DO NTO USE SUMMIT VAN LINES
JP
Submitted this review about
SUMMIT VAN LINES
Review made Live: 1/26/2012 2:33:00 PM
1. We did not receive an inventory for this move at
origin or at delivery. We are hereby demanding a
copy of the inventory, if one was made, or a
statement that there was no inventory made, if one
was not made. Summit still has not provided this.
2. We requested verification of the weight of our
shipment, and Summit refused to provide this. We
are hereby demanding the weight records for our
shipment. Summit still has not provided this.
3. We did not receive the brochure explaining our
rights and responsibilities at the origin. We
understand that Summit is required to provide this
brochure by the Federal Government. We are hereby
demanding a copy of this brochure. Summit still has
not provided this.
4. Summit's delivery information form, which we
completed and returned to Summit by fax and by email
on July 14, 2011 (we have receipts for both the
fax and the e-mail deliveries of this form), states
that the driver must contact us "...at least 24
hours prior to the delivery in order to inform you
[us] of his arrival." This was not done. The first
call we received from Summit regarding the delivery
time was from the driver. The telephone number from
which the driver called was 954-865-1978. The
caller ID came up as Gonzalo Servo. He called at
4:18 PM on Thursday, July 21, 2011 (hereinafter,
“Thursday” will refer to Thursday, July 21, 2011),
at which time he informed us that he would deliver
our possessions on Saturday or Sunday. He said he
would call us back to give us an exact day and time.
We told him this was acceptable, that we were
generally free on Saturday and Sunday, and that the
delivery would have to be made between 7:00 AM and
7:00 PM because the storage facility to which our
delivery was being made (hereinafter, “facility”
refers to the storage facility to which our delivery
was being made) was locked up and inaccessible
between 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM every day. The second
call we received from Summit was also from the
driver. He called at 5:08 PM on “Thursday”. He
informed us that he would deliver our possessions
between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM on Friday, July 22,
2011 (hereinafter, “Friday” will refer to Friday,
July 22, 2011). We told him that he had not given
us the required 24-hour advance notice of the
delivery day and time, that we already had
commitments on “Friday” morning, that we could not
accept the shipment at that time, and that we would
be available in the early afternoon prior to 4:00 PM
on “Friday”, if he wanted to make my delivery at
that time. The driver told us that he would call us
back with an exact day and time for our delivery.
The third call we received from Summit was also from
the driver. He called at 2:36 PM on “Friday”. He
informed us that he would make our delivery at 6:00
PM on “Friday”. We informed him that he had not
given us the required 24-hour advance notice of the
delivery day and time, that we already had a dinner
commitment in Watsonville for which we had to leave
at 4:30 PM on “Friday”, and that we could not accept
the delivery at that time. He said he would call us
back with the day and time for our delivery. The
fourth call we received from Summit was also from
the driver. He called at 2:37 PM on “Friday”. He
informed us that he would make our delivery at 7:00
AM on Saturday, July 23, 2011 (hereinafter,
“Saturday” will refer to Saturday, July 23, 2011).
We informed him that he still had not given us the
required 24-hour advance notice of the day and time
for our delivery, and that despite his failure to
give us the required notice, we would accept the
delivery at 7:00 AM on “Saturday”. However, we
asked the driver if he could make the delivery a
little later in the morning on “Saturday”. He
informed us that he could not make the delivery
later in the morning because he had another
appointment. We agreed on a delivery day and time
of 7:00 AM on “Saturday”. The foregoing calls were
all on a speakerphone at our end and there was a
witness to both sides of each of the above
conversations.
The next call we received from Summit was from
someone who identified himself as David. He refused
to give us his last name or his position with
Summit. His telephone number was 954-448-2034. He
called at 2:56 PM on “Friday”. He informed us that
our delivery would be made at 6:00 PM on “Friday”.
We informed him that we had already made plans with
the driver for a delivery on “Saturday” at 7:00 AM.
He informed us that he did not care. He went on to
say that we would be charged and extra $1,000.00 to
put our possessions into storage if we did not
accept the delivery at 6:00 PM on “Friday”. We
informed him that we had not received the required
24-hour notice of the day and time of the delivery,
that we already had plans for “Friday” evening, that
we could not accept the delivery at 6:00 PM on
“Friday”, and that the delivery would have to be
made at the time upon which the driver had already
agreed with us, which was 7:00 AM on “Saturday”.
David told us that he did not care what the contract
said, that the driver would make my delivery at 6:00
PM on “Friday”, and that we would be charged
$1,000.00 to put our possessions into storage if we
did not accept the delivery at that time. The next
call from Summit was also from David. He called at
3:08 PM on “Friday”. The conversation mirrored the
conversation we had already had with David at 2:56
PM on “Friday”. Notably, he again informed us that
he did not care what the contract said or what
arrangements the driver had made with us for the
delivery. The foregoing calls were all on a
speakerphone at our end and there was a witness to
both sides of each of the above conversations.
Subsequently, at about 3:30 PM on “Friday”, we found
two messages on my cell phone from Summit. The
first message had been left at 2:46 PM on “Friday”.
Following is an exact transcript of this message:
"Yeah, hi. This message is for Jeff. This is Vito
[we could not hear the name clearly, so the name may
be incorrect] from Summit Van Lines, the moving
company. Calling to confirm your delivery today
between six and seven, and I just spoke to the
driver and apparently you will be unable to receive
it. So, we already rescheduled your delivery twice,
and ah basically if the driver will be there between
six and seven and you won't be able to receive the
shipment, the shipment will go to the storage and
the redelivery fee will cost you more than the move
itself. Please call me back as soon as possible at
954-712-1453. My extension is 4520 [we could not
hear the extension number well, so this my be
incorrect]. Thank you."
The second message had been left at 2:56 PM on
“Friday”. Following is an exact transcript of that
message: "Hi Jeff this is David from Summit Van
Lines. The driver spoke with you a few times
regarding the delivery. The driver's gonna be there
today. If you're don't gonna be able to receive the
delivery today, it's gonna be a ah he's gonna have
to put it into storage. Gonna be a charge for
storage and redelivery. You're looking at about a
thousand dollar additional. Please give me a call
as soon as possible. 954-914-2838. Thank you."
The foregoing two messages were listened to by three
witnesses who also read the above two transcripts.
These witnesses can confirm the accuracy of the
foregoing two transcripts.
After having become extremely upset as a result of
having to dealing with the people at Summit who
"...do not care what the contract says...," and who
are obviously professional extortionists and
blackmailers, we decided to change our plans for
“Friday” evening so we could accept the delivery of
our shipment and get Summit and its band of
extortionists and blackmailers out of our lives. We
called "David" at 954-448-2034 at 3:33 PM on
“Friday”. We told him that we would accept the
delivery on “Friday” between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
We also informed him that the driver would have to
arrive no later than 7:00 PM because the “facility”
was locked up and inaccessible after 7:00 PM. We
also told him that the delivery instructions we had
sent to Summit stated that the delivery could not be
accepted between 7:01 PM to 6:59 AM seven days a
week. This form was sent to Summit by e-mail and by
fax on July 14, 2011. David informed us again that
he did not care what the contract said and that
there would be an extra charge of $1,000.00 if we
did not accept the delivery on “Friday” evening.
The foregoing call was on a speakerphone at our end
and there was a witness to both sides of the above
conversation.
We called the driver on “Friday” at 3:38 PM to
inform him of our conversations with David. He told
us there was nothing he could do, even though we had
agreed upon a delivery day and time of 7:00 AM on
“Saturday”, because he had to follow his boss's
instructions. We informed him again that the
“facility” was locked up and inaccessible after 7:00
PM and that there would be no access to the
“facility” until 7:00 AM on the following morning
(“Saturday”). The foregoing call was on a
speakerphone at our end and there was a witness to
both sides of the above conversation.
We made additional calls to the driver on “Friday”
at 5:03 PM, 5:51 PM, 5:53 PM, 5:57 PM, and 6:01 PM.
We got the driver's voicemail. We asked the driver
to call us back to give us his location so we could
estimate the time of his arrival. We finally
reached the driver at 6:09 PM on “Friday”. We asked
the driver where he was. He said he was about sixty
miles away and was stuck in traffic. We told him it
would be impossible for him to make it to the
“facility” prior to 7:00 PM and that the “facility”
was locked up and inaccessible after 7:00 PM. He
said his instructions were to make the delivery at
whatever time he arrived at the “facility” on
“Friday”. The foregoing call was on a speakerphone
at our end and there were three witnesses to both
sides of the above conversation, as well as to the
messages we left on the driver’s voicemail.
At 7:00 PM on “Friday”, the driver called us. He
told us that he would be at the “facility” sometime
soon. We told him the delivery site would already
be locked up and inaccessible until 7:00 AM on
“Saturday”. The foregoing call was on a
speakerphone at our end and there were three
witnesses to both sides of the above conversation.
At 7:02 PM on “Friday”, we left the “facility” with
our three witnesses after having confirmed that the
“facility” was already locked up and inaccessible.
At 7:10 PM on “Friday”, the driver called to tell us
that he had just arrived at the “facility”. We told
him that it was too late, that the “facility” was
already locked up and inaccessible until 7:00 AM on
“Saturday”, that there was nothing whatsoever we
could do about it, and that we would see him at the
“facility” at 7:00 AM on “Saturday”. He confirmed
that he would meet us at the “facility” at 7:00 AM
on “Saturday”, and that there would be an extra
charge of $500.00 because we could not accept the
delivery at 7:10 PM on “Friday”. We told him we
would refuse to pay the extra $500.00 charge. The
foregoing call was on a speakerphone at our end and
there were three witnesses to both sides of the
above conversation.
We called David again at 3:38 PM on “Friday”. Our
conversation mirrored the conversation we had when
we had called him previously at 3:33 PM on “Friday”.
The foregoing call was on a speakerphone at our end
and there was a witness to both sides of the above
conversation.
We made the following additional calls to David on
“Friday”: 5:04 PM, 5:49 PM, 5:53 PM, 5:59 PM, 6:07
PM, and 6:12 PM. The substance of each conversation
was the same. We asked where the driver was
located, and we were told he would arrive by 7:00
PM. We stated that the “facility” would be locked
up and inaccessible after 7:00 PM, and we were told
that we would be charged $1,000.00 for storage and
redelivery if we did not accept the delivery on
“Friday”. The foregoing calls were on a
speakerphone at our end and there were three
witnesses to both sides of each of the above
conversations.
The next series of calls were made to David on
“Friday” at 8:53 PM, 9:05 PM, 9:07 PM, 9:08 PM, and
10:49 PM. The substance of each conversation was
the same. We stated that we expected our delivery
at 7:00 AM on “Saturday”, and we were told there
would be an additional charge of $500.00 because we
could not accept the delivery at 7:10 PM on
“Friday”. We stated that we wanted a clear
confirmation that the driver would meet us at 7:00
AM on “Saturday”. We further stated that we would
not pay the $500.00 charge because we did not owe it
and that we would call the police, if necessary.
David refused to confirm that the driver would make
our delivery at 7:00 AM on “Saturday” unless we
agreed to pay the extra $500.00, which we did not
owe. The foregoing calls were on a speakerphone at
our end and there was a witness to both sides of
each of the above conversations.
Unbeknownst to us until approximately 10:40 PM on
“Friday”, we received a text message from an unknown
individual at Summit, which had been sent at 8:57 PM
on “Friday”. Following is an exact transcript of
the text message: "9544482034: Driver will be at 7
am u will need to pay him $625 plus $500 over night
fee cash or postal money order only Tks". Following
is an exact transcript of our reply, which was sent
at 10:46 PM on “Friday”, to Summit's text message to
us: "Me: I suggest you read this before you dig a
deeper hole for yourself." We attached to our reply
a copy of our Summit delivery information document
in which Summit stated that the driver had to call
us "...at least 24 hours prior to the delivery in
order to inform you [us] of his arrival," and in
which we specified the hours during which the
“facility” would be locked up and inaccessible—
namely from 7:01 PM through 6:59 AM every day.
There are three witnesses who read the abovereferenced
text messages and the above transcripts
thereof who will confirm the accuracy of the
transcripts.
At 10:49 PM on “Friday”, we called David. We got
his voicemail. We left a message in which we told
him to read the text message we had just sent him,
and particularly the attachment to our text message.
The driver arrived with our delivery at
approximately 7:10 AM on “Saturday”. While the
driver alleged that he was at the “facility” on
“Friday” evening, it is interesting that he could
not find the “facility” on “Saturday” morning. He
drove past the “facility” on “Saturday” morning as
if he had never seen it or been there previously.
When we saw the driver drive by the “facility” on
“Saturday” morning, we called him at 7:06 AM to tell
him he had just driven past the “facility”. We
stayed on the telephone with him to direct him while
he turned around and drove back to the “facility”.
When we saw him driving past the “facility” yet
again, we were still on the telephone with him and
told him he had arrived at the “facility” and to
stop. It is certainly strange that a professional
driver would drive by a facility twice after having
allegedly driven to the facility less than twelve
hours earlier. There was a witness to the fact that
the driver drove by the “facility” twice on
“Saturday” morning and could only find the
“facility” after we told him that he had arrived
there. The foregoing call was on a speakerphone at
our end and there was a witness to both sides of the
above conversation.
The driver refused to do anything before we paid him
the $625 we owed Summit plus the $500.00 extra
charge, which we did not owe. We called the police
and two cars responded. The driver confirmed to the
officers that he would not unload our delivery until
he was paid, including the $500.00 we did not owe.
After the police officers received assurances from
the driver that we would receive a paid receipt for
the $625 and the extra $500, which we did not owe,
they informed us that they could not help and that
we should pursue this situation in the civil court.
They also told us it would probably be better for us
to pay the $500.00, get our receipt for the payment,
and then sue the company to get my $500.00 back,
rather than let the company put our possessions into
their storage facility. We agreed.
After the police left, the driver approached us with
the paperwork for our shipment and insisted that he
be paid, including the $500.00 which we did not owe,
and that we complete the paperwork prior to his
unloading. We insisted that the driver note on the
paperwork the time of his alleged arrival at the
“facility” on “Friday” evening. He wrote that he
arrived at the “facility” at 7:05 PM on “Friday”.
While his actual arrival time (if he actually went
to the “facility” at all) was 7:10 PM on “Friday”,
the five-minute difference is academic; the
“facility” was locked up and inaccessible after 7:00
PM. The driver insisted that we sign the bill of
lading before he unloaded. We pointed out that we
could not sign to confirm the following statement on
the bill of lading without first seeing our
possessions: “DELIVERY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: SHIPMENT WAS
RECEIVED IN APPARENT GOOD CONDITION EXCEPT AS NOTED
ON THE INVENTORY, AND SERVICES ORDERED WERE
PERFORMED.” The driver refused to unload unless we
would first sign the foregoing statement on the bill
of lading. He finally agreed to unload without our
first signing the foregoing statement when we
started to call the police again.
While the driver and his helper were unloading our
possessions, unwrapping them, and placing them in
our storage unit, we went to our car to make some
telephone calls and read. When everything had been
placed in our storage unit, we locked the door
thereto and left. We did not sign the foregoing
statement on the bill of lading after our
possessions were put into our storage unit because
the driver did not want to wait for us to inspect
the shipment for damage and completeness. We got
our copies of the bill of lading and the Summit
delivery instructions, upon which the driver had
written his alleged arrival time at the “facility”
on “Friday” evening, and left.
We received as call from the driver at 12:35 PM on
“Saturday”. The driver accused us of having stolen
his wallet. He told us he was stuck at the
“facility” and could not leave because he did not
have his driver’s license, which was in his wallet.
We told him that we had never seen his wallet, that
we had no interest whatsoever in his wallet, and
that he was confirming our belief in God since his
missing wallet must have been the result of divine
justice. He said he would have to call the police.
We invited him to do so and told him we did not care
since we had nothing to do with the missing wallet.
The foregoing call was on a speakerphone at our end
and there was a witness to both sides of the
conversation.
When the driver called at 12:35 PM on “Saturday”, we
were in our car and had just pulled out of our
driveway. We drove by the “facility” at
approximately 12:40 PM on “Saturday”. The Summit
van was not there at that time. Obviously, the
driver had found his wallet—the one he had accused
us of stealing—between 12:35 PM and 12:40 PM on
“Saturday”.
We are hereby demanding the immediate refund of the
$500.00 that was extorted from us by Summit. Our
delivery instructions to Summit clearly stated that
the “facility” would be locked up and inaccessible
from 7:01 PM through 6:59 AM every day. The driver
signed a statement confirming that he arrived at the
“facility” after 7:00 PM on “Friday” (if he actually
went to the “facility” at all on “Friday” evening).
So, it was Summit’s fault, not ours, that the
delivery could not be accepted on “Friday” evening.
For the record, we took a photograph of the big sign
in front of the entrance gate to the “facility”.
The sign clearly states that the “facility” is
locked up and inaccessible from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM
every day.
Absent an immediate refund of the $500.00 Summit
extorted from us, we will ask our attorney to find
every cause of action possible and file litigation
against Summit as well as David and the driver, both
of whom engaged in tortuous behavior. We believe we
have ample evidence to allege fraud, extortion,
intimidation, blackmail, civil theft (there are
treble damages for civil theft), and/or breach of
contract, but the attorney will have to make the
final determination as to the appropriate causes of
action and the appropriate defendants. Moreover,
given the apparent expertise of Summit in extortion,
intimidation, blackmail, fraud, and theft, we are
sure our attorney will be able to find other
customers of Summit, from whom Summit stole money,
to join in our litigation as plaintiffs. Summit
still has not refunded our $500.00.
We will also identify appropriate regulatory bodies
and file complaints against Summit with them during
the coming week.
Our thanks to the entire Summit team for having made
our move the move from hell!
