Unigrou- United Van Lines - Mayflower Moving Unigroup Corporation United Van Lines Mayflower Moving Unethical. Liars. Fraud. Theft. Unprofessional.

They even pay their own people to act as claims adjusters and give them bonuses to come in at reduced costs to the consumer.  Actually, there are no adjusters since you don't have insurance for a move.  There are employees in the company who work in a claims department and they are the ones who process your claims.  However, no one gets a bonus in the fashion you suggest simply because there are so many moves an agent will perform in a year.  To have a large claims department infers something bad about a mover.

For the most part they act as their own insurance so they go out of their way to ensure they don't have to pay you.  This is where you lack of research doesn't help you.  For starters, no mover provides insurance for an individual move.  NONE.  Why?  Because moves would be 2X more expensive than they already are.  Their insurance will prevent their umbrella to cover you.  Now, the mover will apply their insurance to your move IF some event like a truck tipping over on a highway destroys everything in the truck.  Other than that...they won't.  Now, a mover is also prohibited by law from selling you insurance, since all states require individuals be licensed to sell insurance.  Therefore, they have to sell you valuation.  Now you probably took free valuation at $0.60 per pound, which will leave you with very little after a claim.  What you should have done is purchase FRV, or Full Replacement Valuation.  Yes, it isn't free, but subject to a deductible.  FRV is as close to actually buying something that acts as insurance - without being called insurance - at least according to the law.  However there are differences and those don't work in the consumer's favor either.

And, they will not be straight with you about their policies and proceedures if it means it will give them an advantage.  You know, there is a reason why a mover hands you a book called Your Rights and Responsibilities before a move.  It is intended for you to read prior to a move.  It will tell you all about the mover's responsibilities during a move, and your rights before, during, and after a move.  If you read that information after a move, as most people I've ever dealt with do, then you're generally lost during the entire process.  This sounds like you.

And, warning to every consumer that will ever look to hire them -  buy the highest insurance and list all your possessions as high value.  If you buy FRV, then you won't be able to high value everything simply because there will be depreciation applied at the time the claim is evaluated, not to mention most movers have access to the actual item of the goods.  As you said, they have to cover their butts.

Do not let them talk out out of it.  And, do not let them bring in one box or item into your house without checking it off the list because they will seek to hide damaged items, will not tell you if something is damaged or missing and they will work to get you to sign paperwork that gets them off the hook 100%. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING AT THE DESTINATION. NADDA. ZERO. ZIP.  Stupid advice.  For starters, signing your BOL and cube sheet does not eliminate your rights to a claim.  Second, if you have been checking everything off, and a box is missing, you can conditionally sign the document pending the missing box.  Third, even if they displayed every bit of stuff that was damaged for you - so what?  No mover is going to settle up with you at destination because you as the customer must pay the amount owed in full before a claim is even evaluated.  That's why you fill out a claim form.  The mover verifies everything has been paid, and then the office goes through and evaluates the claim.  This isn't a situation where you deduct damages from the amount you may or may not have suffered from.  Your contract states the move is paid in full BEFORE any claim is evaluated.  If you don't pay, and you file a claim, then your claim sits in an office somewhere until the full amount of the move is paid.

 And, they will try and push you because the driver and staff want to drop your stuff and get out of there as quickly as possible.  I have yet to meet a mover that likes to hang out with a customer for whatever reason.  They are there to do a job, and then move to the next job, or home.  The only guys who like hanging around are interstate drivers since their home is their truck.

They will manuever to get you behind on the law, drag things out and work the system that they themselves have built.  They have worked with every non-profit organization or government agency in order to be able to manipulate relationships so that when consumers complain everyone looks the other way.   Well, that isn't just this mover, but is representative of the entire industry.  Movers have special laws on the books (Federal mostly) that prohibit a consumer from collecting more than what is stated in the contract.  No pain and suffering.  No lost time.  Nothing.  No group I can think of can successfully lobby against the moving industry,  Lawyers won't take on a mover because there is little a mover can do for which you can civilly collect, and little they can do criminally, according to the DOT.

Moving is not inexpensive.  Pay whatever you need to in order to cover yourself because the mover has a pretty ironclad contract that cannot be breached.  File your claim timely and wait for resolution.

Note:  I am very familiar with the industry - I have never worked for this mover.  However, you overall bad advice required a response.