National Moving Express - Will - Leonard Goldberg moving ripoff Lack of reasonable care with deliberate and irresponsible handling of our possessions causing extensive water damage due to their willful negligent actions Hollywood Florida

On May 2, 2006, after reviewing your website, BBB reports and talking with your salesman, Will, my husband and I decided to go with your company for our move from our home at 3861 Wry Road, Lake Worth, Florida to Niantic, Connecticut on June 30, 2006.

We received a move proposal reference #1146598384056 (copy enclosed) from James for a total of 840 cubic feet of our home furnishings for a total of $1915.00 including taxes, tolls, and fuel, loading, unloading, disassembling and reassembling included as well as insurance. This cost fit our budget and we were confident this was a firm price. Your website gave us confidence that this move would be handled professionally, i.e., Backed by a large fleet of clean, fully-equipped moving vans, trained, and courteous personnel, and a reputation for quality in our industry, you can trust us to handle your move quickly, efficiently, safely and economically. Whether we are moving a few pieces to an apartment or a mansion full of furniture, we are fully equipped, experienced and ready.

May 12, 2006 was my last day of work which allowed me two weeks to pack all of our items securely that we were bringing to Connecticut. I had purchased two Allied Van Lines moving cases which included heavy boxes of four different sizes, packing material, foam, bubble wrap, tape and markers to make sure that all of our belongings were protected. So I would not have much to do when our belongings were delivered, I took the extra time to clean everything and packaged all of the fragile items in bubble wrap and paper, marking each box with my husband's name, where the box was going to, what was in each box and which room they were to be put in once they arrived in Connecticut. The time involved for this massive undertaking was 94+ hours.

On the original estimate, I had forgotten to add in the boxes we would be taking from the hangar to Connecticut. So to help offset this additional material, we got rid of some of the items that were initially figured into the total, i.e., lawn mower, TV, four 2-drawer file cabinets, two 2-drawer file cabinets were gotten rid of prior to the movers coming.
I called to confirm our move time which was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on May 30, 2006. Will stated we would be first on the truck hence the early pickup. I was ready for the movers. All items were packed except for the large pieces of furniture which, according to our Move Proposal would be done by your men. The scheduled pickup time came and went. I called to find out when our truck was coming and was told it would be there at 12:30, which also came and went. They arrived at 3:00 p.m. to start moving our items.

When your people arrived all of our boxes were packed and in the living room. The only boxes they were not to take were the ones I kept in our bedroom as they were going with me in the car. All your people had to do was to take down the beds, desks and entertainment unit with the electronics. They were very careful with all of our belongings heavily covering our curio cabinet, mattresses and box springs, furniture pieces and taping up the file cabinet drawers (2 large and 2 small units). When your driver (see signature on bill of lading) saw the desks to be taken down, he commented that they were large (which I told Will about when we were discussing what was to be taken) and was a bit concerned about them. At this point, due to the volume now in the truck, I decided not to bring either desk in order to save room as we were nearing 1000 cubic feet and our original estimate was based on 840 cubic feet. Was our estimate based on small pieces of furniture only?

Because of the additional boxes being sent (88 instead of 50), we figured that some additional money would be involved, but since we were taking less furniture, (i.e., 4 large and 2 small file cabinets, two large desks, one television) that this extra space would be filled in with some of the boxes and that the additional fee for the remainder of the boxes would not be too great. So I was a bit surprised to be told that our total space involved was 1200 cubic feet (360 cubic feet more) for a total fee of $4406.00, $2491.00 over the original quote. A bit of a shocker. I paid your driver $2000.00 down with check #298 and was told the balance was to be paid on delivery in cash. I agreed to this price as the other choice would be to unload the truck and then leave our items behind. After being assured our items would be on the 18-wheeler leaving that Friday, I was confident our possessions were in good hands.

The truck pulled away from our home around 7:00 p.m. with the driver stating they had another pickup to do next. At this point I packed up my car and closed the house down and left for Connecticut at 10:30 p.m. The weather all day was dry, warm and no rain was called for. My drive through Florida was excellent.
On Tuesday, June 6, 2006, we received a phone call from your driver Mr. Pinillo (see signed bill of lading) stating they were in New Jersey and would call when they were one hour away. They arrived about 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. Before the back of the truck could be opened, they wanted payment in full. My husband wanted to discuss the fees with your company person but the driver said he was not allowed to let my husband talk to them and the driver was instructed to get back in the truck and drive to the warehouse to take our stuff out and charge us storage until we paid the balance. Finally an agreement was made to reduce the price by $115.00. We paid, in cash, $2,191.00. The doors to the truck were finally opened.

When the doors of the truck were opened, at the back were several stacks of packing blankets, two dollies and a ladder taking up part of the room and our stuff was sitting at the 3800 cubic foot mark in the truck. When your people started to remove our belongings, what we saw was heartbreaking.

All of those carefully packaged, marked and sealed boxes that took me two weeks to put together were not on the truck. Instead what was delivered were boxes repackaged by your people that were crushed, damp, torn and the few remaining boxes that I packed and marked FRAGILE or VERY FRAGILE were sitting on the bottom of stacks of boxes in a crushed condition.

All of our furnishings that were carefully packed by your people had some wrappings from around the wood furniture torn off and/or not covered at all, handles broken off one bedroom set and the mirror backing was water stained, warped and still damp.

The mattresses and box springs, also packed by your people, were water stained for approximately 10 inches and with some type of brown stain on the sides which matched the brown stain on one of the boxes. These also were still damp to the touch and smelled musty. The hermetically sealed box for my wedding dress was falling apart, the result of being soaked. Our curio cabinet, also packed by your people, was warped and the mirror shattered with a water stain on the bottom wood shelf, all of this while the packing was still around the cabinet. Our black entertainment center was white with water marks and the covering on the back wall of the cabinet was pealing off. The clothing wardrobe, (only one arrived when there should have been two) was split open, bulging and damp.


We gave to your care 88 boxes, most packed by me and the airplane hangar boxes packed by my husband, and received only 57 back 13 of which were large plastic containers and six cardboard boxes. There was also a rocker in our area of the truck that was not ours. When the last of our items were removed from the truck, the next person's belongings to be delivered were in perfect shape. Their belongings started at the 2800 cubic foot mark, which means your company only delivered 1000 cubic feet of our belongings and your company held our belongings hostage until we paid for heavily water damaged goods which we entrusted to your care.

I have never in my life seen such disregard, disrespect and lack of professionalism as what your company showed for our items. Where did you transfer our stuff from the small truck to the large one, along side the road????

We had your people put most of the boxes into our garage, which is attached to our home, and the furniture was placed in their appropriate rooms. However according to the moving proposal, which was agreed upon by all parties, your people were to reassemble our items in the house. Your driver stated they did not do that and they had to leave as they had another stop to make. Before your people left at approximately 8:00 p.m. and before signing the bill of lading, my husband made comments on the bill concerning the condition of our household items and asked the driver to sign as a witness as to the condition of all of our belongings, which he did without hesitation. The driver and his mate were clearly embarrassed by the state of the items they were delivering.

After my husband and I reassembled our bedroom sets ourselves, and after crying for about a half hour, it was too late to call your company. We decided to call in the morning, which I did.

The next morning, Wednesday, June 7, 2006, I got up early to start unpacking some of the boxes that were delivered. I brought the first box into the house to unpack. This one was not packed by me as it had no blue sticker with order #384056 on it to indicate it was ours and the packing box was marked with heavy black arrows and HANDLE WITH CARE markings on it. All of my boxes were plain with a blue Allied Van Lines marking on the bottom, heavily taped and marked with my husband's name, place of delivery, room designation and contents.

The first box I opened contained many unrelated items including our wedding photo album with a silver cover were mixed in with photographs and kitchen supplies. When I picked this up I started to cry as water ran out of it. As for the rest of the items in the box, some were dry and others damp. I went to open the second box I had brought in from the garage and encountered the same type damage and discord inside. Again this was not the original plain box I had packed but a marked box from your company which someone else repacked.

I called to speak to Will, the salesman who set all of this up, I was put on hold and when your secretary came she stated that Will was busy and could she help me. I asked her if she could explain how when I opened a supposedly dry box, how water could have poured out of my wedding photo album. She put me on hold and Will came on the phone.

I asked Will the same question and proceeded to describe the condition of the boxes received as water damaged, crushed, filled with wet blankets, sheets, pictures, books, my husbands company records and my company records (which we both need to keep for another three to five years for tax auditing purposes should it occur) along with our personal financial papers all mixed together with multiple years of all three types of finances mixed together, wet and in many instances molded together so they are one solid mass of paper block. Family photographs stuck together, pictures that were in their frames that were still wet, some smeared or stuck to the glass. My husband's commission, signed personally by Queen Elizabeth of England when he became an Officer in the British Royal Air Force, was stained and water soaked. This has not been out of its frame in over 30 years and we had to try and get it out before the colors smeared further. We laid it out flat to dry. Sheets, comforters, pillow cases soaking wet packed into large boxes with paperwork, photos, unwrapped china and books at all angles.

At this point, Will asked if I would hold while he called the warehouse and spoke to the manager there. After a few minutes he came back and said that it was raining when they were unloading the truck and a few of our boxes got wet and they had to repack them.
A FEW. I said I gave your company 88 boxes of packed and marked items and your company only gave us 57 back, most of which were repackaged in your company boxes, by your people and all having wet, molding family possessions in them. This was not getting a few boxes wet because of a rain, which it did not do on June 30th at all, even in the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area. This came from carelessness on the part of you, your company, personnel, and office employees who showed total disregard for our belongings and intentionally left our entire shipment outside, not in your warehouse or repacked into an 18-wheeler for transit as we were told would happen.

After talking with Will a while longer, it was agreed that the $0.60 per pound limitation would be waived and he would send a claim for damages form. This was postmarked June 9, 2006 in a hand written #10 legal size envelop and received by us on June 13, 2006. Inside the envelope were only two sheets of paper (see attached) which gave directions as to what to fill out on the forms and get notarized but no actual forms were included. Hence I am writing this letter describing all events and cataloging all of the damages with the enclosed pictures, copy of original proposal, copy of bill of lading with signatures and lists of items along with copies of what we received in the mail as a Claim Form.

We need some questions answered as Will was unable to supply them.

1. Why were we not informed of the damage to our property when it occurred?

2. Why did your people refuse to speak to my husband on the day of delivery? Did your company want the money before we found out about the damages to our property?

3. When were our possessions actually unloaded from the first truck? Were they left on a loading dock with no supervision and if so for how long? Were our items unloaded into the warehouse until they were to be loaded into the 18-wheeler for transport north, or why were they not put into an 18-wheeler the night of June 30th? Where were our possessions stored? We were told our belongings would be delivered in 7 to 10 days, so in order to save time were they off-unloaded along side the road and then transferred to the 18-wheeler during a rain storm in order to save time?

4. For the amount of water damage to ALL of our possessions they had to have been left outside in a torrential downpour. This damage was not caused as the boxed were moved through the rain. Where did you put our things?

5. Why did your company refuse to speak directly with my husband on the day of delivery when he was questioning a fuel adjustment charge on our bill which was to have been included according to the original proposal?

6. Why did your company hold our possessions hostage and threaten to take it to storage and charge us additional money, especially knowing that our items sustained heavy water damage in your care?
7. Why did the manager of the warehouse lie and say some boxes had to be repacked because they got wet being carried in the rain when in all actual truth, all but six paper boxes were soaked through and were repacked by your people in your boxes in an extremely careless manner having soaking wet sheets stuffed into boxes that also had mounds of my husbands business records, family finances and my business records from a time span of over 6 years and according to the IRS still need to be kept for another 3 to 5 years, all mixed together in one box, all wet and now mostly unreadable? Will your company show up at the IRS office with us in case either one of us is audited to explain your destroying our corroborating documentations for our tax returns? Will you pay the penalties, fees and taxes?

8. We paid for two wardrobes for our clothes and received only one and that one was crammed and split open with the contents of both wardrobes except for two of my dresses which were found in another box with the hangars still on them and both were soaking wet?

9. What happened to the packing that was so diligently placed around all of our wood furniture to protect them? Why were they wet, water marked and/or missing completely? Why were handles missing off of the bureau and dresser drawers when your people packed these items up so carefully?

10. How did my curio cabinet get the mirror broken, and warped and water stained on the bottom shelf while still heavily packaged in your materials that were put on the furniture by your people?

11. How did heavily wrapped mattresses and box springs get water stains over 10 inches high and brown stains on the sides of the box springs corresponding to stains on a box near it?

12. I gave you 88 boxes, your company gave us 57 back which included 13 large plastic containers and 6 boxes that I originally packed for a total of 19 containers/boxes leaving 69 boxes packed by your people (57-19 = 69) which is still 31 boxes less than what we gave you. Where are the other 31? According to your warehouse manager a few boxes got wet and had to be repacked. No rational human being can even remotely consider this to be a few boxes.

13. Who repacked all of our possessions with such carelessness placing breakable items on the bottom of larger boxes with video tapes, books and mixed up file folders on top of them which was the condition in all of the repacked boxes?

14. Who decided not to tell us about the damages?

15. Where is the missing 200 cubic feet of our property valued at $1,000.00 (your pricing at $5.00 per cubic foot x 200 = $1,000.00)?

16. Where is my second wardrobe box that I paid for?
17. I purchased two crates of Allied Van Lines packing supplies which included four different size boxes, packing material including bubble wrap and foam, packing paper, packing tape and permanent black markers to make sure all of our items would be protected. It took me over two weeks, 94+ hours, to carefully pack and store our items. How long did it take your people to destroy all of my efforts? According to your Claim for Damages letter disclaimer statement on the acknowledgement page your company states in writing All covered damages are for work and packing performed by National Moving Express personnel. National Moving Express does not consider property packed by the client or shipper to be their responsibility due to the possibility of this not being completed to industry standards performed by National Moving Express, is this your interpretation of industry standards?

18. Where are the four glass plates to the red velvet night stands from my bedroom set which were packed in a china box?

19. Why did your people try to give us a rocker that belonged to someone else?

20. Why were the possessions of the next family's delivery in perfect shape without any water damage or crushed boxes?

21. Why does no one answer your phone and when I tried calling another number that was supplied by the Better Business Bureau of Ft. Lauderdale, why did I get a reprimand for calling that number? Aren't you supposed to be accessible by any number provided by the Better Business Bureau?

We took two weeks and great care to pack our boxes making sure our items were secure and well buffered to limit damage during transit. But your company, in one day, made a greater effort to destroy all of our hard work and keep it quiet. It has now taken three weeks to go through all of the boxes to make sure there was no mold growing in any of the papers, cassettes, CDs, etcetera. All of our bedding, drapes and clothes have been rewashed (which did once prior to packing and had to do again when unpacking). We managed to dry out and flatten most of the pictures but will have to take several framed pictures to have them professionally cleaned and reframed, specifically my parents original wedding photo and my husband's commission into the Royal Air Force signed by Queen Elizabeth herself which has been heavily damaged.

Because of the massive mess your employees made of the financial papers for my husband's and my separate companies and our personal archived finances, involving multiple years dating back to 1995, it is going to take months to separate all of these entities from each other as the file folders had mixed papers in them, other papers were out of their folders and some of the folders are missing and the boxes they were stored in are gone while mixed financial papers are stuck together in massive solid chunks of pulp, we have had to put them aside for now so that we could have the time to clean up the rest of the household mess you gave us.

As we did not receive an actual form to fill only the direction sheet on how to fill it out, the following is a summary of our written complaint, list of damages to our property as a result of you and your company's negligent disregard in the handling of items placed in your care, the careless attitude practiced by you and your office personnel with regard to how you treat your customers, refusing to speak with us on delivery day and threatening to take our items to your warehouse and charge us storage until we pay for the damaged goods you brought to us.

1. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees grossly underestimated the original proposal at 840 cubic feet using smaller dimensions for the computation when larger should have been used, i.e., driver stating that our desks were large. He seemed unaware of the size and was concerned about it. I had stated to Will when the proposal was being drawn up that we had a large office desk and secretary's desk. What measurements were used in the original computation, and if these were underestimated, what dimensions were used in the computation of the rest of our items on the list? Were 50 boxes measured as small, medium, large, extra large???

2. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to take industry standard care of our property causing extensive damage to property, willful destruction of business associated confirming documentation of tax filings kept per requirement of the IRS.

3. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to inform us of the damage to our property.

4. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to follow industry standards in the repacking of our possessions with total disregard to the condition of our items, i.e., soaking wet, bent, jammed into boxes and no attempt was made to at least keep the files in a semblance of order so that refilling them in cabinets at our new home would be possible.

5. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to follow the original move proposal by charging an additional $175.00 fuel adjustment fee. Your driver (see signature line on Bill of Lading) was told by me that the fuel was included. He stated he charges everyone the flat fee/standard rate when they move within Florida and since we were moving out of state it would be higher, so he was giving us a break.

6. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to deliver 1200 cubic feet of household goods delivering only 1000 cubic feet thereby overcharging us $1000.00 on this move.

7. National Moving Express, its owner/s and employees failed to reassemble the furniture on delivery. Reassembling was included in the price quote on the move proposal.

Charmaine
Niantic, Connecticut
U.S.A.



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