A stressful scam- absolutely awful!
Faye P.
Submitted this review about
Forward Van Lines
Review made Live: 9/14/2014 3:49:00 PM
Our moving experience was absolutely terrible. They charged us double what they initially quoted! The movers kept complaining about the heat and how they were exhausted from the move before us. The process was incredibly slow and when we complained to management, they were aggressive and unhelpful. We felt like we were being scammed- like they were intentionally moving slow and taking the longest possible travel route so that they could charge us more money. The whole thing was incredible stressful and I would not recommend them to anyone. I saw 1 bad review on Yelp, but thought 1 bad experience in all of these good experiences had to be a fluke. I wish I had listened to that person.
They sent us a survey after the fact and I have posted the responses here, so hopefully no one else will have to deal with what we had to deal with:
Pick - up
1.How was the pick – up of your belongings? A slow process and somewhat awkward.
2.Did everything go smoothly? No.
3.Were there any issues during your pick – up? Yes, 2 of the 3 workmen kept complaining about how they did not feel like working. They disappeared several times. I also found them talking to each other and not working on several occasions at which point they would act startled and start moving something. They told me that they felt like going swimming and went to check out the small river behind our house...on our dime.
4.Did the crew arrive on time? Yes
5.How did the crew treat you at pick – up? Like they had already moved one person that day and were too exhausted to deal with us. One mover was nice and professional. The other two were rude and slow.
6.How was your experience with our office staff? When I called I believe I spoke to someone named Ben who was very nice and helpful- he is the reason why I chose your moving company. When we were having issues with the move, however, I spoke to a manager and my experience was terrible. This man was rude and seriously lacked useful customer service skills. He told me that the cost of our move would be more than DOUBLE what we were initially quoted. When I told him that the moving experience had not been going well, he basically called me a liar saying "I asked my workmen and they told me everything was fine. They said everyone was working. If I find out they weren't working I will fire them- thats the kind of business I run". Well, if thats true, what worker in their right mind is going to tell you that they are not working? That logic makes absolutely no sense. He asked why I did not confront the men about this which also seemed obvious to me- I am a young women with 3 larger men moving my items who I do not trust. They have my possessions in hand and I did not want to start any kind of argument while half of my items were on the truck.
7.What can we do to better to improve our services? Realistic quotes. We had several smaller boxes which- when I was quoted- the office staff said would not be a big deal to move. They said it would take them no time at all. Apparently this was not the case. I do not understand what was taking them so long to do- some boxes were smaller, but everything was packed and ready to go. Also, the manager who I talked to was awful. When you tell someone their move is going to be double what they were quoted and that you will discontinue service until you are paid- this is an issue. This person has no compassion at all and was very accusatory and argumentative. To me, this whole move seemed like a scam- a way to get more money out of us.
Delivery
1.How was your communication with our dispatch and your driver during the transit of your items? Not well- they left for the new apartment without even telling us they were leaving! Then they took the longest route possible- my husband made it there half an hour before they did! If they had told us they were leaving, we could have discussed a route, but they did not.
2.How did everything go at delivery? See above- very tumultuous and they took several hours to unload the truck.
3.Were there any issues upon delivery? Yes, issues with management, time it took them to get there, time it took them to unload.
4.Were there any damages? Yes, some furniture arrived broken, some broken glassware and collectibles.
5.How was the crew at delivery? Awkward. Slow. Angry that we had complained to management.
6.Would you recommend us to your friend’s family? Never.
7.How was your overall moving experience with us? Did our things arrive at the apartment? Yes. All in one piece? No. Was it stress-free? Absolutely not. Was it the price I was quoted? No, it was more than double. Our moving experience was awful and it felt like we were being scammed. I was very disappointed in the moving service and the "customer care" experience we received.
