Absolutely horrific moving experience
Chris Kassotis
Submitted this review about
Interstate Express Movers
Review made Live: 8/31/2015 1:27:00 AM
I contacted All State Van Lines about moving my property on June 5 for a July 27 pack-out. I did my due diligence and contacted other companies and had some in-house estimates done. During this period, Jean-Philippe (800-741-6837, ext 203) was my point of contact, and worked with me to ensure that my quote was accurate. Ultimately, I developed a comprehensive list of every item in my house that would not be boxed and mailed it to him as an Excel file along with pictures of my rooms on June 15th. At this point he estimated that my boxable goods would require approximately 50 boxes. At this time, he generated a new quote and gave me the following: $1,655.46 deposit due now, $3614.11 due at delivery ($5,269.57 total) for 5736 pounds estimated weight and full packing done by the movers. I told Philippe that this sounded good, but needed certainty that the movers would arrive at my house no later than July 27 to pack me out. My lease expired on this day, and I was leaving the state, affording me no other options. At this time, Philippe promised me a packout window of 7/25/15-7/27/15 and assured me that they could not miss that window. Upon this agreement, I signed with his company for the aforementioned terms and a delivery window of 8/1/15-8/7/15, quote ID 11058067-06.
On July 20 I contacted Philippe again and asked for an amended contract, as he had told me was possible. At this time I informed him that I would pack myself, other than my bed, giving me a new quote total of $3,616.82, including $48.17 in bulky fees and $48.50 in packing for the one queen bed. This gave me a due on delivery total of $1,961.36. I was assured at this time that my delivery dates were still solid, and that movers would be at my home no later than Monday, 7/27/15.
On July 24, I received a phone call from Estylin Harrison at All State Van Lines (855-266-5176 ext 308) who informed me that he would be my Customer Service Account Manager for the move and would be my point of contact throughout. He informed me at this time that the movers would be at my home on Monday, July 27th, and that he would be at work by 11:15 AM in case I had any questions the day of the move.
On the morning of July 27th, I still had no contact with the movers. All State Van Lines called me at approximately 9:30 AM to inform me that there had been an issue with the truck intended to move me, and they would not be coming. At this time, they told me that they would be there to pick me up on 7/30/15, that Thursday. I told them that I had no other options and had been promised a move-out no later than this date. They suggested that I rent a storage facility and move all my belongings to it (by myself and at my expense) to hold until they could arrive. Harrison called when he arrived at work, and informed me that this was still the best option, and that he was sure that they would be there within a month’s time. At this time, Harrison informed me that he understood I had been told 7/30, but he could not promise that. I asked to speak with a manager. I was transferred to a manager (NAME?) who gave me a phone number and extension that did not belong to All State Van Lines. When I called back and got him on the phone again, he pretended that he had never talked to me and hung up on me, despite it being an unmistakable voice. I called All State again at the 1-855-266-5176 and asked for another manager. They told me that they saw I had just spoken with one, though apparently not according to him. This time I got Marjorie (1-855-266-5176 ext 358) who assured me that they would have a truck there for me on 7/31/15 (date has now moved another day) guaranteed. I confirmed a change of address for her, as I had to move all my property across town, incurring $102.93 in U-Haul fees and 4 hours of help from 8 people. These receipts were emailed to All State Van Lines and I was advised that they would consider them. No word since.
In the meantime, I had to be across the country to my new place by 8/1/15 to hand cashier’s checks to the landlord of my new place, so I got on the road. I had confirmed that I would not be there with Marjorie, and made arrangements for someone else to meet them on 7/31/15. I spoke with All State again on 7/28/15 and was informed I would need to sign a power of attorney form, which was emailed to me to look over. I asked to speak with Harrison, my account manager, and I was told he would call me. I spoke with ASVL again on 7/29 and was told all was well and movers would arrive on 7/31/15 and they would get me an approximate time window. I asked to speak with Harrison; again I was told he would call me. Asked to speak with a manager, got Bryan, and told him I was unable to reach my account manager. He assured me that he would deal with it and get me a call-back by the end of the day. On 7/30 I received a phone call from ASVL to clarify whether I was okay for an 8/1 pick-up of my property. I questioned this date, as I had been told 7/31. The representative told me that this truck was behind, and 8/1 would be the earliest possible pick-up. I asked to speak with a manager and got Bryan again. Bryan assured me that the movers were estimating a pickup 8/1/15 between 12-5 PM. He assured me that they had all necessary information about the new location, my power of attorney, etc. He further assured me that my delivery would be within the agreed on window (i.e. no later than 8/7/15). I again asked to speak with Harrison and was told that he was under the impression I had spoken with him. He asked to call me back within 15 minutes. After 20 minutes, I received a call from ASVL – it was Harrison. I asked him 6 times, over the course of our conversation, why I had been unable to reach him since Monday. Each time he refused to answer the question and assured me he would be in contact with me each day going forward.
On 7/31 I received a call from Harrison and was told that all was on schedule for a pick-up between 12-5PM on Saturday, 8/1. I had no contact with ASVL or the movers on 8/1 until 5:31 PM when they informed me they were likely 90 minutes away. At 7:57 PM they called again and asked where I was. They had arrived at my original address and had never been notified of any change by ASVL. I directed them to the new address and informed my stand-in (again) of the delay. The movers called again 3 times while driving to the house for directions and arrived at approximately 8:30 PM (no more than 15 minute drive). At 8:30 PM I received a phone call from my stand-in as there was already confusion as to why I was not there. Apparently ASVL had failed to also discuss with them that I would not be there for pick-up. This was eventually sorted out and loading began. To be clear, all of my belongings now fit into one small room, rather than spread throughout a house. Yet still, the movers did not finish until 11:15 PM.
I was forwarded the paperwork, at which time I first learned that the actual movers were not All State Van Lines, nor were they Relo Van Lines that I had been advised would be transporting my goods. This was a third-party company called Interstate Moving Express that I had no agreement with whatsoever. At pick-up they re-estimated the weight of my property at 8500 pounds (from 5736) and informed me I would owe $3792.71 at delivery rather than the $1,961.36 originally agreed on. This included the $48.17 bulky charge, $130 packing, and then the additional weight charges. A separate Packing Materials Order Form detailed only $58.50 in packing fees. I called All State Van Lines first thing Monday morning, 8/3, and was informed by my account manager Harrison that he would not have weights or a final due until Wednesday. He did advise that I should have received a weigh station tag for the truck before it loaded my property, which was not provided.
On 8/5 I received an email from Harrison, my account supervisor, informing me of the final amount due on delivery of $2,485.74 made out to Interstate Moving Express. This was approximately $524.38 above our original agreed upon amount, though notably about $1300 less than the visual estimate I received on 8/1. I got no information on why I owed this amount at this time. I was not able to talk with Harrison on this day, despite leaving him several messages. I emailed them with several questions about the additional fees, weight, payment, etc.
On 8/6 I was actually able to speak with someone at ASVL, i.e. my account manager Harrison. He informed me that the weight did increase 924 pounds, but that he did not have weigh station tags to give me. He informed me that they should have provided one at the time of pick up, which they did not. I was charged for one bulky item – the washing machine. Despite not needing to take it out of a room or put it into a room (garage bay to garage bay pick-up and delivery) they charged an extra $48.17 for that. He informed me that the packing fees had been removed from my account completely, though could not explain why my paperwork listed two entirely different packing fees. He informed me that my delivery would be the 10-11th of August and that I would be monetarily compensated for the late delivery (window expired on 8/7). Lastly, he informed me that I would need to pay via cashier’s check. Now when I signed up with the company originally, Jean-Philippe informed me that I would have the option to pay via credit card. Harrison informed me that since my account had not been flagged for this, there was nothing he could do and I would not have that option. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told none were available. I hung up and called back, got another representative, and asked her to speak with a supervisor. She told me that she had read my account and that no one would allow me to pay with credit card. I asked to speak with a supervisor anyway, and she proceeded to transfer me to my account manager Harrison, who was again very dismissive and told me that I could not speak with a supervisor.
I called again on 8/8 and asked whether there was progress with the payment method. I was informed that there was no available option to pay with a credit card at all, and that they would not discuss it further with me. I asked them to review the calls where they offered this specifically to me. They informed me they would, but two weeks later they appear to have not done so. I spoke with Harrison my case manager again on 8/10 and he suggested that I would have a delivery on the 14/15 of August. I was planning to go out of town this weekend for a family event, so asked for a more specific delivery window. On 8/11 he informed me that it could still be the 14/15, but could be as late as the next Monday-Wednesday, the 17-19. I asked for regular updates from him moving forward.
On 8/12 I received an email from Shane Gardner, ext 288, who informed me that he would be my new case manager. I finally spoke with him on 8/13 and asked about the delivery. He informed me that he had no additional information. On 8/14 I was told that delivery would likely be the 17-19 rather than the weekend. I asked for more specifics, though none were provided. I called again on 8/15 and received no new information. On 8/17 AM I was informed that the movers were coming to me next, though they had failed to ask from where they were coming. As such, they had no idea what day or time they might actually arrive. They informed me that they were trying to get them back on the phone to reconfirm where they were coming from. I requested to speak with a supervisor and was told I would have a callback within 30 minutes. No supervisor called me back, from 11 AM to 5 PM. At 5:50 PM I called again and got my account manager on the phone, who could still not get the movers on the phone to confirm a delivery specific. I again asked to speak with a supervisor and finally got on with James A., ext. 169. James called the movers while I was on hold and immediately got them on the phone. He informed me that they would be there between 10A-12P on Thursday.
On 8/14 I called my account manager Shane around 1 PM to ask why I had still heard nothing from the movers. I was told that everything was still on schedule and the movers would be there the next morning. They would call within 30-60 minutes of delivery.
After the movers failed to arrive by 12PM on 8/20, I called All State to confirm they were coming. My account manager, Shane, told me that he would have the movers call me. He had no information for me himself. The movers called me within approximately 15 minutes to inform me that they had gotten “hot” the day before and decided to take a break and thus were now still 300 miles out. They would instead be there between 7-8 PM.
Movers called 8/20 to advise that I needed to have the check made out to Interstate Express Moving… for the amount of $2,125.74 with discounts.
I questioned this and told them All State had already advised that the amount due was $2,485.74 ($360 more than the driver had told me), that no sort of discount for terrible service would happen before delivery, and that the check must be made out to Interstate Moving Express. He asked to call his boss and verify that this was acceptable. Shortly after, he called back to inform me that this was indeed correct, and that he had the wrong balance when he spoke with me before. Just another example of the fine handling of this whole situation.
I emailed my case manager Shane and the escalation supervisor James who I had spoken with previously. Shane took the full story of my experience and finally forwarded me all my paperwork including the weigh station bills – the first time I had seen these. James called me shortly after and informed me that due to the 5 day delay, All State would be crediting $150 back to my credit card. Due to the 14-day delay on delivery, Interstate Moving Express would credit $150 back to me via a check. I questioned why these sums were equivalent, and after another hold he told me that the president of Interstate Moving Express had authorized $200 as the maximum reimbursement and that he would cut this check on Monday.
The movers finally arrived around 8 PM and left around midnight after moving all my property in. Nothing seemed damaged, so I signed all the paperwork stating as much. The next day, 8/21, I found the pieces of my TV stand in boxes and set the TV up. Despite no apparent outside damage, the screen was shattered and there was no visible picture. I was told that due to not taking the insurance, they would pay me approximately $60 for my $700+ TV, based on weight. I declined the moving insurance as I was advised over the phone that it would exclude anything that I packed myself. As I was packing most everything myself (TV in U-Haul Flat Panel TV Kit Box) the insurance would have done me no good anyway. The movers also attempted to get me to agree to them not moving certain heavy belongings to the room I requested – or in some cases not moving them at all except into the garage. Despite telling me that certain belongings were in the house and some belongings in the garage had been moved to the area I specified, I found that this was a lie when I checked the next morning. Perhaps I should have done a better job checking while they were here, but it was nearly 12:30 AM and both they and I wanted to go to sleep.
I submitted my damage report on Monday, 8/24, but as of 8/29 they have not even acknowledged receipt and refuse to respond to phone calls. In total, an equivalent flat-screen TV to the one I moved was approximately $1,100. They also broke some glass property of mine that was well packed, so I suspect it was also dropped. I estimate the value to be approximately $1180 in total.
I finally received an email from All State Van Lines on 8/27 with a settlement offer and non-disclosure agreement. This offer, despite the assurances over the phone detailed previously, suggested that I would be settling my dispute with not only All State Van Lines, but also Relo Van Lines and Interstate Moving Express for the sum of $150. No mention whatsoever of the $200 settlement that Interstate Express was supposed to be making with me separately. This agreement also stipulated that I must sign a non-disclosure agreement, which had never been discussed previously. I have opted to not sign that at this time, as the extremely small sum offered (and lied about) is frankly insulting given the losses I incurred in this experience.
Over the course of the process, I was regularly told that I would get call backs that never came, or that they had no further information for me. Sometimes I could call back, get another person on the phone, and get more information for them than I had been told was available. I had a window where my account manager refused to call me back for 4 days, immediately after the pick-up failure, despite repeated voice mails and messages via other employees. It took speaking with a manager twice to get him on the phone again. I was lied to more times than I can count, and the deceptive practices they employed throughout this entire process were extremely sickening.
I hope this is useful in helping people make their moving decisions.
