Dishonest, Deceitful, and Careless
Kim
Submitted this review about
Able Moving, LLC
Review made Live: 11/1/2010 1:44:00 PM
This was by far the worst and most unprofessional moving experience we have ever had! My husband and I are both working professionals and have moved 5 times over the last 7 years, so we are speaking from experience. They were dishonest from the beginning--which we found out later--near impossible to get in touch with during "normal business hours", damaged nearly 100% of the loose/furniture items they blanket-wrapped and shrink-wrapped, and damaged several other fragile items that we had packed very well and marked as "fragile" and "top load only" with arrows in the up direction as we were told.
We had originally hired World Wide Van Lines, who then contracted the move to Able Moving, which we did not find out until Able Moving called us 2 days before pick-up. They said they would be there between 9am-12noon on 2nd day of the 2-day window, but then called that morning to re-schedule until 12pm-3pm, and then again from 3pm-6pm, and didn't actually show up until 7pm Sunday night! They didn't finish loading until 11pm that night!
We were told by World Wide that a semi-truck would pick-up our items and they would remain on that truck through delivery, which would be in approximately 7 days, which was NOT true. Able showed up in a small, very poorly maintained truck, that they brought up from Chicago and said they would be taking the items back to load on the semi, which would then leave out of Chicago. My mom and sister were at the pick-up location and very skeptical, so they called me and we checked the registration on the truck and it was registered to Able Moving and seemed to check-out so we went ahead and let them load, although not happy with our items being double-handled.
They told my mom there would be a charge for shrink-wrap, which they told me was included as part of "wrapping and banding", but it appears not to be the case. My mom repeatedly asked about the amount of shrink-wrap and tape they were using, but they told her not to worry because we weren't paying for it anyway and it was included--another LIE. Also, I had sent the full inventory of loose/furniture items to World Wide Van Lines ahead of time, which Able had a copy of, as well as the total box count. They never mentioned anything about "bulky" items being extra or which items were considered "bulky". However, 3 days later when they called with total amount to have at pick-up, they added $419 of "extra" charges for the shrink-wrap, a box they used to protect an item that they said we wouldn't be charged with, and extra cost of wrapping "bulky" items! I never agreed to any of these charges and my mom only signed one paper indicating any costs, and that was for shrink-wrap at $35/roll. We also estimated 8,000 lbs and were very conservative in our estimate. The Able rep who picked up the items said he would be surprised if we even had 5,000 lbs. However, when we got the weight slip, it said we were at 8,040, so we had to pay for the additional 40 lbs. This doesn't sound like much, but when you add up the "average" weight based on how many items we had (84) and use the estimator movers use of 45 lbs/item, it only comes up to 3,780 lbs. My mom actually weighed EVERY box and I got weights for all the loose items from either the manufacturer or standard weight tables so I would have a good idea of the weight before I entered into a contract to ensure I had plenty of buffer because I heard of this happening. With a LOT of padding in my estimate, I only came up with 6,000 lbs, so I have no idea how they came up with more weight, but did noticed that they didn't weigh the truck for the 2nd time until almost 24 hours after pick-up! Also, they refused to do a re-weigh when I asked.
And, all that was only the beginning of this whole AWEFUL experience. During the move, they only called 3 times in 30 days! I tried them repeatedly, several times a day sometimes, and rarely got them to answer the phone and they never returned one message I left! Any time I talked with them it was because I just kept calling and calling and eventually got someone to pick-up the phone! It was very frustrating. When I did get an answer, they were not friendly or helpful at all, very accusatory that I should have known not to sign papers with no costs written in, etc. What they were referring to was a price list of items that they had my mom sign at pick-up that listed all the prices of items, but the Able rep. there said it was only so she was aware of their prices for his file, but that there were no charges because it was all included, except for any shrink-wrap (which they said they used 2 rolls). However, I finally got World Wide to do something and they faxed me a copy of the price sheet my mom signed and then all the sudden it was filled in with all the additional charges! They filled it in after she signed it!! Totally dishonest, deceitful, and just plain distasteful on all levels. :(
Anyway, on the delivery date, World Wide told us approx. 7 days. The Able rep. at pick-up told my mom figure on 10 days to be safe. When they called with "new price" a few days after pick-up, they told me deliver in 5 - 8 days (which was a little over 10 days). When I hadn't heard from them, I kept calling and calling to try and reach someone, and when I did ever reach anyone, they repeatedly told me 3 - 5 days. The last day came and when I still never got any calls, one of the "managers" at Able called me at almost 6pm that evening and said our items never made it on the truck going out of Chicago and so it would be another 7 days. How can a company just "lose" a 8,000 lb. shipment??? No one ever said it never made it on the truck to begin with! Well, the 7 days came and went as well, and after MANY calls, with very few answers, I finally got an answer from Sandra saying between Friday - Sunday. Again, we waited and no truck. My mom flew out Sunday and still no truck (more on the whole mom story later, which was her worst experience ever as well). Anyway, Monday came and he said he would be here Tuesday. Well, he was here, alright, because his company told him he BETTER be here because it was the 30th day. And, so at 7pm at night, in the dark with snow flurries and freezing cold, he showed up! Since there were no street lights and not very much skylight to provide lighting, they said they would come back the next morning at 8am if that worked, but I had to agree to it so that they wouldn't have to refund me any money for being over the 30 days "by contract" they had, because "officially" they were there... even though at night and dark. Since we have a little one that needs to be in bed by 8:30pm for school the next morning, we said okay.
SIDE NOTE: The contract does day they have up to 30 days to deliver goods, but both World Wide and Able said it NEVER takes that long... they don't want to hold our stuff and they want their money, so they always come sooner vs. later, which was NOT the case! They used up ALL 30 days!
Delivery Day: They did show up at 8am. They slept in their truck right in the cul de sac we live in! We told them there was a truck stop back out a the highway, but obviously they didn't want to pay to park or something. We live in a pretty nice neighborhood, and I'm sure a semi truck parked out in front the their houses with the motor running overnight did not make for happy neighbors. *sigh* The driver seemed very nice (JC), as did his helper (Stan), but it was EARLY. And, they required FULL payment up front BEFORE they would start unloading. They were very apologetic... at first. As they unloaded items and brought them in, they noticed things were broken. They said the items were so poorly wrapped and packaged that they found it hard to believe someone from their company would do such a bad job. They said they did not load the truck, and so it wasn't anything to do with them personally. We started taking pictures of the truck and how it was loaded and then the items as they were unwrapped and the damage... they did NOT like that. They started working faster because I think they wanted to be done and out because they seen this was going south very fast. I started writing down as much as I could. I told them I had to document ALL the damage upon deliver on the inventory sheet or it was not claimable, so they had to allow me to do that. I had also mentioned that I was charged for 4 mattress covers that were never used and Sandra at Able said the driver would refund that amount ($70) to me if there weren't, in fact, any covers used. Upon deliver, the driver verified no mattress covers were on the 4 mattresses indicated and so he said he would have to call back to get permission to refund money. When he talked to them, they said NO and that I had to include on my claim/grievance form and they would consider a refund once that was submitted. LIE again!
A list of some of the items damaged: Our piano had the wheel missing, the piano bench had 2 legs and one end broken off, 3 wheels were missing off two bed frames and they couldn't find them anywhere on their truck supposedly, our iron headboard had one of the finials ripped right off XXXlike the metal was "tore"... no idea how they did that. Two little hand-painted cabinets were all gouged up and scratched and one had the leg broken right off. One of the mattresses had this black sticky goop on one end, which my husband just wanted to throw out, but I'm holding for evidence. Three Tiffany stained glass lamps were crushed. We packed them VERY WELL, marked them fragile all over with that Fragile tape, had arrows on all side with which side to orient upward, and "top load" all over them. They had been loaded on their sides and the boxes literally crushed several inches! The shades are oval instead of round now and metal beading broken away... just ruined. The list goes on and on... my husband called it carnage. It was awful, just devastating.
As I noted all the damage and unpacking boxes as fast as I could to make sure I could note everything on the form before they left, they came and said they were all done. I reminded them they were supposed to set-up the bed frames, and so they worked on that. After about 10 minutes, they came and said they just couldn't figure out to get them set up and there were pieces missing or bolts or something. I went in and showed them how they went together and bed frames DON'T have bolts! They knew... they just wanted out of there. And, the home office was calling and telling them to leave. I told them regardless if they did the frames or not, I had a few more boxes to go through and to just wait and I would get through them quickly. They went outside and then less than 5 minutes later JC came back in and said he was leaving and had to have his paper NOW. I told him I wasn't done going through everything or writing it down for the record, and he took the sheet from me and proceeded to walk out and say he was leaving and his company told him he had to get on the road right then. I told him he didn't have my signature and no proof my items were delivered. He gave me back the sheet to sign and so I wrote on there that he was leaving at 1:05pm, was not allowing me to unpack and go through the rest of the items, that there was TONS of breakage and damage and that 5 pages of damages identified thus far were attached. I told him I wasn't giving him the paper back until I made a copy and copied all the pages i was attaching. I had him sign the 5 pages of items I documented as well. He was reluctant at first, but I reminded him that he continually told me he hadn't packed the items, so it wasn't his fault, and so why did he have an issue signing? Anyway, he went ahead and signed and so I copied everything. It was a totally awful and horrible experience. And, this is not even everything we went through. :(
Earlier, I spoke of my mom. She flew out to help us with the move the day after they picked-up our items in Michigan. SIDE NOTE: We had PROFESSIONAL movers that our employer hired to move our household items from our permanent residence. It was Stevens Van Lines and Mooney Moving (their agent) XXXthey were absolutely AWESOME!!! However, we had several items in Michigan that we left there since they wouldn't fit in the homes we had the last few years. Since our new residence is much larger and we plan on being here for a long time, we decided to have all our items from Michigan moved to our new house, and so we contracted this move ourselves since it was from a different state. Anyway, my mom had all of our stuff stored at her house and so that is where they picked the items up. My mom flew out to help us the day after they picked-up our items there and planned on staying about 4 weeks to help us. The Able rep. told her she should just throw her suitcases on the truck, and save the luggage fees at the airport, and they would be there in 7 - 10 days anyway. So, my mom thought that was a great idea and just packed a couple pairs of jeans and shirts, etc. to get through. We would have the washer/dryer at our house, so she could make due. Well, I'm sure you see where this is going. My mom had to live in 2 pair of jeans and a few shirts and undergarments for a whole month!! She ended up flying out the Sunday before they dropped off, the 28th day of "waiting". We were going to re-schedule her ticket, but my grandma was having surgery, and so she had to get back for her surgery. I tried to go buy some extra clothes for my mom, but she has a hard time finding clothes and so only found one pair of pants and 2 shirts. :( And, since they kept saying the truck was coming, she kept thinking it would be here. :( Very sad. Needless to say, I had to spend over $100 to ship her clothes all back to her in Michigan once they showed up. And yes, at least her two suitcases came through okay, and hopefully all her things were still in them.
It's only been a few days and I have spent HOURS and HOURS going through things and taking pictures to submit with the claims. Thank goodness I bought 3rd party insurance as well, but it was from a company World Wide recommended. Hopefully the insurance company isn't a farce too! I'm praying it won't be, but we'll see. Many of the broken items aren't replaceable and aren't even made any more. :( I'm not sure how that works. We have never had any issues with any of our other moves, and very minimal damage, if any. However, they have always been done by our employers and through Stevens, Johnsons, or Mayflower. I should have known to use one of them. We have a great deal of stuff, and this last time required more than one semi full through Stevens (on the magnitude of 30K lbs) and a lot of items considered "high value" from collectables or artwork and we have. BUT, NEVER the damage we seen with Able Moving and World Wide. My husband was accurate when he called it a carnage. PLEASE beware of using them. We're not through this yet, but we wanted to be sure to get the word out so no one else has to go through what we've been through... and, I have a feeling, are going to be dealing with for some time.
