Complaint Review: Serenity Van Lines - Internet

I booked a NATIONAL move through Beckens Moving for June 4, 2010 and was physically moved by Serenity Van Lines on said date.

 My wife and I made it illicitly clear to our booking agent at Beckens , EMMA, that there was the possibility that our national move could become a LOCAL move.  Therefore, we were given TWO(2) months storage for free.

The estimate for our national move was: $2,006.00

On the day of the pick-up we had paid a total of $1298, ($590 deposit) ($708 Pickup which comes from the 5 hours they billed us for picking up the move)

My list of grievances are:

 The move became local, so we were told, first, by our Sales Rep, Emma, that the price would be adjusted to a local move.

My wife and I spoke with Sarah at Serenity Van Lines on multiple occasions concerning the price adjustment. She said the manager, VICTOR, claimed that our contract with Beckens was only for national and international moves and because we switched to a local move with them (Serenity Van Lines) our contract was null and void.

We were told that we owed the 2 months rent at $250, plus 6 additional hours($125 per hour) for the time it took them to take our move from Valencia and unload it in Chatsworth.  We were, also, told that we owed for the delivery as well.

On August 5^th, I went to Serenity Van Lines and spoke with Victor about my move and the costs.  Victor pointed out that I owed 6 hours for the pickup. When I pressed to see any paperwork that showed it took them 6 hours,  he became irate and told me he could charge, whatever rate he wanted to charge.

I asked him that if Serenity Van Lines dealt solely, in world and perpetuity, with LOCAL MOVES then why did Serenity Van Lines and, not, Beckens have anything to do with my move in the first place? Why was SERENITY VAN LINES involved with my pickup?  He explained to me that BECKENS can hire other companies as independent contractors and Serenity Van Lines was used in my move. I asked VICTOR if Serenity Van Lines only dealt with local moves. He said Serenity only dealt with local moves. I, then asked him, again, why Serenity Van Lines had anything to do with my move because my contract was specified as being a national move with Beckons Moving. He, again, became irate, calling me stupid, and told me that Serenity Van Lines and Beckons were the same company and he managed both and could do whatever he wanted because he had our furniture. 

So, I had to negotiate a new contract with Victor, who refused to put in writing.

Instead of going being charged by the hour, I negotiated going by the weight of the the furniture at .45 cents per pound.

The weight was 4520 lbs.

and the cost in weight and what I owed was: $736.03

Even though my contract with Beckons was considered NULL AND VOID by Victor, he still charged me $405.00 because my total weight exceeded the weight EMMA from BECKENS MOVING quoted us in our estimate was: 3620 lbs.

In total my LOCAL MOVE cost $2034.03 which is more than the estimate of FOR OUR NATIONAL MOVE THAT NEVER TOOK PLACE.

Lastly, if the $708 went toward the first PICKUP of our move and the other $736.03 went toward our drop-off, then what did our $590 deposit go towards? When I asked what the DEPOSIT went towards I was told the deposit was used to hold the truck. I have never heard of a $590 deposit being placed on a moving van. Where did our deposit go?

In closing, when we contacted our sales rep, EMMA, at BECKENS MOVING to file a claim she swore up and down she had heard nothing of this and was shocked at the behavior of SERENITY VAN LINES and THEIR LACK OF PRICE ADJUSTMENT. This shocks me, since EMMA CLAIMS that Serenity Van Lines is only hired as an independent contractor, but VICTOR at SERENITY VAN LINES claims he manages both companies. Also, SARA, the office manager for serenity van lines, told me to stop contacting BECKENS because we, could contact Emma until we were blue in the face, but neither Emma nor BECKONS could do anything about our contract.    

Missing items: We had over 50 self-packed, U-HAUL BOXES. The moving list has 20 boxes with most of them denoting they were professionally packed. This is not true. And the tags on the boxes don't match the tags on our inventory. I aslo had a skirt I've never seen before placed in one of my boxes..it was NOT mine.

We are missing entire boxes of kitchenware, specifically:

Silverware

Childrens Plates

Coffee Grinder

French Press

Tea Kettle

Drying Rack

Pots and Pans

A cloth runner from Bali

Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer

BROKEN:

Wine Rack

Living Room Lamp

Dresser

Glider (rocking chair)

Bookcase

Mattress

Lost Screws for bedpost and frames.