Complaint Review: ABF U-Pack

We decided to use ABF/U-Pack to save a few hundred dollars on our move. We used them and the moving company they recommended (to load their truck for us) thinking we were making a wise choice. It all seemed like a great idea, but it was a huge HUGE mistake!

First of all, ABF is a freight company, NOT a moving company. They can call themselves “U-Pack” or whatever, but they showed up to our house with a filthy truck trailer that looked as if it had been recently used to haul dirty engine blocks to the scrap yard. I was shocked!

The next day the movers were scheduled to come. When they got there it was two guys in a pickup truck. My first question to them was, “Have you worked with ABF before?” I was assured that they had and the got to work... without having brought moving blankets, or even cord to secure our load. Again, I was shocked!

I have lived in Arkansas, Indiana, Pennsylvania (several times), North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama. I have owned four houses, and have lived in three apartment complexes. This was the first time I haven't just moved our family myself. I am getting older and didn't have any help. I should have moved us one more time!

To make a long story short, everything we didn't have boxed up and extremely over-padded was damaged. One box was crushed almost to half of its former size. It was so bad that my PC had the heat sync knocked off of the CPU, even though it was shipped in its original box. My friend who builds PCs for a living (and had built this one himself) told me he had never even heard of a PC being internally damage during a move. Fortunately, it has a clear lighted case and I noticed the damage before I burned out my CPU.

Anyway, the first person I was put in contact with assured me everything would be taken car of. I was sent a claim from, and began emailing a Ms. Graham on the whole process I had to go through to get my heavily damaged belongings repaired. We emailed back and fourth several times and I started the process of getting the parts ordered for my couch to be repaired.

I was told I had to send in their claim form. I was told once the claim form was filled out someone would most likely be out and assess the damage to our belongings. I began to sense a stall. So, I decided if I was going to be forced to follow a process just to get my couch repaired, I'd include everything that was damaged. I sent the form in and it was sent back to me with a notation that I had to have a price estimate. I put $875 (which was very low) just so the ever elusive U-Pack adjuster would finally show up and get a more accurate adjustment of the damage.

After MONTHS of trying to get them to come out and assess the damage to MOST of our furniture, I finally got an email telling me that their contract releases them from any damage responsibility because we packed the truck. When I explained that they did the packing I was told that it was still not their fault and that I should contact their recommended “movers.” This is clearly NOT what they presented to my wife when she arranged for our belongings and valuables to be transported by ABF. This is also clearly not what I was lead to believe for months while I was going back and forth with ABF and their useless “claim form” process.

The moral to this story is... If you want to hire movers, hire a real moving company that will insure your property... and skip thinking you are going to save a few hundred dollars with ABF and U-Pack. What you may just get is very damaged belongings, denial of any fault by ABF (no matter their condition), and months of them pretending that they care and that they are going to make things right ...only to have “Oh, there is this little loophole in your contract and you get nothing.”

It is my current opinion ABF/U-Pack should have an F rating with the BBB and should be investigated for fraud. I have filed a full complaint with the BBB.