worst move ever
gene stutle
Submitted this review about
Trans National Van Lines
Review made Live: 1/21/2010 11:00:00 AM
In September of this year, I submitted a form expressing interest in obtaining a quote for a move from Minnesota to Georgia. Subsequently, I received telephone calls from several companies, one of which was Trans National. Despite the fact that they did not provide the lowest quote, I selected Trans National for the move, based on the assurances I received from John, the sales associate with whom I spoke. John gladly took payment from me for an initial amount of $1050.00 and promised me that he would be available via telephone every week day and assured me that during the times when he was not available, I could call the supervisor’s line and that line would be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The agreed total cost of the move would be $3538.12 and this included the extra $940.00 I would pay for the movers to come to my home and pack and protect all of my belongings. Prior to giving any money, I asked if Trans National was bonded and was assured they were. I asked if they had their own trucks, drivers and workers and again was assured they did. I asked if they would take care in moving my belongings and if they would put down runners to prevent making a mess of my home. Again, I was told, yes, that they were professional movers with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. I explained that I needed all of my belongings out of the house on Thursday, October 22, 2009, as we were closing on the sale of the home on Friday morning, October 23, 2009. The buyers were supposed to take immediate possession Friday morning. John said they would need a two-day window and we agreed that anything Wednesday the 21st to Thursday the 22nd would work. On Tuesday the 20th, I received a telephone call from the driver whose name was Kevin, he told me he was in North Carolina and would not be in Minnesota until Thursday the 22nd. I said that was fine as long as we had everything out of the house by Thursday night. He said that was no problem. Thursday morning I start trying to find out what time he would be there and this was when I started to realize that Kevin was a compulsive liar. First he told me he would be there Thursday afternoon. Thursday afternoon, I tried to find out where he was and learned he was actually further away than he was that morning but he promised he would be there sometime that evening. That did not happen and after several telephone calls where I tried to get some definite information, I learned that Kevin did not work for Trans National but he actually worked for another company, Oasis Moving. Tally who was his boss was extremely rude and unhelpful and on Friday morning, I tried to reach Kevin but was unsuccessful. I called John at Trans National and it was at this point that I realized, he was going to provide no further assistance. I was able to speak with someone in Dispatch named Tom. Tom would always say he would make a call and would call me back a few minutes later to say that Kevin was on his way. We were promised that they would come very early Friday morning so we could get out in time to go to the closing. That did not happen. The buyers came for the “walk through” before closing and we tried to explain what was going on and that we would be out as soon as possible. We all went to the closing and I had been told by Trans National that the movers would be there before noon After the closing, we returned to the house to wait for the movers. Noon came and went and we were beyond anxious at this point, as my husband and I were ready to start our 1200 mile drive to Georgia. After probably twenty telephone calls, which resulted in as many lies from Kevin about where he was and how long it would take for him to arrive, finally at almost 7:00 p.m. Kevin arrived with three workers. More than twenty-four hours late. The buyers were on their way because they had rented a truck & needed to return it that day. Kevin arrived with a truck that was way too small to take all of our belongings and to make a BAD situation worse, he had NO BOXES…… NOT EVEN ONE BOX!!! I paid $940.00 extra to have my belongings professionally boxed and all Kevin would say was that no one told him!!! It was late in the day and there was no store within 30 miles of my house that would have moving supplies. The buyers came in and we tried to make room for them to bring some of their items in and while they were unpacking, they were nice enough to give us their boxes and my husband and I had to pack while the workers, Kevin brought with him meandered around moving as slow as molasses dragging my furniture across the driveway, putting holes in the walls and because it was raining outside and they brought nothing to protect the floor, they made an absolute mess of the carpet and scratched the hardwood floors by dragging heavy items. Nothing was inventoried and my husband and I could not watch them. There was no time, as we were trying to find anything we could to pack our belongings. We had to use every towel, washcloth and sheet & even some of our clothes as packing material for dishes, glasses and other fragile items. We got as much as we could in the truck but only about 3/4 of our things fit in the small truck. Once again, the buyers saved the day and were so kind to allow us to leave the remaining things in the garage until Trans National could make arrangements to send another truck. Of course I just had to hope they would do this because, they promptly stopped answering their telephone at 5:00 pm. On Friday and I was never able to speak with a representative until 9:00 a.m. on Monday, October 26, 2009.
I don’t even know where to start with respect to the damage to my belongings as they were dragging things down the stairs across the driveway. The buyers witnessed all of this, in addition to the completely unprofessional behavior and foul language. The buyers and their family mentioned several times to us that if we needed witnesses to testify about the outrageous way our things were being handled and the unprofessional comments they were making to let them know. They were absolutely appalled and before they left, they actually said a prayer for us. The workers Kevin brought with him were could not have cared less about my home or belongings and this is the best part….. It was about 11:00 pm., by the time they were leaving. I was taking some more of my belongings to the garage and I thought the movers were all gone. I had put my purse in my car earlier so it would not get taken by mistake. When I walked into the garage, I found one of the workers, sitting in my car, rifling through my purse. Thank heaven my money and wallet were in my pants pockets. I was shocked & asked him what he was doing and he got out of my car and just said, “Oh we are just leaving.” And he walked away. I know I should have called the police but fortunately he did not take anything, since there was really nothing of significant value in it. And to tell you the truth by this point, my head was splitting and I had become physically ill from the stress of still dealing with all of this when I was supposed to be well on my way to Georgia. The buyers told us they could stay with family that night so my husband & I could stay in the house that night & start our drive the next morning. We had run out of boxes that night and it was too late to do anything else. We got about three hours of sleep on the floor and the next morning my husband went out and spent $90 on boxes and tubs so we could pack and stow the rest of our things. We finally left the house at about 10:00 a.m. Saturday. We had to be in Georgia by Sunday night as we were closing on the house we were buying on Monday morning, October 26, 2009.
We did get the first truckload of things on Tuesday the 27th. We were told the weight of the first truck load exceeded the agreed upon amount of 8500 pounds. Therefore, instead of paying the remaining $2488.12 as planned, we had to pay $2646.12. We were told by Trans National that a certified bank check was acceptable. Kevin, the driver wanted only cash or a money order and threatened to take our belongings and put them in storage if we did not pay provide payment the way he wanted. Eventually, he spoke with is boss, Tally and agreed to accept $1000.00 cash and a certified bank check for the remaining $646.12.
Another driver who worked for another company arrived at our old home in Minnesota on Friday October 30, 2009 to get the rest of our things. He arrived the following Monday and we had to pay him another $1711.00 on top of the $3696.00 we had already paid. to pay the new driver over $200 for a handful of boxes he used. He told us the remaining items weighed approximately 4400 pounds and we could not believe that all of our things were weighing this much. So my husband followed the driver from our house to a truck stop where the truck was weighed. The driver who brought no help was alone so my husband helped him unload our belongings and then followed him back to the truck stop where the truck was reweighed and sure enough, the weight we were initially given was over by 1600 pounds. I guess we should have done the same thing with the first truck. We still had to give him $1711.00 but later received a refund in the amount of $618 for the overage we paid on the second truck. We probably overpaid for the first truck as well.
There is a lot of damage to the things that were brought on the first truck…. My bed is damaged, my dresser, a living room table, a DVD player and several other things. There are a lot of things missing but I cannot file a claim because I cannot say which company neglected to bring the items since there were two separate companies involved and the first one did not even inventory the items.
This matter has already cost too much money, too much time and too much of my sanity. What I would like to see happen is that Trans National at the very least should refund the $1050.00 I paid them since they lied about their service, where the workers come from and failed to provide any assistance when it was needed. I was told by both drivers that Trans National takes that initial payment and then finds a company to handle the move. The movers only get the money that is given at the end. Trans National sent thieves and liars to my home and could not have cared less. The least they could do is to refund the money they took from me. If they do, I will let the other thousands of dollars I paid go, since I did get most of my things moved from Minnesota to Georgia. If they do not, I will seek legal counsel and if necessary I will take them to court. I have witnesses to what transpired in Minnesota. The fact that one of them was seen going through my things and all of them were hanging around doing nothing much of the time except making a mess of my house, taking drinks out of the refrigerator and carrying on in my driveway in such a way, I’m surprised one of my neighbors did not call the police.
Please accept my apology for the length of this letter but rest assured this is the condensed version. There is much more detail I could provide but I think I provided enough to give you a general understanding of what a nightmare this was.
