Complaint Review: Aaronson Van Lines - Boynton Beach Florida

I contracted Aaronson Van Lines on 05/06/2015 for my family's relocation from the Cleveland, OH area to the Orlando, FL area. We went through the whole estimate process, where they explained to me that their estimate would be a maximum, "guaranteed no to exceed" limit, so they grossly overestimated the weight of my items that were to be shipped. Originally, I had asked for a pick-up date of 07/30-08/31. They contacted me again, offering me a $300 discount if I would take a cancellation that they had of 07/27-07/28. I took the offer. I signed the estimate for 4,384 pounds-at a cost of $2,635.61.

They made it very clear that if I weighed less, I paid less.

I paid a deposit of $600 to "lock in" the date and rate, and thought all was well.

On 07/23/2015, I received a call from Aaronson to double-check my items. I informed them that I had since purchased a cubby storage bin. I also told them that if it made any difference whatsoever, I had no problem leaving the $35 K-Mart item behind, even though I was still well under their overestimation. He told me to go through the rest of the list, and he'd call me back in 10 minutes.

When he called back, my husband answered the phone, and was informed that the truck had "no room for all of [our] new items", and that not only would a new truck have to be contracted, but they would have to send us a new estimate to accommodate all of the "extra weight".

I very quickly received a new estimate, which added 1,100 pounds (and $1200) to our original estimate-and changed the pickup dates to 07/25-07/31.

I told them that that was outrageous. I was well under the original weight, and (since I had absolutely no reason to doubt the original pickup date in the ELEVEN weeks since I signed) had already made arrangements to be out of my current apartment by 07/29.

The guy from Aaronson told us that if they came to pick up our stuff, and it didn't fit because of our "additional items", that the movers would leave our belongings on the side of the road.

My husband looked them up online, and we found a report from a woman who claimed that they did the exact same thing to her, and she was required to pay the FULL estimate amount for delivery-with no weight receipts presented to her.

We decided not to sign.

When I refused to sign the new agreement, we went through a series of unpleasant phone calls to and from Aaronson Van Lines before a Customer Service Manager took over the case, and told us that we would stick to the original agreement as planned, and that she would personally take care of the arrangements from now on. I was assured that Glass City Movers would be there to pick up my belongings as scheduled.

We went to Lowe's and picked up exactly the boxes I was allowed in the estimate. We also borrowed a large package scale, so that we could weigh our items ourselves.

We had everything packed and weighed by Sunday, 07/26/2015. Our items weighed in at 2,963 pounds.

The next morning (day 1 of the expected pick up date), I recieved an email from Aaronson confirming our pickup for 07/30-07/31.

I immediately called them, and Dana, the "Customer Service" manager said that she "thought [we] were okay with those dates". I reminded her that we had agreed on the original estimate-the dates that i recieved a discount to fill, made arrangements around, and paid $600 to reserve. She then told me that even though we were sticking to the original agreement, she still was "sure" that we had agreed to the later dates.

This was unacceptable. I told her that I had paid to have a truck at my door on 07/27 or 07/28, and that if there wasn't going to be one I expected my money back. She told me that she could refund my deposit, minus 20% of the estimated total cost. $527. Out of $600.

I stated that that was ridiculous. Then she said that she was positive that if she "put this on [her] supervisor's desk, he's not going to approve a full refund." I asked her to let me speak to her supervisor. She told me that he would have to call me back.

He never did.

I did, however, receive a call from 8 Mile Road Movers about an hour later-confirming my pickup. I explained to him the situation, and told him my actual weight.

He said that the soonest that he could have a driver to me was the 28th. I agreed, and made arrangements.

About two hours later, I received another call, this time from Glass City Movers, to confirm my pickup for the 30th-31st. I explained the situation to him, and told him that it had already been taken care of.

The morning of the 27th, I received another call from Aaronson, where the guy spoke for two minutes straight as soon as I answered the phone. I told him that I knew that I was already going to be screwed out of my money-that I had found the report online. He argued with me for a few minutes about whether I had actually read the report or not, before telling me that the woman who wrote it was "drunk when the drivers showed up" and kicked the movers out of the house. There were more details, but it was inconsequential. I told him that no one from his company was ever allowed to call me again, and that all correspondence would have to be done through email.

Finally, the morning of the 29th arrived, and Aaronson sent me an email requiring me to pay them $287.81 before the driver would come. I emailed back and forth with them before finally getting a call from the driver telling me that they would be arriving between 4-5pm that day.

Shortly after, I got another call from the dispatch from 8 Mile Road Movers telling me that Aaronson had changed the terms on them at the last minute.

This is when I found out that Aaronson Van Lines had promised $2,056.24 (the full estimate amount, less my $600 deposit) from me upon pickup of my belongings in Ohio.

Nothing about weight, nothing about rates. A flat amount. Then, they sent him a message telling him that the moving company would only be getting $1,769.43 upon pickup.

(This number is the exactly the $2,056.24-$287.81). They were ripping off the mover too. This was their first, and last-as he said-time dealing with Aaronson Van Lines.

I explained to him that this was an amount based on me having 4,384 pounds...and that since I was under, there's no way I'm paying the full amount. He told me that he would make a few phone calls, and get back to me.

5 p.m. came and went, and still no truck.

I called the dispatch (multiple times), I called the driver (multiple times), and then I finally called Aaronson. No return calls.

We were late leaving state...wehad to make a last minute rental of a Budget truck, which cost us about $1,800. Plus fuel for the truck, and we are out lots of money. We had no one to help us load last minute.

In short, I paid them hundreds of dollars to make an already stressful event nearly unbearable.

I am taking the time to leave this review-which I will leave on every site possible-to hopefully prevent them from stealing anyone else's money.

We are seeking legal action for reimbursement and refund. This is disgraceful, and extremely inconvenient. We had to live out of a suitcase for the last three days, and I have two small boys who have had to suffer right along with us. They should be ashamed of themselves.

UPDATE: They continue to insist that it is all my fault, and that they did exactly what they were paid to do.  Incredibly insulting.