Complaint Review: DIAL MOVING - Las Vegas Nevada

On October 5, 2012, a friend named Tom McGuire, a property manager in Sun City, gave me the name of Don Dial to contact as a possible moving company for me to use on November 1, 2012.  Don came to my house and gave me a verbal quote of $695.00 to do the move to Sun City Summerlin. 

We agreed upon the packing being done on Oct. 30^th and the move taking place on Nov. 1^st.  Don showed up on the 30^th and did all of the packing himself.  I remember when I first met him he said it would take 15 – 25 boxes to get me packed.  I could not understand that, as two other companies I interviewed said it would be 70 boxes.

His method of packing was very different than what I was used to seeing, and he observed that I was becoming stressed.  That day, as well as the day of the move, he repeated several times, “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

Don had two workers with him on the day of the move.  One couldn’t speak English, and neither one of them could read Don’s writing on each box as to its placement in my home.  Consequently, I had boxes placed in wrong rooms which was very difficult for me because then I had to move heavy boxes, myself, and had major back surgery in 2011.  I told his workers to be very careful with my furniture because almost every piece was only 11 months old.  When I said something to his two workers about not being able to read English, their response was, “for the $10 per hour he pays us to work our asses off like this, we don’t have to learn to read English.”

I was observing damage to my furniture as Don’s workers were placing it inside my home.  I pointed out to Don what I saw and asked him to come over a few days after the move to pick up the boxes he wanted and to see the damages which were as follows:

1. Scratches on the top of my new oak desk

1. Scratches on new end table in living room and coffee table

1. Finish scraped off the wood of my new loveseat in the den

1. One leg of new end table in den nearly busted off

1. Two front legs on new loveseat in den nearly split in half

1. Broken torch lamp in the living room; six years old, then costing $80.00

1. Finish on new cherry dresser top looking as though oil had been splashed on it

Don made notes of these things and asked me what I wanted him to do.

I told him I wanted $80.00 to replace my lamp (the entire underside of the base was ripped open with what looked like gravel pouring out of it so I had to leave it curbside for Republic Services to pick up).  It could not stand on its own without falling to the side.

I also explained that he would need to pay for services to get everything else repaired.  Don said he didn’t know whom to call but just to give him a little time.  A couple of days later, I got a phone call from K&D Repairs, Kirby and Deborah Kersey, a couple he had seen working outside on cabinets  in someone’s driveway in the Sun City area.  He stopped and told them about my move and asked if they would look at my damages.  This couple came over and said they are not in the business of doing furniture repair and really couldn’t help me.  They thought the dresser top would cost $350-$400 to be refinished.  I asked this couple if they could recommend someone to me, and they suggested I call Colleen’s Classic Consignment for a furniture repair person.

I did tell the Kerseys I was most displeased with my move, and they said they could see why.  Admittedly, I complained to them about Don’s services.  In addition, I called Tom McGuire, my realtor friend, explained what happened, asked him not to get involved unless I needed his help, but he said he had to call Don because he was very upset about these damages.  I asked Tom to come over and look at them, but he said my word was good enough and that he did not need to come to my house.  He claims he has referred Don to people for both moves and carpet cleaning services and this is the first complaint he received. 

I will also add here that Don said he knows a gal named Julie who does housecleaning and he would call her on my behalf, as I needed someone to regularly clean my home.  I told him when I needed her services, which was about six days out, but that I would like for her to call me soon.  Somehow, he ended up telling Julie not to call me until the day before I needed her services.  When she called me, she addressed me as “Diane Heart,” instead of my real name, because Diane Heart is the name Don gave her.  I told her about my move because I was so very upset about it.  Julie told me she was upset with Don for giving her my incorrect name and that she lost my business because Don told her not to call me until the night before…yes, I had made other arrangements. 

It is my understanding that this is a free country and people can say whatever they choose to impart to others.  Don called me on the phone and expressed his deep dissatisfaction over the fact that I complained to the furniture people he found who could not help me, to our realtor friend, and to the cleaning person he recommended.  Had his crew done a good job, I’d have been happy to say good things.  He was very upset that I had discussed what he called “our business” with other people.  I know that he is holding this against me because he has mentioned it to me on at least two occasions

At this point, I contacted Colleen’s Classic Consignment and was given the name of a former furniture refinisher/repair person, Kevin Rogers, who had been laid off from the company.  Kevin came over and fixed items above numbered 1 – 4, for a total of $80.00.  He thought he could fix the dresser top but was afraid it was out of his league for repair.

The lamp, No. 6 above, I replaced, myself.

No. 5 above, the furniture legs for the loveseat, I tracked down the manufacturer and had them send me new legs for a total of $10.00.

I verbally kept Don apprised of this, every step of the way, so he knew whom I contacted and what the fees would be.  He said he was very grateful that I had put so much time into this as he admittedly did not know where to go with these issues.  He sounded appreciative and said he would reimburse me for what is now $170.00.

No. 7, the damaged dresser top remains the issue.  I had a professional furniture refinisher come to my house on Dec. 12, 2012, who said it would cost $450.00 for him to take the dresser to his shop, sand it and refinish it. 

On Sat., Dec. 1^st, I had a furniture repairman come over from R C Willey, where I had purchased all of my furniture.  He said the dresser top was beyond repair and wrote on the service ticket:  “surface damaged by mover co.  Can’t fix.  Impractical to fix.”

I contacted R C Willey, and they said I could have a replacement dresser for the original cost of $767.89, including tax.  This dresser went up in value to $899 since I bought it, but they were willing to waive the increase and not to charge a delivery fee which was very reasonable. 

On 12/1/12, I received this text from Don:  “Received your message.  I’ll call you Monday during business hours to talk about options.”

He never called on 12/1, and on 12/3 I received the following text:  “Received your message.  Sorry I missed you.  Believe this is a fixable problem by sending my team to get it fixed.  Please let me know when convenient to come in.  Thank you.”

I texted back that we needed to talk, not text each other, as I get charged for all text messages and to please call me to set up an appointment time.

Once again, there was no return call, so I phoned him on December 4^th and left a message.  He called back, almost screaming at me, and here are some of his comments:

“You called three people and bad-mouthed my business.”

“There is no way I will replace the dresser – you cannot prove my movers did this – and  you should be happy it has legs, drawers and that it is functioning properly.”

“Nothing will make you happy.”

“You scare off people I send to your home.”  He has only sent one couple here, K&D aforementioned, and I did nothing to scare them off.  They could not help me, period.

Instead of being grateful for all the spade work I did, which he should have done, all he could do was yell at me. For someone who said “nothing bad is going to happen,” in reality, nothing good has taken place.  He has been unprofessional and disrespectful.  I do not have “options” from him that he said he would inform me of, nor has “his team” made an appointment to come over and look at the damage.  Who his ‘team’ is, I do not understand, as he told me right from the start he did not know whom to contact for help with my situation.

I feel I should be reimbursed for the $170.00 in damage and lamp reimbursement, as well as my time in doing all the legwork, and his berating me and not living up to any of his verbal promises to cooperate.  It’s been all words and no action to back anything up.

I also strongly feel he should reimburse me $767.00, the cost of replacing my new bedroom dresser.   

Receipts are included in this filing, with the exception of the lamp, which I paid less than $80 for, but cost me $80 six years ago.  Therefore, I believe that l am entitled to the $80 reimbursement.

Mr. Dial, for supposedly being a reputable mover, packed my belongings loosely and sloppily.  He did not itemize anything on work sheets, did not check my new furniture for what he might have noticed as possible defects, although I know there weren’t any, and he did not even shrink wrap my furniture!  It was unlike any move I have ever experienced, and I have experienced many in number, both locally and state-wide.