Moving Companies-Beware

[NightFlight]

For all of you who are planning on moving anytime soon just a warning against a piece-of-**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** moving company: Bekins Van Lines. These thieves stole several boxes and after their 'final investigation' decided they are not going to pay for any the items saying they have no proof. They will also not pay for the plates and glasses they broke, claiming again I have no proof. They know I it's not worth it for me to take them to small claims court so they think they can do whatever they want. There is nothing worse than being taken advantage of.

As pilots we move around quite a bit and since I don't have the funds to take them to court, or the time, the only way to get back at them is to make sure others don't fall for the same trap. Choose a professional, I surely didn't. Stay clear of these assholes.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

I had a friend who was taken by a moving company also....these scumbags are just notorious...

They wouldnt unload any of his stuff until he coughed up another $500 (CASH). They were just going to keep it and leave. basically holding his stuff hostage for cash.

He felt stuck (I guess I would too??) so he paid the scumbags....but he is a ruthless fellow (big Italian dude)....it was a hot NJ summer day, and these guys had large Gatorade bottles they were drinking out of....well....between trips to the truck....my buddy actually pi$$ed in thier Gatorade bottles (multiple times) then watched them drink from them!!!
(Freakin Nasty).....

Oh, after the scumbags finished (he had all his stuff) and thier truck was loaded....he did tell them. They drove off in silent disbelief.

I forget the name of the outfit, some Russian company out of NYC.


I have come to the conclusion that moving is simply something one has to do by himself.

 

[Flying Illini]

Moving companies piss alot of people off. You are not alone in your problems.
My buddy and his wife just moved from SLC to CMH. They were told 2 weeks to recieve their items. 6 weeks later and numerous phone calls and threats and they finally recieved their items. Several things were broken/ripped/scratched as well. When they showed up instead of bringing a crew, they only supplied one guy and informed my friend that he and his wife could help or he could come back in several weeks when they had more people to help (meanwhile they would also hold onto his stuff) so he decided to help them unload. Rediculous. You pay mucho dollars and after that, they know that they have the upper hand because they've got all of your stuff.
He really wanted to take them to court (having to live for 6 weeks on only the basics that you can fit in your car is rediculous...especially since his job started 3 weeks after the move so he had to go buy a whole new wardrobe) but the funds weren't there for it.

Moving companies suck.

 

[qmaster3]

CONTRACT!

If that don't work.

SHOTGUN!

 

[2000flyer]

I had a similar experience. I packed my family and left, leaving friends to supervise the movers packing and loading my house. At my new town, they wanted $1500/mo to keep my items at their warehouse. I found a storage unit for about $400 for the month and they said no problem and moved it in there.

A month later after buying a house and starting to move in, we found many items damaged, lost or broken. Moving company said my claim was invalid because I used a self storage unit and not their warehouse. Even when I provided documentation that they had approved my storage plan (a signed form), they still refused. This was from a company franchise.

Make a long story short, my last phone call was to the president of this national moving company. I couldn't believe I actually got past his secretary (or maybe now former secretary ). Within 3-days I received a certified check from the home office.

Sometimes things do work out... Sadly, thats the exception and not the rule.

2000Flyer

 

[S2Pilot]

There is little regulation reguarding moving companies anymore. Since that is the case, the mob has the found its way into the moving business. They will either take you stuff, or in the case above try shake you down for some more money. It is sad and something needs to be done about it.

 

[Resume Writer]

Nightflight,

Do you live in a town that has one of those news teams that go to bat for you? Here in PHX we have Three On Your Side. They love stories like this. The last thing these companies want is bad publicity. The companies usually pay up right away because of the publicity.

They did one recently on a cruise company. This woman had to miss her cruise because she had emergency surgery. It was a large name cruise company and they would not refund her, saying that she should have purchased travel insurance.

The news station got involved and amazingly, the cruise company did not back down from their original decision. Very bad for publicity in my opinion.

Hope that might help!

Kathy

 

[NightFlight]

Thanks for the advice and stories, it's amazing how unprofessional these companies are and that it happens so often without anything anyone can do.

Resume Writer- thanks for the advice, I will definately look into some news group and see what they can do.

In the meantime, unfortunately, I will spend my day off writing a complaint to the Dept. of Labor in Illinois and Dept. of Transportation.

I was also considering contacting HR departments at airlines, including mine, and telling them about the situation and making sure they tell their pilots/employees so they don't use the same thieves. Not sure if this would work though? Any thoughts/ideas?

 

[LXJ31]

I'm scared of getting taken by suckers like these. I've always found that a Ryder truck, some friends and a couple cases of beer are the best way to get something like this done.

Its time consuming and its hard work but I have heard too many stories like the ones above to do it any other way.

 

[Metro752]

Thanks for the advice and stories, it's amazing how unprofessional these companies are and that it happens so often without anything anyone can do.

Resume Writer- thanks for the advice, I will definately look into some news group and see what they can do.

In the meantime, unfortunately, I will spend my day off writing a complaint to the Dept. of Labor in Illinois and Dept. of Transportation.

I was also considering contacting HR departments at airlines, including mine, and telling them about the situation and making sure they tell their pilots/employees so they don't use the same thieves. Not sure if this would work though? Any thoughts/ideas?

Send a copy of it to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, in Yorkville. He's a cool guy.

 

[avbug]

Do you guys let everybody do your work for you, or do you sometimes lift a finger to help yourself?

Rent a Ryder truck, load it, move, like real people do. Then you don't have to worry about all your little servants ripping you off.

Problem solved.

60+ moves, never been ripped off. Do it yourself.

So far as being ripped off...that's never an issue unless one runs out of ammunition.

 

[corp_da20_guy]

I moved twice with Graebel Van Lines twice in the last 4 years as a corporate paid move...TOP NOTCH!!! I had very minimal claims both times and have been resolved quickly...I move with them again in a heartbeat!

 

[kingaira90]

good experience, something for the next time

I used emoving.com for the last move. Very nice system they have set up. I rented a truck and just hired people to load and unload through emoving.com. You can hire through there to do the whole thing though. They have a rating system kinda like ebay. People rate them and leave comments. I just read the comments and picked based on that. Then the best part, if you really felt screwed over or the movers didn't do what they said, you have emoving as a go between. You give the movers the payment code so they can collect from emoving when they are done. I was very very pleased.

 

[Ralgha]

Do you guys let everybody do your work for you, or do you sometimes lift a finger to help yourself?

Rent a Ryder truck, load it, move, like real people do. Then you don't have to worry about all your little servants ripping you off.

Problem solved.

60+ moves, never been ripped off. Do it yourself.

So far as being ripped off...that's never an issue unless one runs out of ammunition.

That's not always the cheapest option.

 

[NightFlight]

avbug- I have always rented trucks and had friends help out but this time it was more cost effective (so I thought) both in time and financially to have movers do the move.

But I learned my lesson the hard way; that doesn't mean these assholes should get away with my stuff. I'm going to see who I can contact to get the problem resolved or get Bekins Van Lines on the news somehow. Either way I would stay away from these thieves.