Between the my husband and I, we have moved four times in the last two years, with the assistance of family and friends. We expected that hiring a professional company would result in a more efficient and more professional move and were extremely disappointed that the service we received was worse than what our friends and family have provided. Among are complaints are:
1) The movers arrived at 9:20 am, rather than the 9:10 am time that Jacque provided when asked for documentation regarding the total charges. Drive times were always estimated up, so that a 14 minute drive became a 20 minute charge.
2) We hired three movers since Natasha informed me that due to the size of our furniture, we might need three movers and if not, then two people could be moving items while one was packing. All of the furniture we had moved has been moved by two people in the past; it took your movers 3 people plus a dolly to move our refrigerator. Jacque had to instruct the other two movers at our condominium so that they could place it on the dolly. I had to re-instruct them how to place it so they could unload it when they arrived at our house.
3) The movers were very slow. It took 1 hour, 45 minutes for them to pack 2 mattresses, 1 dresser, 1 corner desk, 1 entertainment center and the refrigerator and get them downstairs. Part of this time was spent with me discussing the contract with Jacque and Jacque talking on the phone with the office since Natasha did not inform me that using a credit card would result in an additional fee. They also moved the refrigerator into the garage, and then decided that they could not move it into the house without removing the screen door. After removing the screen door (which took the 3 of them, my mother, and I!), they decided they couldn't go through that door and went around the front. All three of them and a dolly and they almost managed to tip the refrigerator onto the front lawn, even though the walkway is quite wide.
Unloading also took extra time as the movers were not able to figure out how to unload the entertainment center, even though they had loaded it only two hours before. The movers also took several attempts to place a desk into a room and were unable to do so, even when I told them how they needed to do it. My husband was able to do it in less than 5 minutes by himself when he got home from work. When I hadn't seen them for a little while, I went outside and had to tell them how to do it. At numerous times during the day, it seemed that Jacque didn't really have any work to do, and would stand around slowly removing tape from the packaging pads or directing the other two in how to move something. It took him almost 10 minutes to wrap one piece of glass in bubble wrap, something I could have done in less than half that time.
4) The movers damaged the linoleum in our entry, put gouges in the front door and on the landing area when moving the refrigerator.
5) When moving the refrigerator into the house, the movers put a large gouge and several smaller gouges into the hardwood floor.
6) The outside housing to our washing machine was damaged so that one panel is completely separated on two sides.
7) The movers seemed to be padding their drive time as the driver drove 10-20 miles per hour under the speed limit. I understand that they did not feel that they could drive 65 mph on the freeway, but 45 mph is not reasonable. The person who called my husband informed him that it was my fault that we went on the freeway, but I was not told that we should not go that way. Additionally, the 45 mph speed limit on the expressway could have been followed as they were able to drive that speed on the freeway; instead, the driver drove at 30-35 mph. As a result, the drive from the condo to our storage took 20 minutes according to Jacque for a 10 minute drive (less than 6 miles) and 30 minutes according to Jacque for a 15 minute drive (less than 10 miles).
8) Numerous breaks were taken, including 3 bathroom trips, one at each location for Jacque. The person who called my husband said that Jacque was only washing my hands, but I find it difficult to believe that it takes 5 minutes to wash your hands while using the toilet instead of the sink. We even had to wait for Jacque to be done using the restroom at our storage location.
9) Proper documentation was not provided, even when requested. Jacque informed me that he would give me copies of everything that I signed and the CPUC information booklet. I asked him again for the documents and booklet when we arrived at the final destination and never received it.
10) After talking to Sharon the Monday after our move, she promised to send us claim forms that we have yet to receive.
We said that we were willing to overlook:
1) Damage to the door at our condominium.
2) Damage to exterior landing area
3) Damage to condo linoleum in the entry
4) Damage to the washing machine.
5) Poor attention to documentation
We asked for the following issues to be addressed:
1) Excessive time to move. We moved a total of 6 items from the condo (desk, refrigerator, two mattresses, dresser, entertainment center) and picked up 3 items (washer, dryer, freezer) and left one item (dresser) at our storage location. It should not have taken 4 hours for this process with 3 movers. When combined with the ridiculous drive time, we feel that we should be reimbursed for at least 1.5 hours, for a total of $141. (I realize that there is a 3 hour minimum to the job, but with the double drive time, I feel that 1.5 hours is reasonable.)
2) Damage to hardwood floors. If we need to complete claim forms, we will do so, however, we have never received them, despite requesting them.
Today, 10/26, I talked to More (sp?) who told me that the only reason the movers took 4 hours to move everything is they were only being careful and making sure everything was packed well and blamed the long drive times on unusual traffic (there was no traffic, it was a Saturday morning) and said there was nothing he could do for me since it was my word against the movers, and that he could have helped if we called at the time. When my husband called that day, he was told he needed to call on Monday and talk to claims. We never received the claim forms, but he said he would send them out.
Then, while I was at work, the owner called and talked to my husband. He told my husband that I was a liar and the only reason I was complaining about the times was to get my money back. He also said that the work order states that they do not cover damage to hardwood floors, the only damage that we requested that they fix. I've looked over my agreement (the only one I was given, since the remaining paperwork the mover never gave me, even after I asked for it again) and see nothing about the wood floors. It seems silly that they can blanketly deny coverage to wood floors as it allows their movers to be careless (they dead pushed my refrigerator across the floor, even after my mother and I told them it would damage the floor). When my husband said that he was going to complain to the BBB, the owner basically told him "I don't care, I'm going to make my money anyway."
Sarah
San Jose, California
U.S.A.
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