Complaint Review: Nation Relocation Inc. - Norcross Georgia

January-February 2009

Bottom Line: In case you dont read the entire review, the take-away is to avoid this moving company. They are an unprofessional and poorly run operation who treat their customers horribly and are intent on misleading them and scamming the maximum amount of money they can while taking absolutely no care with your belongings.

The Company

The company we hired was called Nation Relocation, Inc. However, after reading multiple reviews and researching DOT and insurance records, we believe this company has operated, or is operating, with the following names.

Nation Relocation, Inc.

1680 Atlantic

Blvd Suite D

Norcross, GA 30071

DOT # 1785176

A Van Lines LLC

1680 Atlantic

Blvd Suite D

Norcross, GA 30071

DOT # 1719287 

ENTERPRISE RELOCATION SERVICES INC

1680 Atlantic

Blvd Suite D

Norcross, GA 30071

DOT # 1847246 

Quick Trip Vanlines

6180 Atlantic

Blvd. Suite B

Norcross, GA 30071

DOT # 1246490

Arsenal Van Lines, Inc

6180 ATLANTIC

BLVD STE B
NORCROSS, GA 30071-1309

DOT # 1267793 

It appears when the company gets too many complaints or is levied a fine by the DOT, (or has been ordered to cease operations as an illegal moving company by the state of Georgia as Quick Trip Vanlines was), they simply close down the old shop and re-open under a new name and DOT number.

The Estimate

They asked for a list of our items mostly furniture, big stuff over the phone and provided an estimate we loved. (Too good to be true, yes.) When they arrived and saw what we had, they upped the price by the estimate x 5.

Pick-up; the Movers and (lack of) Equipment

1. They arrived three hours late.

2. They arrived in a Ryder truck.  I asked why the company didnt have its own fleet and was told their truck broke down. This would turn out to be a lie.  (We now know, of course, that one of the big dont do it! signs is when a company doesnt have its own moving truck. Lesson #1 learned.)

3. The truck was already half- filled with other peoples household goods, which isnt unusual by itself, but it also didnt appear there would be enough room for our items. I asked about this and was told it would all fit fine. Not so.

4. Luckily I had some extra boxes left over from a previous move or they would have run out. They also brought no tools for furniture (they used mine), no razor blade or knife (they used mine), and no markers (they used mine.)

30 Days of Storage Included in the Contract, but Not in Reality

When we had our household goods picked up we didnt have a place to live yet in our new state, so we made sure our contract included storage for 30 days. During the pick-up, I explained to the driver we didnt have a place to live.

About 4 or 5 days after the pick-up, the driver said hed be delivering our goods in the next couple of days.  We asked where he intended to unload the items, and he said in our new city and state. We asked him to put the items in storage as we originally requested, and he said if we did that, they would have to charge a $200 re-delivery fee for a local move from storage to our place. We explained this was not in our contract and we wouldnt pay it.

Okay, the foreman said. I can wait a day, maybe two days.

Misleading Payment Options

This is a long story. In short: the company said it would take an up-front payment over the phone plus a small deposit but they only took the deposit. On arrival, they wanted a money order. They ended up taking a check and said a check for the rest would be fine on deliver, too. Not so.

On delivery, I got on the phone with the home office and was yelled at and verbally assaulted. He told me he would charge me for the time it took to figure it out, and when I said I wouldnt pay for that, he began yelling at me. I hung up. 

I should also mention the only option for calculating the cost was by cubic foot. After some research we should have clearly went with a by-weight carrier.

The Packing Job How They Broke and Damaged our Items

A three-bedroom took them 9 hours to pack.

1. The foreman liked to gawk at my things, talk, and nap. He tried to get me to give him one of my military coins.

2. The partner packed the first room the kitchen well while I watched, but after I left he did things I wouldnt discover until they arrived to unload, like carelessly piling random items on top of other random items to include the contents of dumped-out drawers, scratchable wood, a wood radio/CD player, a heavy, metal, WWII bomb, dumped-out pen holders, old (1800s early 1900s old) hardcover books tossed in here and there with no care taken to lay them flat, and anything else he could find that would fit and all of it a tall wardrobe box.

3.  They didnt fit all of our stuff in one truck, either on packing day or on the day it was meant to travel. The bulk arrived a month before the remainder.

On Arrival

The slow foreman was even worse on delivery. After a short time of carrying the smallest boxes, he said he was sick and sat in the truck. His partner tried to call some local day labor, but was not successful. I had to help carry the heavy items. 

I discovered, in the truck, heavy items piled on light items; breakable items sandwiched between heavy solid items, and an upside-down lawn-mower on top of our boxes. The mower had been drained, but the remaining fluid leaked onto (and seeped inside) that wardrobe box with all those old books in it along with three new throw rugs (all ruined).

They managed to break the glass of a $200 picture frame, and they also somehow punctured the box holding our TV on the side where the LCD screen was. (To our utter shock, they didnt damage it.)

They Almost Drove Away With Our Things

On delivery, after ending the heated dispute with the owner about payment and hanging up my phone, I saw the foreman on the phone. He hung up and he and his partner were making a b-line for the truck. I asked where they were going and they said they wanted some breakfast. I told them we would get them breakfast. Anything they wanted on us. (I had a sneaking feeling theyd been told by the home office to leave.) They declined. They promised theyd be right back. I followed them to the truck with the police on speed dial on my cell phone and told them point blank they were not leaving. If they truly wanted breakfast Id get it for them, but there wasnt any way I was letting them drive off. They relented, declined breakfast, and waited while I sat outside the truck and watched them while waiting for my wife to return with the money order.

Reimbursement for Damaged Items? Uh, no.

Probably our fault for not finding the small print, but this company says it reimburses sixty cents PER POUND of damaged items. So, if they lose a million-dollar necklace that weighs half a pound, you get thats right thirty cents from them.

The foreman apologized for the packing and the breaking of things and said, Text me how much it costs. Ill send you the money myself. I made a list (over $600 in damages), texted it to him, and he called back to say he couldnt pay it. (Naturally.)

See, it seems he dropped one of the money orders we paid with ($500), and that got him fired.

Small victories.