Complaint Review: ORI Van Lines

1-Pre-Move

My wife and I were preparing for a move that related to a new job in Georgia. This was a very small move, just some furniture and boxes from our 10X15 Storage unit in Spring Valley, Ca (just outside of San Diego. After considering all of the options, we were planning to use U-Haul, however decided to check on full service pricing as well since this was such a small move.

We were contacted by Joseph at ORI Van Lines (on Sunday 6/29, I believe) and offered us a price based on his estimate of 1500lbs for $990.00. This price is too good to be true, and not trusting him on his estimate I obtained pricing for 2000 and 2500lbs as well. The total cost was still very affordable. I took into investigating the company.

All web reviews were outstanding on service, pricing, etc. People really seem to love this company. No BBB complaints for 36 months, and the DOT info checked out as well.

After calling Joseph a couple of more times, I asked for the delivery date range. He had estimated between 7/8/08 7/12/08 for delivery. I explained that anything before the 10th would actually be too quick. He said that is not a problem at all. I now had a delivery estimate around 7/10 7/12. I ordered the move, and set up the pickup between 8am 10am on 7/3/08. I explained very carefully that this was my storage unit, and I would have to meet the driver there, and call with any delays or changes as soon as possible.

The following day, I received a call from Lindsey (at this point, she is in the billing department) to collect the initial deposit of $198.00 for the move. I gladly paid it, and confirmed the pickup date and time. She said that it was not listed in the system but would put it in for me. I also confirmed that they would arrive between 8am 10am on 7/3. She did put the information in. I asked about the delivery range, and she explained that at the max, they could deliver in 21 days. However if I have a different range, I could go with that. At least I had a worst case scenario (or so I thought).

So far everything is perfect. I LOVE this company. Everyone is super nice, and seems to understand the process.

2-Moving Day Arrives

7/3/08, my father and I head to the storage unit and arrive at 8am to await the movers. Around 9:45am I contact Joseph to find out the status on the movers. He gave me the number for dispatch and said they could provide me a status. I contact dispatch. The great thing here is I speak with Lindsey. On Monday, Lindsey was the billing department. Now she is apparently in dispatch. I figure it is a small company and people wear a lot of different hats.

Lindsey explains that the driver is on the way to our storage, and she just spoke with him. She was going to call him and have him call us right back.

Around 10:00am, I call Lindsey again, and she was surprised I had not heard from the driver. She stated she would call him and call me back.

Around 10:30am, I call again to Lindsey. This time she is still surprised that the driver (Ernie) did not call me. She explained that the driver was late because he was supposed to do a drop the day before in San Diego and had to do that first. He was going to be at least another 2 hours.

I was upset at this point (I will admit). The driver knew this information the night before and it should have been communicated at 8am the following morning. I asked Lindsey why this was not communicated, and she stated that she didn't think it was a big deal since I would have been hanging around my house waiting for the movers. Had she realized that this was a storage unit and we were not waiting at home, she would have probably called.

At this point, I took exception to the fact that this company would assume that it is ok to ignore an estimated time of arrival simply because the customer would probably be at home. I think she assumed that all customers have nothing better to do than sit around anticipating someone who is not coming. Not only is this idiotic, it is horrible customer service.

I went home, and waited for a call from the mover. After 3 hours, I called Lindsey back and she asked how far North Hollywood is from San Diego. In a semi, it should be about 3 5 hours (depending on traffic). This is now at 1pm. She was shocked; she thought he was closer to us than that.

I called Joseph to express my concern that I can not get a response from Dispatch, and Joseph would speak with his manager. He promised me that the truck would be there, etc. However I still was not convinced at this point.

After several hours of calling, I finally received a call from the Driver (Ernie) around 1:30pm, he is still about 100 miles away, and said he would be there shortly. I did explain that traffic could be bad and it was typically a two hour drive, to which he said, You don't know how I drive.

Eventually Ernie (the driver) showed up at the storage and we met him to have our items loaded. Ernie explained that part of the reason he was late was that his truck was shut down by the Department of Transportation for safety violations and he had to rent a Budget truck rental to finish his loads. Also, he had to pick up his cousin in Compton, Ca before he could come to San Diego, so he would have some help.

Ernie also said that he needed me to take him to a UPS store or something similar so that he could send his supervisors storage keys home. If I didn't take him, he would have to leave to do it. I had no choice, or actually I did, but it was not a good one. I took him to the UPS store, where he proceeded to talk about drug use, sleazy women. During this time he had my wife moving and labeling boxes with his cousin. We had no choice. As I explained to Ernie, and ORI Van Lines, if I am not out of my storage unit at 5pm, I will end up paying $25 per 15 minutes.

Eventually we got back, and they finished loading at 5:30 ($50.00 into excess storage fees). We filled out the paperwork, and he would not give me a copy of the Bill of Lading. Also, we were told that we would have the certificate of weight from pre-loading our stuff; however Ernie could not find a scale between LA and San Diego, Ca (I know of 3 myself, and I am not a trucker). He suggested that we call Budget and get the weight of the truck he rented, so that we can make sure that ORI doesn't scam us on the weight. This was a great confidence builder.

Also Ernie explained that he has not slept in 3 days, keeps a few different logs, so that he can make his deliveries. That did not make me feel really good when he drove off with my stuff. As a side note, I am a realistic person, several drivers do this stuff, and I just wish he would not have talked about it!

After he finally left, I called ORI Van Lines and spoke with Lindsey to explain the situation. She had me leave a message for her manager (Monty) and explained that nothing like this has ever happened before. I recapped everything for Monty and waited for a call back.

3-Post Move / Pre-Delivery

Monty called me the following week (I believe Monday, but not positive on the day). Monty apologized and said I was very rational, and handling the situation very well. He also stated that he was going to work on a discount for me, as well as get my items to me as soon as possible. He was going to call me the next day with more information.

Next day- No call from Monty all day. Called and left a few messages. Got return call around 5:30pm. Stated the driver had been fired and he was still working on a refund. Also, since truck had not been weighed yet, he was personally going to go with an empty truck to get weighed, and personally going back with our stuff loaded to get final weight on the truck, also he would fax me the certificates of weight. Would call the next day with status.

Next day- No call. I did not leave message ORI, since I wanted to give him the opportunity to call back.

Next day- Call ORI, leave message (am), call ORI leave message around noon. My wife calls ORI around 3:30pm and leave another message, stating our concern. Monty calls back in 5 minutes. Tells my wife that he passed it along to Golam (sp?) and he would call us back. Monty did not go with the truck to get weighed as promised, and was no longer personally accepting responsibility to ensure our move is successful. At this point, my wife misunderstood something Monte said, and yes became irate. Told him that they are providing horrible customer service. At this point Monty said he would no longer speak with her. He would only speak with me regarding the move. Patty handed me the phone and asked me to speak with the fu*$er.

At this point, Monty would no longer speak with me, called Golam and got the weight of the truck, gave the phone to Lindsey, and she gave me the total of the move. I spoke with Lindsey, and explained I was sorry if he was upset, however if he did not fail on his promises, this would not happen. I also explained that if he can not deal with upset customers, he is probably in the wrong industry and needs to learn to suck it up a little more. Lindsey said some people can take it better than others.

I was told that my possessions would be leaving on the weekend.

Later in week, told truck is leaving no later than Saturday.

Monday, we called ORI. Truck left Saturday. They have up to 21 days to deliver or they will discount by $30 per day (stated by Lindsey).

Called (I believe) Wednesday for status update (Thursday was 21 days, 7/24/2008). Was told that Lindsey found out she was wrong about the 21 days, and ORI's attorney said that it was actually 30 days. It was amazing that she was wrong only when they would not make the deadline. Lindsey did state the driver should be here no later than Friday (7/25). Was also told certificates of weight would be with driver.

Thursday (7/24) driver called and stated would be in town Sunday (7/27 around noon).

Sunday, driver called said was late and would be in around 5:30pm. He arrived closer to 4:40pm. Unloaded the truck, had NO certificates of weight. Also could not give me a copy of Bill of Lading since he had the only copy. I could have copied it, however, we did not have access to make a copy either. While unpacking, the following damage occurred:

1-Collection of 1940's 1950's corningware, shattered (box appears to have been dropped).
2-Collection of china, bought in Japan during WW2, destroyed (box appears to have been destroyed).
3-90% of my picture frames, destroyed
4-Handmade quilt rack, destroyed.

Called ORI on Monday 7/28, my wife spoke with Lindsey, explained the situation. Lindsey was in a warehouse and would call us back in 15 minutes. We have not received a call back from anyone.

I called and left a message about 3pm local time for ORI. I sent an email with my requests.

We did receive a call from the delivery driver on 7/30. He was very concerned about the damage and offered to help any way he could. The problem is that he could not actually do anything since he can not give me money to compensate for damages, he can not make ORI do anything, etc.

I have yet to hear from ORI Van Lines. It is now 7/31. Longest 15 minutes of my life.

Moral of the story: Despite the good reviews, despite the number of successful moves this company may have had, they are just as much of a scam as other movers out there. Since I have not received a call, I am done attempting to contact them, I don't have the energy to continue to be ignored, all I can do is keep sharing my story. I would never use this company. This has been a nightmare. I can't change what happened, all I can do is move on and try to fix the mess that has been made and hopefully no one else makes the same mistake. Hopefully those who use them have a better result.

Gabriel
San Diego, California
U.S.A.

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