Cathy Grieco
New Castle,#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, November 05, 2009
Hopkins and Sons, Inc., agent for Atlas Van Lines is a 4th generation, full service relocation company that was started in 1946. Hopkins and Sons, Inc. has been an accredited business with the BBB of DE for 30 years with an A+ score. In addition to that, we earned the Best Family Owned Business Award for DE in 2002 (awarded by the BBB), I was selected as Delaware's 2004 Woman Entrepreneur of the year by the Chamber of Commerce and Hopkins and Sons, Inc. has been consistently recognized as a quality agent for the van line we represent for the past 12 years consecutively. Hopkins and Sons, Inc. is also a member of the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) which only allows quality relocation companies as members. This is just a small glimpse of Hopkins and Sons, Inc. recognitions, however, I feel that you need to know this information so you realize that we are not the type of company described in the report by Cenk, #483419. Mr. Caliskan is a very difficult individual to provide services to. In fact, I offered for him to PLEASE have another company come in to pick up his belongings and transport them to wherever he wanted,he would not do that, instead he felt comsumed with distributing verbal abuse to everyone he contacted within my staff. This is one customer we should have NEVER offered assured pricing to because as it turns out, he is an individual that hears what he wants to hear and interprets how he wants to interpret. Assured pricing is a Not to Exceed quote provided that the items on the survey are the ONLY items shipped. This was not the case with Mr. Caliskan's move as many more items shipped. For one example, this estimate included 122 boxes to be shipped, in fact there were 218 boxes that shipped. We did in fact provide 2 months of FREE storage and he was sent an invoice in error for the storage, however, as soon as it was brought to our attention his account was credited (we have emails to the customer to prove this) We also gave him the highest discount that our van line allows for household goods transportation. From the start of this business relationship Hopkins and Sons had been more than fair, honest and upfront with the customer. The assured price quote that the customer signed was for $5679.09 which inlcluded his cost for valuation, it was NOT $4600.00 as Mr. Caliskan quoted, yet another incorrect statement. In regards to Amber not responding promptly to Mr. Caliskan's email, Mr. Caliskan emailed her at 4:57pm on Friday, 7/24/09 since we close our office at 4:30pm Amber was unable to respond until Monday morning (we are closed on the weekend). Amber did respond to Mr. Caliskan on Monday, 7/27/09 at 10:45am (I have emails to prove). Again, a clear incorrect statement. Yes, Mr. Caliskan did DEMAND to speak with me as he states, however, when I took his call (several times) he was yelling, inappropriate and unprofessional. At this time I explained that I was not yelling at him and appreciated if he would not yell at me. He refused to do so and continued acting in this manner, I explained I would disconnect the call unless he calmed down. He did not and I asked him to please contact another company to pick up his items from our warehouse and deliver them to Utah, he refused and continued yelling, I then disconnected the call. The end result was he shipped more than the assured pricing quote and he only paid the $5679.09 clearly taking advantage of my company. One statement Mr. Caliskan did make that was correct is that I am on the executive board of the BBB effective 2009. However, that is not why we have an A+ rating. We have held that rating for many years prior to me being a member of the board (this can be verified on the BBB website). Hopkins and Sons, Inc. has been in business for 63 years and most of our customers are repeat customers just the opposite of Mr. Caliskan's statement. Fortunately, Hopkins and Sons, Inc. has many very satisfied customers which is how our business has been built by repeat customers and referrals of previous customers. Cathy Hopkins Grieco - President [email protected]