Shady practices, over charged, lied, damaged goods, lost items
Mrs. D.
Submitted this review about
Universe Express Inc
Review made Live: 11/17/2013 7:28:00 PM
I filed a complaint with BBB and they never responded to my final communication they chose to just take the hit on their record. Below is the last communication I received from them via BBB and my response which did include all documentation (emails, photos, paperwork) documenting my claims . It pretty much explains the whole experience of dealing with them and their crooked practices of over charging and changing terms of service.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
In response to case number
Ms. D hired Universe Express to relocate her items from Rochester, NY to Littleton, CO
with a move date of June 25, 2013.
Initial Estimate:
On June 16, 2013 when Ms. D and our sales representative Mr.
James Ricci spoke via telephone, Ms. D was given an estimate based on an
inventory list she provided. Ms. D was informed that http://admin.moving.com/this
initial list is below the minimum cubic foot charge. Ms. D spoke with Mr.
James Ricci on several occasions and continued to make changes to the estimate.
Ms. D was informed from the very beginning that she would be charged for
the total number of cubic feet the move occupied.
The pictures Ms. D sent in were only used to determine the
packing materials needed for the move. We are unable to use pictures to
determine the size of any items as pictures can be deceiving or incomplete.
Packing Services & Materials:
The materials included in our estimates are the moving blankets
and the tape unless otherwise specified. The sales representative included box
packing of the china including the boxes themselves, however the additional
materials needed are charged at a per usage rate. Any Additional packing
materials such as Bubble-wrap, White or Tissue paper, Boxes, Kraft-bubble,
Shrink-wrap, Paper-blankets etc. are not included in the moving services. A
full pack move would have included all materials and labor at an additional
charge. However, this is not the service Ms. D ordered. All items were
packed accordingly to the specification(s) given by the representative during
the pick-up. The packing materials were charged at the per usage rate as
explained in the moving estimate. Unpacking service is an optional service that
does entail an additional charge, this service also was not ordered. It is
clearly stated in the moving estimate that reassembly of furniture is included
at the time of delivery. All customers are held responsible to unpack their
boxes.
Cubic Feet/ Size of the Move:
The estimate shows 125 cubic feet based on the inventory list provided by Ms. D On
the day of the move the items totaled 225 cubic feet. Ms. D tried to
measure each item individually, which is not an accurate way to measure the
items that are being loaded into a truck. The items do not fit like a puzzle
pieces when loaded onto the truck. The items need to be loaded and stacked
accordingly. The correct measurement for the total cubic feet is 225 cubic feet
as stated on the contract.
Inventory List:
Prior to the move date Ms. D provided an inventory list with
our sales representative Mr. James Ricci, however on the day of the move our
Foremans are required to do a physical list based upon the DOT (Department of
Transportation) Regulations. Our Customer Service Manager, Nicole
Patrick, spoke with Ms. D and confirmed a physical list needs to be written
on the day of the move. Ms. D was also informed that some people refer to particular
items by different names ( ex. dresser, bureau, chest, highboy , and wardrobe)
the list may have other corresponding names to her particular items. As per Ms.
D request a copy of the inventory was sent via email to her accounting
for each piece relocated.
Delivery Services:
The moving services order by Ms. D clearly state that only
reassembly of the furniture is included in the moving estimate. If Ms.
D wanted full unpacking services she needed to order the service from us at
an additional charge and she would have been needed to be ordered at the time
of the move reservation. All customers are held responsible to unpack their
boxes.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:
Initial Estimate:
In my original contact with James Ricci regarding the items I need moved I was never at anytime informed that my shipment was below any minimum cubit foot charge and Mr. Ricci never indicated anything about this. If it was below a min. charge than I would expect that that would be noted on the initial quote and included in the cost. The changes that were made to the estimate were in fact items that Mr. Ricci never included on the inventory list from our original discussion as well as address information that he left off (email is attached and I have highlighted in bold red so it is easy to find.
Packing Services & Materials:
In the email conversation with James Ricci you will see noted in bold / blue where I questioned about how the items would be protected in the move (specifically the 100 year old glass bottle that arrived shattered). My response back from him indicated that it would be fully protected but at no time did he ever mention that I would be charged for any necessary materials. In fact he specifically states that they would be protected and that the service includes all wrapping, padding and tape for every item for all our moves. When someone tells me that all "wrapping" is included I certainly don't expect to then have a $200 charge tacked on at the time of pickup. Again no where or at anytime did he ever note that they charge for these materials.
Cubic Feet/ Size of the Move:
I was told I would be charged for the total cubic feet of my move and I was at the time aware that there is no way for anyone to know the exact measurement of each item without doing a physical inventory. I also realize that items will not fit perfectly on a truck but at no time was I ever told that I would also be responsible for paying for the "void" space on the truck because they could not fit it like a perfect puzzle. I find it quite telling of their shady practices that their own good faith estimate shows that the 100 year old glass bottle they shipped and packed in an oversized china box they provided that measures 9cu feet yet they only sized it as 3 CFT on their settlement. In numerous conversations I asked them to provide a breakdown of the cubic ft charges so I could see where the jump in price happened but they never provided me with such. In total I had 18 items shipped, 6 of those are listed on their good faith estimate and only total 23 cubic feet total. I would be curious to know how the other 12 make up 202 cubic feet when they are such items as a wagon, 2 small picture box, 2 more china boxes, a rocking chair an exact end table as the one on the settlement form etc.
Inventory List:
I did provide an inventory list with Mr. Ricci at the initial quote. I was concerned about the mislabeling of items b/c it wasn't simply a dresser being called a bureau but a sled being referred to as an "ice rag" or a red wagon being referred to as a "toy car". When I received this inventory sheet I was greatly concerned of the possible mismanagement that may happen with my items.
Delivery Services:
Again please see the attached email of James Ricci's highlighted in bold green he states that included is all disassembling and reassembling of all furniture and unloading and positioning of all items. If it states that they are going to position the items I am not sure how they are going to do so without taking them out of the box. Additionally at the time of pickup my Mother was told that the unpacking of all boxes would be done by the movers when it arrived at the destination. And lastly on the order for service form that Nicole Patrick sent there is an additional $200 charged on the "Containers, Packing & Unpacking" line. If in fact the unpacking was not included then I would expect that that would be detailed out somewhere but again it was not.
The original claims form that I sent to Universe Express disputed not only items received damaged or not delivered (which some were not addressed on this settlement) but costs that were tacked on for packing that was not done and was to be included as well as additional CU ft charges that were grossly inflated and charged at the time the shipment was picked up. Please note that the Goodwill gesture settlement that they forwarded you was dated 8/27/13 however I never received information on this even after I contacted them on 9/5/13 regarding the status of the claim. Obviously they were finished processing but refused to notify me of this and that is a perfect example of why I opened a claim with the BBB prior to their 90 days. Additionally the good faith settlement claim they forwarded you does not include a one of a kind painting that they lost in shipment as well as the additional items that were delivered damaged b/c their movers. When the items were picked up I was charged an additional amount for "professional packing" however most of the delicate items were neglected and all the antique furniture had packing tape applied to the bare wood which in turn pulled off the finishing when removing and left a gummy substance that can not be removed causing permanent damage.
