Do not use this mover! They are horrible!
Written: Sep 28 '07
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Pros: Driver polite and hard-working. Customer service representative polite and understanding, but inevitably useless.
Cons: Agent lied, owner did not return calls, movers lazy, slow, damaged belongings, billing department rude.
The Bottom Line: Don't use them
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| irishdoc's Full Review: Bekins Van Lines |
We had a bad move a few years ago, and were very concerned that it might happen again. We settled on Bekins after the agent, Jeff Grant, in Norfolk, VA convinced us that they were the ones to use. We had several concerns about moving our entire 4 bedroom house.
One of the ways we were convinced to use Bekins was by Jeff promising us that his estimate would be a set amount, whereas any other mover would not give us the real total until they weighed the truck. This was appealing since we preferred to know the whole amount ahead of time.
We had several items broken in a previous move, so we were delighted when Jeff assured us that the truck that picked up our belongings in Virginia would be the same truck that dropped them off at our new house in Florida. The process of unloading everything into a warehouse and then repacking it into the truck is where we assumed much of the damage had occurred in a previous move.
We actually cancelled a contract with another company to go with Jeff and Bekins secondary to the very reasonable estimate he gave us after going through our entire house. He assured us that if there were any problems, he would come out to the house personally to make things right.
On the day the move was scheduled, the movers did not show up until 6pm. We had waited all day. They were four tired individuals, who stated that they had already done two or three moves that day. They began to load the truck, but not very quickly. They scraped the wall with the expensive heirloom furniture that we had asked them to take extra care with. They left gouges in the right-angle turn of the stairway... in a house we were still trying to sell! They took many cigarette breaks and stood around quite a bit. They continued to complain loudly about how tired they were. Two of them left. Finally, at midnight, with only 1/2 or 2/3 of the house loaded onto the truck, they left. After about 7pm, Jeff did not answer his cell phone.
Prior to that, at 6pm when the movers showed up, they told me that this was NOT the truck that was going to Florida, but that instead it was to be unloaded at the warehouse and re-loaded onto a different truck. My wife and I were understandably upset. Jeff did answer his phone then and said that the driver was sick, or was it the truck broke down, he was not sure but it was beyond his control. He assured me that he had his "best guys" loading the truck and that he would personally watch the truck being unloaded at the warehouse. We later learned that two or the four movers were temps who had just started with the company. This was only the beginning of the nightmare.
Since we could not start our 14 hour drive on the day we moved out, we had to sleep on the floor of our empty house and wait for the movers to return in the morning. My wife was in tears most of the night. They showed up around 9am and finished loading the truck around 1pm. We could finally start our long drive to Florida. We made it, but a few days later they tried to charge us for the "extra" 2000 pounds our belongings weighed. We talked to many different individuals about the discrepancy between what Jeff told us and what they wanted to charge (about an extra $800). Only Sandra in customer service was the least bit helpful.
We payed $480 for insurance on our belongings, but Jeff did not remember to tell us that all boxes "packed by owner" (PBO) were excluded from that insurance. He did encourage us to pack as many electronics and mirrors as we could ourselves. Some damage did occur, including some to expensive pieces of furniture we had asked the movers to be extra careful with (scratches, dents).
The truck arrived in Florida about a week later right on time. The driver was very nice and respectful. He was alone, however, and it took several hours to have even one other mover arrive to help. Shortly afterwards a few more men arrived. Despite the heat, they were relatively efficient and unloaded the truck in about 4 or 5 hours. The door moldings and walls took a few bruises. They had some trouble re-assembling some of our furniture, and I actually put a few things back together myself. Finally, we got them out of our house.
During this debacle, I actually called my attorney. We were so upset at having been lied to by Jeff so many times in a row. He continued to not return phone calls and avoid us. I tried contacting his boss, Billy, who also did not call me back.
We payed 110% of the estimate (the maximum they can require by law) and have not payed any more since. We are getting bills with late charges. I called and spoke to a very rude woman at the collections department who told me that we signed a contract and there was nothing she could do. Sandra in customer service was much nicer but essentially said the same thing. They told me I could call Billy in Norfolk and try to get him to refund some of the money, but that is the gentleman who won't return phone calls.
In summary, DO NOT USE THIS MOVER. I feel exactly as if a con man had stolen my life savings. Jeff lied to us on at least 5 distinct occasions. He was unavailable and useless after he had closed the deal. We will inevitably end up paying the extra money to either my lawyer or the company to just make this disastrous move go away, but that is not how it should be. A huge, wealthy company like this should have swallowed the difference in the fees to make this right. At very least they should have disciplined the con man, Jeff Grant, who lied to us and mislead us. I have never been this disappointed with the level of service I received. BEWARE of Bekins, don't let them do to you what they did to us.
Recommended:
No
Punctuality: Showed up late
Lost Goods: No
Amount Paid (US$): 4212
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irishdoc
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Reviews written: 1
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