Complaint Review: Help U Move - Internet

That bulk head thing is weird. I've never heard or saw that in a frieght truck before. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe the truck driver had no idea what to do with all that loose stuff so he figured the wall would temporarily hold it in place. I really would have thought the driver is cases like this would refuse a pickup but obviously not. That HelpUMove place should have told you the details, right? That's what they supposed to be the experts on. They should have told you to have everything ready to go in strong boxes or wrapped up on a pallet. I bet that bulkhead was just meant to keep things together until the frieght company could do something more practical like put stuff on pallets but you really can't pallet a lot of that nonstackable stuff. Probably why the delay when they were trying to deal with it. I bet the truck driver used some of that language they're known for when dealing with al that stuff like that! That HelpUMove place should have recomended what to do or offered to do it for a charge. Sounds like a bad communiucation breakdown between you and that HelpUMove place.

Wow, as previous owner of one of these companies, I can see that you are very passionate about the consumer being wrong. I understand you think I should have expected my stuff to get destroyed as it was being unloaded and reloaded, but when I was told that my stuff would stay locked behind the plywood wall that I installed (yes, I installed it) and not touched by anyone other than me, what do you propose I should have done?

This was my first out of state move so I do not have experience with the frieght shipping business, but when a company tells me what the process is, I tend to believe what they say.

Oh, and the white gloves comment was a nice touch. Really got your point across.

I also read your story and more or less must agree with the previous poster. In nearly ten years as an owner of a shipping/freight facility, I've never seen items so blatantly disregarded with respect to protective packaging. Anyone should understand that there is a range between poor/non-exsistent packaging and good/proper packaging. Can you even imagine items packaged with less integrity than what was shipped here?? I have little doubt of what the driver of the freight truck was thinking when he saw that pile shuffled into the truck. I'm also surprised he even let you on that truck as there are safety and liability issues. Though it's possible, it's not very likely that the pickup freight truck is the same truck that delivers. Think about it. How can a truck like that be maintained and fueled, not to mention driven by a paid driver, for 850 bucks? The actual cost is FAR more than that! Therefore logistics are used for constant multiple pickups/deliveries while enroute. Truck contents must be moved to make space and logically positioned for loading/unloading. Freight is NOT a dedicated moving truck and it's not rocket science to figure out why! This is exactly why your things were moved around. You expected a custom bulkhead in a commercial freight vehicle dedicating your personal fixed space? Really? It's not feasible and when your items were moved to make room, your flimsy cheap boxes continued to break down, totes popped open, items spilled, cheap particle board crumbled, loose unpacked items were scratched, etc, etc, etc. These SELF-destructing items were precisely what caused this sloppy, poorly packed, non-banded/stretch-wrapped or palletized shipment to fall apart and need to be repacked - at the freight companies time and expense by the way) - and was probably the worst time consuming nightmare these drivers saw in a long long time. Trying to handle this heap of unpacked/non-palletized items was exactly why you camped in a sleeping bag for two weeks. This is the real world and it has nothing to do with freight abuse or neglect. You really wanted to pack so cheaply and then accept absolutely no responsibilty? If you had used new/like new proper grade boxes for EVERYTHING, inside packing to keep them firm and to prevent movement of contents, put all these boxes (totes can work if they're not cheapies) on pallets, then banded and stretch wrapped the whole pallet tightly together, this damage would never have occurred. Why didn't you do that? Let's see...you might say that you really didn't think it was necessary. That's a breach of common sense that you might not want to acknowledge to everyone. It night be better that people just think that you're cheap.

Answer this: Could you operate a profitable freight business if you had to pay a driver to drive one customers load from CA to TX in your personal gas gobbling truck for $850? You'd be bankcrupt in no time. While wearing your never-dirtying white gloves, could you give instructions for loading/unloading hundreds and hundreds of items packed just like yours and never have a box burst, crush, or scuff? All in an expedited manner. Too bad you couldn't have a shot at that. How enlightening THAT would be! By the way, how was every little item of yours tagged for delivery? Usually there's stickers places on the pallet wrapping and boxes. Tagging your stuff would have been like putting price tags on garage sale items. Crazy.

"Clearly" I think the confusion or reading this story started with the story itself, not the previous response. The story mentions aspects of two different services. One is a moving company service and the other is freight service. There is a HUGE difference! A moving service that may have been illustrated with that "picture of a couple moving their belongings" is completely different that any freight company. You did not rent a moving truck. A moving company piles your items into a dedicated truck that drives your things (and your things alone) to the destination. It's the same as renting a Uhaul truck and doing it yourself, but you're paying for someone else to load and transport. Obviously renting or commissioning a single truck for your items alone is far, far more costly as only one person must pay for the gas and maintenance of the truck plus the drivers payroll. What you used was a freight service. Maybe you were trying to be economical, but completely blew it by not packing anything properly (and it many cases, not at all!).

If you rented a Uhaul and loaded/unloaded yourself, much of those scuffs and breaks would occur all the same no matter how careful you are. Bicycle derailers and brakes are designed to easily pivot and the chains/cables pop off. Simple fix. The scratches are a result of NO protective packing and it defies common sense to expect a magic protective force field around it. Same with the suitcases. Suitcase are made to protect the contents, NOT themselves! If they have sentimental value, why didn't you put them in a box?? (And honestly - irreplacable? They have little value and can be often found in thrift stores.) Same with totes. Totes are made to carry/store things around a house, not ship! If you want totes not to get scuffed, box them and let the box get scuffed! Like the previous poster said, those moving/storage boxes are thin and not designed to ship. All your pictures show is that you overloaded these light weight boxes. You have no one to blame but yourself for using those cheap cardboard boxes and totes with lids that pop off. When you lifted those light duty boxes yourself, the bottoms inevitably buckled in your hands and contents rattled around. Wasn't that a clue to what would happen? Did you expect that magic force field to keep those boxes together and not crush? Another thing, the word 'DELL' on a box should dictate 'this end up' and make others liable for leaky containers? You really believe that?

All this time to blame the freight company. Were you concerned enough to ask or look up the required packing methods to protect your things? Did you just assume? Have you even taken the time to review the recommended requirements AFTER delivery or are you on an escalating rampage to burn time taking pictures to blame others for your handywork? Let me guess...nope...you never ever bothered educating yourself (which tends to say that you make the same mistakes over and over.) With all the time with pictures and blame, why haven't you checked the guidelines?? Others do, but the information doesn't pertain to you? The answer to that is obvious.

The photos were taken the day the truck was delivered to me. At some point during the move it was unloaded by someone and then repacked (this was not supposed to happen). These photos do not represent the way I packed the truck.

When shipping by freight, many loads at different delivery locations need to be accommodated. During any frieght process by any freight company, logistics dictate that loading and unloading may be necessary. For example, first items in a truck are not necessarily the last items delivered. It appears that you yourself may have put items on the truck, but small containers such as you had used would need to be palletized, as small single small items are a cumbrance in large trucks.

It is odd, however, to have scuffing and drag marks in properly packaged items. Mattresses in plastic bads are prone to scuffing, and obviously can not be covered by insurance. The scratches on the black panel are odd as a proper cardboard box, along with styrofoam mimmicking original factory packaging, would have prevented them. As far as the picture of the boxes and totes go, the only possible concern seen is the crushing of the junk cardboard moving boxes. Uhaul sells low grade 32ECT boxes, which are designed for light duty moving, not freight or common carrier. Those boxes in question clearly show, at least at time of arrival, that they are partially hollow and lack proper internal packing. Depending on weight, box strength should be a minimum of 200ECT when properly packed.

With all due respect, using the same time as it took to write this complaint, information could have been gathered online in any carrier website that would have described how to pack properly. Likewise, it would explain why damage occurred if it was not. Though Help U Move would not be any more liable than a post office for their customer packaged items, they should have explained the inadequacy of your packaging. It would then be your decision to pay for proper packaging, do it yourself, or try to save a buck and take chances by not bothering at all with doing it to industry standards. And, as always, ignorance is no excuse to hindsight.

The same results with any freight company would have been virtually unavoidable. With any reputable moving/shipping company, the trucks, operators, demographics, etc, are for all practical purposes identical. I am curious, however, about why freight was used for at least the majority of the containers sent. I mean, $850?? The issue of proper packaging aside for a moment, shipping those small containers via standard UPS would have been FAR less expensive. I dare say you could have easily saved $300-400 compared with freight. You would have also saved the $250 movers service which a portion of, perhaps, could have been used to pay someone to package your items correctly. If you had used a The UPS Store, for instance, you would not have paid the retail markup that Help U Move subjected to you.

I recently ordered a large furniture set that was freighted and arrived with severe damage. It would have been easy to blame the the apparent thing currently in front of me at that time - the freight truck - but I believe common sense showed me that the damaged wood and broken stained glass was due to improper packaging and palletizing. Only light grade cardboard was used over popped bubblewrap and thin plastic strapping was used to hold hundred of pounds together. Fortunately, the company I purchased it from promptly made it right. From what the photos show in your case, damage responsibility should be held by whomever packed the items in such a manner. 

Though it may be a mute point now, I wonder why Help U Move utilized a less efficient and more costly freight service for the majority of your items. And, again, if not for their own behalf to promote their business revenue or at least maintain customer satisfaction, I'm surprised they did not offer or suggest proper packaging. This by no means makes them liable for customer packing, but some people just don't understand when the proper explanation doesn't repair or reimburse them.