A poor experience - unethical company
J. Harland
Submitted this review about
Straight Forward Moving
Review made Live: 11/2/2013 10:28:00 PM
My purpose is not to put this company out of business, but to have them change their unethical policies that I experienced, and to warn potential customers of the questions they must ask before signing onto this company.
1. Planning for an interstate move, I was assured that the entire move would be completed by Straight Forward Moving (SFM), in their trucks. However, on the day of the move, a company called Moving Cross Country (MCC) arrived to load my contents to a warehouse in New Jersey, and a third company, All State Company, drove my shipment to my new home 25 days later . I was never informed of these other two companies, and therefore was never given any opportunity to research their reliability.
2. Leaving my old home that day, and flying interstate the following day, I was truly a captive consumer, and allowed my shipment to be loaded onto the MCC truck. Once loaded, the MCC foreman told me that I would have to pay an extra 20% on my shipment because my contents did not reach the TOP of the truck. YES, that is correct, I was asked to pay for the EMPTY SPACE between the top of my shipment and the top of the truck – keeping in mind that the truck was only going from Baltimore to a NJ warehouse (which I didn’t know at the time – I actually thought it was going to my new interstate home). I signed the new 20%+ charge, and told the foreman that I would work to have this ridiculous charge refunded by SFM.
3. Standing before the MCC truck, I spoke to a SFM Supervisor, who referred me to the MCC Supervisor – despite my questioning over and over – “Why do I have to negotiate with a person from a company that I never signed up with?”. SFM did NOTHING to assist me: Only ONE email telling me again to negotiate with the MCC Supervisor.
4. When my shipment finally arrived at my new home, it did NOT include an original painting by a family member, with the dimensions of 72” x 24”, the size of a door when packaged, with large letters “FRAGILE” written on either side. MCC claims it was put aside for safe keeping, and therefore missed the original shipment. They then say they sent it to me two weeks later via FedEx; but FedEx tells me that it never left NJ, and is lost. Just doesn’t add up. SFM has not replied, apologized, or otherwise initiated contact with me about this precious lost family item.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have hired a U-Haul and done this entire move myself. At the outset I thought this would be too costly, but when I see what Straight Forward Moving has cost me both financially and in hours spent emailing and telephoning SFM for a response, reporting to the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Protection Department of the Attorney General’s Office, FedEx Claims Department, and in worry and frustration for a lost, irreplaceable family painting, a U-Haul and an interesting trip interstate, would have been far and away the much better option. CONSUMER BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY.
