OT: Rant About Moving Companies

[terpkristin]

Just need to rant a second here. My mom got a moving company to move my sister's stuff from here (Columbia, MD) to West Lafayette, IN, where she will be going for grad school. My mom booked this over a month ago, and had checked with the BBB and found that the company had no complaints against them, etc.

So, last Wednesday we got a call from the company saying they'd be at our house on last Friday (8.05). Friday, they called and said they couldn't come until Sunday, was that OK? Well, it was. My sister and parents were planning on leaving Monday to drive there because they needed to be there on the 10th (Wednesday). So the movers said to expect them Sunday morning, which was fine. Sunday morning came and went, and no movers, so my mom called, they said they'd be there Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon came and went, so my mom tries repeatedly to call. FINALLY, Monday mid-day, she gets ahold of the company. They're now saying that they'll come at 5 p.m. on Monday. My mom is furious at this point, because already their departure has been pushed back. 5 p.m. comes, no movers, my mom is IRATE. She calls no less than 5 times, no return call. Finally she speaks with somebody Tuesday early morning and they say they're on their way. Fine. Mom, sister, and Dad leave for Indiana, already a day behind schedule.

This leaves me, the unemployed bum, to sit at home and wait for movers. When the movers still don't show up by Tuesday afternoon, I have my mom call them again, and finally they call ME to say they'll be here Wednesday at 2 p.m. I'm beyond believing it, but that's what they say. Staying at home baby-sitting the house, waiting for movers to maybe show up isn't exactly my idea of a pleasure cruise, plus I have plans that involve being away from the house.

Wednesday morning comes and my mom gets a call saying that they will try to come on Wednesday or on Thursday, but if all else failes, they'll be here on Friday between 10 a.m. and noon. I tell my mom I really can't babysit the house like that--I have plans, including going to Virginia on Wednesday afternoon and if they were to come while I was there, it'd take me at least 90 minutes to get home. Fine, we figure, we tell them just to come on Friday. I get a call on Wendesday from the moving company saying they'll be here between 8 and 10 a.m. Friday (today).
Needless to say, they didn't show up between 8 and 10 a.m. today, nor between 10 a.m. and noon. I call the moving company, asking what is going on. Some guy with a thick accent that is not American answers. Conversation goes more or less like this:
ME: Hi, I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my move.

HIM: Where are you moving from and to?

ME: Pickup is scheduled in Columbia, MD, for delivery in West Layfayette, IN.

HIM: Hmm. I don't see any moves for those locations scheduled. What is the last name?

ME: Pilotte. P-I-L-O-T-T-E.

HIM: And what company did you book this with?

ME: Well, I presume it's the one I'm calling, Horizon?

HIM: Are you sure?

ME: Well, my mom is the one who made the reservation, but I'm sure she'd have given me the right number to call and correct info.

HIM: Are you sure?

ME: Well, she does have a PhD, so she's pretty smart, I'm sure.

HIM: Well, we don't have any record of it.

ME: May I please speak with your supervisor?

HIM: I am the supervisor.

ME: So you're saying you own the company?

HIM: Yes.

ME: Right. I'll be getting back to you with investigators for fraud.

-CLICK-

So my sister still doesn't have any of her stuff--like bed, clothes, etc. I'm disgusted by this. It's caused my parents to lose their vacation--they were planning on hanging out with Catherine to help her settle and then go gallyvanting for a bit on their own (and believe me, they truly need and deserve the vacation). It's caused me to stay home more than I ever thought imaginable. And now, even though we've paid for it, they seem to have lost our information.

I have no idea what's the truth now, but I do know that this will not be taken lightly. Once things get moved, I have no doubt my mom will make sure that this company gets some serious red marks and possible legal action (depending mostly on the financial bit, whether or not they really took the money and oh by the way, the same card as the move was charged to has now been stopped because somebody has been purchasing thousands of dollars of merchandise with it at stores like Talbot's and such).

What a nightmare!!!

END rant.

/tk

[Fonzie]

Sorry to hear about your situation, tk. Interstate moving companies are little better than organized crime syndicates. They need drastically improved federal oversight - and I'm astonished at their ability to lobby congress against it.

In the meantime they get away with murder.

[Anthony]

i can't say i feel for you, after the 2nd no-show i would've cancelled my order. in fact, i wouldn't have cancelled, i just would have booked with another company and if/when the other company finally got around to showing up i would have said "oh well, sucks to be you, huh?".

i don't know how you allow an entire week to be wasted. but best of luck with your next moving company, and don't be so forgiving if they screw up. i hope you really stick it to that old company, fwiw.

[KevinNU7]

And NEVER EVER pay in full before hand. If they demand it then that isn't a company you want to do business with.

[terpkristin]

I see your points, HA and Kevin, and I agree. On the first of "why," well a) it's my mom's decision (her money) and b) it's prime moving time so I think she was trying to stick with the reservation she had so that she would hopefully get Catherine moved. I guess we'll see how things go, and I too hope that we find a way to really jerk over the company...

/tk

[ISiddiqui]

Ouch! That royally does suck. I feel for you. I'm moving in a month, so I hope I have better luck, but friends have moved with the company I'm moving with and they are supposed to be good... but crossing my fingers.

[Samdari]

I feel your pain. When we moved from Syracuse to Tulsa, the moving company had picked up our stuff on time, but instead of delivering it, they considered it perfectly reasonable to put it in storage in Syracuse, and wait for another half load going between those two points. It took my wife threatening to move into some poor woman's house to get them to actually bring our stuff to us. I ended up leaving her in our apartment on my first day of work with a borrowed chair, two cats and a litter box.

Did your mom prepay for the move?

[Anthony]

i too, plan on moving this month (we sold our co-op), and will have to move yet again later on in the year when we get our new place. however, both of these will be in-state moves, so perhaps things are handled a bit differently regarding those kinds of moves.

i prepay for nothing, btw. it's much better to make people have to get money from you than for you to have to get your money back from people, that's how i look at things. looks like BBB needs to have some updated info on this company.

[st.cronin]

I think the next time I move I will just throw everything away and buy new stuff when I get there. It'll be easier and cheaper.

[KevinNU7]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I think the next time I move I will just throw everything away and buy new stuff when I get there. It'll be easier and cheaper.

If your selling a house include the furniture

[NoMyths]

TK: What grad program will she be in? As a Purdue alumn (grad school as well), I'll have to send good vibes her way.

[terpkristin]

She's in a 5 year MS & PhD program in Psychology.
Update on the moving situation: Moving company is now saying that they won't send a contractor's truck, that instead they are sending one of their own trucks and will be here Sunday morning....and the saga continues...

/tk

[Anthony]

wow, you guys are gluttons for punishment. that's insanity.

[terpkristin]

Actually, the reason my mom hasn't cancelled it yet (I just spoke to her on the phone) is because she can't get it cancelled. The company is saying they can't cancel the job (why should I believe that?) and the credit card company says they can't stop payment unless she files a grievance and waits 6 weeks for it to turn-around.

I don't get it.

/tk

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

She's in a 5 year MS & PhD program in Psychology.

Good deal. Always cool to hear of someone becoming a Boilermaker.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Actually, the reason my mom hasn't cancelled it yet (I just spoke to her on the phone) is because she can't get it cancelled. The company is saying they can't cancel the job (why should I believe that?) and the credit card company says they can't stop payment unless she files a grievance and waits 6 weeks for it to turn-around.

I don't get it.

/tk

that is, unless, you report your card stolen.

[miked]

When I moved from Atlanta to Boston, what I found is many of these companies have like 10 different names. Basically, they get crappy raps in the BBB or whatever, then just move their HQ down the block and use somebody else's name in the family to start the new business. It's one of the worst rackets I've seen around, so much so I got a UHaul and did the move myself.

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

She's in a 5 year MS & PhD program in Psychology.

That's what they all say - that their PhD is a 5-year program. Then come the 6th, 7th, and 8th years...

Not that I would know anything about such psychology programs. Nope, not at all.

BTW, what specialty area is she going into?

[terpkristin]

I have no idea at the moment what specialty area she's going into. I think she's doing clinical pscyh, and I THINK she wants to work with youth and different cultures. But exactly what that boils down to, I'm not sure (and she's not online right now for me to ask).

As an update to the whole fiasco, the movers finally showed up here at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night. Luckily, my parents had come home by then, because I'd been out. They just now delivered her stuff to her in West Lafayette (so, they left her place at around 6:30 p.m. ET Monday evening). Then she called the house, really upset because the didn't set up her bedframe.

Now, I love my sister dearly, but sometimes (in times like this), she is SUCH a stereotypical female psychology major. Setting up a bedframe, when you actually take a couple of seconds to look at the pieces you have, should be a relatively straightforward and easy process. However, she couldn't figure it out and called my dad, quite upset, for him to talk her through how to do it. It's not exactly a problem my brother or I would have...though he's not gone to college, he's still pretty mechanically inclined, and, well, I'm the "older sister" with a BS in physics and MS in aerospace engineering, so I'd have to give back those degrees if I couldn't figure out how to put together a bedframe.

I'm glad she's got all her stuff and FINALLY the fiasco is over, but I still had to supress a laugh when I heard her problem...

/tk

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

As an update to the whole fiasco, the movers finally showed up here at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night. Luckily, my parents had come home by then, because I'd been out. They just now delivered her stuff to her in West Lafayette (so, they left her place at around 6:30 p.m. ET Monday evening). Then she called the house, really upset because the didn't set up her bedframe. /tk

Well, I normall have no patience for stereotypical female psycho majors, but every moving company I have ever heard of sets up the bed. Its part of what they do. After this whole fiasco, I would have expected them to clean her house, set up the bed, hang the curtains, and do a couple of papers. Your mom probably paid for them to set up the bed. I'd be pissed myself, and I am quite handy around the house.

[Blackadar]

A little late to the party, but...

1. If your Mom paid the movers up front, she's a friggin' idiot. That PhD didn't do her any damn good in the common sense department.

2. You should have never waited these guys out and should have found someone else after they missed their 2nd appointment. I would have begun chargeback proceedings on the credit card as well. So what if it takes 60 days? I don't have to pay the cash if it's being disputed.

I've used moving companies no less than 4 times and never had a problem.

I book only name, reputable companies. BBB reports mean very little.
I give them plenty of advance time to get it scheduled.
I get written quotes.
I pack everything myself.
I order good boxes online and have them delivered to my house so nothing gets broken. (www.uline.com)
I take the most tempting stuff in my own car (computer, stereo, jewlery, etc.).
I don't pay for anything until they're ready to deliver my stuff - by ready it means the truck is outside the house waiting to be unloaded.

No reputable moving company has any problem with any of this. I'm 4-0 in successful moves, so I'm doing something right.

[Castlerock]

You are very lucky. I was sure that this was not going to end well. This kind of thing happens all the time.

I hate to say this but if they ever do show up with your stuff (and they may not), they usually to require you to pay A LOT more than the estimate.

You then have 2 choices:
1) You pay them whatever they ask and the unload your stuff.
2) You do not pay them and they drive away.

If you choose option #2, then you pretty much have no other options. If you call the local police, they will do nothing because it is a contract dispute. If you call your state attornery general, they will do nothing because it is an interstate contract. There is no federal agency to handle you complaint since the Interstate Commerce Commission was disolved in 1995. Even if you do manage to get someone to help you, the company will go out of business (and re-open in a few days under a new name).

Check out: http://www.movingscam.com/

It is too late for you but anyone else planning an interstate move HAS to use a big, national, well known company which has been in business for 25 years. ALL others are scam companies. In-state moves are not nearly so bad because there are agencies which govern them Interstate is like the wild-west.

My friend moved from Boston to San Fransisco and he got his stuff about 2 years after his move.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

A little late to the party, but...

1. If your Mom paid the movers up front, she's a friggin' idiot. That PhD didn't do her any damn good in the common sense department.

2. You should have never waited these guys out and should have found someone else after they missed their 2nd appointment. I would have begun chargeback proceedings on the credit card as well. So what if it takes 60 days? I don't have to pay the cash if it's being disputed.

I've used moving companies no less than 4 times and never had a problem.

I book only name, reputable companies. BBB reports mean very little.
I give them plenty of advance time to get it scheduled.
I get written quotes.
I pack everything myself.
I order good boxes online and have them delivered to my house so nothing gets broken. (www.uline.com)
I take the most tempting stuff in my own car (computer, stereo, jewlery, etc.).
I don't pay for anything until they're ready to deliver my stuff - by ready it means the truck is outside the house waiting to be unloaded.

No reputable moving company has any problem with any of this. I'm 4-0 in successful moves, so I'm doing something right.

good info, while most is common sense i'll keep these tips in mind. we've already started packing on our own, most of the moving companies here have a rule where you pay for 3 hours of work minimum with more to pay if they go overtime. i can't for the life of me see where their incentive is to work at a brisk pace. rather than have them waste time packing our stuff, it'll all be packed for them. they'll only be needed for their back muscles to load the stuff onto their truck and into our temporary place that is 15 minutes away. i don't know how that could wind up taking 3 hours, unless they take a 2 hour sleep break or something.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

AThat PhD didn't do her any damn good in the common sense department.

These are pretty much mutually exclusive.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Castlerock

You are very lucky. I was sure that this was not going to end well. This kind of thing happens all the time.

I hate to say this but if they ever do show up with your stuff (and they may not), they usually to require you to pay A LOT more than the estimate.

You then have 2 choices:
1) You pay them whatever they ask and the unload your stuff.
2) You do not pay them and they drive away.

If you choose option #2, then you pretty much have no other options. If you call the local police, they will do nothing because it is a contract dispute. If you call your state attornery general, they will do nothing because it is an interstate contract. There is no federal agency to handle you complaint since the Interstate Commerce Commission was disolved in 1995. Even if you do manage to get someone to help you, the company will go out of business (and re-open in a few days under a new name).

Check out: http://www.movingscam.com/

It is too late for you but anyone else planning an interstate move HAS to use a big, national, well known company which has been in business for 25 years. ALL others are scam companies. In-state moves are not nearly so bad because there are agencies which govern them Interstate is like the wild-west.

My friend moved from Boston to San Fransisco and he got his stuff about 2 years after his move.

Nah, do what a friend of mine did. He (unknowingly) hired a ner-do-well company and they tried to pull that crap. He called some of his friends (me included). He agreed to pay the movers what they wanted and when they showed up, we blocked the truck in by parking a car in front and behind the rig. We then told the guys that they could unload the truck for the estimated amount or we would unload it ourselves. With the truck blocked in, they were pretty much stuck. I suppose they could have called the police, but we would have had some of the major shit off the truck by then. Also, I'm not sure they would have survived long enough for the cops to get there.

They took the money and we drank beer while they unloaded.

But a reputable company will give you a NOT-TO-EXCEED estimate in writing.

[Anthony]

i never heard of not-to-exceed. that's something i have to keep in mind.

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by Samdari

These are pretty much mutually exclusive.