Complaint Review: Ocean Moving and Storage

I tried to give this company a month to show even the slightest bit of integrity to return my missing items. I have been more than patient and understanding, but I now feel obligated to write my first complaint. I doubt this ultimately results in me getting my stuff back but at the very least, hopefully after reading this others wont make the same mistake and potentially lose things that are important to them.

I had my doubts from the beginning, especially after reading some of the reviews on Better Business Bureau, but the sales rep Shawn continuously assured me that this company is reliable and all of their employees are well trained professionals. In retrospect I sincerely regret not taking those reviewers advice.

The movers were scheduled to arrive at noon, but the driver (Oren) and two other men (who didnt speak any english) came at 7:30 AM. I was not prepared for them to be there so soon, but the driver insisted that they had other jobs and had to be on their way. They loaded the majority of my things onto the truck, and the driver told me that it was over the cubic footage that the rep Shawn and I had come up with. We did an itemized inventory to come up with the initial cubic footage, and Shawn stated that any additional cubic feet would cost $2.35 more per. Well, the driver wanted to charge me 1.5X over the quoted price. It wasnt until I insisted that the driver speak to Shawn (who didnt want to speak with the driver) that the driver changed it back to the original price.

When they were finishing up with loading my belongings onto the truck, there were two very large boxes remaining that were extremely heavy. The driver said that he had to charge me a $100 handling fee per box because of how heavy they were. I reluctantly agreed, because of the extra fee and the personal value of these boxes (which contained my entire library of books, important notes, and papers that took years to compile!).

In Florida, the driver arrived extremely early again, but this time ALONE, with no help. I asked him where the other movers were, and he said that in NC he used illegal workers that he found sitting outside of Lowes/Home Depot (which apparently is standard practice per the driver), and that he went around Tampa that day but couldnt find anyone to work since it was a Sunday (ironic, because Shawn repeatedly stated that they use licensed trained professionals). The driver moved all of my belongings (3 bedroom house) alone!

After getting everything in, I noticed that there was a large number of my belongings that were damaged. Things like deeply scratched dishes, chipped wooden furniture, and a shattered glass end table. I understand that those sorts of things happen when you move, but these are supposed to be professionals, and there was only one person unloading that day.

The biggest issue I had was that that my large L-shaped desk and hutch was completely destroyed (and had to be discarded), and the two large heavy boxes that I had to pay the extra handling fee for were not there. The driver was on his way out, when I told him that I was missing the two boxes (he said he knew exactly which boxes I was referring to, since they were so heavy). The driver said that the boxes could only be in two places: either still somewhere on the truck mixed with another shipment that he could not go through at the time or at the warehouse in Atlanta (the only other place that they stopped). He said he was in a rush to get back to Miami and that they would send my boxes to me the next day (Monday 8/22/11). I called the company Monday, and they told me that they hadnt located my boxes yet and to call back in a day or two and they will send it.

I called numerous times and spoke to several people over the next two weeks with no results. Each time I called they said that they couldnt find my boxes, or they would tell me to call back, they would put me on hold for extended periods of time, or just blatantly hang up on me. I was consistently yelled at by someone named Sal who was very rude and impatient when I would ask if they found my boxes. He said that he didnt have the time to talk to me about my boxes and hung up on me on more than one occasion. Shawn would confabulate elaborate stories that were extremely inconsistent each time I spoke to him (and I had to call him out on several lies) and told me to just file a claim. I told him that I would much rather have my boxes back. Victor would also give me the run around and kept telling me to check back later. The dispatcher/owner Itai said that they ran a skip trace to locate the boxes and to keep checking in.

After repeatedly being hung up on, told to call back because the dispatcher was busy and being given the runaround, I contacted the company one final time. When I was finally able to speak with someone, Shawn told me that I needed to stop calling, because the boxes were lost, that the owner told him that they will not be looking for my boxes any more and that I should just get over it and file a claim. I was and still am extremely upset. These boxes mean more to me than any anything. They could have taken or lost anything else, and it wouldnt have upset me the way this did.

Since then Ive tried several times to file a claim, which would be obsolete to me since I would much rather have my belongings returned than receive a check for 60 cents on the pound of lost item, but the claims department site that I was directed to will not allow me to attach the lost boxes and the damaged items on my claim file. I have repeatedly attempted to call the company and file a claim with no luck.

Ocean moving and storage company has not taken any responsibility for losing my belongings and have absolutely no remorse. I doubt my situation is an isolated incident which is why Id like to do anything I can to get my stuff back or at the very least would hope that my scenario could somehow help others considering using this sorry excuse for a business to reconsider and heed the advice of the online reviews for this company.

They shouldnt be able act so rude, careless, and downright unprofessional without consequence. I dont understand how two very large boxes that were extremely and memorably heavy could just vanish without anyone taking notice, and that this company will not put any additional time or energy to find it. Instead they drag me through the agony of continuously calling and stressing about losing the numerous books, notes, and paperwork that I have put many years of work into. These items are invaluable and irreplaceable to me and I will do whatever it takes to get this resolved and have them returned.