This company contacted us after we solicited bids for our upcoming move to Florida. My wife talked with one of their reps on the phone and she said he was very confident that he knew a person who could get us moved at the price we were looking for. That ended up falling through but the rep, Julian, then assured us that he was confident he would be able to secure us a price that would work for us with his company, Duntara.
Throughout our conversations with Julian, he frequently put our concerns at ease by repeatedly pointing out that Duntara was an A - rated company with the BBB. We expressed our concerns with the affordability of full-service move and that we had heard horror stories from friends regarding their treatment at the hands of some moving companies. He assured us that his company was reputable and would not ever charge us any hidden fees. The cost was going to be what was in the quote. He said he had a truck that would be in the area at that time and that we needed to act fast to secure this truck.
Eventually, we figured that this was our best option and agreed. The very next day, we get a call from someone from a different moving company, Able Moving, saying that they were in charge of our move. Being in a rush to pack for a move with relatively short notice, we didnt do much research on this new company, until the day of the move. If we had, we wouldve realized that this company is D rated with the BBB and has an absolutely atrocious record of customer satisfaction. Had we known this company wouldve been moving us, we wouldnt have agreed at any price. But we were never informed at any point that our move would be brokered out. So, the whole time that Julian was selling us on the high rating of his company, he knew they wouldnt be the ones moving us. Needless to say, the bait-and-switch left us feeling angry, and gave us concern for the remainder of our move.
The day of our move, the movers arrived and, for the most part, did an ok job. They arrived on time and were efficient. There were some bumps along the way, but nothing that isnt forgivable in the scope of moving a family out. The first problem arrived when it came time to sign off on our things and get the truck out. Well, the mover who was charged with dealing with us showed us his list of added charges that we were on the hook for. The list exceeded $750 in fees for things like moving our TV and bulk-size item charges. I explained that Julian informed us that there would be no hidden charges like this. His response: Theyd tell you they could make the earth spin backwards if they thought it would benefit them. Not exactly a reassuring response.
Immediately after the movers left, I called Julian and left a detailed message on the phone number he provided me for business calls. The following day we began our drive to Florida. I waited patiently for a phone call from Julian, the person who assured us he was always going to be there to help us every step of the way. Finally giving up on hearing back, I called the other company myself and got some of the charges removed. Later that day, over 24 hours after my initial call, we arrived in Florida and I immediately emailed Julian to express my frustration. His response was basically that he never got my voicemail and that I should have e-mailed him. No apology, no saying Ill look into it, nothing. I told him that I had never heard of a person not receiving a voicemail, and that I wasnt able to email him because my computer was on a truck 1000 miles away. Im not sure he understood that because he later said again that I shouldve emailed him the day it happened to work it out.
My opinion is that if you give a customer a phone number for business purposes, it should work. And if for some reason it doesnt, show the decency to apologize for putting them out. If in fact his voicemail never was received, the fact that he took such an arrogant attitude in absolving himself of responsibility for the miscommunication really showed the true colors of himself and the company he represents.
Eventually, I got a bill for the move. Not surprisingly considering my dealings with this company in the meantime, my bill was now significantly higher than the estimate. He had misestimated our weight by 30%! I emailed Julian again to express my frustration. He was aware that money was the most important issue for us, and proceeded to sell us on a move that was now out of our price range. Here is where the communication went off a cliff. I told him I was frustrated with the price, considering he had emailed us prior to the move stating that he was working hard to ensure us the price we wanted. His response was that he never at any point guaranteed us a price. I said that I knew that and that I never stated that he had guaranteed me a price, only that he said he was working to ensure it. I understand the difference in the words. I responded that this was an important matter and I didnt need or appreciate him putting words in my mouth regarding what was said and what wasnt.
Obviously at this point, the damage was done. I had asked if he would honor his words about having no hidden fees and get the remaining charges taken off. These were for wardrobe boxes that we were not told we would need (and really didnt need) and for excessive packing tape charges. They claimed 19 rolls of tape were needed for what was less than 80 pieces. Not sure how one roll of tape per four boxes is needed! Mind you, this was not tape to close the boxes, only to secure them in the truck. I had stated in another email that I was unhappy with my move, and would consider writing a review. Julian somehow misconstrued this to say that had said that I would write a review IF I wasnt given a reduction in price. I never said this. When I tried to explain this to Julian, he either couldnt or wouldnt understand that, and continued to make statements that his company would not be threatened. He said that he would pass on my request to have my additional charges reduced to management, but that they too didnt like being threatened. This was very frustrating, as I had never done anything more than explain that I was unhappy with Julians non-existent customer service and might write a review regarding it.
I then asked for a copy of the truck weight from the scale. I received nothing. I asked again. Nothing. Finally, on my third email, Julian said hed work on it.By this time, my things had arrived, several days late. I finally called the company, as I had come to the conclusion that Julian was utterly incapable of doing anything to actually assist me in this move. I reached someone there named Dionne. She was very pleasant to talk to and seemed surprised that I had not received my weight ticket, because she had not received the request and it needs to have gone through her. So, Julian never even requested my weight ticket after all.
I took that opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with Julians service. I told her that I didnt appreciate being told I was threatening the company, and that I felt Julian had done nothing at all to help with this move, despite his promises to do so. I asked her to relay my request to have those additional charges removed. And then I told her that whether the answer was yes or no, I wanted to hear back from someone regarding my request.
That conversation happened over one month ago. I still have heard nothing from anyone associated with Duntara. If you are considering moving with this company, I would strongly consider you look elsewhere. They do not operate with a sense of professionalism that one would expect from someone who will be in control of all of their possessions. The estimate I signed on for was 30% off on the actual weight of my freight. These guys wanted a quick buck with minimal effort. They hired a bad company to complete the move, and then insulted me with their attitude towards me.in the end, Im out hundreds more than I was expecting, and estimated, to pay, and had the burden of dealing with a company that doesnt hold itself accountable.
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