I used All American Moving & Storage to move from Texas to Virginia and encountered not only false promises in regard to professionalism and service, but outright deception in terms of charges, horrendously broken word concerning delivery time, refusal to adjust charge according to the amount of stuff I actually had moved as opposed to the amount they had estimated (over the internet without ever looking at my stuff), delivery of items that don't belong to me, and multiple missing and damaged items.
They changed the cost per cubic foot without my knowledge AFTER my stuff was loaded, and the delivery driver threatened not to deliver my furnishings unless I paid him more money.
Here are the Details:
I used All American's online weight calculator (wouldn't you know they send you an estimate when you do so). Based on the items I'd selected (filling this out with the intent of seeing how much things weigh and a means to compare whether or not it would be cheaper to move or start over—not with the intent of providing a precise and exact list for a proper estimate) they estimated I had 5009.75 lbs or 691 cubic feet (cf) of stuff, and offered a guaranteed maximum of $2400 as long as my list was correct. Every other estimate I had been given estimated closer to 2000 lbs or 400-500 cf of stuff. So I asked how they determined cost and was told it would be $3.45/cf and that the load would be measured upon request.
I told my sales representative that it wasn't an accurate list, and offered to make some updates. Her response was that it didn't matter, that she would call me back a day or two before the pickup to get a finalized list, but that this was just so (I would) know what cost to expect. Well she never called me back, and the driver who picked up my goods refused to measure to see how much room my stuff actually consumed.
Knowing I had much less than 691 cf, he would not measure and not adjust my cost. He even told me they didn't insure particle board and would just throw out my desk if it broke, but I might as well send it anyway because they were going to charge me for the space regardless. Even though recordings on their phone specifically say no job is too small, according to him they wouldn't have come for so little stuff.
I had gotten very ill before pick up and needed to get to a doctor immediately, therefore I was not in a condition to argue and I did not review the final copy of the contract he handed me until later. Items on the contract were adjusted AFTER I had signed it, the final total he'd written down was $372 MORE than my guaranteed maximum when I had expected it to actually be much less, with no accounting for $300 of it, and instead of being charged $3.45 for the estimated 691 cf—which actually comes out to less than $2400 anway— evidence, I'd thought, that they were leaving room for that "maximum" to truly be a maximum—but instead, I was charged for 625 cf at $3.84/cf, clearly manipulated to evenly match the quoted maximum of $2400.
Upon delivery, I measured the delivered items (including items delivered which did not belong to me) to be only 442 cf —no where near their estimate of 691 cf, which at their quoted price for that amount would have been less than the maximum they charged me.
There was $72 additional for packing—fair enough if it WERE fair enough. I had two boxes and a fish tank packed by them and I had an offer of $100 worth of free packing, so somehow two boxes and a fish tank came to $172 worth of additional supplies and labor. I was told that my fish tank would not be shipped without special packing and was charged for a wooden crate and packing for it. When I received my goods, the tank had not in fact been packed in a wooden or any kind of crate, but merely wrapped in used cardboard with no additional packaging or protection and no warning of glass or fragile. The tank and the tank's hood were, of course, broken.
I was charged for five roles of tape when only three boxes were packed by the movers. They say this was because they wrap the furniture using roles of tape, but in the estimate furniture wrap is quoted as being included. AND I had two roles of tape available that I had provided and when they left there were only three roles of tape there, only one was empty. I was also charged $40 for wrapping my mattresses (plastic sheets they slipped on at pickup and off on delivery) and I'm still not sure why mattresses are any different than the included furniture wrapping when they keep the materials they use.
I was told when I made my reservation that delivery would take three to ten days, and that as long as there was more than 10 days between pick up and the desired delivery, my goods would be stored in the area I was moving to and could be delivered the weekend I was to move into my new residence. They had the city I was moving to, just not a specific address. My goods were picked up on December 18th, I followed the instructions I was given and faxed the street address on December 23rd. I left messages between then and January 6th asking for a delivery time estimate and no one returned my calls. When I finally spoke with someone on January 7th, I was told that my furnishings had not even left Texas and would arrive in three to ten days.
On January 13th or 14th I called and was told that my furnishings were in New York and would arrive by the end of the week. On January 17th I discovered that that had been a lie as I received a voicemail from the driver who had picked up my furnishings that my they were leaving Texas that day and would arrive in two-to-three days. On January 19th I was told that my furnishings had not been picked up until January 18th and would arrive before the 21st.
On January 21st after hearing nothing more, I called the delivery driver, who threatened not to deliver if I did not give him additional money for the labor of unloading, which was clearly stated to be included in the cost. After soothing his temper, the driver then said he would not be there till the following week because he had several other deliveries he had to make first. On January 22nd he called back and left a message saying he would deliver on Saturday, January 24th. My belongings were actually, finally delivered on January 24th—37 days from when they were picked up, and me sleeping on the floor and having to buy clothes for three weeks past what they had promised during estimating would be the Maximum amount of time it would take for delivery.
Upon delivery, the driver continued to be extremely hostile and threatening, again demanding more money for labor clearly included in the cost, yelling loudly at both me and the contract workers he had hired for the morning (not, as All American's website proclaimed, professional teams in uniforms used to working together), and disturbing my roommates. He then refused to provide a final copy of the contract on which I had marked that the condition of goods was yet to be determined and crossed out the total cost with the random $300 appearing mysteriously in the total.
I was promised experienced, professional moving teams, used to working together. It was immediately clear on both pick up and delivery that this was not the case. I confirmed with two of the workers unloading on delivery that they had never worked with the driver before. Goods were picked up and delivered with little regard for handling care. Items were dropped down the stairs during pick up. Items were stacked with no regard to orientation and many boxes marked fragile were upside down upon delivery. No care in packing could have prevented fragile items from being broken with this kind of handling. Around 50% of the boxes I had packed contained broken items. I have moved several times before and had no problems with broken items.
Multiple items delivered to me belonged to someone else, and many of mine are missing. I left work early three days in a row to try and meet Fed-Ex to return the boxes that did not belong to me. No one with All American was ever available to give billing information to Fed-Ex and Fed-Ex would not take the boxes without it. I was transferred to voicemail three days in a row, no one ever returned calls regarding how to bill for boxes. It has been almost three months and they have done nothing to retrieve the items that were wrongly unloaded at my house. (They have the name Hernadez written on the outside, if anyone knows a Hernadez who lost boxes through All American Moving.)
I was promised one representative to deal with during my move, for efficient customer service, and that there would be follow up after the move to ensure there were no damages or complaintswhat I have received has been the direct opposite of their advertised claims. After leaving my representative several unreturned messages, I discovered that almost every part of my move is handled by different people and no one seems to have any handle on what's going on. I have had to deal with Eileen, Enya, Roger, Barbara, Rafaela, the pick up driver, the delivery driver, and many other's whose names I did not catch.
Every time I call I seem to need a different person, and NO ONE returns calls.
I have just received a settlement offer of $150 from All American Moving, this is compared to
$875.10 Overcharge (442 cf at $3.45 = $1524.9 I was charged $2400)
$50.00 for non-existent crate
$12 for made up rolls of tape
$76.50 Cost of leaving work early in attempt to return items that didn't belong to me (I wouldn't have cared about leaving early once or twice, if they had cared enough to get me the billing info so that my efforts had been worth while.)
Damages: (Mind this is only what they would owe according to the insurance of $0.60 per pound per item and ONLY of the things they actually packed or wrapped, not replacement or repair cost and only a small portion of the damaged items.)
$120.00 Sleeper Sofa Estimated Weight 200 lbs.
$6.00 Night stand Estimated Weight 10 lbs.
$18.00 Antique end table Estimated Weight 30 lbs.
$12.00Shelving unit Estimated Weight 20 lbs.
$6.00 Metal wire baskets Estimated Weight 10 lbs
$24.00 Computer chair Estimated Weight 40 lbs
$60.00 Desk Estimated Weight 100 lbs
$. 60 Plastic container Estimated Weight 1 lb
$250.00 39 Gallon Fish Tank & Hood (Asking for full replacement Cost as Damage was due to negligence and deception of packers.)
Lost Items (List May Not Be Complete)
$30.00 Leather Chair Estimated Weight 50 lbs.
$9.00 Computer Floor Mat Estimated Weight 15 lbs.
$6.00 Drapes Estimated Weight 10 lbs.
$12.00 Dishes Estimated Weight 20 lbs.
$18.00 Glassware Estimated Weight 30 lbs.
That comes to $1585.10 in overcharge, loss and damages without compensation for failure to meet stated maximum delivery time and the costs and inconvenience subsequently incurred (no small matter when you show up for a new job in a new state and none of your belongings show up for three weeks.)
And they offered $150, with no apologies or regret for inconvenience, or apologies for the rude and threatening behavior of their contractors, just blatant, you didn't have the time in writing, we would have charged much more for a wooden crate (even though my contract has Crate circled and a charge of $50 next to it) we use tape to wrap the furniture not just the boxes we pack (even though furniture wrap is clearly stated to be included in the cost), etc.
It's ultimately not about cost, it's about principle and a company that 1) proclaims a wonderful professional moving experience they don't even attempt to deliver; 2) inflates the weight they estimate because other companies charge by weight and sucker you in based on a per cubic foot estimate; 3) encourages you to "call" and ask questions to clarify what their estimates include, leaving them free to break every verbal promise they make in order to make the sale, lauding upon your disappointment, not that they didn't claim it, but that you didn't get it in writing; 4) refuses to measure how much you actually have when they know their estimate was over; 5) subjects you to non-existent costumer service, lies to keep you pacified that your goods will arive any day, and rude, extraordinarily hostile contract workers who threaten not to return your goods if you don't pay them even more; and 6) offers no apologies or sympathy for the damage, loss, and inconvenience they cause you.
It is, in my opinion, a despicable way of treating people and their belongings, and they feel they can get away with it, because it is incredibly difficult to sue an interstate company headquartered in a state other than the one in which you live.
Tania
Fairfax, Virginia
U.S.A.
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