7 moves: Regions Van Lines was the WORST
Greg M
Submitted this review about
Regions Van Lines
Review made Live: 8/16/2011 9:50:00 PM
I contacted RVL rep Anne G in May regarding an upcoming move from FL to SF that was to take place on June 29. I got a written estimate for at $6.39 per cubic foot. However, I was told that RVL would match the price of a competitor; I got a rate of $4.00 per cubic foot from another company and forwarded that to Anne. She said that RVL would not honor the price match because the other company was “not reputable”. The second initial problem occurred b/c I had scheduled June 29th but on two separate occasions on which I contacted RVL, they had it scheduled for June 28th. The third problem was that on the moving day, after everything was tallied, the final price ended up at more than $3200, significantly more than double the estimated price.
I got to SF and called and emailed RVL on July 7 and requested shipment. The rep referred me to both Danny G, the Ops Mgr, and the delivery department, where I left emails/VM's Two days later I had not gotten one response. I called again, left VM's, left emails for both Anne and Danny, and again no response. I tried to call multiple times to speak to an actual person, but every time it automatically sent me to VM. Around 4 days after my initial communication, I spoke with a customer service person who informed me that RVL was moving offices and that she would personally see to it that my shipment would be scheduled and I would hear back asap– again, I got no response. At this point (7 days past initial communication) I was becoming infuriated and began to research legal options. I notified Anne and Danny of this and voila, I got a response from Anne immediately saying she would take care of it. First, moving offices should not hinder communications so severely that personnel cannot contact customers. Second, I spoke directly with people at RVL who promised to circumvent the supposed communications issues, to no avail. Lastly, it’s pretty clear that communications were working just fine for someone to respond immediately to the potential for a legal issue - there's clearly a bigger underlying issue here.
I got the first response from Anne (yet still nothing from Danny) and told her July 15 given that I was out of town until then. She responded that July 15 is now the “start the clock” day after, per RVL's service agreement I should receive shipment within 14 days. I told her that this was unacceptable given that I was ready on July 7 and notified RVL.
July 20: 13 days since my initial attempts at scheduling delivery. It had been 5 days since the "start the clock". Yet I had heard nothing from customer service (despite leaving VM's and getting promises from multiple RVL personnel to speak with them), from management (despite an in-writing promise to contact me within 72 hrs of "start the clock", as well as many emails and VM's), and had zero communication regarding the status of my delivery. I went online and wrote negative reviews online about RVL, submitted an official complaint to the BBB, and sent a certified letter to RVL.
Customer service mgr Alan M immediately called asking why I had been so harsh against RVL without contacting customer service. I gave him the entire back story but he swore that he hadn't heard anything from anyone about my experience - shocking since 3 people said they notified customer service for me. Alan and I came to an agreement that I met: remove the negative reviews with the stipulation that I get on-time delivery (based on the 14 day delivery time frame promised from the July 15 "start the clock" date) and that RVL meet what I requested: match the price that they wouldn't due to claiming competitor was "non-reputable", and cover a few expenses that I had to incur out-of-pocket due to RVL not meeting delivery agreement terms.
At first Alan told me they were trying to make the July 29 delivery (14 days after "start the clock"). Then just before the 29th, Ops Mgr Danny G left a VM stating a delay until Aug 1-3. No acknowledgement of what I had been through. No apology. Exactly what I should expect given his atrocious performance for a company complaining to be so reputable. I got another call on Aug 2 from the driver, saying Aug 1-3 window would be impossible and expect Aug 4. The next day I got another call stating that Aug 4 would be impossible and expect Aug 5. Finally, on Aug 5, my goods were delivered but two items were significantly damaged.
I paid and notified Alan of the final state of things and told him that it was RVL's turn to meet their end of the bargain. Alan and RVL came back with proposed refund of 5% (I had asked for a roughly 50% refund based on the refused price match and incurred expenses total). How is 5% as a fair refund for the worst customer service I have ever received from a moving company and after refusing to price match another competitor, forcing me to spend hundreds out of pocket for expenses that I incurred as a result of RVL, and causing hundreds in damage to my shipment? NEVER USE REGIONS VAN LINES!!!
