HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!!!
Jill H
Submitted this review about
SUMMIT VAN LINES
Review made Live: 6/27/2013 4:54:00 PM
I will start at the beginning to give you a clear picture of our move. When the movers showed up in Tampa, FL, I was constantly questioned as to all my items. Sammy, our move coordinator, had assured me that if my inventory did not change, our price would stay the same. The mover was starting to get irritated as he said all my items were heavy and if I did not pay more-he would have to pay the difference. I called Sammy about this and Sammy spoke to the mover. Sammy and the mover were actually yelling at each other over the phone. Sammy then told me to no longer talk to the movers as they do not know what they are doing. One of the movers then called his boss and put me on the phone with him. His boss explained to me that my quote would be an extra 10%. I then explained to him that was not what Sammy said and that he needed to speak to Sammy. He then put me on hold for 10 minutes, came back and said ok-the price would not change. I do not understand how all these people who work for the same company can come up with so many different rules and regulations where it should all be standard. When they were all done, the mover wanted me to sign the non binding estimate form and I refused and would only sign the binding form. I feel as if had I not done all my homework; I would have been taken advantage of, but because I knew better, Summit was forced to follow what they had initially told me. I thought all of this was bad-that was nothing compared to what we went through when our items arrived to Denver.
On Friday June 7th, the driver called us to let us know he would be at our condo Saturday the 8th between 5-8 pm. At 8:30 pm on Saturday, the driver called again and said he would be about another 45 minutes. He then asked me if I had payment for him. I told him I did, that I went to Wells Fargo and got a cashiers check. Once I told him this, he started yelling at me. He started yelling that he will only accept cash or a money order from the post office. I explained to him that a cashiers check was an acceptable form of payment as it was not a personal check and cost me $10 at Wells Fargo. He did not agree with me and basically just screamed at me over the phone for about 20 minutes. As you know on your paperwork it states "Delivery......at the delivery location we do not accept Credit Card or personal Checks........payment can be made only in the form of cash, money order or cashiers check." Once he stopped yelling at me, I called Summit Van Lines and left a message with the answering service. A dispatcher called back and told me that the cashiers check would be fine. He apologized for his driver screaming at me, stating that he is usually a really nice guy and just had a bad day, but he would be better before he arrived that evening at our condo. Well, unfortunately, that was not the case. When the driver arrived, he immediately asked for the payment (not even a hello or handshake first) once I handed him the cashiers check he took a picture of it and sent it to someone. We stood there until this person wrote back and said it was acceptable. Then the really bad part started. At about 9:30 pm they started to unload the truck in the dark. As I stood there and watched them unload the truck I was horrified. They were basically laying boxes on there sides, upside down, etc. I had 2 tv boxes I purchased that were clearly marked with an arrow stating THIS SIDE UP FRAGILE. Well they must have taken this as a joke, as they laid the box on its side first and then decided to move it upside down. I also noticed a couch being unloaded with my belongings. I decided to say something to the driver as I did not have a couch and wanted to save them the time of bringing the couch up to my unit. When I explained to them I did not have a couch, he argued with me for a few minutes insisting it was mine. I tried to explain to him that I did not have a couch at all. Finally, they went to put the couch back in the truck and what they did shocked me. They actually were throwing the couch back into the truck. Literally throwing it on its side back into the truck. I feel bad for who's couch that was.
At this time, I saw something that is still shocking to this day that unfortunately I do not think I will be able to forget. The drivers shorts were ripped from the bottom all the way to the top. He was wearing underwear, but they were ill fitting and I was forced to see his penis for the remaining 2 hours they were in my home. Yes-that is correct-my mover had his penis out during my entire move.
Once the truck was unloaded (and the items that were not mine were thrown back on the truck) the movers were ready to bring all my items into my condo. I live on the 3rd floor, but we do have freight elevators that were padded for use by the movers. This is when the driver decided to stand in the elevator while the other mover threw him my boxes to load the elevator. They were about 20 feet away from each other and I watched horrified as all my items were being thrown around and placed on their sides, upside down, etc. Literally, everything I owned was being thrown. I decided to not speak up as I was a female home alone, 10 pm at night, with strange men screaming at me, one who had his penis out.
Once they got off the elevator, I showed them where my front door was and the driver lost it. He started screaming that I needed to pay him $500 for him to move my items into my condo as it was a long walk. He was yelling that they would have to walk a mile with my stuff and I needed to pay for that. Well, I ended up counting and from the truck to the elevator it was 32 feet, from the elevator to my front door was 103 feet-hardly the mile he was yelling about. What condo building is more than a mile long anyway? Sounds a bit crazy. As you know on your paperwork it states "No charge for extra pickup, elevator, stairs or excessive carrying." Although I do not consider 135 feet excessive carrying. I explained to the driver what was on my paperwork and that we would not pay any extra. He then decided to just get it done I guess-but in the most aggressive way possible. On his next elevator ride, when the door opened he was standing on one of my boxes and quickly jumped off when he saw I was watching. They would basically bring stuff into my condo and just dump it. Whether it was on its side, upside down, etc. They put everything in the middle of one room and basically threw it down while they went to go get another load they were just going to throw down. Nothing was brought to there specified rooms. Heck, I would have settled for stuff at least being right side up. Boxes were crushed and ripped open. At one point, the driver started yelling at me that one box I had was very heavy and asked me what was inside. On the top of the box was written "Sweaters" so I explained to him it was clothes. He preceded to tell me it was not sweaters, it was too heavy and it must have metal in the box. Not sure why this mattered to him, but for some reason it did.
About 3 hours later they had finished damaging and throwing all my stuff into my condo. The driver then said to me "Did you like the job we did, give us a tip." I then calmly explained to him that I would not be tipping him as he threw all my items around and spent the entire time yelling at me about payment, walking a mile, heavy boxes, etc. all while his penis was in my face. He then grabbed his dolly, yelled something in another language and left.
On Monday June 10th, I called Summit Van Lines first thing so I could rely what had happened during our move. Roxanna in customer service, seemed to care and told me she would speak to her managers about what to do. The next day she called back to tell me she was still working on it. About 2 days later I called her back and she told me they were waiting to speak to the drivers. I then asked to speak to her manager (Roxanna said "I was waiting for you to say that") when the manager got on the phone, she could not have cared less. She explained that they needed to speak to the driver and would take about 2 weeks for them to get back to me. She had no sense of urgency in her voice nor did she issue any sort of apology for what had happened.
I decided to write this letter as I do not feel that anyone was planning on following up with me on this matter. I got the feeling that they were just pushing me off until I gave up or forgot. Well that is not going to happen. I was verbally harassed and also sexually harassed due to the driver exposing his penis to me throughout the move. Not to mention the fact that I live in fear as these movers know where I live and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I feel that Summit Van Lines is not taking this very seriously.
