I completed a reservation (and $200 online deposit after 12:15pm on July 27) with Maggie at Great American Van Lines, Inc. (GAVL) for my move from Philadelphia to DC on August 2nd. I hired GAVL because the agreement appeared straightforward and the contract stated I had 72-hr cancellation window post-reservation for a refund.
I had done research, but not enough. Further research uncovered horror stories about GAVLs sneaky business practices. I canceled my reservation with Maggie at about 11:30am on July 30th; within the 72-hr window. Maggie handled the cancellation, but said I had to speak with Tony Gonzales. Tony told me to send him an email with my information and he
would send it to the accounting department to process my refund. He said refund a few times, but looking back I see how he carefully chose non-legally binding words. At no time during the cancellation conversation did Maggie or Tony, inform me that I would not receive a refund.in fact, Tonys wording led me to believe I would. If the loss of my deposit had been mentioned to me at ANY time I would have made different decisions regarding hiring or canceling with GAVL.
On the afternoon of August 2nd, a few hours after my intended move time and date (meaning there was no way I could change my mind) I received an email stating I was denied a refund. I called GAVL right away and was told I had to speak with Tony, as he was the one who would have sent the denial email (when he told me he had told me the refunds were processed by a separate accounting department). Tony was out of the office;I chose to call back the next day. The email I received was supposedly from the CFO (no name), even though the woman I spoke with said Tony was the only one who handles that. A sneaky way to cover up his involvement. The email stated I did not meet the 72-hrs post-reservation or 7-day pre-move cancellation policies I responded I was not informed of the 7-day pre-move cancellation policy. The email response highlighted a section only referenced in the contract. The contract I signed clearly states the 72-hr policy, but only references a separate section where the 7-daypolicy exists. Only half of the cancellation policy was spelled out clearly on the contract. Legal, but very sneaky. There was never a chance for me to cancel and receive a refund, as I reserved the movers less than 7 days prior to moving.
This was never mentioned. On Friday August 3rd I left a voicemail for Tony with no response. I called again later that day and he answered. I voiced my complaints, being misled and tricked. He talked over me as I tried to talk. He said that he never promised a refund and that it is not his responsibility to let me know about the policy. And asked how could he have known what day I had reserved and that it was not within the 7-day period when he spoke to me. He was angry and said the only thing he could do is ask the accounting department to make an exception. After telling him that the reason I cancelled was because I thought GAVL might be sneaky, he, childishly, told me that I would not be getting my refund back, that it was not his fault that I could not read and hung up on me. This is never appropriate for a professional. I collected myself and left a calm voicemail saying that I was contacting BBB unless he wanted to handle this complaint with me. I gave him the chance to work this out with me. Within 5 minutes Tony called back from a different (non-GAVL) phone number and left a calm voicemail only saying he was returning my call. I called back and left a message on the same voicemail I had been using, as I wanted to make sure I was handling this through the business and left Tony a very calm voicemail stating that I was returning his call. I have not received a return phone call yet. It is Monday August 6, 3 days after the last voicemail I left for Tony. This is a business that carefully
chooses words so that they cannot get sued, but use sneaky business practices to prey on people. I am filing this complaint as a result of the suspicious and sneaky business practices of GAVL, Inc. I am asking to recover what was lost due to their sneaky business practices.
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