Pods has kept all of my belongings for 10 days longer than they should have, and are unwilling to make an appropriate refund. I contacted Pods for a move on 6/25/12 and ordered their service for a move from Boise, Idaho to Magnolia, Texas. I heard about them through a coworker. I was given a quote of roughly $7000.00. My plan was to ship all of our household goods on these Pods and we would stop in Colorado for a couple of nights and then again one night in Wichita Falls. When we arrived at our new place in Texas, we would sleep in sleeping bags and eat out until our things were delivered. Pods had one container dropped off at my home in Boise on 6/26/12, as agreed. I called them again on 6/27, and was told that the soonest that Pods could come get the second conatiner would be 6/30 and the soonest that they could actually ship all of our household belongings was no going to be 7/3/12, even though I was initially told that they could ship the containers on 6/29. I reluctantly accepted this and agreed. This meant another 3-4 days minimum without our household goods when we arrived in Houston. I was told by the person that I spoke to on the phone that she would schedule the shipment for 7/3, and that my household goods would not be delivered at my new home until 7/10. She said that she would call me back after checking to see if there was any way they could do it sooner. Of course, I never heard back.
Pods then had the first container picked up on 6/28/12 and dropped another one at the same time at my home. We filled the second container and they had that container picked up on 6/30. In the morning on 7/5, while in transit to Boise, I decided to check the status of the deliver of my Pods. When I looked on their website, it told me that my containers were still in the storage facility in Boise, so I called them to see if this was correct. When I spoke to a human pods employee (It usually takes 30 to 45 minutes to get someone on the phone, except when you are making your initial order, which puts someone immediately on the phone.) they told me that the shipment had NOT been scheduled and that they could schedule it NOW, but that the soonest it could ship would be 7/10 and that the soonest that I would be receiving my pods would be 7/20 or 7/21! At this point, I couldn't cancel because we had already left Boise.
There was literally nothing that I could do because Pods already had possession of everything that we own. I told them to schedule it, but that I wanted to talk to a supervisor because I was hoping that Pods could expedite the move. This was the first time that I talked to Don Bowden. He told me that he would make sure that my move was scheduled and that he would review the phone call that I had made on 6/27, since Pods records all of their incoming calls. I was told that I could expect a call back from Pods within 36 hours. Again, this was 7/5. I finally heard back from him on 7/14, when he left me a message. I called back and left him a message and then he called me back again on 7/15. Don Bowden with Pods Corporate offices offered a $500 refund. Pods acknowledges that they made a huge mistake. For a $7000.00 total cost move, a 7% discount for the company making my family sleep on the floor for 10 additional days is absolutely unacceptable. I feel that I shouldn't have to pay anything, however, I was willing to accept $1500 as a refund, which I feel is is more than fair. This would represent a 20% discount, since Pods kept everything that we own for 40% longer than they should have. I was told that $500 was the most that Pods would pay, no matter what, and that I could agree to that or I could take nothing. I was told that I would need receipts for every expense that I incurred as a result of Pods mistake. I can't afford to keep my family in a hotel while we wait on our household goods, especially when Pods made no gaurantee of reimbursement. I chose to take nothing if that was all they were going to offer.