Complaint Review: Bekins Van Lines - Indianapolis Indiana

I hired Bekins in October 2017 to move me from CA to CO. I made the selection based on three estimates I got including Allied and United. Even though they were by far the most expensive of the three, the salesman that came to my house took his time going over what had to be moved which gave me gave me assurance that they would do the best job. There was two very important things I quizzed him about multiple times. One being if the move would be directly from my current house to my new house. I was told yes that it would. The other being the moving of my classic Triumph motorcycle without damage. I was assured that nothing would happen. I wanted a direct move because of all the horror stories I had read about what happens to house contents when they are transferred to a warehouse, they sit there, and then they’re reloaded again. I also have firsthand knowledge of what happens having worked in logistics for years. I was given assurances over and over on both accounts.

When I asked what assurance I could have in addition to his word, I was told that I should buy the zero deductible insurance with full replacement, the delivery delay penalty, and increase the estimated value of the contents to cover the motorcycle. When I made my selection, I bit the bullet and paid the additional $500 to buy the additional coverage. So far so good right? WRONG! On the day before the move is scheduled I get an email informing me that they have not found a driver yet and they will be picking up the load and taking it to their warehouse until they can find a driver. I immediately start calling the sales rep who won’t pick up my calls or return my voice messages. I email the move coordinator and the sales rep stating my concern about the multiple handling that will be taking place and ask to increase the total value of the household to $45K and add an additional $15K just for the motorcycle. In addition, I filled out and submit an “Items of Extraordinary Value Inventory Form” for the motorcycle. While everything is being loaded I provide as much specific direction as I can to the foreman on the handling of the motorcycle and ask him to make sure that he helps when its being reloaded from the warehouse.

First of all, even though I was given a 3 day delivery window, my load was delivered 15 days late and I think that happened only due to my constant bugging Bekins because I was living on a blowup mattress and two plastic crates. When the load was finally delivered, there were a number of items visibly damaged like crushed boxes, broken tables, ripped items etc. I was asked to sign a delivery acceptance for the motorcycle and told they couldn’t leave the it unless the document was signed. I did a visual inspection on the spot and signed the paperwork to spare more handling of the motorcycle.

 I contacted the move manager in IN about the damages and I was told I had 9 months to file a claim. Following that, I discovered additional damage, some of the shrink wrapped items were opened and items missing that were inside, and the worst of all, when I put gas back in the motorcycle and went to start it, it began dumping gas everywhere. I filed as complete and thorough a claim as I could, followed up on all the requests for additional information, estimates, etc. After that, the process has turned into a living hell. I was reimbursed for only some of the items with some of them at reduced costs (what happened to zero deductible full replacement?). Some of the items were not covered at all and I was told there was no proof they were shipped in the first place (essentially calling me liar) despite my explaining that these were items from the opened shrink wrapped packages.

 I went out of my way to locate an independent mechanic rather than going directly to a Triumph dealership which would not only charge an arm and a leg but would cost several hundred dollars in transport charges because the motorcycle is not rideable in its current condition. And despite me providing a statement of the potential damage and estimate from that mechanic for the motorcycle, I was told that there’s no proof the fuel leak was caused in the move (again calling me a liar), and that I took too long to file the claim (what happened to 9 months?), and that there was no proof the motorcycle worked when it was picked up (again calling me a liar), and that I didn’t provide any information the damage happened due to mishandling (LOL seriously?). I provided emails supporting everything I said, I was told, and took place, and my repeated and frantic protests to the last minute change in plans that the move wasn’t going to be picked up and delivered directly. Oh and also the claims management staff apparently doesn’t care a dissatisfied customer will be reviewing the company online in a negative light and costing the company many, many times more in lost revenue than the few hundred bucks to fix the problem.