Complaint Review: Budget Van Lines Energizer Moving And Storage - Los Vegas Nevada

Never having moved cross country before and having limited funds, we found ourselves in need of moving from Southern California to Texas. Sometime in late September 2008 I contacted Budget Van Lines as a result of their solicitation for a moving quote. I received a quote for the move and contacted them in person to ask a multitude of questions as I had never done this type of move before. My first question to Budget was related to cost as I initially was going to go with PODS and actually had ordered a unit to be delivered. When Budgets estimate came in and I contacted them one of the things I wanted to make sure did not happen was that the price they gave me change into something more. To that end I sent Budget the following email:

"I do have on final question before I give the go ahead. Today I canceled a tentative deliver of a storage pod from Door to Door and their comment to me was as follows. " I want you to be aware that it is not uncommon for moving companies to give you a low quote and then after delivery increase the price.By law than can do this up to 110% of the original estimate".

If this is true, how can I be assured that I am not accepting an estimate of roughly $1500.00 only to later be charged another $1500.00+ dollars latter. I can barley afford $1500.00 and in no way could I afford $2000 or more dollars, how can you assure me that this

will not happen?" The response to this email was as follows: "No problem,

The estimate provided to you is a "Binding Estimate" and is a "locked-in" guaranteed rate. The estimate they are referring to is a non-binding based on pounds. In this situation you would be vulnerable and subject to the "mercy of the weight scale" if you will. Movers are

known to misquote and underestimate in-order to capture or entice the unsuspecting customer who has no idea of what his shipment weighs or the true cost to move it. This is how they manage to perform a "bait and switch". Not the case here Marvin. I'm a working man my-self and treat every customer as if I were scheduling my own family's move.

Our estimate is also weight based but is "binding". We have provided you with an estimate that you would be responsible for only 80% of the total shipment (not 100% like a non-binding). The only thing that would change the price is the fact that you would be less than 1,904 lbs. In this case you would be credited back 48 cents per pound for every lb under 1,904.

Honestly, unless you are packing solid gold bars into those boxes you'll be fine. Even if you were to come in heavier at the scales, still you're only charged at the "binding estimate" rate of 48 cents per pound. So an additional 100 lbs = $48.00 and I have yet to witness

this.

Take a look at the items on the list and the associated weight per item and you will plainly see that much of it is an over estimate for your protection at the scales. Your driver will provide certified DOT weight tickets for both before and after totals.

I'm sending over another estimate that reflects the pounds vs. cubic feet."

Of course as noted by prior complaints the cost increased by an additional $500.00 based on Energizer stating that the weight we more then estimated, but further detailes on that later. Based on the above comments by Budget, I felt that they were customer orientated and trusted the agent to help me with my move so I sent him the following email:

"Even though I have been warned against using a broker as opposed to an actual moving company with its own fleet, I am going to trust what you have told me and move forward with your offer.

What are the next steps?

I need as much time as possible to finish packing but also need to be out of here by no later than 10/28/2008 so as far as the pickup date and keeping this in mind, I will let you suggest the date. With respect to the delivery date for Keller Tx, It can be any date in

November after 11/14/2008 as I will be driving and will leave California on 11/10/2008 and want to take my time getting there so I expect to be there the 13th or 14th of November."

Note that I should have gone with what I was warned against and my instincts, but Budget said what I guess I wanted to hear so I trusted them.

After a few more emails trying to pin down the time Energizer was going to pick up may furnishings:

October 7th 2008 -Please refresh my memory on the date the movers are going to show up so I can plan being off work that day. Response October 7th 2008 - I won't know until the week of the 20th but the pick-up window is the 25th thru the 27th. I let you know as soon as I get confirmation of the day.

October 22, 2008 - Do we have a date yet when the movers will come. I need some advanced notification in able to get that day off work if necessary and to disconnect the electronics from the tv.

I am curious as to what type of truck they will bring. I believe when we talked you indicated that it would by like a Uhaul type as opposed to a truck with a trailer (like a big rig).

The reason I ask is that if it a Uhaul type then they can park it along side the apartment complex and load up. If it is a large tractor trailer then the options are considerably limited."

I never received a response to this email however I did receive a phone call from someone called John at Energizer Moving and Storage indicating that they were going to pick up my furniture on Sunday October 26th 2008 between 12:00pm and 3:00pm. Within an hour or so of this phone call I received another from someone calling himself Mike changing the pickup date for Sunday Oct 26 to Saturday the 25th between 12:00pm and 3:00pm.

This was the first indication of who was doing the moving and based on the tone of both conversations I began to have reservations about this company, I found them to be demanding and pushy during our conversations and you will hear more about this later.

To make a long story short by 2:30pm I had not seen or heard from the Energizer driver so I called Budget. The contacted Energizer who told them that they never told me anyone would be her between 12:00 and 3:00pm, the told me between 1:00 and 3:00pm. This comment seemed silly to me in light of the fact it was now 2:30pm I had not received a call and budget is now telling me that the drives has left Los Angeles and should arive on time. I told Budget that based on what they just told me there is no way the driver could be here by 3:00pm he is at least 4 hours away. Needless to say Budget says he will be here and sure enough around 7:00pm he shows up complaining that the last move was a nighmare and took longer than expected. When asked why he did not call me to let me know so I could at least go and get dinner he said he did and left a message. This excuse has been the theme of Energizer, I gave them my cellphone number so even if they did call me (which they did not) I would have recieved a voice message. Another strange fact was that whenever Energizer wanted to contact me they had no problems, like the two times they called about the pickup dates, like the time they called me twice to try and force me to accept a delivery date that was earlier then the date I put on the bill of lading, like the time they called me to tell me when they were going to deliver my goods, I think you get the message here, when its conveniant for them then I cant be reached when it is to their benefit then they can reach me.

Now that the driver is here I feel good, but this feeling quickly dissapates when he presents me with a mirade of paperwork to sign before he lifts a single box. I wont go into great detail as this would cause this report to be to long and none one would read it, but Budget's "binding estimate" included the following statement:

"Basic Full Service Move Includes:

Transportation of your shipment including all tolls and taxes.

Loading and unloading of items.

Standard disassembly and assembly of furniture.

Wrapping of furniture with moving pads (blankets).

Basic limited liability protection of $0.60 per lb. per item.

Carry of items up to 75 feet from your residence.

Carry of items the first flight of stairs."

Well not true, the first item the drive added to the bill of lading was a labor fee of $125.00 for himself and $100.00 for his father in law which he called "spare representative". Then he added $46.80 for packing material when the basic service included wrapping of furniture in blankets, but Budget when asked told me this did not include the tape. When I asked Budget how they expected the blankets to remaine on the furniture the supervisor said "good question" but still agreed with the charge (later when I complained about the fact that the weight came in 1200 lbs more than the estimate and I would have to pay almost $500 more she contacted Energizer and had these charges removed.)

My estimate included at my request an additional charge of $78.00 to specially package my 55" rear projection television which I was told would be crated. When I received my television the cabinet was badly damaged and the tv would not turn on. The special packaging I paid $78.00 for consisted of wrapping the tv in furniture blankets (which was free acording to their basic service) and then wrapping tape around the blankets to keep them on.

I could go on and on as there is a lot more to say about these two companies. But in closing, please learn by my mistake and stay as far away from these two companies as you can. Not only did I have to pay an additional $500.00 for this move, I also have a $2000.00 television that is useless, and filing a claim against Energizer would only be sucessfull if I hired an attorney. Sure I could try to file an insurance claim but even if I received a settlement of $.60 per lb it would not cover the cost of the estimate to fix let alone the fix its self.

Marvin

Escondido, California

U.S.A.