Bekins in Atlanta - Sykes Transport
Written: Oct 25 '03
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Pros: The driver and his crew were well-intentioned, but just cogs in a rotting wheel.
Cons: Multiple breeches of contract; no replies to mail or voice mail; corrupt agents
The Bottom Line: Please, do yourself and your family a big favor. Avoid Bekins Van Lines if at all possible.
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| tyrol's Full Review: Bekins Van Lines |
Below is a copy of the 1st of 4 letters I have sent to Bekins HQ in Chicago. No replies. No returned voice mails. Nothing bu tunmitigated incompetence. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
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Attention: Customer Relations Department
This letter is to acknowledge receipt of invoice (#) and to outline the basis of our position that no payment will be made. Known damages to our insured property directly as a result of the move, as well as other extenuating circumstances associated with the move experience itself, such as the required use of our labor and transport vehicles, mandate this action.
Senior management at Bekins also needs to know that the Sykes Transfer operation in East Point, Georgia, has seriously betrayed your corporate mission, and engendered lost goodwill that the wider Peachtree City community with which we are associated will not soon forget. By way of background, let me state that we have been professionally moved many times before: from Atlanta, Georgia to Frankfurt, Germany in 1992. From there to London, England in 1995, and from there back to Atlanta in 1999. Therefore, knowing that despite our best efforts to select a reputable moving company, plan a timeline, organize our household possessions, and otherwise prepare for a somewhat known experience & to have it all result in thousands of dollars worth of damage, and a litany of inconveniences – was a hugely regrettable disappointment that has negatively affected our entire family.
It all started with your sales agent making a number of promises that Sykes’ operation apparently had no intention of ever delivering. For example, after an inspection of our household possessions and generation of the resultant “not to exceed” estimate; the following was promised to take place:
· 4 packers would be onsite for about 8 hours, on 2 consecutive days.
· 5 loaders would fill the container by the end of the 3rd day.
· Extensive use of bubble-wrap in the packing process.
In fact, the following occurred:
· 3 packers came the first day, and after working over 12 hours straight determined it was too dark to continue. There were literally “zero” rolls of bubble-wrap authorized on their packing materials order sheet. Numerous unmet promises were made during the work day that it was “on its way over”. These remarks came via sporadic cell phone conversations with the sales agent, following our statements that we were about to drive to Staples to purchase such materials ourselves. Given the delicate nature of many of our possessions, we actually had to provide our own tissue paper so that the packers could continue to do their work. None ever arrived on that day.
· 4 packers came on the beginning of the second day, but one of them (“Jerome”) was so utterly incompetent that he caused more damage than any assistance he could have provided. I personally witnessed him drop a computer in its box down the stairs, attempt to roll a 100 pound kitchen butcher’s block across the yard even though two wheels had long ago dropped off behind him, and numerous other negligent actions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we began unpacking here in Connecticut that we discovered some of his other handiwork. Indeed, we were later informed that Sykes had actually seen fit to terminate this untrained, patently unprofessional employee the very next day. Clearly this man’s reputation preceded his being assigned to handle our goods, and it is very troubling to know he was freely allowed to conduct his “swan song” on our property.
· Late into the 2nd day, it became increasingly clear that there was no way all the packing would be finished in time. Numerous phone calls were placed pleading for additional manpower. At about 5pm, two other packers arrived on the scene to lend a hand, despite the fact they had already worked a full day on another nearby job. Unfortunately, one of these employees (“Willard”) apparently decided he was the new on-site supervisor and proceeded to reassign the remaining packers to begin disassembling the beds - even though we had earlier agreed these would be the very last items packed. Simultaneously, his co-worker went into the basement and, we’ve now discovered, threw together such items as: dress suits hung in plastic protectors with laundry bleach bottles, a polished pine dining-room table leaf with metal garden rakes, and a $400 copper art sculpture with mechanical tools! But a worse offense was actually witnessed as it happened, and physically pointed out to the sales agent, “Willard”, and the other crew: our daughter’s brand new (April 10, 2003) mahogany sleigh bed was badly scratched in multiple places due to careless disassembly, and rough handling. Furthermore, the new queen-sized mattresses were literally dragged across the floor tearing out the handles, down a flight of stairs, across filthy packing boxes (used as a protective floor covering) and onto the garage floor for later packing. This incident alone represents over $2000 worth of damage. We later came to learn that apparently “Willard” and the owner of Sykes Transport are close friends, with the latter providing damaged and abandoned goods to the former for him to sell on consignment in a local “antiques shop”. Perhaps he envisions obtaining this bedroom suite in future to add to his inventory? Another point needs to be made. Although one of the competent crew members; “Burnette” did set aside a number of items that corporate policy mandates could not be moved, “Willard’s” accomplice made it a point to pack them all up – sarcastically telling my wife that “the trick is to just pack them up and call them bathroom items. It’ll be fine. That’s the way to get away with it.” Burnette and my wife were both shocked, but did not have the time or awareness of what was happening to talk him out of his plan. This tells us that either malice or plain stupidity is also involved in that individual’s behavior. We paid the price later with ruined clothes.
· After 14 hours of activity, I finally had had enough and insisted that the packing crew “call it a day”. It is absolutely ridiculous to expect your workers, let alone your customers, to keep going like this. Is this standard practice? Work all night if you have to? Never mind that the customer has a life too? Children to take care of? If so, that reality needs to be clearly spelled out up front. Not lied about, and papered over as if this is some sort of exception to the rule. Do not treat your clients like fools. There is no way that limited manpower was going to finish this job properly in two 8-hour days, and Sykes’ knew it.
· By the time loading of the container finally began (1 day late), it quickly became clear that we were facing another 14+ hour day. It needs to be stated that I myself worked continuously for 3 days, helping the loaders get our possessions down the driveway, into the shuttle truck, et cetera. I am certain that without my help, we would have been another day behind! As it turned out, there was not enough space to pack all of our belongings, which forced us to leave some things behind (plants, garden items, miscellaneous furniture items), and to use our own vehicles to assist in transporting items to Connecticut (vacuum cleaners, garden supplies, clothes, and numerous other items). No alternative was ever offered by the agent.
· The delivery and unpacking of our goods did take place on the appointed date. However, it was – incredibly – a 16 hour day with me working non-stop to assist before everything was out. It is again ridiculous to expect your clients to supervise a 2-day job crammed into 1-day. Never mind that the crew needs to eat occasionally! It is the height of inconvenience, and a high stress situation since the biggest pieces of furniture are the last ones out – and these are the very pieces being moved when the crew is totally exhausted. And it is dark! What kind of a way to run a business is this? At this juncture, I would like to point out that the crew chief assigned to our job (“Al”), and his two co-workers are perhaps the best employees in the Sykes operation. But they are clearly cogs in a wheel, and labor under what I consider ignorant, self-absorbed and utterly unprofessional management.
Recognizing we would be facing damages and claims (for $700 a non-deductible full replacement policy was purchased), my wife contacted a rep in the East Point office. He was well aware of the known problems we had in the run-up to the moving truck actually beginning its journey north. My wife called the Sykes offices 3 times during the week of 9June. On each occasion, a promise was made to send a contact name / number for Bekins HQ in Chicago, and for necessary claims forms “to arrive within 3 days”. To-date, we have received nothing – not a phone call, email, nor anything in the US mail.
Ironically, about 10 days after arriving in Simsbury we were telephoned at home by a tele-marketing firm conducting a customer satisfaction survey on behalf of Bekins! On the surface, this would appear to be the sort of proactive, customer focused process any dedicated service-oriented business should employ. Unfortunately, even this exercise proved to be an exercise in futility. When asked to rank a number of move-related experiences between 1 and 10, it quickly became clear that this individual really could care less about our level of (dis)satisfaction. All she wanted was our gradings, and when asked to please have a corporate executive at Bekins contact us to discuss this move, we surprisingly (sic) were suddenly disconnected! Do you have a record of this conversation in your marketing database? Is it acted upon, or just a waste of everyone’s time and money? This feeble attempt to generate a feedback loop with your clients did nothing but leave us further frustrated and disillusioned with Bekins Van Lines.
On Tuesday, June 17th my wife called the Sykes office again, and spoke to a secretary asking for “a manager able to make decisions” to call her back before that Thursday (garbage pick-up day here). The pressing issue was the fact that multiple ruined clothes were being stored in the basement for your claims people to inspect – in the event they wanted to. Broken perfume bottles, bleach, and garden peat moss were all packed in with winter jackets, silk ties, men’s suits, and other items (by “Willard’s” buddy). We waited another 9 days, until June 26th, before throwing them all out. At that point we had decided we were storing a health hazard, as mildew was growing on the garments and the resultant smells were beyond even our levels of tolerance. The soiled boxes of items were put in the garbage and hauled away to the local dump on June 26th, after stewing in their juices for almost one full month. These items represented over $1000 in ruined clothes.
Lastly, we were also compelled to organize the pick-up and disposal of all cardboard packing boxes, at our own expense, having no confidence in the ability of your company to fulfill even this basic obligation.
Today is June 27th and again my wife called the Sykes offices, this time to have the same sales agent answer the telephone. Characteristically, he feigned no knowledge of our “problems or concerns”, even though he was profoundly aware of our experience in PTC. Indeed, on the evening of the 3rd day there, he literally walked away from the high-tension situation that was unfolding, and literally just drove away, as things were getting out of control - what with “Willard” damaging practically everything he and his co-worker touched. We did not see him again throughout the container loading timeframe.
An itemized list of known damages to-date continues to be developed, however, so far approximately 75% of all packing boxes have been opened and inspected. According to our conservative calculations, known damages already exceed $6000, not to mention the emotional stress this entire experience has placed on our family.
Again, we consider any request for payment by Bekins Van Lines to be an unacceptable action. Feel free to have a senior executive, from Bekins Van Lines corporate offices in Chicago, contact us on 860-651-5220 if you would like to discuss this matter further.
Recommended:
No
Punctuality: Showed up late
Lost Goods: Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 8800
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Epinions.com ID:
tyrol
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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