Left Me Stranded on Pick-up Day
Mark Cantrell
Submitted this review about
Americas-Moving-Services
Review made Live: 7/7/2010 8:55:00 PM
I am VP of a company and MISTAKENLY picked America's Moving Service for my Corporate move from MD to NV. I selected this moving "broker" due to their online reputation and initial "can-do" attitude. Made the reservation well over 2 months ago, paid my deposit, and provided an accurate inventory of my goods to ship. In sum, I did my part.
I arranged for the scheduled pick-up for 15K pounds for a 2-day window of 27-28 June. I called on the Friday prior and they said the driver would contact me 24-28 hours prior--never happended. I had to call AMS at 9 on Monday--the second day of my scheduled pick-up window for a status on my driver/truck. At that time I was informed by Josh that I would NOT be picked up due to the fact the driver/truck picked up a previous load that weighed more than was expected (someone else's mess up--not mine). I was then informed that they would look for another truck and driver and would call me right back. They never called me back--I had to initiate all calls to AMS. As the morning progressed, it became apparent that they would NOT be able to help me--said there were no other trucks/drivers available due to the busy moving season and I "should start looking for other options". By early afternoon, it was very apparent that AMS was unable to move me as per our contract. Howard (owner) and Josh informed me they were sorry, this was unusual, and they would gladly refund my deposit. Thanks for nothing!!!
This was a nightmare move to say the least. I found another mover by 3:00 in the afternoon that day. The new movers arrived as promised the next day (Tuesday, 6/29) and are enroute to my new home as I type this. All did not go smoothly with that company, but at least THEY SHOWED UP!
BE WARNED--the long and short of this is AMS failed to step up and make this bad situation right! They sound like nice guys on the phone and say all the right things, but evidently they do not have the required depth of resources, drivers, trucks to get the job done during the busy moving season. I did my part, paid my money, called frequently and checked on status prior to my move which I contracted for weeks in advance. Granted--this likely does not happen very often, but when it happens to YOU and there are little or no options out there, you are STUCK! AMS did not provide suitable options, and "sorry" does not get 15,000 pounds of household goods moved all the way across the country. I also had to pay a significant premium ($$$) over the AMS price since they dropped an emergency move situation in my lap.
If AMS did this to me--be warned it could happen to you. The contracts indemnify these moving companies--they can't control the trucks or drivers because they don't OWN the trucks or dirvers. Getting a $900 deposit refunded was insufficient remedy from these folks. Next stop for me is the BBB and other consumer protection folks. Be warned folks--don't let AMS leave YOU stranded on moving day!!!
