Poor experience began as soon as they had my deposit
Scott Buyserie
Submitted this review about
United West Moving and Storage
Review made Live: 10/10/2013 1:57:00 AM
Andrew was very helpful on the phone when preparing my quote, and seemed knowledgeable and trustworthy at the time. The quote was significantly lower than others I received (coming in at $2185.50), so I booked United West on the spot based on those three factors. It was a big mistake.
First, I couldn't get back in touch with the company. I had initially arranged for storage because I did not have a "move-to" address yet, nor was I certain I would have a new lease in time. When it came time to update my order to remove the storage option and add the address I had to call multiple times (nobody responded to a voicemail) and send a not-responded to email before I happened to get someone to actually answer the phone. I tried calling at least 10 times total over the life of my experience with the company, I had someone answer the phone three times.
Second, Andrew originally promised me an in-person review of my inventory to ensure a good accurate measure of the space I would require, and subsequently my charge. I called the week before my move and was told that this wasn't done. The guy (I never did get his name) had no idea why I would have been told about this.
Third, there was actually a review of my inventory, but this occurred telephonically with Jason just three days before my move. Despite not nearly doubling the amount of goods on my inventory the estimated cubic footage nearly doubled, and thus so did the cost of my move. I was told a new contract would be sent that I would have to electronically sign before I could be placed on the dispatch list, and thus be ensured of my move. Jason did not inform me of any additional fees, just a new total to add to my non-refundable deposit. (As a side note, I understand that I need to pay based on some factor, this company used cubic footage, not pounds. I don't object to the total going up. I object to an obvious-in-hindsight lowball quote designed only to get my business)
Fourth, that contract didn't arrive until the morning before my move. It also happened to be a Friday, which the voicemail greeting I had heard only too often by that point informed me was the last day of the week I could expect to reach anyone in the office. That contract showed an increase of $300 to the destination/origin fee. This fee potentially going up was never highlighted by Andrew, Jason, or anything in the contract. I called Jason, who never called me back. I called Andrew, who never called me back. I emailed, received no response. Finally I got a hold of that unnamed guy who informed me this fee always goes up and down with the total cubic footage. In other words, the rate of $2.10 per cubic foot I'm quoted is actually something different. But I can't tell what, because this fee nearly tripled, and remember my cubic footage estimate didn't quite double. Regardless, the guy tells me he can't remove it, and my choice at this point is to eat the over $1,000 I've paid in non-refundable deposit or agree to pay the fee.
Fifth, the day of the move a different company shows up. Yep, subcontractors. A quick internet search shows they have an average of 3 stars on mymovingreviews.com and only 1 star on Yelp. I was never told I would get a subcontractor, and if I had been told of this company (Great American Moving and Storage) you can bet I wouldn't have made the initial agreement. Additionally, we do end up going over even that second estimate of cubic footage made with Jason and this time the origin/destination fee doesn't go up. So I can see I was lied to about the nature of the charge, and it really feels like I was just railroaded into a hidden fee that I couldn't get out of.
Sixth, not surprisingly Great American did not perform well in the move. They placed several dings and gouges in my stairwell moving a double dresser down the stairs. They didn't remove the drawers from the dresser to move it, but blamed the damage on the dresser being too heavy to easily move. They didn't inform me up front about the damage, instead waiting until I noticed it. On the arrival side, only two Great American employees made the trip, resulting in two sub-sub contractors needing to be added in. They were several hours late as one needed his father to drive him out. They then damaged my dresser (after this time I had them remove the drawers) at some point. All told there was damage to the dresser that frustrated me, damage to two bookcases and one chair that was somewhat annoying, and severe water damage to my dining room table. None of this damage was pointed out to me by the movers. At the end of it the two sub-sub contractors had no way to get home, and asked me for a ride. They didn't have cash, and because I paid in postal money order (your only two options are cash and postal money order for delivery, they won't take cards) the foreman didn't have any cash to pay them. So the two sub-subs are having an argument in my driveway about how they get paid. Not very classy.
Seventh, the insurance and claims process seems designed to be a circus where I won't get satisfaction. The insurance originally listed in my contract with United West showed $.60 per pound and cargo insurance came free. When Great American arrived they had a different contract showing it was $.60 per pound per article and offered nothing in between that low amount and full replacement value insurance. There's a big difference between $.60 per pound and $.60 per pound per article, and after my experience with the destination/origin fee I felt this was just another attempt to ratchet up the costs of the move by forcing me into buying the insurance. Too bad I didn't because I significantly doubt that I'm going to get enough in my claim to replace my table. I contacted United West to file the damage claim, expecting they'd send me to Great American. It was worse than that, where I have to go through a third party vendor. I'm currently waiting to hear back from them to arrange for a claim adjuster to visit, but let's just say at this point I do not have a lot of confidence. I'm posting this now because there's no way the result of that process will move my review at all.
In summary, I felt this company did what was necessary to get my deposit, and then nothing after that. I was lied to, ignored, manipulated, and in general made to feel like they just needed to get my money once because they don’t expect a lot of return business. Maybe some of the things that happened are avoidable if you know the business (should I have asked Andrew if he was subcontracting out my move? Well, I will ask that next time) but overall this was the worst services transaction in my entire life.
