxes, a number that I can't reconcile, but Cathie in the office said she would check into that amount for me (but never did).
AMS was supposed to deliver my things on Tues 9/2/03, but they didn't. And every day they told me they were coming the next. Meanwhile I slept on the floor 4 nights until they delivered 9/5 Fri afternoon. It was a different crew that delivered my things, and they couldn't set up the grandfather clock & other items. (Said Rick would have to come & do it.) And when they delivered they didn't have all my things.
Missing: 1 corner piece of a 5-piece wall unit (5' high), my living room carpet & padding, hope chest, front panel of upright vacuum (rendering vacuum useless). They picked up 8 dinette chairs, but only delivered 6 — and two of them were broken. A week or so later they deliverd the other two chairs, which were also broken. 4 of 8 chairs broken. It took over 3 weeks to get all my items delivered, in piecemeal, from AMS.
Many boxes were smashed — as were the items in them. Many pieces of furniture were broken; sofabed ripped in two places (both on corners), table corner smashed, moldings broken off antique round table and antique hope chest. Cracks and chunks missing from my living room, dining room and bedroom furniture. Corner of grandfather clock crushed. Record Turntable broken (& AMS packed it). The list is lengthy.
At delivery, AMS wanted another $1200 to unload my things (this amount even after a $250 credit for my inconvenience). I questioned the $200 storage fee w/John, the boss in the office. I was in storage for only one month, I pd $200 at p/u, and now they were double billing me. He acted like he was doing me a big favor by removing the duplicate charge. I had to pay the $1000 (which I charged) before they unload my things. (for a total of $2615.14, $640 more than the estimate).
As they were unloading me and I was seeing broken & missing items, I was told that I would need to contact the office & file a claim. I did. Cathy told me she is the claims adjuster/office manager. She was the one who kept setting up times for my missing items to be delivered, and rescheduling, and further rescheduling. Then she was the one who kept scheduling when she would come to my home to assess the damage and arrange for repair/replacement. She told me "Murray" was a magician when it came to repairing things. But I wouldn't know because I never saw Murray, or Cathy for that matter.
Many appts were made and none kept. I stayed in many days & nights waiting for Cathie. It is now 5 weeks since my move and no one has been here to assess my damages. I spoke w/John this past Sunday. He acted surprised that Cathie hadn't come to see me yet. He said he would come himself the next day, but we were "disconnected" before he told me what time. But it didn't matter anyway, because it is now Wednesday and I still haven't seen or heard from anyone at AMS. Not the boss, not the office manager/claims adjuster, not the person who originally sold me the false bill of goods on AMS. And I have spoken with & left many messages for each of them.
I have boxes of broken items in my home. I have broken furniture, broken household items, I was overcharged for my move, I slept on the floor for 4 nights waiting for them to deliver (& I am a disabled senior). I couldn't vacuum for 3 weeks because they still had the front panel to my vacuum. The mess - the disrespect - the inconvenience - the cost.
All My Sons does not stand behind their work. They take your money, dump your stuff, and then don't have the decency or respect to even return phone calls. I am reporting them to the BBB, Dept of Consumer Protection, D.O.T., and any other agency that will accept a complaint. Accidents happen, but 5 weeks of being disrespected & ignored is deliberate and should not go unnoticed.
Also, I was charged $425 by my previous landlord to repair damages caused by All My Sons to the hallways when AMS moved my belongings out of my New Rochelle Apartment. I guess the holes in the walls explain the crushed, broken, and ripped corners of my furnishings. That brings the total of my moving expenses to $3040.14, $1065 over estimate — not including all the damages caused to my belongings.
If anyone has any suggestions for further recourse, please let me know. And by all means, please let anyone you know out there who is moving to USE ANYONE EXCEPT ALL MY SONS MOVERS.
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