Complaint Review: Transamerica Moving Inc.

For anyone who is looking to hire a reputable moving company, please take notice our experience in hiring TransAmerica Moving Inc. After paying them thousands of dollars to move us across country.  They were not only over 28 days in delivering our belongings, but cost us over $ 5,000 dollars in added expenses as we needed to meet our work commitments and purchase business attire.  As we had absolutely no furniture in our new home and after the company committed to deliver our goods on a specific date due to their 28 day delay, we were forced to sleep on the floor and postpone work commitments.  In addition to that, they overcharged us, damaged our property and refused time and time again to disclose the location of our property even after we hired movers and personnel to retrieve it.  They lied, acted unscrupulously and have refused to acknowledge any of our attempts to come to a fair agreement with us so that we may recuperate the money we lost due to their negligence and lack of professionalism. 

After researching, we found that TransAmaerica Moving, Inc. not only is not good standing with the BBB but has had a litany of consumer complaints yet they continue to operate with absolute immunity.  We are asking all consumers who have been ripped off by TransAmerica to file a complaint with the Department of Transportation at (888)-368-7238 and to email us as we proceed to file a claim against them in court.  As consumers we need to stop these people from continuing to conduct fraud against the public.  If you had a similar experience with TransAmerica Moving, Inc. please follow through and hold them accountable.  Below is a copy of the letter sent to their president and associates.  A letter they refused to pick up after we sent it to the address on file with DOT.

September 1, 2009

TransAmerica Moving Inc.

Attention: Alla R. Zhuk President

Reseda, CA91335

Mr. Zhuk & Management of TransAmerica Moving Inc:

This letter is to inform you that after making several attempts to come to a fair and equitable agreement with you and the representatives of TransAmerica Moving Inc.  You have failed to respond to the inconvenience, damage and loss claims we filed with the Department of Transportation on August 10 of 2009.

Our claims were filed after our horrible experience with the very unprofessional and unscrupulous staff at TransAmerica Moving Inc.

In early June of 2009 we contacted TransAmerica Moving Inc. in order to obtain information about our moving rates for our upcoming interstate move from Rosemead, California to RichmondVirginia.   After some research and the posted advertisement in the TransAmerica website which advertises as a moving company as fully insured, bonded and licensed by the Better Business Bureau we proceeded to request a quote for our upcoming move. 

In late May of 2009 we received an email  from Tony Plummer quoting us $ 3,124.05 for our move.  Shortly after on June 8^th of 2009 we proceeded to put down a deposit for the move after speaking with your moving consultant Emily Ross. During our conversation with Ms. Ross, I asked her to give us a specific date of pick up since we intended to be in Richmond on July 7^th 2009.  I explained to Ms. Ross that  I needed her expert opinion as to when we should our belongings be in route to VA in order to have enough time to settle in prior to our start work date in VA of July 13^th 2009.  Ms. Ross stated that in order to guarantee a delivery date of July 7^th our belongings needed to have a pick up date of June 30^th 2009.  All of our travels arrangements were made based of the information of your moving consultant Emily Ross. In our conversation Ms. Ross Also stated that we were to receive a telephone call from TransAmerica representatives the day of July 7^th in order to arrange a specific time of delivery for that day.

We arrived in Richmond, VA as projected the morning of July 7^th 2009.   Late in the afternoon as we failed to receive a phone your representatives, I proceeded to contact Emily who upon answering the phone told me she would contact dispatch and will call me back with a delivery time.  After several hours of not getting a phone call back from Ms. Ross I called your office back asking for information on our delivery time.  At which time I spoke to Tony who proceeded to tell me that our delivery was scheduled to be delivered either Wednesday, July 8^th or Thursday, July 9^th.  I explained to Tony that my husband and I had made our travel plans based on the information provided by Emily and that due to the delay in delivery we had not made arrangements to spend the night in an empty house without proper sleeping arrangements.  Tony apologized and told us he would ask Emily to call us back with a delivery time and an explanation for the delay.

However Emily never called us back and once again after not hearing back from Ms. Ross we attempted to speak to her supervisor of the evening of July 9^th.  The evening of July 9^th a woman by the name of Joy answered my phone call, after asking to speak to a supervisor Joy proceeded to tell me that she was the supervisor and that she would find out the whereabouts of our belongings.  Joy stated that she would call me back in a few minutes.  After waiting for over an hour, I called back asking to speak to Joy.  Tony again answered the phone and stated that the delivery was going to be delayed until the following week (July 16^th-19^th).  Tony states that due to equipment malfunction and it being that TransAmerica had overbooked its interstate moves, did not have the adequate amount of drivers to maintain their delivery commitments.  Upon hearing Tonys explanation I immediately expressed my concerns and dissatisfaction about such situation and explained to him that we had no furniture or clothing to be able to sustain us for another week. 

I also explained to Tony the fact that my husband and I had work commitments to meet on Monday, July 13^th and that all our business suits and attire along with important work documents were in the moving truck.  Tony apologized and stated that he was sorry and would speak to the supervisor about compensating any expenses we had to incur as a result of TransAmericas delay in our delivery.   Before ending the phone call I asked Tony to please have Joy contact us as soon as possible with a delivery date so that we could make arrangements and ensure we would be available to accept delivery.  I also asked Tony to let Joy know that we would need the amount of the balance due needed upon delivery.  Tony stated he would ask Joy to call us back; however we never received such call.

The week of July 13^th came and went and we failed to receive any phone calls from Joy, Emily or any TransAmerica representatives.  As a result my husband and I had to purchase proper business attire, an inflatable mattress, and basic household items.  Once again we were forced to postpone several work commitments. My husband and I made over a half dozen attempts to contact Joy or a supervising representative throughout the week without success.  Every time we attempted to call we were hung up on or told Joy would call us back.  And although we repeatedly asked for a new delivery date or the location of our belongings, we were denied such information.  After many unsuccessful attempts to communicate with your representatives via telephone I proceeded to send an email directly to Joy and your management which stated the following:

This is our second attempt at email communication with a manager or supervisor from Transamerica. As you know we have made over a half of dozen attempts to reach a supervisor and to get information about our moving truck delivery dates.  We have yet to receive a phone by any of your representatives let alone a supervisor.  As I have explained to Tony, Emily and lastly Shareen (sp) we expected and were ready to receive delivery on July 7th.  In fact we scheduled our travel plans and air flight according to the information Emily gave us at the time of our reservation and in my subsequent conversations with her.

It is now July 21st and we have never received a phone call from you. Every single call has been initiated by us to your representatives and we have yet to have a date of delivery and no supervisor has taken the time to return any of our calls. As I mentioned in my last email for the past few weeks we have been living in an empty house, sleeping on hard wooden floor and we have had to purchase work clothes, basic house hold items and shoes in order to be able to maintain our work commitments.  So far have had to spend over 1,600 dollars in items we already owned but are sitting in your moving truck.

We are reasonable people and have made attempts to come to a suitable and fair agreement with you however no one in your company has taken the time to speak to us or work with us.  The only person who I feel has been honest was Shareen who explained to me last week that Emily had made the reservation and reservation delivery as a 10-day and up delivery which caused the tremendous delay in the delivery our belongings.  Know that never in our conversations with Emily did we ever agreed to that or requested any storage.  Therefore we do not feel we owe for any storage or storage handling fees as we were ready to accept delivery on July 7th.

In addition, we are extremely concerned about the condition our belongings as they have been undoubtedly sitting in some warehouse for almost a month. Due to the three week delay my husband and I have had to postpone important meetings and have been made to travel miles away from our home to the local library to be able to have access to computer and office equipment. All of our home office equipment files and documents are currently in your possession.

All we are asking is for someone to call us back and give us information on our delivery date and that our hardship and added expenses are taken into consideration while balancing our final delivery fee. 

I sincerely hope someone preferably a supervisor will make contact with us in the next 24 hours. (this notice was sent via email on July 21 of 2009)

The following weeks continued without any return phone calls from your representatives until my husbands employer Aecom Technology, their legal counsel and relocation advisers got involved.  Throughout Aecoms involvement several attempts were made to get information about the location of our belongings, the balance due upon delivery and the delivery date.  Through the weeks that followed such information was denied to us and the Aecom legal team.  During the week of July 27^th and the first week of August we made repeated requests to TransAmerica to give up the location of our moving truck, its DOT number, its drivers name and the trucks license information.  However our requests for such rightful information was denied by your representatives.

After being without proper work attire, furniture, household items and proper sleeping arrangements we had incurred over $ 3,000 in expenses.  During its dealings with TransAmerica, Aecom stated that they needed the information in order to take possession of our belongings as we felt they were no longer safe in TransAmericas hands. TransAmerica refused to provide us with such information and denied us the rightful access to our belongings.

On August 3^rd I received a telephone call from Tony asking to speak to Aecom and my husband.  I then proceeded to ask Tony again for the location of our moving truck and belongings.  Tony told me the moving truck was now in route and somewhere in Nebraska.  I told Tony I would ask my husband and Acom to call him and that all conversations from now on regarding our move needed to be made through my husband and the Aecom legal team. 

I told Tony I would contact my husband and ask that he and the Aecom legal team get in touch with him.  Upon making contact with Tony, he proceeded to tell my husband the moving truck was back in Oregon.  Such statement seemed odd since earlier that day Tony stated our truck was in Nebraska.  The following days came and went and the staff at TransAmerica continued to refuse to disclose the location of our belongings.  On the afternoon of August 5^th I received a message from Joy at TransAmerica informing me that our delivery date was scheduled for Thursday, August 6^th.  Over 38 days late from the original delivery date. 

At which time I spoke to Joy and asked for the balance due upon delivery.  Joy informed me that the balance due would be $ 2,325.00.  I explained to Joy that the legal team and the DOT had advised us that we were legally bound to only pay 10% over their original delivery quote and that due to the delay and unscrupulous conduct on the part of TransAmerica we had now incurred over $ 3,500.00 in added expenses.  In addition, I had a scheduled work meeting in Washington, DC the morning of August 6^th which meant I would need to postpone my work commitment once again due to TransAmericas lack of consideration.  Joy stated that we needed to have $ 2,325.00 in cash or a cashiers check if we wanted to take possession of our belongings on August 6th. 

The afternoon of August 5^th , I received a phone call from a gentleman named Tony who informed he was the delivery driver and that he would be arriving at our residence the early morning of August 6^th 2009.  I told the driver we would be ready to accept delivery.

The morning of August 6^th we accepted delivery of our belongings and gave the driver two cashiers checks totaling $ 2,325.00 ($1648.96 & 676.04).  During the delivery we noticed several of our household items were damaged including a glass cabinet, home decorations, art pieces, our oak dinning table had been severely scratched and our living room sofas were missing their wooden legs and support.  We reluctantly signed and accepted delivery of items and stated in writing on our receipt of delivery the issue of the damaged property.

Needless to say our dealings with TransAmerica were less than desirable and the conduct exhibited by your staff was unscrupulous and fraudulent.  We have done additional research on the communitys experience in hiring your moving services and have found dozens, upon dozens of similar complaints, both on the web and with the DOT.  As a result of your unscrupulous and unprofessional conduct we have incurred over $5,000 in damages in addition to tremendous inconvenience and loss of work.  We have kept receipts of all our incurred expenses, pictures of damaged property and have kept records of all our contacts and dealings with the staff at TransAmerica.  We have filed a formal complain with the department of transportation and have all the intentions to pursue our claim in court should you fail to contact us in order to come to an equitable and fair agreement.

All we are seeking is for our expenses to be compensated and for an explanation as to why we had to endure such poor costumer service and treatment by your representatives.  As allowed by the law and our rights as consumers consider this a legal notice and a request for your official response to our claims within 30 days of receipt of this notice.