Complaint Review: SAR STORAGE AND RELOCATION - Sun Valley California

Are you planning a move soon? Are you thinking of hiring a moving company to move your precious belongings? PLEASE read my story before you decide on a company, so that you don't get scammed like I did.

I moved from California back to New Orleans last November and utilized the services of the moving company Storage and Relocation. It has been, and still is, one of the WORST experiences of my life. I feel like people need to know how some of the moving companies are treating their customers. Apparently this is not anything new. After talking to several people, I found out these things happen all the time. So, how do consumers know which company is honest, reliable and will not scam you out of money or ruin your belongings?

I spoke to the sales person for Storage and Relocation on the phone and gave her DETAILED descriptions and exact measurements of every box and every item that needed to be moved out of my one bedroom apartment. I was NEVER offered an in home estimate and didnt know I needed one. I've never used "professional movers" before, so I didn't know at the time I should have gone with a company that will do an in home estimate.

I was quoted an estimate of $1700.00 and paid $172.00 down when I scheduled the move. My planned moving date was Nov 20, 2009. They called me on Nov 18, saying they would be coming on Nov 19, a day early, so I really needed to rush to finish my packing which was not easy, especially because I had no help.

So, two men from Storage and Relocation arrive at my apt on Nov 19. Half-way through loading my things on the moving truck, Im told the cost will now be $3373.00. Thats $1673.00 more than the original estimate. I almost fell to the floor. I was in tears because my budget certainly would did not include this extra money. Renting a u-haul wouldve only cost me 1800.00 so, I told them to stop packing the truck with my things because I cannot afford that amount and that I would get a u-haul to move my own things across the country.

The foreman of the job refused to unload anything, called his boss to tell him he would not unload any of my items, that I would not pay $3373.00 and if any items were to be unloaded he would have to send someone else to do it. I was in Bakersfield and the office was in Los Angeles, so it would have been hours before anyone else would arrive to unload my things.

His boss was not happy, but no one seemed to care about me, the customer, who had planned many things around this move and now I felt like this was some sort of scam. I told him I refused to pay any more than $2000 for the job or they can unload my stuff. After "calling" his boss again and again, they agreed on the $2000. I wish now that I would have said I would only pay what I was quoted in the estimate. The foreman acted like he was doing me a favor and had the nerve to say, "I hope you know that I'm going out on a limb for you and that you will compensate me well for doing you this favor." Basically he was asking for a big tip because he "helped" to bring down the cost of my move.

They began to finish loading my things on the truck, but as they did so the foreman kept pointing out some of my larger items saying "if we load that on the truck it will cost you more." He said that about many things. So, I had to throw away many things to prevent my cost from going up. Here is what I had to throw away: laser printer, inkjet printer, 3 tier corner desk, rolling massage desk chair, rolling cart, 3 floor lamps, the cushion for my papasan chair, vacuum cleaner, carpet shampooer, large dog crate (that is foldable and they so could have fit that), BBQ grill, all my cleaning supplies, all my plastic boxes that I keep shoes in(about 50 boxes), clothes hamper, all groceries/spices(I was planning on packing those in my very small Chevy Cavalier for my drive, but since I had to pack my car down with so much I couldn't fit this stuff..and it was a lot of food).

After they loaded what they considered to be $2000 worth of items, we did the paperwork. Storage and Relocation knew from the beginning that I was also driving across the country and would need a few days to get to my knew home. The foreman gave me an earliest estimation for date of delivery to be on Nov 24, which I have in writing. Two days later on Nov 20, the foreman called me to say he would be arriving at my home in New Orleans on Nov 21. I was so upset for many reasons.

1. I would not be there to collect my things.
   
   
2. Even if I had someone to be there for me to get my things they would have needed the final payment upon delivery and that was not possible, nor would it have been right to ask anyone to borrow that amount of money.
   
   
3. The movers were 3 days earlier than their earliest estimated arrival date, which I have in writing.

At this point I was so angry. I got the name of his supposed supervisor, SERGI, and called him. He gave me 3 options:

1- Have someone there to collect my things and pay the final payment.

2- Have the movers place my things in storage and I finish the job myself when I get home.

3- Have the movers place my things in storage while they go on to whatever other states they had to go to for other peoples moving jobs and backtrack to finish my job on their way back to California.

I decided that since I was paying a lot of money, I wanted them to finish the job for which they were hired and since SERGI told me it would be at the most 7-10 days from the day they dropped off my things in storage, which was on Nov 21. I packed enough for 1 week, so, I thought I could get by on what I had with packed. SERGI also assured me my things would be in a climate-controlled environment storage facility within 4 miles of my new residence.

Fast forward to mid December...Every time I called the office I got one of two people who would answer the phone. When looking at their website there are multiple phone numbers, and in different cities and/states, however, all the numbers are forwarded to the same extension. If you try to reach customer service, all you will ever get is an option to leave a voicemail. And to reach the corporate officewell, I dont even think one exists.

All I wanted was for someone to tell me how much longer I would have to wait for my things to be delivered to me. SERGI, even after all this time has passed, was now telling me "Well, I don't know how long it will be before you get your things. It depends on how many jobs my men have before they drive back your way. It could be another two weeks before they make it back to your area."

Needless to say I was not happy. I wanted to know where my things were (which storage facility) and they refused to tell me. I decided to give them some options.

1. They get someone here within the next couple of days to finish the job.
   
   
2. I finish the job myself and pay the original estimate of $1700 less the $172 I paid upon scheduling the job and less the $1000 I paid upon them picking up my things in California.

They tried to tell me I would have to pay almost another $200 for the storage facility and I told them that would not happen because they delivered my things way too early which was not part of the plan that I signed up for, they would have to eat that cost. After going round and round, arguing with these people, they finally agreed to my idea of me finishing the job myself and paying a total cost of $1700.00. Then, they tried to say they had no record of the $172.00 I initially put down for the job. But, I had my receipt for that so I flat out told them they better find it on their end because they are not getting one more penny from me.

So, I give DAVID my payment information, thinking at that time I would get the information on what storage facility my things were being held and that's when he said this to me, "Even though you are giving me this payment today, I can't tell you where your things are until the payment goes posts on our end." It was a Friday. So, of course it wouldn't be until at least the following Monday that the money would post. Then, I found out that Storage and Relocation isn't even the moving company who moved my things. Apparently Storage and Relocation hired and/works together with "The Carrier Moving Company" and this is the company who moved my things. I was not told this at all until this point. I wasn't happy about that because I did do my research for SAR and could find nothing negative about the company, so I hired them. Had I known a different moving company altogether would be moving my things, I would have done my research on that company as well. Not that it would have done any good as they both gave me a horrible experience. Getting back to the final payment, not only did I have to wait for the money to post for Storage and Relocation, but DAVE at Storage and Relocation told me at this point that I also had to wait for the money to post when he pays SERGI and "The Carrier Moving Company".

I was so angry. Why should I have to wait for them to pay a moving company that I didn't even know was moving my things if the money posts without any problems to Storage and Relocation. This was such BS.

So the following Wednesday is when I finally got the info on which storage facility my things were being held. Now, remember, I did not sign on for my things to be put in storage. I had no choice because they got to New Orleans days earlier than they said they would arrive. I was also told the storage facility was climate controlled. I was glad because we had just had a lot of rain and I didn't want my things to be damp or wet or damaged.

The storage facility was very close to my house, but it WAS NOT climate controlled. AND THEY DID NOT LEAVE A KEY AT THE FRONT DESK FOR ME TO UNLOCK THE DOOR OF THE STORAGE UNIT! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Anyone couldve stolen my belongings. I couldn't take it anymore. It had been a month now and I had only packed for a week! The next day I had my fianc call DAVE or SERGI, I don't remember who he talked to, and that's when I found out the movers put the key under the door of the storage unit tied to a piece of folded over duct tape. That was so I could have access to the key. Are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!? Who does this? My things were sitting there for a month in a unit that is not climate controlled, in New Orleans where it had been so humid and raining, and they couldn't even leave the key at the desk. Anyone could have stolen my things. My whole life was in that unit. I was so mad. So I open the unit to find all my boxes (boxes that were in perfect condition when I packed them) all piled on top of each other and with other things on top of the boxes, and they were smashed in on the corners and just looked as though they threw them around a few times, all beat up looking.

To make matters worse, my solid wood kitchen table, although very small, was turned upside down and the legs had been removed and were nowhere to be found. What good is a table with no legs? My solid wood, very expensive, coffee table was scratched and cracked, a metal room divider was damaged beyond repair, another item with four shelves was also damaged beyond repair with one of the shelves completely broken off and one shelf was cracked. A few other things were broken that were in my boxes, and I blame them for the way they handled my things. Because I had everything padded so well, it could have only taken the carelessness of the movers to break what was in these boxes.

Of course, as soon as I noticed these things I called DAVE at STORAGE and RELOCATION and SERGI at The Carrier Moving Company to complain and all they could say is "Well, I don't know where your table legs could be. I can call the foreman and see if he can track them down and you will have to fill out a claim form for the items missing or damaged.

I filled out the forms and sent them right away via email to [email protected], not DAVE, in the claims department as instructed. Feb 27 rolls around and I still had not heard from anyone. I called DAVID multiple times but I just can't get anywhere with these people. So, I called today find out about my claim. The girl who answered said that DAVID is not the person that handles claims and that I should have talked to ROBERT, who, get this, was not in the office. This does not surprise me, but it does infuriate me. I'm so frustrated, angry... so many emotions and none of them are good. I feel like I was scammed and I worry about how many other people have had this problem.

Fast forward to today, March 1, 2010I called AGAIN to see about getting my receipt of final payment, to find out when my claim form will be processed and to talk to this ROBERT person. My call was forwarded to DAVID who told me that ROBERT is not the person I'm supposed to talk to, but he, in fact, is the person to process the claim. I admit that I was not a very nice person to him on the phone. They have all been giving me the "run-around" for months now and I just cannot take it anymore. At this point I was so angry I could hardly contain myself. Yes, I raised my voice at him, because he would not listen to anything I said. I felt like he and the rest of the people at STORAGE and RELOCATION could care less about me as a customer or my things that are missing and damaged.

Getting back to the claimDAVID tells me today that a form was mailed out to me on February 12, which I have yet to receive, for me to fill out stating that if they pay me my claim, ( which they say is the whopping amount of $162.00!!! ) I will not take any further action against their company. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I told him, in a not so friendly tone that sounds like a bribe to me. Guess what happened next? He hung up on me. I guess they think I'm just going to sit back and take the abuse. They are so wrong. I am going to get the word out to everyone who will listen.

To this day, I have yet to receive a receipt of my final payment. I called back to once again ask when I will be getting my receipt. All they can tell me is "you'll get it in an email" and "we don't know how long it will takefor you to receive it." The UN-organization of this company just amazes me.

The customer service at STORAGE and RELOCATION

is the absolute worst service

I have ever received in my entire life.

I'm writing to you in hopes to get the story out so that consumers will be aware of the risks they are taking when hiring "professional movers". I want people to know about these to companies and how badly they treat their customers. My hope is that no one else will have to suffer the stress that I had to endure for their moves.

This experience has taught me a lesson and I have learned to simply do it myself. I will NEVER again hire someone to do this type of work for me again.

Monique R. M, RN