Complaint Review: NW Relocation

My husband and I moved cross-country from Idaho to Maryland in September 2019. 

When we began our move, we were under the impression that we would be working with All Pro Moving Group, as this is who we originally were in contact with. It then became clear that they were actually a brokering agent and would be contracting out our moving request to NW Relocation/GTS Shipping.

All Pro Moving Group was not forthcoming with this information, and we did not realize we’d actually signed up to use a different company until we had already paid our deposit. 

A few days after the deposit, our sales rep from All Pro calls my husband and says that the original price estimate they gave us was inaccurate, and we would now owe more money immediately in order to keep processing our move. They do not do in-home assessments, so my husband estimated the amount of items and boxes we would be moving over the phone. As you might imagine, it’s impossible to adequately estimate such an amount. We were incredibly confused by All Pro demanding an additional fee, but we had so much going on with the move that we didn’t have the time to deal with it, so we agreed to pay an additional deposit and moved forward. 

This should’ve been the first red flag. 

Once we paid All Pro, all communication from them ceased. We were instructed to then utilize GTS Shipping/NW Relocation as our main point of contact. Later on, when I would attempt to receive a response from GTS Shipping/NW Relocation regarding the status of our items, we would also reach out to All Pro, as they had brokered the move, and receive either no response or a very rude, insensitive, and unhelpful reply.

GTS Shipping/NW Relocation picked up our items in Boise, Idaho on September 18.

A crew came to our apartment to pack and load our items into a truck, and to give us paperwork. The paperwork states different delivery estimates based on the total mileage of your move. Since our move was over 2000 miles, our delivery estimate was 5-21+ days. The paperwork also stated that they are unable to guarantee specific delivery dates. This was the first time throughout the process that we heard they couldn’t guarantee a delivery date - at no point earlier had this been revealed to us, and if we had known, we wouldn’t have worked with this company. We believe they are purposely deceptive about their delivery estimates because they suspect they would lose business if they revealed their true delivery timeframe upfront.

When asked, the crew leader noted the 5-25 day range on the paperwork, and told us that it "never takes that long." Later on, when I reached out to both All Pro and GTS Shipping/NW Relocation for assistance, All Pro replied and told me “at no point was a delivery date ever guaranteed.” How about making sure the moving crews you contract with don’t give customers false hope or incorrect information, then?

We left the next day to begin our cross-country drive. On day two of the drive, we noticed a missed call and an email from GTS Shipping/NW Relocation, informing us that they were unable to process our payment, because we had paid with an American Express card, and their company only accepts Visa and MasterCard. We were never informed of this, either. I went back through our contracts with a fine-tooth comb and discovered it buried in minuscule print on the All Pro contract. This is something they need to me much more forthcoming about. We didn’t have any other way to pay, no other available cards that could hold the $1300 balance, so we were forced to ask my mom for help. Luckily, she was able to step in at the last minute.

We moved into our new home on September 26. 

Over the next few weeks, I would speak to customer service multiple times. Each time the agent, Vicki, stated that she would have to "check with dispatch" regarding the status of our items, and each time the delivery estimate changed, leading me to believe that no one actually had any clue what is going on. 

The first time I called, I was told I could expect to hear from them within a few days with more information regarding my delivery. I never heard anything, so I followed up. This time, I was told that our items were likely scheduled to be loaded within the next day or two, but that it could take an additional up to 7 days for delivery.

Judging from the information I gathered while on the phone with customer service, it seems that this company holds items hostage in a warehouse until it is convenient for them to deliver. They will not tell you this at any point during the sales phase, likely because no one would do business with them having known this beforehand. The reason our original quote was so cheap is because GTS Shipping/NW Relocation takes their sweet time with your belongings, storing them in a warehouse until it suits them. 

At this point, I filed complaints against the company with the BBB and the FMCSA. I sent an email to the company and let them know how unhappy I was. I copied All Pro moving on the email, and they did respond, though mostly to deny any fault on their part. I never received a response from GTS Shipping/NW Relocation. I attempted to locate some contact information for upper management, hoping to speak to a supervisor or manager, but the only contact information available was what I already had. I believe they purposely hide upper management’s information from public access because of the amount of complaints they would receive otherwise.

Eventually, having grown too upset with the situation, I gave up on contacting them, and let my mother handle it. Vicki ceased all communication with me and my husband and seemed to only be interested in talking to my mother, who was footing the bill for the move.

At one point, they informed my mom that our items were slated to arrive on the very last day of our delivery range, October 23, over a month from when they were originally picked up. To make matters worse, we were scheduled to fly out on October 24 for our wedding, and to leave immediately afterward for our honeymoon. My mother explained all of this to Vicki, who repeatedly said that she was sorry, but really did not seem to care. It was only through my mother’s tenacity and persistence that Vicki eventually understood and agreed to try and expedite our delivery.

We lived on an air mattress in an empty apartment for over a month. Any savings we made by going with this company (far cheaper than many others, and clearly for good reason) were negated by being forced to continually re-purchase basic necessities we already own, since they are still holding our belongings hostage. We would spend over $500 additional dollars on low-cost chairs, tables, and other items that we needed immediately in order to have a comfortable living situation. 

To make matters worse, because we were never informed of how long delivery might take (at least not until the day of our pickup!) I packed several items I needed for the wedding in the boxes we gave to the movers. We had very limited space in the car we took, and I was under the impression our items would be delivered well in advance of our wedding. Imagine knowing that your wedding is in a few days, and still not having your wedding reception dress or wedding shoes, because they’re in a box, in a warehouse somewhere, being held hostage. Imagine needing some of those items for your final wedding dress fitting, and having to rush to find replacements because the items were unavailable to you, all at the fault of this company.

Finally, we were given a possible delivery estimate of October 21, and began to think that this ordeal was coming to an end.

On the day of delivery, the truck driver informed us that he had driven by our address to check for truck accessibility, and said that due to truck weight restrictions on local roads, he wouldn’t be able to get his tractor trailer into our townhome complex. This meant that they would have to transfer everything to a smaller shuttle truck - at an additional $500 cost. As we moved from Idaho to Maryland, we were not able to tour our new residence in person, so how were we to have known that the company’s specific truck wouldn’t be allowed access? This is something that the company themselves should assess far in advance and cover the cost of, not something that should be revealed to the customer on the day of delivery. We felt we had no choice but to pay the additional ridiculous fee because it had already taken them long enough to deliver our items and we were worried that refusing to pay would further delay delivery. 

A quick Google search reveals that this company has many unfavorable reviews, and based on the service I've experienced so far, it's not difficult to understand why. I wish we had seen those reviews before signing a contract with the horrible business.