I was being relocated long distance for my job, so I did not want to do this move myself if at all possible. Our move was originally booked through Bruce Rodriguez at Nationwide Relocation (job # 4205028-01) on July 3, 2009, and a deposit of $751.72 was placed for the move on July 10, 2009, with the balance of $1,102.52 to be paid in certified funds at the time of delivery.
According to Bruce at Nationwide (who told me to keep his number handy on my cell phone because he would "be with me every step of the way to make sure the move went off with no problems”), the movers were supposed to be at our place on Monday, July 27th, with a “backup day” of Tuesday, July 28 ....“just in case there was some weather or truck breakdown that would delay the move on the 27th”. I was told by Bruce that the driver would call me 48 hours out to give me a time that he would be there. On Saturday, July 25th, I received no such call, so I called the main office at Nationwide, which only gave me voice mail options and no live person. On Sunday and Monday I again did not hear from the driver so I called the main office again to try and speak to Bruce (I left him 2 separate voicemails and I also emailed him to ask him to call me – which as of this writing I have not heard at all from Bruce Rodriguez in reference to any inquiry), and again only got his voice mail. At this point I was getting ticked-off, so I called my “quality assurance” person – Lissa Chovan, who I was able to talk to after calling her extension twice. She immediately let me know that her position was “only to check the inventory to make sure no items had changed on the inventory list”. She said that since it was now Monday afternoon and I had not heard from the driver, that there was no way we were going to have our furniture picked up that day. She said Tuesday was the second pick-up option on my records, so they had until end of business on Tuesday to pick my stuff up. The rest of the afternoon came and went with no call from the driver. At 5:45 pm on Monday, I received a call from someone who did not identify himself at Nationwide “customer service”, who told me that my move had been handed off to “dispatch” and I would hear from the driver either that night or first thing Tuesday morning. Well, Monday night and Tuesday morning came and went with no call from anyone. At 12:10 pm Tuesday afternoon, I again received a call from “customer service” asking me if I had heard from the driver. I told them no, and if I did not hear from him by 5 pm, I was going to U-Haul, because I had to be out of my house by end of day because my utilities were scheduled to cut off on Tuesday night. At exactly 5 pm on Tuesday night, I was actually dialing the number to U-Haul when I got a call from the driver at American Van Lines, which turned out to be the company actually handling our move (turns out Nationwide is just a broker that takes extra money and finds a different company to actually do the move). The driver told me he was on Alligator Alley between Miami and Naples, Florida (about 3 hours from my house), and would be at my house at 9 pm!! I told him that was ridiculous, as he would be loading our furniture in the middle of the night with our neighbors around us trying to sleep. But, what choice did we have other than to get a U-Haul and do the whole thing ourselves and try and get our deposit back – which we know would never happen. So, my wife and I waited and the driver and his partner showed up at 9:30 pm. They finished loading our furniture at 2 am!! Since I was not about to start driving in the middle of the night, my wife and I had to sleep on the floor, and leave as soon as we woke up Wednesday morning. I talked to the driver twice during our trip – once each night to let him know where we were along the way. On Thursday night, I called and told him we would be at our new place the next morning around 11:00 am, and he said he was about 1 to 2 hours behind me. We got to our new place Friday at 11:15 am, and proceeded to wait for the truck. When the truck didn't show by 1:00 pm, I called the driver, who told me he was delayed and still in Illinois (never mentioned that little fact the night before)!!! He said he would not get to us until the next morning. So, once again, we slept on the floor at our new place and the driver showed up at 8:30 am Saturday morning, unloaded our stuff and finished at around 12:30 pm. As he unwrapped our things - I saw that:
1- My 1 1/2 year-old dining room table was completely ruined (all 4 corners scratched up, chipped and the top of the table baly scratched).
2- Our office desk that we just bought in February was also completely ruined (front drawer scratched and torn, back panel torn, another back leg badly scratched. Plus they put the desk back-together wrong – with pieces put on backwards (they also put my bed back together wrong, and I had to take it apart and put it back together the right way after they left).
3- My 2 year-old cradenza that my television sits on had a nickel-sized chunk taken out of the top.
4- Other furniture was also scratched up or the edges were crushed.
None of these tears and scratches are repairable with a wood pen and stain, especially the dining table and office desk.
So, the driver and his assistant proceed to unload our things, and in the middle of all this, I turn around and three more people (who I have never seen before) appear out of the truck and are walking around my new living room. These three people are introduced by the driver as his wife, 2 year-old son, and another teenage girl that I did not get introduced to. Evidently all 5 of these people live in the truck, and the driver and his family had no problem with them just coming and going through my house. I was already ticked-off about the condition of my furniture, and now watching his family parade through my living room put me over-the-top. The two men finished unloading and I signed for my things. The driver gave me a phone number to call and file a claim, and I gave him a certified check to pay the balance of the bill. At this point the driver asks me if I would consider giving him and his partner a TIP!!! I told him that I had already considered it and the answer was no. I think that due to all of the circumstance of my move, the last thing this guy should have been asking for is a tip.
Just a long word of warning before calling these folks to move your stuff. You better be VERY flexible with your move time, and be prepared to receive your stuff in worse condition than you had it before you moved.
****FOLLOW-UP: I wrote American Van Lines (which was the actual carrier of my furniture that was hired-out through Nationwide) and sent both before and after move photos, showing the damages done to my property. I received a form that I had to fill-out, explaining the damages. I filled-out and sent back. On Sept. 5, 2009 I received a letter from Jennifer Cantwell in the Claims Dept., telling me that ....."I have completed my review of your claim based on the paperwork/documentation submitted........Upon receipt of this signed agreement, American Van Lines, Inc. will issue a check in the amount of $126.00."
$126.00 for damage done to $1,300 worth of furniture. I want so badly to be shocked, but I am not. And by the way, as of this writing, I still have received NOTHING from American.
Bottom line, stay very far away from these people and just get a U-haul and do it yourself. I will.
