United Relocation/Paramount Relocation/American Nationwide Relocation Unethical business practices, overcharging, late delivery, a complete scam North Hollywood California

We used this company last year to move from Gilbert, AZ to Williamsburg, VA. The person we dealt with at the company was EJ Burns ("The Big Moving Man").

EJ was very personable over the phone and we exchanged several emails with my list of goods to be moved. Every email I sent him was getting more and more accurate yet the total cubic feet on his estimate was not changing. I questioned his estimate because I had gotten 3 other estimates that were higher. He said to me on the phone that those companies didn't really calculate it the correct way and that he had been doing this for so long that he was confident his estimate was accurate. My last inventory list even added a pool table and still the cubic feet did not increase! I asked him if the rate for any overage would be the same per cubic foot as the reserved space and he said yes so I did not push the inventory list accuracy anymore.

On the day of the move the movers were several hours late. What I didn't realize at the time but later discovered was that on the inventory packing list the movers were using, they were putting codes in there to indicate that certain items were scratched or broken as they packed them. They put these codes on several items that were not damaged and when they came out damaged on the other end the insurance wouldn't pay out because the originial list said they were damaged on pick up. Be very careful about reading the packing lists upon pickup!!!! I know this is the case because they indicated that all 6 of my dining room chairs were scratched upon pickup and one really was damaged in the move - the other 5 are spotless so how could they have been scratched at pick up!

The other thing that happened on the day of the move was that when the bill was added up they charged me a higher rate for the overage than for the original reserved space. When I questioned it the driver said he could do nothing and I had to call United. Of course, by that time United's office was closed and we needed to get all our belongings out of the house so we had no choice but to accept the contract and try to argue it later.

When it was time for delivery we had agreed on a Friday. United called that Monday and said it had to deliver on Wednesday or we would have to wait several weeks until the next time they were coming through our area. It was inconvenient but I rearranged my schedule to clear Wednesday for delivery. They never showed up on Wednesday and when I called all I was told was that the driver was somewhere in Kentucky and here's his cell phone to call him and figure it out. It turns out he didn't arrive until Friday anyway so that's two days I had to get clear to meet them.

When they arrived they demanded another $500 because our belongings were going into a storage facility and they said our unit was too far from the entrance so they would have to shuttle it in. There was never any mention of this in the original agreement and when I tried to contact EJ he wouldn't get on the phone. Reluctantly I paid the additional cash so the driver wouldn't take our stuff away and continued calling United Relocation while they were unloading to try to get EJ on the phone. He never took my call or returned my call during the whole 6-7 hours of unloading.

Also, when the driver started unloading I asked him if I could check off the numbered items against my list as he was bringing them through and he flatly refused saying that was done on the truck and he wouldn't take the time to accommodate me that way. I was made to sign off on my shipment being complete when I wasn't allowed to check off the items!

After the whole fisaco was over with I continued to try to contact EJ to discuss the overage being charged at the higher rate and the extra money demanded for the shuttling of our things. EJ never responded to letters, phone calls or emails. I was told to go through the claims management company for everything which I did. That took about 6 months because the original claims management company somewhere along the line stopped working for United and I had to start over. The result was that they would only address the damaged items and not the overchages.

A few months ago I started to contact the company directly again after the claims company said they weren't responsible for that part of it. I did manage to get a couple different people on the phone only after calling literally 5-10 times a day for weeks in a row. All the people I spoke to (David, Felix, EJ, receptionist) were rude and were clearly trying to pawn me off hoping I would give up and go away. One of them even called me a liar saying that he believed EJ and not me.

I spent hours and hours of my time to prove a point that they couldn't treat people that way and I wouldn't give up. Finally, they said they wouldn't do anything for me no matter what I did or said so I told them that my only avenue left was legal action to persue it. They said fine and hung up.

Basically, I feel like EJ purposely underestimated the cubic feet on the original estimate so that they could charge a higher rate for the overage even though he said the rate would be the same. Everything he said to me was on the phone so I have nothing in writing and he was very careful about not responding to my emails by replying but by calling on the phone.

They are the most unethical company I have ever come across and I really wish there were a way to put them out of business so that no one else is scammed by them. I just hope people check out the Better Business Bureau before doing business with them. I have filed a complaint there as have several other people and the company has an "F" rating.

Amy
Williamsburg, Virginia
U.S.A.

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