Our experience with Express Moving Van Lines is a saga filled with broken promises, misrepresentations and outright lies. That being said, every interaction with every employee was one in which they behaved politely and expressed concern for the customer. I do not think that this company is a scam. They genuinely want to do a good job; however when mistakes occur, the company lets the customer take the hit for their mistakes.
It all began with a move from Massachusetts to California in May 2013. We spoke with a sales representative named Martin who delivered a quote for 455 cubic feet to be moved at $1620. This was a very competitive price. When we asked about any additional charges, he assured us there were none. We were concerned about some very valuable (appraised and receipted) pieces of artwork and we asked if any additional insurance would be needed to cover any loss or damage. Martin informed us that no extra insurance is needed as “our company is insured for up to one million dollars’ worth of damage”. We made a big mistake listening to the salesperson and believing him. We should have looked at the fine print on the contract. The whole “million dollar insurance” line is one of the most misleading things that could be said. For all practical purposes related to a customer suffering the loss of their goods, it may as well be an outright lie. The insurance is for the truck in case of accidental damage to others and their own vehicle. The only coverage for your property is 60 cents per pound which is not weighed at all and they just make some estimate and give you a tiny check. Be VERY careful, relying on the sales pitch for the facts can be hazardous to your wallet and mental health.
The plan was to have a pickup of the stuff on May 7th and then to drive our car to California. We had a prepaid hotel stay and tickets in Las Vegas for the 13th to 16th and had made very clear to the salesperson that we could not receive the stuff any earlier than the 17th of May. We were assured there was no problem with such specificity of our requirements, and in fact if we had some delay we would get free storage for up to one month in Sacramento with delivery when we were ready. For additional work reasons we could not get the shipment later than the nineteenth so our window was small. Again we were promised this was NO PROBLEM.
A day before the move, a relative that lived seven miles away mentioned they had a dining set (table, chairs and serving table) that they would like to give us. We asked for a quote to add that to the order and include the additional stop seven miles away. We were emailed a new quote that brought the cubic footage to 555 and the price to $2020.
On the day of the move we were given a pickup window from 12 to 3pm, and we had everything out in the driveway. At almost four pm the driver showed up and had the higher quote printed out, even though the quote listed the additional stop the driver said it was too late in the day to do that. In addition he said he would add another hundred dollars to the cost for the additional stop regardless of the fact the extra stop was already listed and included on the quote. In addition the quote included the movers packing the 5 paintings, but since we had the original boxes the painting originally came in the movers said they were better so they would not repack. We said okay as long as they took responsibility for the packing job, opened ours up and inspected to make sure the artwork was in satisfactory condition, etc. They said they would, but they were so rushed that they did not get to it. They did not show us the packing checklist until the very end, and they used unclear abbreviations next to items on the checklist (pbo, sc). We later discovered that their shorthand meant that they were not responsible for the paintings and that every item loaded on the truck was damaged already (sc = scratched).
The square footage was well under the estimate, but they said that the way square footage works is that it has nothing to do with how much space your stuff is, but how much empty space they leave above your stuff in the truck. For instance a 15 cubic foot desk can be counted as eight feet high (the height of the truck space) and be counted as three or four times as much volume as reality. Anyway they changed the price to $2300 and charged another $100 “for tolls” from NJ to MA and back, even though they had other peoples stuff in the truck that they picked up on the way. We tipped the driver and other guy $40 each ($80 total), because they were nice guys and it seemed they were actually implementing company policy with all these changes to the original deal. It isn’t fair to make the little guy suffer when a company pulls a bait and switch.
The back and forth by phone with the salesperson and movers went on so long and the fact that the movers came almost an hour after the window delivery meant that I had to go to a funeral event before the final stuff was finished at the other house, and my girlfriend who had not gotten sleep the night before was presented with the new bigger bill, and the additional news that they would not guarantee anything about the delivery dates. She was told “if you want it in less than three weeks you have to sign that you will accept delivery at any time.” Caught in a bind and feeling punch drunk with the fatigue, she made the mistake of signing.
On May 9th we received a call that cargo would arrive between the 13th and 16th, and that we would be notified 24 hours before delivery. Panicked, we called Martin. We ended up transferred to driver who picked up our stuff, a gentleman named Amir. Amir promised he would work on it and get back to us later that day. We called about 5pm and he promised to call back in the am. We called in the am (the 10th) and he said he would definitely handle it and not to worry about what we were told but he would still give us more specific assurances the next day. On the 11th we again called and the person answering said we shouldn’t worry and Amir would call back later in the day but in any case it was handled and we were all good. After so many promises of call backs and assurances and with no other real options, we just left it figuring that they make good on their word. We went to Vegas and crossed our fingers.
On the morning of the 15th, we got a call from the truck driver. He was very apologetic that stuff had been so delayed (due to a breakdown in Utah) and completely unaware that we had not wanted or expected it until the seventeenth. He told us it would be arriving at 7 am the sixteenth. We called the company headquarters multiple times and finally reached Amir, who said “well we have contracts that says we can do that” and would not engage on all the promises made in the interim to “handle it” and call back. We begged a couple hours delay, and cut our trip to Vegas short by a day, taking a hit on the non-refundable pre-booked vacation package. We drove the thirteen hour trip to Sacramento through the night and got there for the delivery at 11 am.
The delivery guys were very nice (as Amir had originally been on the pickup) and did a good job unloading. We also tipped them $40 each ($80 total). The delivery truck was different as the luggage had been transferred (we do not know how many times, so we have no way of knowing how it happened) but, unfortunately we discovered numerous damaged furniture items and much to our dismay several boxes missing. Items missing included a professionally-framed diploma, as well as painting appraised at $600. Both items mentioned were packed by the movers themselves. In addition there was a mood therapy lamp system, shredder, kitchen steamer, lamp, electric kettle and various clothing items.
We noted this information on the forms we signed accepting delivery, and we were told to contact the company headquarters. This is when we discovered the company’s position on lost and damaged goods. First we were told the little abbreviation sc next to every single item on the list that was not packed in a box meant “scratched,” even for items that had and still have no scratches. Essentially they precluded any possibility of a claim for damaged goods by claiming every item as damaged at load up time without telling us that! This in my opinion borders on fraudulent behavior.
We called the main office and were promised by Amir we would get a call back from the company owner the next day. The next day we received no call. We called back and were told again that the company owner would call later in the day. Later we received a call from a company manager named Mike who said the owner was “overseas for the next few weeks” but Mike assured me that he was authorized to make any decision for the company. Mike was very nice and polite but when he asked what we wanted. We requested replacement of the value of the items that we could prove with receipts and he said that was not an option. He said that we should have gotten full coverage which is true (by the way be careful with that as well because later researching that option I found out they have a $750 deductible on the extra insurance anyway), but the fact we relied on his company’s statement that we were insured up to a million dollars and we did not need anything else was irrelevant to him. I found very suspicious his claim that this never happens, as I am a small business owner myself and I almost never have an issue, but when I do have an issue that I know is my company’s fault, I am prepared to take a loss.
In business you win some and you lose some. As long as the loss is very rare, it is just a part of life, but if it happens all the time you cannot take the loss or you will be out of business. Another thing I found odd when looking at the company’s numerous reviews is that they were all quite short, generic “perfect job, great company etc.” and five stars, it didn’t feel very “real world”.
After about half an hour Mike offered two hundred dollars on almost $1500 of provable loss not counting all the damaged items. He insisted he was authorized to make any decision but that was the best he would do for us and that he was being generous. Mike was adamant that losing people’s stuff almost never happens normally and they had no liability except 16 cents a pound. (The contract said 60 when I went back and actually studied it, but since they just transfer your to a phone number that offers you almost nothing Mike did not even seem to know the figures himself. I did ask several times are you saying one six cents or six zero cents and he said one six).
After about another fifteen minutes he said okay I will agree to $300. He had already been informed that we considered the offer of two hundred insulting and we declined the new barely changed offer.
Mike asked for three days to try to locate the stuff and promised to call back with the news. They did not. I called back again, and was told they were having “trouble contacting the driver for a list of the deliveries” but that they would call back by Memorial Day. They did not. I called back. Again they asked for a few more days and promised to call back again. Again they did not. I feel as though they have a policy of delay to try to get people just to give up.
If after reading all of this you feel the company has behaved in a manner you wish to be treated, please use them. If they had not over promised so many things they did not follow through with, if they did not change the charges. If they did not damage property and lose other property, if they did not offer what in my view were completely inadequate offers to resolve the issues. I would have liked the company as everyone was very nice. I do believe they have a fair number of successful deliveries with no issues. But if you do not want to shoulder the entire risk when the company makes mistakes, I advise against this company.
