Not happy with Platinum Van Lines
Jack Eich
Submitted this review about
Platinum Van Lines
Review made Live: 9/24/2013 6:11:00 PM
We chose Platinum Van Lines for our move from Wisconsin to Florida because our customer service agent, Miles, seemed skilled and thorough in preparing our move. The quote he offered was a very reasonable quote. We left no detail out of what items we had in our home.
We expected the movers on July 30. They showed up on Aug. 1. The first thing the crew leader told us was the estimate was way too low for what was in our house and he would redo the estimate and provide us with a new one. This one was almost twice the original estimate but we had no other options because we had to move. He said the customer service people don't always get the estimates right because they can't see the items and guess at how big or small items are. I guess they guess small.
They showed up in a Ryder rental truck that appeared too small for what our house had in it. The crew leader concurred and asked for another truck to come over from the Milwaukee area to help. The crew did a decent job though one person spent a great deal of time on his cellphone talking with friends back in Chicago. I complained once and he said don't worry. I mentioned it to the crew leader who talked with him about it. They began to argue. By the way, the crew damaged the drywall in three places and broke a light fixture in the basement. I have submitted bills to Platinum as they instructed but so far they have ignored them.
After all of our items were loaded on both trucks, the trucks headed for their home base near Chicago, I was told they would then transfer all of our items to one larger truck for transport to Florida. We had agreed to Aug. 4 for a first delivery date.
So, we waited for delivery. On Aug. 7, I called to check on the status. I was told they had not transferred items to the larger truck yet and not to worry since our first delivery date was not until Aug. 9. I said it was Aug. 4 and that person insisted it was Aug. and that I had signed an agreement to that.
I called on Aug. 10 and was told the items had yet to be transferred to a bigger truck and again told our first delivery date was Aug. 9. I again said it was Aug. 4 and had the contract in hand. The person agreed she had misread it but said there was nothing she could do about it because it was already in the system. Plus, the contract says they have 14 business days from that date to deliver so they were well within their limits.
I called on Aug. 15 and was told our items had been put on a new truck and were on their way to Florida with a first stop in South Carolina. Finally, on Aug. 20, the driver called us in Florida and said he was leaving South Carolina.
Two days later he called and said the truck had broken down and he needed to wait to have it repaired.
The truck finally arrived on Aug. 24 (23 days after pickup). Most of that day went OK except the driver drove over a neighbor's lawn and ruined the sod. We have been billed $183 by the neighbor for repair. The driver says he was instructed to drive on the lawn. That is not true. We have since sent the bill to Platinum but customer service says they have 180 days to respond. There were also broken glass shelves in a bookcase that the mover said was their fault.
My recommendation would be use a local mover who does a walk through and not an out of state mover who does all the estimating over the phone. Once they get you it is probably too late.
