Complaint Review: Colonial Van Lines - San Francisco CA
- Colonial Van Lines 1469 Locust View Drive San Francisco, CA United States
- Phone: (800) 356-1855
- Web: www.colonialvanlines.com
- Category: MOVERS, Moving & Storage, Moving Company
Colonial Van Lines Colonial Van Lines AVOID THIS COMPANY!!! They are unprofessional, fraudulent, liars and you will have an awful experience. Service indistinguishable from theft. San Francisco CA
*Consumer Comment: Yours Was An Unreasonable Request
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The company only gets worse. They attempted to bribe me to change my review. When I refused their initial bribe (because I would not agree to take down my one star review), they are no longer offering me compensation for all of the things that went wrong with my move. DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY. They will scam you, lie to you, and take illegal measures to try and make themselves look better.
Colonial Van Lines is the ABSOLUTE WORST company you could hire for your move. STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!!! Their service is indistinguishable from theft.
First, I was promised by my initial agent, Thomas, that my items would never be put in storage. They would be placed immediately on a semi truck and never off-loaded without me present. When I asked to have this written in the contract, I was told they were unable to do so in case of a truck break down or weather emergency that would require unplanned transfer of my items off the semi. This was a complete lie.
My items were picked up late, by movers who carried my furniture to the truck then sat and smoked cigarettes ON MY FURNITURE, and driven to a self-storage facility, where it has been sitting for TWO WEEKS. This was a complete violation of what I was assured, that the items would never be put in storage.
Customer service is also completely lacking. They NEVER answer the phone, and all numbers lead to voicemail. In order to reach someone I have to dial the extension for "purchasing additional insurance" and only then do I get to speak to a representative.
Management has offered "compensation": "3, 4, maybe 5%" discount, but of course only after I pay the nearly $5,000 for the overall move (they issue reimbursements later). From reading other reviews, it seems the company is even harder to reach after you have paid the full price and I doubt anyone really receives their compensation.
Additionally, though my delivery window ends tomorrow, today I received two different estimates for delivery. First, Theresa says my items are coming tomorrow! I know this is a lie (because of GPS tracking with my items). Next, I'm given a 5-7 days estimate, that is in all likelihood completely made up. It will certainly be after my delivery window and in violation of my original agreement saying the items would not be in storage.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/29/2019 03:47 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/colonial-van-lines/san-francisco-ca-94104/colonial-van-lines-colonial-van-lines-avoid-this-company-they-are-unprofessional-frau-1472474. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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#1 Consumer Comment
Yours Was An Unreasonable Request
AUTHOR: Jim - (United States)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, January 30, 2019
First, I was promised by my initial agent, Thomas, that my items would never be put in storage. They would be placed immediately on a semi truck and never off-loaded without me present. When I asked to have this written in the contract, I was told they were unable to do so... I sort of just stopped there with your narrative because the reason they provided isn't important. First of all, there is no moving company, scam or legitimate, that would EVER agree to put that into a contract. I mean some of the reasons they give are possibilities, however differing circumstances are present in every move and your items could be removed from the truck witrhout you being present. I understand you believe that was a reasonable request - let me assure you - it is NOT a reasonable request. Also, any promise made over a phone is not enforcable and not binding on anyone.
My items were picked up late, by movers who carried my furniture to the truck then sat and smoked cigarettes ON MY FURNITURE, and driven to a self-storage facility, where it has been sitting for TWO WEEKS. This was a complete violation of what I was assured, that the items would never be put in storage. Well, the movers should not have sat on your furniture; they should have smoked on the truck, but you just described why your inital request was unreasonable.
This moving company, according to the DOT website, has exactly 9 trucks, one may be a semi, but generally it isn't. OTR drivers the company would utilize to move your items across state lines are independent contractors who own the tractors; the OTR driver just pulls the trailer. Now, moving companies earn revenue when their trucks are moving; it means people are working and jobs are being performed. If your stuff is sitting on a truck, then that truck can't earn revenue and it can't pay its contractors or its employees, and yours sat for 2 weeks. If it sat on a truck for 2 weeks, then that truck doesn't earn revenue in that time. So they unload the furniture, store it, and reload when the delivery date comes up. A legit mover would use their own storage instead of a self-storage facility. Otherwise the process for a legit mover is the same as this company.
Management has offered "compensation": "3, 4, maybe 5%" discount, but of course only after I pay the nearly $5,000 for the overall move (they issue reimbursements later). From reading other reviews, it seems the company is even harder to reach after you have paid the full price and I doubt anyone really receives their compensation. That is correct and is standard throughout the moving industry, even with legitimate movers who pay delay claims when final delivery occurs outside the last day of the window. You need to pay for everything in full before claims are handled, discounts happen, and other issues are resolved. Whether you actually receive a delay claim is up to the company - there is no obligation they have to pay a delay claim unless it happens to be in the contract. If it is, then you will get one. If not, then perhaps not. The smart move from this point on is to be nice; I mean you already filed this complaint and it can't be removed - personally I would have waited to file a complaint because you don't even know how much damage has occurred. It may also jeopardize any delay claim you could get - they could revoke that offer based on the complaint. I have seen it happen before with scam movers.
Moving is not an inexpensive venture. It is very labor intensive and no 2 moves are alike, therefore there can be no uniformity in process or results.
Full Disclosure: I do not work for this company - I have consulted for legit movers....
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