|
Caleb Graham
February 22, 2011
Recent Move
My wife and I recently moved from Central Texas to Southern California. We decided that since we have three small children, we would hire a professional moving team rather than use a Uhaul and move ourselves. I found a form on a website that said that if I filled it out, I would quickly receive quotes from at least 6 different moving companies. I actually ended up with quotes from about 20 moving companies. That was fine, I was happy to have so many to choose from. One of these companies was Condor Moving Systems.
I spoke with Mario at Condor Moving Systems. He outlined to me what his company had to offer and gave me an estimate of roughly $3532.42 for the move and additional insurance. He also said that when the moving truck arrived, they would have paperwork for me to fill out to receive a $500 gas card. The estimate he gave me, the services they offered, and the $500 gas card appealed to me. I asked him how long it would take my belongings to get to my new house after being picked up at my old house. Mario told me that it would take between 3-10 days but that he’d never seen it take 10 days before.
I specifically told Mario that I had heard that some moving companies will ferry their customers’ belongings to a facility where they will be loaded onto another truck to be taken to their destination. I did not want my belongings to be switched from truck to truck. Mario told me that they don’t ferry and that the 18 wheeler that showed up at my door would be the same truck that would carry my belongings to California.
I continued calling moving companies and getting estimates but I kept Condor Moving Systems in my mind as a good option. Finally, after comparing what all of the different moving companies had to offer and calling and re-calling companies, I decided to go with Condor Moving Systems. That decision has proven to be the worst one I’ve made all year.
The moving truck arrived around lunchtime on the day of our move, 11/16. We were fine with the time it arrived at but what bothered us was the size of the truck. Mario had specifically asked us if they would be able to park an 18 wheeler outside of our house. I said, “Yes”. That question led me to believe that an 18 wheeler would be showing up at my door. We were shocked when a 26 foot truck showed up at our door. We realized immediately (and later had our realization confirmed by the leader of the moving crew) that this would not be the truck that would be carrying our belongings to California. This truck would ferry our belongings to another facility where they would be unloaded and then reloaded onto the 18 wheeler heading out to California.
We were never told that this would happen. I wouldn’t have agreed to having my belongings switched from truck to truck. We were in a pinch at that point because we had to be out of the house that day and in California within 3 days. We reluctantly agreed to let the moving crew load up our belongings.
The leader of the moving crew was named Mario (not to be confused with the salesperson named Mario). Mario and his crew have so far been the only people at Condor Moving Systems to follow through on their promises. I was skeptical but Mario said that he and his crew could get all of our belongings into the back of the truck. He mostly did. At one point, he realized that we were running out of room and I had to pick through some items and determine which ones had to be left behind. Mario and his crew were professional and extremely good at their job.
Mario handed me many pieces of paperwork while his crew was loading. Two of the items really bother me. The first item was the paperwork for the gas card. I’ll speak more on this later. The second item was the contract. Many of my upcoming complaints, I am sure the company can refute with the “it’s in the contract” excuse. However presenting the contract to the customer to read and sign during the actual move is bad form. I admittedly didn’t read the contract as closely as I should have; I had a move in progress. Mario told me that the next day, I would hear from the dispatcher.
I heard from Rhonda, the dispatcher, the next day and she gave me shocking news. She told me that they would not have my belongings loaded on the truck and on the road until Monday, 11/22/2010. I was shocked and angry at the news. I asked her why it was going to take so long to get the truck on the road. She reminded me that legally they have 10 days from my first available date to deliver my belongings. As listed on the contract, my first available date was 11/17. I gave them that date because I thought that the truck would leave straight from my house in Texas and that we would have to race it to California. I thought we’d be on the road simultaneously. If I’d known that Condor Moving Systems wasn’t intending to hit the road until AFTER the first available date, I would have given them 11/16 as my first available date and FLOWN out to California.
My family and I arrived at our new house in California on 11/20. I called Condor Moving Systems on 11/22 to verify that my belongings were on the road. Rhonda told me that they are still waiting for the truck that will be carrying my belongings to California to arrive. She said it would be another day or two. I was concerned and told Rhonda, “but you legally have ten days to get my belongings to me. 11/26 is the tenth day.” At that point, Rhonda dropped another bomb on me. She told me that they had ten BUSINESS days. Not once did anybody mention the term BUSINESS days. I’m a lay person. I have no idea how the moving industry works. All I know is that I see 18 wheelers on the road every day of the week. How am I supposed to know that Condor’s trucks take the weekend off?
I called Condor Moving Systems nearly every day to check on the status of the truck. Every day I got a different estimate on when our belongings would be put on the truck for California. After several days, Rhonda told us that Condor Moving Systems would be sending our belongings on an 18 wheeler all to themselves. Our belongings wouldn’t have to share the 18 wheeler with anybody else’s belongings. Although I was thankful to hear that, it didn’t change the fact that my wife and I and our three young daughters (6 ½ years old, 4 ½ years old, and 6 months old) were sleeping on borrowed air mattresses, with borrowed sleeping bags, and sitting on borrowed lawn chairs. We had no furniture, no toys for the children, not much of anything. The only thing we had an abundance of was time and frustration.
I called Condor Moving Systems on Friday, 11/26, and Rhonda told me that they have a truck coming in and that it would arrive on Monday, 11/29, pick up our belongings and leave on Monday, 11/29.
I called Condor Moving Systems on Monday, 11/29, and Rhonda told me that there was a delay but that the truck would “definitely” arrive the next day (11/30) and “definitely” leave that same day (11/30) to bring our belongings out to California.
I called Condor Moving Systems on Tuesday, 11/30. This time a different woman answered the phone. I asked her if our belongings were still on schedule to go out that day (11/30). She said, “No.” I, understandably, got an upset tone to my voice as I demanded to know why. She said, “I’m just an account, sir, but we legally have ten days to deliver your belongings”. I became really angry and told her to have Rhonda call me back.
After waiting over an hour, I called Condor Moving Systems back and spoke with Rhonda. I asked her for a status on my belongings. She said, “The truck will be here tomorrow.” I said, “And it will be leaving tomorrow with my belongings?” She said, “Yes.” I asked her why the account that answered the phone before said that my belonging would not be leaving tomorrow. Rhonda said, “Hold on a minute. Let me call dispatch.” When Rhonda got back on the line, she said that there was a problem with the truck. A replacement truck would arrive on Friday, 12/3, and would leave with my belongings for California the same day.
Rhonda then recommended that I hold on to all of my receipts (including the one I receive after my belongings arrive) because Condor Moving Systems will reimburse me $15 a day for every day my belongings are late. I was so angry and offended that Condor Moving Systems thinks that $15 a day is fair recompense for all of the trouble they have caused us that it took me a moment to find words to say. Noticing my delay in speaking, Rhonda said “Some customers have complained that $15 a day isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
I said goodbye to Rhonda but before I hung up I asked for her last name. She asked, “Why?” I told her that I am drafting a document detailing my experiences with Condor Moving Systems and that I need her name for it. She said that I could have it as long as I don’t put her last name on the internet. I told her that I would not put her last name on the internet. My intent is to send this document directly to the BBB, the state authorities, the ICC, Household Carriers Bureau, DOT (both Federal and State), and to other regulating bodies in the moving industry. I plan on posting this document on the internet, as well, but I will remove Rhonda’s last name when I do.
At this point, I stopped dealing with Rhonda . I would only deal with the owner of the company. The owner of the company, a Mr. Amit Gal, initially was very helpful but it became quickly clear that that he was lying to us just like everybody else in his company. On 12/2, I spoke with Amit Gal and he told me that the truck with our belongings would be leaving that day. It had to drop off one person’s belongings in NM and then would come to us. On 12/3, I called Mr. Gal and he told me that the driver was in NM and would drop off the other people’s belongings that day and then continue on to California.
We got a call in the evening of 12/5 from the driver of the truck. He said that he would be at our house in the morning of the next day. He arrived on 12/6 in the morning. As he was unloading our belongings, he turned to me and said, “You’re not going to believe when I left Texas.” I asked him when. He said that he’d left Texas the afternoon before and had driven through the night to reach us. I said, “What about your delivery in NM yesterday?” He said, “There was no delivery in NM. Look at my truck. It’s still full. Yours are the first things to be unloaded.” Amit Gal had lied to us just like his employees. He made up a drop off in NM that didn’t exist. He even told us the truck was on the road with our belongings to California when it obviously was not.
Our belongings were picked up on 11/6 and finally arrived on 12/6. Condor Moving Systems had our belongings for 20 days before finally delivering them to our new house in California. Shortly after delivery, we noticed that several of our belongings showed up damaged. Including…two end tables and a desk. Mr. Gal offered to assist us in getting these items repaired but after the experience we’d had with he and his company, we didn’t trust him to make good on his offer. Shortly after that, we also noticed damage to my tool chest, our fine silver, and miscellaneous other items.
Lastly, let me address my issues with the $500 gas card. A few days ago I looked at the paperwork for the $500 gas card and realized that it was not what Condor Moving Systems alleged it to be. The paperwork made it clear that I was signing up for a promotion to receive $250 worth of gas and $250 worth of groceries. I was fine with that; whether I spend my money on food or gas, it still comes out of my pocket. What I have a problem with is that it costs $36 to register for the program. $18 for the groceries and $18 for the gas. That means that instead of the $500 of gas that Mario promised me, I get $464 of gas and groceries. I lose $36. If Condor Moving Systems had dealt openly and fairly with me from the beginning, I wouldn’t even have bothered being angry over losing the $36. I would have shrugged it off. But this is just characteristic of how deceptively this company does business.
That is my main complaint with Condor Moving Systems. Yes, I am very upset that it took so long for my belongings to arrive but I am mostly upset about their deceptive business practices. They’re the professionals, I’m the layperson. They need to explain things to me better up front and not focus only on getting the sale.
1. If you ferry your customers’ belongings in a smaller truck to a facility where they get picked up by a bigger truck, then say that. When you say, “Can an 18 wheeler fit in front of your house? Is it legal for us to bring one to your house?” You make the customer think that an 18 wheeler will be arriving at their door. Your customers expect that if their belongings are picked up in an 18 wheeler, the driver will be hitting the road for their new residence right after pick up. If the customer thinks that the 18 wheeler will be hitting the road for the new residence immediately after pick up, then you are giving your customer a false understanding of how soon their belongings will be delivered.
2. Business Days! Use that term. If you expect to deliver a customer’s belongings within 3 to 10 business days, then say “3 to 10 business days”. Don’t say “3 to 10 days”. It might not seem that way to you but to the person sitting in an empty house waiting for their belongings, there is a huge difference between days and business days.
3. Honesty… If they had honestly and proactively dealing with the problems caused by their company, this would have kept this situation from getting to where we are now.
|
