C. Michelle
Jacksonville,#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, March 01, 2005
Suddath Relocation Systems of Texas, Inc. 1990 North Highway 360 Grand Prairie, TX 75050 (972) 660-5600 February 28, 2005 Dear Sir: This letter is in response to the letter published on your website by Mr. Naveed Kahn on February 17, 2005. Mr. Kahn failed to provide all of the facts surrounding his move and we trust that you will post this rebuttal on your website. Suddath Relocation Systems of Texas, Inc. (Suddath) is an agent of United Van Lines, LLC (United). Both United and its sister company, Mayflower Transit, LLC (Mayflower), are wholly owned subsidiaries of UniGroup, Inc. In July 2004, Mr. Kahn hired Suddath to transport his goods from Texas to Virginia. As an agent of United, Suddath operates under United's interstate operating authority when providing interstate moving and relocation services. Mr. Kahn moved on very short notice during July, which is the busiest time of year in the moving industry. Thus, in order to ensure that a truck was available to transport Mr. Kahn's belongings, a Mayflower truck was assigned to transport the goods on Suddath/United's behalf. This was not a bait and switch, but a legitimate use of an affiliated company's equipment to ensure that Mr. Kahn's goods arrived on time. We also take great issue with Mr. Kahn's statement that his goods were unloaded, placed in an unauthorized storage facility for the week, and then reloaded carelessly . . . While another customer's goods were likely on the same trailer and might have required some rearranging of the goods on the trailer, Suddath did not remove his goods from the trailer or place them in storage at any time. Mr. Kahn has no basis for his allegation. Further, Mr. Kahn's statement that he was unsatisfied with the services provided by Suddath are without merit. A review of Suddath's file regarding Mr. Kahn's move indicates that Mr. Kahn's was extremely happy with the services provided. Specifically, on July 2, 2004, the day Mr. Kahn's goods were packed, he was contacted by a Suddath representative and Mr. Kahn advised that everything was going well and the crew was handling his belongings with care. (emphasis added). On July 3, 2004, the day Mr. Kahn's goods were loaded, he was again contacted by a Suddath representative and again Mr. Kahn advised that everything was moving along just fine and that the crew was doing a great job. (emphasis added). Finally, on July 13, 2004, the day Mr. Kahn's goods were delivered, he advised Suddath that he was very happy, everything was going very well, and the crew was doing a very good job. Providing good customer service is of paramount importance to Suddath. This is demonstrated by the fact that, during a conversation with Mr. Kahn on July 13, 2004, he advised that there were scratches on some items. Federal law and the tariff under which both Suddath and United operate provides that a claim for damages must be submitted in writing. However, in the spirit of good faith, Suddath contacted a repair company to assess and repair the damage to Mr. Kahn's bedroom furniture on July 20, 2004, even though Mr. Kahn had not yet sent in the required claim form. On July 29, 2004, Suddath contacted Mr. Kahn again and advised that his claim form had not yet been submitted. Without the claim form, Suddath did not know if Mr. Kahn had any additional claim issues and, as a result, was not in a position to settle the claim. Suddath finally received Mr. Kahn's claim form on August 16, 2004. Part of Mr. Kahn's claim was for lost or missing items; however, there was no documentation to support Mr. Kahn's claim. At origin, the van operator inventoried each item and/or box that was loaded on the trailer and, when each box and/or item was unloaded from the truck, both Mr. Kahn and the driver checked it off on the inventory form. Mr. Kahn checked off the inventory at destination, but did not indicate that there were any missing items at that time. Further, there is a place on the bill of lading for a customer to take exceptions at destination (i.e. if items are not received, noticeable damage, etc.) Mr. Kahn did not make any exceptions on the bill of lading as to any loss or damage. Because the items Mr. Kahn claimed as missing were never listed on the inventory and he never made any exceptions on the bill of lading, there was no evidence that the alleged missing items were ever transported. Thus, Suddath/United did not reimburse Mr. Kahn for some of the claimed items because there was no record that they were included in the shipment. I wonder whether Mr. Kahn filed a police report regarding the alleged missing items or if he reported them to his homeowners' insurance company? Aside from the lost or missing items that Mr. Kahn could not substantiate, Suddath and Mr. Kahn reached a settlement agreement with respect to the remainder of the claim. On October 15, 2004, Suddath forwarded a settlement check to Mr. Kahn as final settlement of this matter. In addition, Suddath authorized additional repairs to damaged items. However, because Mr. Kahn was out of the country for a period of time, the repairs were not completed until January 3, 2005. Mr. Kahn accepted Suddath/United's offer in full settlement of his claim for loss and damage and the claim has now been closed. Contrary to Mr. Kahn's baseless allegations, Suddath is a reputable moving company. In fact, our reputation for quality and good customer service has been recognized through the various industry awards. Suddath tries to provide the very best customer service for each customer. We take complaints very seriously and view them as an opportunity to improve our service when merited. However, as illustrated above, Mr. Kahn indicated to Suddath that his move went well and that there were no service issues other than some minor repairs which Suddath attempted to remedy as quickly as possible. Since you published Mr. Kahn's version of the events, I hope that you will publish Suddath's version as Mr. Kahn's omissions are material and likely libelous. I look forward to your prompt response. Very truly yours, Richard Eschbacher, President cc: Joanna Aman, Esquire Nancy O'Haugherty Michelle Chance