Complaint Review: Starving Students - Los Angeles, Oakland California

I moved last Saturday(2/3/07), and I cannot get any help in filing my complaint. Our movers were lazy, rude, reckless, and completely inept. I was shocked to hear the head mover tell the other movers to "stand around and wrap up the furniture, that's how you clock the most hours".

They got in a near physical fight with one of our neighbors, about the position of the moving truck. They took 6 hours to move 11 pieces of furniture, 4 of which are now broken/damaged. And we only moved 2 mi. away! They told me that my friends and I were doing so much of the work that they should just sit down and pay us. One of the movers said they don't need this job, it only keeps him out of jail, another told me he was glad he had another "real" job.

There was another move going on in the building at the same time, and when the elevator was in use by the other movers, they stood around and said " I don't get paid enough to take the stairs". And the head mover was so rude, he complained to my husband that I was being bossy and telling them what to do. As if I had no right to direct the movers that I HAD HIRED!

Once they finally arrived at our new place, they broke my great-grandmothers dresser, and told me it wasn't their fault because the pavement was uneven. Now, I am no mover but, if I saw uneven pavement, I would have lifted the dresser by hand, not ran over it with a dolly. My son's changing table was broken when it was unpacked. I received a response that it must have shifted during the move, it wasn't their fault, and since it was made a particle board they shouldn't have moved it anyways. I never asked them to move it, when I asked the mover why they moved it, despite the strict "no-particle-board" rule, he responded "I was doing you a favor".

My leather couch was beat up as well. The leather is rubbed down extremely far on almost every corner, and there is a rip on the back cushion. Again I was told it wasn't their fault because it was such a big couch. Now, my husband and I moved the couch into the apartment originally. So I KNOW it fits without damage. My brand new flooring in my new place was badly scratched by the movers unloading the furniture.

When I started to point out all of the damage to my belongings, one mover got really quiet and said "this isn't cool", another mover told me it isn't going to do any good to complain about the move, nobody is going to do anything about it anyways. I was so incedibly upset that I signed all the papers shaking and crying and realized after I calmed down, I shouldn't have signed a single thing!

I thought for sure he was mistaken. How could NOBODY respond to such an atrocious move? Yet, I called the 1-800 # on Sat. and Chris was helpful enough to give me the regional # 510.451.1303 for Greg or Tamika, and the extention for the claims dept. #257 for Darrin. I called Darrin on Sun. and left him a lengthy message with every contact # I have and begged him to get back to me. I receieved no call back. My husband Matthew has repeatedly called the regional # and EVERYTIME, EVERYDAY it goes to a message to please call back during business hours. He has called at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 3pm, and 4:30pm.

Kate

Oakland, California
U.S.A.