Moving With Supposedly Professional Movers
We used supposedly professional movers to get our household goods from
Alameda, CA to Madison, WI. The firm that we unfortunately chose was,
Rossiter Relocation Services. Our instructions to
the movers were very clear:
- Pick up our household goods from our apartment in Alameda, CA on 27 Jun
02. - Deliver those goods into temporary storage.
- Deliver our goods to our house in Madison, WI on 02 Aug 02.
We contacted several movers before choosing Rossiter and all the movers
made it very clear that these instructions were very clear and very easy to
execute on their part. Rossiter sent over a seemingly knowledge man to
provide us with an estimate (binding, thankfully) based on the inventory of
our apartment. This estimate was lower than some of the other
estimates that we got and higher than others. We weren’t quite
comfortable choosing a mover that wasn’t a “national” mover even
though some of the local companies offered us excellent rates. So, we
chose United Van Lines and their proxy, Rossiter Relocation Services.
The whole moved started auspiciously enough.
On the appointed day, and at the appointed hour, two friendly gentlemen
showed up at our apartment in Alameda and carefully loaded our household
goods onto a moving truck. This moving truck headed out for
Livermore, CA, where the goods were off-loaded into a storage
facility.
Time passed.
On 31 Jul 02, from the parking lot a friend’s apartment in St. Paul, I
called Rossiter on my cell phone. I wanted to check in with our
“move coordinator” to find out exactly when our goods would be
arriving in Madison. Imagine my surprise, rage, and frustration, when
the move coordinator told me that our goods were still in the Livermore
warehouse and that it would take a few weeks to get them to us in
Madison. The goods were still in the warehouse because it was too much
trouble for the move coordinator to ship out the goods before we
called. (If we never called, our goods would still be in
storage!) The move coordinator told us that she had no idea that we
wanted our goods on our about 02 Aug 02, it would take six days for a truck
to be assigned to haul our load to Wisconsin, and then it would take many days,
possibly a week or more, for the truck to actually deliver the goods to
WI. So, after taking a few deep breaths, feeling my blood pressure go
straight up to levels that science and medicine can only imagine, and
deciding to avoid exercising my extensive profanity vocabulary, I calmly
informed the
“move coordinator” that I was frustrated with her failure to
follow through on simple tasks that are very clearly her
responsibility. Then, I asked for her supervisor. When I finally
got the supervisor on the phone, I explained that I would not be satisfied
with the ordinary “six days for a truck, etc.” nonsense that
passes for a normal move timetable. The supervisor tried to sing me a
song and dance about moving mountains and blah-blah-blah. My response
was that I was not interested in their problems, and that this was the time
for moving mountains, not complaining about their size. Also, I
informed the moving company that the next day, 01 Aug 02, I would be
arriving in Madison with no furniture, no job, and nothing to do.
However, I would have a phone. Who did they think I would call
when I get bored? (Thanks, Josh!) The moving company countered with
the line, “If you didn’t want your stuff in July, why are you so eager
to get it now?” This, of course, is just about the stupidest thing they
could have said. That’s like saying, “Well, you didn’t want your
stuff on 28 Jun 02, so there’s no reason you could possibly want it
now.” This was the sort of extra effort that I was getting from
Rossiter Relocation Services: they were working overtime to blame the
customer, pass the buck internally, and hide behind bureaucratic
hurdles.
Anyway, Rossiter managed to get our goods on a truck a mere six days
after this conversation, 06 Aug 02! Wow, talk about speed! They
were really moving mountains out there in Livermore. Ha, ha, ha,
ha.
When I started telling the moving company that I wanted compensation for
the time we were going to be without our household goods, they told me that
their national office wouldn’t let them pay me because the national office
didn’t have a piece of paper with my signature on it that declared what day
I wanted the goods delivered in Madison. When I pressed Rossiter about
whether or not this sort of missing paperwork would be unusual for a move,
they declared that the missing paperwork would, in fact, be a key part of
any pre-move consultation between the mover and the movee. In this
case, Rossiter’s salesman failed to present me with this form to be
signed. Not knowing that I was missing a form, I certainly didn’t ask
for it. So, now Rossiter was trying to screw me because they had
screwed up again!
The Rossiter people also lost a form that authorized them to charge my
credit card for the long-distance portion of the move. Of course, they
tried to blame me for this by saying that I had never sent it to them.
Of course, this was easy to refute since I had faxed the authorization forms
for both the local move into storage and long-distance move to WI on the
same day, and under the same cover page, which I still had. Since the
company had successfully charged my credit card for the local move to
storage, it became obvious that they had received both forms and had lost
one of the two. Not only was moving my household goods across the
country proving to be a challenge for a “moving company,” simply
keeping track of paperwork was proving to be beyond their abilities! I
started to despair for our goods that were in Rossiter’s fumbling
grasp.
About this time, I started talking to the United Van Lines national
customer service center. This center is apparently staffed by one
reasonably competent, informed woman who seems to answer every phone call.
This woman told me that she could pay me $200 as a “delay claim,”
but that she would need approval from Rossiter to do so. So, Rossiter
lied when they said the national office wouldn’t pay me. Rather,
Rossiter chose to blame the national office to try and cover their own asses
when it became clear that they were missing paperwork about my move.
Even more interesting, the nice woman at the United Van Lines national
office found that a bill of lading (a federal requirement for every move)
had never been created for my move. Oops! Yet another screw-up
on the part of Rossiter Relocation Services. Well, I finally got the
check for $200 in the mail, but when I turned the check over to endorse it,
there was writing on the reverse. I paused to read the fine-print, a
useful habit to cultivate if you don’t already have it, and found out that
by endorsing the check, I would unburden United and all their evil
children from any further claims for damage or whatnot with respect to our
move. The check remained unsigned until I got the shipment.
Our household goods finally arrived on 12 Aug 02. The goods were
unloaded into our house and we kept a strict inventory of what came into the
residence. Before the driver left, we noticed that we were missing
a bookshelf. “Nope. It’s got to be here somewhere. We
took everything off the truck,” the driver insisted. We continued
to insist that we were missing a bookshelf. Finally, the driver and
his assistant went out to check the truck. Lo and behold! The
missing bookshelf was on the truck! Now, we went back to our list of
boxes. We were missing five boxes. We had the driver and his
assistant help us dig through the boxes in every room and the basement to
find the boxes we were missing. This process winnowed the list of
missing boxes to three. Of these three, two were subsequently found
during our unpacking process. So, we’re still missing one box and have
unpacked every box. Beyond that, the movers broke one of our carts
(pressboard furniture). The movers tried to explain this away by
telling us (no kidding!) that we had no business moving cheap pressboard
furniture and that having pressboard furniture moved wasn’t worth the
money. When I gave them the look that said, “Do NOT feed
me that line of bullshit.” they backed down and agreed to mark the cart
as damaged. When we took the inventory tags off our kitchen chairs,
the finish went with the sticker. Apparently, it never occurred to the
movers to put the stickers on the bottom of the chairs where there was no
finish and any blemishes wouldn’t be seen. We also found a staple
embedded in the seat of our nice wooden bench.
So, now I’m glad that I didn’t sign the United Van Lines check. We
are going after them for losing a box, damaging our kitchen chairs, and
breaking one of our carts. I’ll post more in this space as these
issues are resolved.
One of the best moments of this whole affair came the day after
our goods were delivered. The supervisor at Rossiter called me up to
say that our goods were going to be delivered the next day, 14 Aug 02.
Update on my claim – 25 Oct
02
It has been more than a month since United Van Lines received my claim
forms via the United States Postal Service. Fortunately, I sent them with a
request for a return receipt. From this, I learned that United Van
Lines received my claim forms on 12 Sep 02. According to a letter
dated 03 Sep 02 signed by a “Rhonda Jones” at United Van Lines
(UVL, hereafter):
Once we receive your completed claim form and the above
referenced
information, we will move forward with our review and response to your
claim. You will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your claim while
will provide you with the name and the telephone number of your assigned
adjuster.
In typical UVL lines style, I have yet to receive such a letter.
However a week or so after getting the return receipt in the mail, I got a
call from a gentleman at a local furniture repair and refinishing
business who explained that he had been assigned by UVL to come over to our
house and ascertain the extent of the damage to our goods. This nice
gentleman came over, examined our damaged and broken furniture, our damaged
garden implements, and the like. He left us his business card and said
that he would be in touch.
Time passes…
From: David Bogen To: mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com Subject: Claim Status? Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 18:01:09 -0500 Hello: What is the current status of my damage claim on order number xxxx-xxxxx-x? You have been sitting on this claim for a month now. Also, a letter I received from a Rhonda Jones dated 03 Sep 02 that reads: “Once we receive your completed claim form and the above referenced information, we will move forward with our review and response to your claim. You will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your claim while will provide you with the name and the telephone number of your assigned adjuster.” Of course, in typical United Van Lines fashion, I have not received such a letter. In fact, I sincerely doubt that such a letter was ever generated, much less sent. I know that you received my claim form because I sent it with a return receipt which the postal service has delivered to me. A gentleman was dispatched to my residence several weeks ago to ascertain the damage to my furniture and other goods. However, since that gentleman does not work for United Van Lines, but for a furniture restoration company, it seems unlikely that he is my “assigned adjuster” and that he would know the status of my claim. Sincerely, David Bogen
More time passes...
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:13:39 -0500 From: David Bogen To: mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com Subject: Claim Status To Whom It May Concern: Since you are apparently ignoring the message I sent to you last week, that message is attached to this message for your convenience. Obviously, the issues raised in that message remain unaddressed. David Bogen -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Claim Status? Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 18:01:09 -0500 From: David Bogen To: mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com Hello: What is the current status of my damage claim on order number xxxx-xxxxx-x? You have been sitting on this claim for a month now. Also, a letter I received from a Rhonda Jones dated 03 Sep 02 that reads: "Once we receive your completed claim form and the above referenced information, we will move forward with our review and response to your claim. You will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your claim while will provide you with the name and the telephone number of your assigned adjuster." Of course, in typical United Van Lines fashion, I have not received such a letter. In fact, I sincerely doubt that such a letter was ever generated, much less sent. I know that you received my claim form because I sent it with a return receipt which the postal service has delivered to me. A gentleman was dispatched to my residence several weeks ago to ascertain the damage to my furniture and other goods. However, since that gentleman does not work for United Van Lines, but for a furniture restoration company, it seems unlikely that he is my "assigned adjuster" and that he would know the status of my claim. Sincerely, David Bogen ----- End forwarded message -----
Time passes, again...
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 09:33:25 -0500
From: David Bogen
To: mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com
Cc: webmaster@unitedvanlines.com
Subject: Claim Status
To Whom It Apparently Doesn't Concern:
My original message to you, now over one week old is below. Obviously,
every issue raised in that message is still open since you have been so
astute is either ignoring that message or failing to respond in a timely
manner.
David Bogen
----- Forwarded message from David Bogen -----
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:13:39 -0500
From: David Bogen
Subject: Claim Status
To: "mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com"
To Whom It May Concern:
Since you are apparently ignoring the message I sent to you last week, that
message is attached to this message for your convenience. Obviously, the
issues raised in that message remain unaddressed.
David Bogen
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Claim Status?
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 18:01:09 -0500
From: David Bogen
To: mail_uvl_claims@unitedvanlines.com
Hello:
What is the current status of my damage claim on order number xxxx-xxxxx-x?
You have been sitting on this claim for a month now.
Also, a letter I received from a Rhonda Jones dated 03 Sep 02 that reads:
"Once we receive your completed claim form and the above referenced
information, we will move forward with our review and response to your
claim. You will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your claim while
will provide you with the name and the telephone number of your assigned
adjuster."
Of course, in typical United Van Lines fashion, I have not received such a
letter. In fact, I sincerely doubt that such a letter was ever generated,
much less sent. I know that you received my claim form because I sent it
with a return receipt which the postal service has delivered to me.
A gentleman was dispatched to my residence several weeks ago to ascertain
the damage to my furniture and other goods. However, since that gentleman
does not work for United Van Lines, but for a furniture restoration
company, it seems unlikely that he is my "assigned adjuster" and that he
would know the status of my claim.
Sincerely,
David Bogen
----- End forwarded message -----
Finally, a sign of life from UVL!
Subject: Claim Status U xxx-xxx-x
To: David Bogen
From: Phil_Petersen@unigroupinc.com
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 13:21:07 -0500
Sir,
I am your new adjuster on your claim for damages related to your
interstate relocation with United Van Lines. I have reviewed the
inspection report provided by Heartland Furniture ( received in our office
10-21-02) and have giving their office authorization to make repairs to
your claimed items. Someone for their office will be in contact with you.
If you need to contact me, I can be reached at 636-305-4783.
Hey, Phil. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to
answer my third e-mail. Your e-mail, of course, is just chock-full of
useful information. My favorite bit is your defensive little statement
about how you didn't get the inspection report until 21 Oct 02. Of
course, this doesn't excuse the fact that UVL ignored me for nearly a
week. But hey, among corporate flunkies, what's a week, right?
From: David Bogen To: Phil_Petersen@unigroupinc.com Subject: Re: Claim Status U xxx-xxx-x Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 16:19:55 -0500 What about items that were either lost in transit by UVL or damaged beyond repair? How will be compensated for those items and in what timeframe? Also, just because did or did not receive a report from an adjuster, that is not an excuse for ignoring my messages for over a week.
Subject: Re: Claim Status U xxx-xxx-x
To: David Bogen
From: Phil_Petersen@unigroupinc.com
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 16:55:35 -0500
Sir,
The items that are damaged and can not be repaired will be settled
after the repairs have been completed. At that time the results of the
trace for missing items will also be addressed in a letter with the
settlement check.
Wow, one thing at a time. How do you folks get to work, Phil?
It's pretty clear that you couldn't possibly drive to work because it is
doubtful that you could concentrate on keeping the car "between the
ditches" (a phrase I recently heard), keeping the speed below the legal
speed limit, and listen to the radio, all at the same time. Of course,
the longer you sit on money that rightfully belongs to me, the more interest
UVL makes off that money, don't they Phil? Interest like that can keep
a corporate monkey like yourself pseudo-gainfully employed, right,
Phil? Anyway, it's getting hard for me to write letters to these
clowns without letting sarcasm nearly drip off the letters.
From: David Bogen To: Phil_Petersen@unigroupinc.com Subject: Re: Claim Status U xxx-xxx-x Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 17:14:32 -0500 Dearest Phil: Is the letter you mention below going to be like the one UVL was supposed to send me upon receipt of my original claim form, that I never got and that I suspect was never generated or sent? Perhaps the letter you mention below will closely mirror the letter detailing who would be handling my claim, which I also never got. How quickly will repairs be made to the damaged items? You've been sitting on this claim for nearly a month now and, quite honestly, I'm sick and tired of thinking about it. I'd like nothing better than to finish this ridiculously long process, and get on with my life, after filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, of course. How quickly will items that "are damaged and can not be repaired" be settled after the repairs are made to the merely damaged items? Will it be another month of you folks sitting on your hands, followed by a month of ignoring my queries, before anything happens? Yours in complete disbelief at United Van Line's complete disinterest in correcting *their* mistakes and complete lack of surprise at the same, David Bogen On Friday 25 October 2002 04:55 pm, you wrote: > Sir, > The items that are damaged and can not be repaired will be settled > after the repairs have been completed. At that time the results of the > trace for missing items will also be addressed in a letter with the > settlement check. >
So, it's now 6 PM CDT on a Friday. I have absolutely no delusions
that I'll hear back from UVL before sometime Monday afternoon. So,
until then, I'll just enjoy the weekend.