Absolutely incompetent in every respect
Todd Stevens
Submitted this review about
World moving services
Review made Live: 1/11/2012 4:34:00 PM
My fiancee and I contracted with World Moving Services on 3/16/2011 for an 8/1/2011 move from Philadelphia to Tulsa. They have an aggressive sales department. This was our first cross-country move, and one of the selling points was that as a broker (big mistake) they could draw on hundreds of qualified van companies to complete our move, and a problem with one companies truck wouldn't cause a problem. Essentially they sold us on their reliability, this becomes important later.
A week before the move, as instructed (remember we had booked this in March for an August move), I contacted them for a pickup date. They said they could pick up 8/2. I was a little miffed, but OK, fine problems happen, contacted my landlord and informed him I would be unable to vacate until the second.
On the first I contacted them, and was told that the pickup on the second was not possible. They could reschedule me on the fifth. When I informed them this was unacceptable, they said they would try to get a truck earlier, and would call me back.
I was subsequently informed that because at this point I didn't accept the truck on the fifth, that I "gave it up" and only would get a truck when one was available.
Customer service was impossible to reach. Often spent up to a half hour on hold. I would be given a person's extension, and leave multiple voicemails, only to actually reach the same person calling in on the C/S line and waiting on hold forever. Often when I said my name the representative, obviously knowing it was an "issue" would immediately hang up.
I spent two weeks calling this company two times a day, it was always "possible we can get you a truck tomorrow". I finally cancelled the move, rented a U-haul, loaded my whole house myself, hitched my car to the back, and drove myself out to Tulsa where my fiancee already was in an empty apartment with nothing but an air mattress, sleeping bag, and a folding chair.
They did refund my deposit, but only after I complained to the BBB, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Consumer Protection Agency in Florida. They did this soley to prevent legal action.
I ended up eating the cost of moving myself out, and physical cost of loading a 24" truck alone, and then driving it with a car in tow 1,700 miles (I'd never driven a large truck before, much less one with a car in tow). I also lost half my security deposit to pro-rated rent, and spent two weeks with everything I owned packed up in an empty house, as my fiancee did a world away in an empty apartment.
This outfit does not care about their customers. They give a low quote, hire substandard van-lines, and in my case (as I had booked six months in advance) when the van line couldn't deliver they were unable to replace them at the cost I was contracted. I just feel lucky I never had my stuff loaded onto a truck under that contract, I'm sure I would have had to pay much more to get it off. They will promise you the world, and not deliver.
I'm convinced that they make their money on deposits, and consumers that didn't make as much noise as I did to get their money back. If you have dealt with them, please complain directly to Florida's DOT. That is the only thing that seems to scare them.
I have waited several months to post this review to cool down. Believe me, if I posted this in August it would have been MORE vitriolic.
My suggestion is for nobody to use this broker ever. If you have had a bad experience with them, feel free to contact me. I'll tell you in detail who I complained to to get my deposit back.
