Complaint Review: Fox Moving and Storage of Knoxville TN - Knoxville Tennessee

CHECK THE BBB BEFORE DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY - WE DIDN'T AND SUFFERED FOR IT

 We hired Fox for a move from Knoxville to Townsend  We were interviewed by phone and gave extensive details regarding rooms, furniture, etc. We informed them that they would be moving us out of a two story house with stairs, and more importantly, we informed them that the house we were going to had a very steep driveway. 

 The quote we were given was: $89.00 per hour for 2 men and a truck.

 A very large truck and workers arrived at 1:45PM, and after looking through the house,"John" told us that the rate would START at $89 per hr for the first (8) hours, and after that would escalate to $109 per hr.  Because of the size of the truck, we reminded him about the steep drive and he confirmed that he was already aware, but was not too concerned. He also said that there would be an additional “Trip/Travel” Fee charged of (1) hour ($89) on top of everything. He doubted the entire move, including travel time, would take more than the eight hours.

 They loaded the truck by 5PM (3 hrs labor time) and left for our new house. We tried to lead them there, but lost them. We called and "John"  explained that they had needed to stop for a break, and he also mentioned that he was now getting concerned about the steepness of the driveway because of how the truck was handling.

 They arrived at the new house at 6:15 pm (about 30 minutes late), and parked at the bottom of the drive.  John's first response upon getting out of the the truck was “I’ll never make it up there”.  After 30 minutes of trying to get up the drive, and making several calls to his manager (brother), he finally approached us and informed us that the only way to move us in would be to either have the two of them hand carry everything up the drive, or for a second smaller truck to come assist them by transferring goods into the smaller truck, and unloading at the top of the drive.  After much discussion, I got on the phone with the manager, who was insistent on charging us additional fees and a higher rate because a second truck was needed.  After negotiating, we agreed to stopping the $89 per hr labor clock at (4) hours (2pm to 6pm), and then restarting the clock at $109 per hr once the second truck arrived. This agreement was repeated several times and was heard by everyone present.

 The second truck arrived at 8pm, - three workers began transferring goods to the smaller truck, unloading it at the house.  NO floor mats or coverings were brought or used; in the first 5 minutes before we could stop them, our beautiful new hardwood floors had deep gouges and scratches from hand trucks. 

 At 10:45, with several items still on the smaller truck, the driver presented us with a non-itemized bill for $1297.00.  Based on our agreement it should have been: (4) hours at $89 per hour / $356.00 (2PM-6PM) plus 3 hours at $109 per hr/ $327.00 (8PM-11PM) plus a Travel Fee of (1) hr /$89.00, for a total of $772.00. When we did the math for the driver, he shrugged his shoulders, said he understood, but that this was the amount “the office” had given him.  His orders were to collect it in cash, or keep the remaining goods on the truck.  We called and spoke with the manager - who flatly denied the agreements that all of us (including his crew) had heard and confirmed he had made.  We were told by him to either pay or lose our goods.  We were able to find the phone humber for the owner of the company,Amy Craig,  but even after explaining the math, and after her employee confirmed the agreement, she refused to honor the agreed upon rate.  She said she would reduce the bill to $1150.00, stealing an unwarranted  $378.00 from us.

 In taking the last piece of furniture off the truck, they forgot that they had packed the inside with household goods. When they tried to lift it, the top ripped off, the additional weight broke out the sides and back of the cabinet.  They refused to accept a claim on the basis that there were pressboard shelves in the cabinet and therefore “excluded from claimable damage.