John
Williston,#2Author of original report
Fri, August 09, 2013
I stand by my report. I wish they behaved as professionally as they write letters. Please, please, please - stay away from these crooked people. They treated us terribly, misrepresented themselves, cheated us, tore up our belongings, trashed our home taking stuff out, and the Owners Wife accused us of have the damage before they showed up! Unbelievable pack of lies. Do not believe his apparently even-tempered letter, it's a facade. They are true rip-off artists.
Did I mention that he lied to me repeatedly when he claimed he was flying up to New England area to help search for the missing truck? No, the crook never showed up, never flew anywhere. Liar.
Claim Department
Hyattsville,#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, August 08, 2013
Dear consumers. The moving industry is complicated, there are always going to be people that are happy with the way their move is handled and there are always going to be people that are not.
JF wanted a price based on 10000 pounds for his move. JF never requested an at home estimate. JF was doing all of his own packing. JF knew that his price was based on actual weight and actual packing services & supplies used. The truck size, crew size or the time the pick-up would take were not discussed. 3 men arrived with a 26ft truck to find 18000 pound shipment, with packing needed as well. JF and his wife told movers that move had to be completed by 3 pm (5 hours). We sent another crew; with 7 men and 2 trucks it still took about 15 hours to complete. The trucks used on the day of the move were 2004 or newer as are the trucks displayed on our website. The crew was not aware of the baby grand piano, but they still moved it. JF was told about a $350 charge for packing of the baby grand piano (not $385) during scheduling. JF was given an option of signing the waiver regarding packing of the baby grand piano, which he declined to do. We always instruct our clients to contact the office during the move when questions arise. Although the office was closed on Sunday, he could have told the foreman that he needs to speak to a manager about using the boxes and we would have got this issue resolved.
In the transportation industry, companies often use other carriers to make deliveries in order to insure that customer receives his or her items on time; the customer is bound by our contract only. By law, nothing forbids us from using another carrier to make a delivery. The driver for Red Lion Moving and Storage (carrier we used for delivery) scheduled a delivery with JF, and then vanished, because of this; JF and our company went through unnecessary stress. This situation was completely out of anyone's control. JF had the phone number for the company's owner and called him several times a day at any given time. Our owner and office staff was working around the clock to get this situation resolved. When the truck was found, it was opened with the State Police present; the delivery was then made to the customer. The damage in JF's home was specified in the moving paperwork that he signed and absolves us of liability for such damage. The paperwork specifically mentions: 'I understand that attempting to move a piece of furniture into an area with difficult access for said furniture, the movers from BestWay Moving LLC are not responsible for any damages caused to furniture or property as a result of difficult access," and by signing the customer accepts the liability should such damage occur; the customer signed (copy on file). The owner of the company was due to leave the country prior to this move ever taking place to handle an urgent family matter. Despite JF rescheduling his first available delivery date and all of the issues that we had with the driver, JF still received his shipment within 6 business days from the original first available date.
JF claims that there was a breach of contract on our part; however we have done everything by the contract with JF. The shipment was delivered on time, the customer was charged based on actual weight and for actual packing materials and packing services used. We are a respectable company that takes our business seriously; we work with our clients to accommodate them and to make their moving experience as painless as possible. Unfortunately sometimes things happen that are out of our control as was the case in this situation. Despite all of the issues we worked tirelessly with our customer in attempt to reach a fair solution. However from the beginning of this issue with the driver, JF and his family tried to intimidate us by saying that they would write all these horrible reviews about us, contact the media, etc. They wanted us to refund them for the entire cost of the move, plus pay them some money on top of that; despite the fact that everything was done by the contract. Would you respond well to intimidation? Would anyone? We work with our clients, but how can you find common ground with someone who tries to intimidate you and extort money from you? Before the letter from JF with threats and intimidation, we were going to go beyond the contract to work with the client. However, the letter changed that, and now we will work only within the confines of the contract.