ComplaintsforUniversity Movers, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My girlfriend and I were moving out of my mothers condo on 11/4/23. We only needed our heavy stuff moved like couch and bedroom set and boxes that were in the garage. I have a 75 inch ******* that my mom asked if they had room for it in the truck and the 2 guys said yes they did. my mom then asked if they had the proper stuff to wrap it in like shrink wrap or bubble wrap. they assured my mom that they had the proper protection. turns out they never shrink wrapped it or bubble wrapped it. they covered it in a moving blanked and pushed it in the side of the box truck. that night my cousin helped me hang the ** at our new place. we go to turn it on and there was a big internal spider web crack when you turned the ** on. it doesn't even work anymore. Now there policy is 30 cents per pound per article. you never get told that until they show up. we needed our stuff moved that day so you have no choice but to sign. no heads up or anything. they show up and make you sign what you were never told before. then my mom called the owner who was not professional at all. said my mom was threatening her when all she said was she was going to leave a bad review. this owner is not fit to run a customer satisfaction business. then the ********************** also lied about what happen saying they warned us when they never said that. they said they had the proper packing. This is our first place and what a nightmare to what was suppose to be a celebration of our first place. we are all very upset and angered by this buisness.

  

  Business response

  12/07/2023

  Good morning,

  The customer who hired us to do this move is ******************  She hired us to move her son.  The contract is in ********************* name.  They have always signed and accepted the .30 cents per lb/ per article insurance.  They knew that, that is the insurance that we offer.    They have always signed and accepted the .30 cents per lb/ per article insurance.  They have always been satisfied with our company.

  The ** that is in questions is indeed a 75" television.  When our fellas arrived the ** was already off of the wall and laying flat on their bed.  ********************************* was the crew lead on this job.  He indicated to me that he had expressed concern about moving the television.  He did indeed have room in the truck to move it, and upon disscussion and agreement that he would transport the ** it had cardboard put on the face, with a moving blanket put over it and then two lines of shrink wrap.  It was put into the box truck as that is the way we transport household goods.  It was delivered to their new home, brought to where they requested.  There was absolutely no physical damage to the **.  

  I received an email indicating that I need to call ***************** about the ** the next day.  I called her that morning as soon as I received her email.  Upon talking with her and telling her that the coverage signed for is the .30 cents per lb. per article, she became upset.  I tried to explain the situation with her.  She indicated to me that if I didn't handle this differently, that I wouldn't like the outcome.  I told her I am not going to be threaten by her.  She hung up on me very upset.  Her son then called and was also very upset.  Expressed that he had no choice but to sign for that insurance as we were already there. It is the same insurance that his mom signed for, that everyone was well aware of.the prior times they have used us  I was was then threaten with if you don't take of of this we will write bad reviews.  I told them that again, I am not going to be bullied into giving them what they are demanding, with the threat of a bad review.  The son continued to call me numerous times over and over again, I finally told him via text message to stop harassing me.  He indicated to me that it was his first amendment right as free Americans to leave a review as he sees fit.  I merely told him that if he did leave any type of negative review that I would share with whom he left a bad review his contract that he signed and accpeted. 

  We never saw the ** work, we didn't take it off the wall, we did not put it back on the wall.  We did no physical damage to the **.  This alledged damaged could had been done by them removing it from the wall, and laying it flat on a bed.  It could had been done when they were hanging it back up.   I will only honor the .30 cents per lb per article insurance.

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired them to load our belongings in a uhaul truck that we rented. We also provided straps, bands, and 5 dozen moving blankets to protect our furniture. They left nearly 2 dozen blankets unused and multiple pieces of furniture unprotected causing damage. Their response was argumentative, and unprofessional.

  

  Business response

  04/19/2023

  Hello,

  My name is ********************************  I would like to please share my experience and facts of this claim.

  On April 12th, we loaded ***************  During the move both Mr. and *************** were present at the back of their rented moving van, watching our team load his truck.  At no time did they say that they were unhappy in anyway.  They tipped our men each $60.00, as well as bought them lunch.  He indicated that he was happy that it all fit and told them they did a great job.  He signed our contract, which I have attached.

  On Friday April 14th, ************** called me.  When I answered he immediately began the conversation with "I am ****** oof, I am going to blast you all over the internet".  I asked what was wrong, he then went on to say numerous times that he rented 5 dozen pads, and we only used two dozen, he kept saying that over and over again.  He said all of his s$(& was broken.  That they were only half way into the truck and he had 11 pieces of furniture damaged.  He said he was so F&*)ing ****** he was going to blast us.  I was extremely calm (when quite frankly I wanted to hang up on his absolute vulgar language) and said let me talk with the men when they come in, I told him that we are surely not perfect, but to have 11 pieces of furniture damaged is quite out of character for us.  I immediately called our crew leader upon hanging up with him.  I told him, I want to know about this move, that I had a very upset customer.  My crew leader told me ***** there is no way he had 8 bags of pads, we did not use 3.  We used the rubber bands he provided, we used shrink wrap, etc.  I asked my crew leader if he would call the customer, he said absolutely.  ***** called me back within two minutes to say he was trying to talk with him and he called him a mother f%^#*% started yelling at him so my crew lead hung up on him.  Then ************** texts me to tell me that I am not going to talk to someone who is going to tell him he is wrong, and he is not going to listen to this person. I then asked him to send me pictures, and he told me there was more to come.  I want to clearly address the pad issue.  He had 8 bags of pads, which there are 8 pads to a bag.  That is 48 pads.NOT 5 dozen,  we used all but 3 bags which would be 18 left over pads.  I also, have attached a picture sent by him, showing that there were 3 bags left.  I also have attached pictures of a couple various stages of his load, which clearly show that it was packed correctly.  He sent me a picture of a tier of the load, that is awful, but you can see where we had the pad affixed with a rubberband, and that is was pulled out from how we had it.  Who is to say that he took that picture after he or whoever unloaded him, was tearing down the tier.

  I did not hear anything back from him until after I emailed him to ask him if he had more pictures.  Stating that I am trying to add everything to his file.  He then sent me numerous pictures, some were duplicates.  Out of the damages, that he is indicating, there is a dining room chair that you can clearly see that it has been touched of previously,, he sent a picture of a couch that I cannot see any damage at all, Picture of a couch foot that you can tell is not fresh as the wood has darken, a scratch that is on some type of a wood piece, again it is darken indicating old damage, he has a picture of a black headbord that my fellas said was exactly like that.when they loaded it.  There are three different pieces of furniture that do look like fresh nicks.  There is an office chair that has to blemishes on each side, none of my crew can speak to if they were like that or not.  After saying all of this these damages, could they had been caused by us, there is no way to know.  We did not drive the truck, so we do not know how it was driven, we also do not know how it was unloaded. 

  There was at no time was I rude.  

  Then what do you know, he blasted us, and harassed me.  The vulgarity was just ridiculous.  I had even had a chance to talk to him.  I finally just couldn't handle his harassment and being berated by this man that I called the police and asked them to help me make he stop bothering me.  ********** report was made with ****************** police department, report number is 23- 7415.  I have also contacted our attorney, to bring a lawsuit against him for defamation of character.

• Initial Complaint

  03/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired University Movers for an out-of-state move in January 2023. We had multiple issues and the company has since stopped responding to us. 1) we paid $1,200 to have our carpets cleaned prior to moving and were assured they would be protected. The crew showed up without carpet protectors. Because they didn't have them, I drove to ********** and bought carpet protector (they did reimburse for supplies). We saw them begin laying carpet protector on the stairs and didn't give much thought to it after that. However, after they were done, we realized they only put carpet protector on the stair cases and wore their work boots everywhere else on the carpet (it was a snowy winter day). ***** stated they had a video walkthrough of the house after the move she would send over to show they were protected (they definitely were not which I assume is why the video was never sent). She said she would send the video on 1/19. I followed up on 1/23, 2/20, and 2/28 with the last 2 emails receiving no response. I did receive a $20-some check in the mail from her, instead, for me having to go purchase the carpet protector myself. That doesn't account for the wasted $1,200 I spent having them cleaned which had to be redone. 2) A ***** in the floor of our previous home. They did a very quick walkthrough after the move and my husband must not have noticed it. However, the new owners did and refused to refund our $8,300 escrow holding until it was fixed. I was told they had filed an insurance claim and would hear back. We never did despite follow up and had to pay out of pocked to have it fixed in order to have our $8,300 released. 3) Our 65inch TV was mishandled and has a large white spot where it appears someone carried it with the palm of their hand pressed into the screen. We received $23 because that is what our insurance covered. I understand moving incidentals, however, with obvious mishandling, on top of everything else, I think that should be their responsibility.

  

  Business response

  04/15/2023

  Good Afternoon,

  This is ***** from University Movers.  I first want to address the tardiness in my response.  As you may know we are a family business and unfortunately due to extreme health issues, we had been closed since late January through mid March.  I am just now getting back to work myself this past week.  I want to sincerely apologize.  It was not my intention and I feel very bad and quite frankly embarrassed as to not responding to ***********

  Now I would like to address the claim.

  Regarding the television.  When we made our follow up call to *****,  She indicated to Serenity she was happy with us but she tell us about the ** and a scratch on her floor.  I then had a conversation with her and then she did mention the carpeting.  She was kind enough to go and get carpet shield and we did remove that expense from the bill as you can see.  After our conversation, I sent her a check in the amount of $48.40 (which she has not yet cashed) I sent her $25.00 for her inconvenience of getting the carpet shield.  I also sent her $23.40 for the television.  We offer .30 cents per lb per article insurance.  That model weighs approximately 78 lbs.  I know that ***** is unhappy with the resolution of the **, however, that is the insurance coverage.  I am sorry that there was damage, surly not our intention.  

  To address the carpet.  We sure did have a video, and because of not being in the office, it only hold for 30 days.  I know ***** you m ight be thinking that we never had one and we did.  I talked with ****, as well as saw video, and they did put the carpet shield on the stairs, they did have runners coming into the house and there was runners I saw in a hallway.  Now that is not to say if they stepped off the the runners, that there may had been a footprint or a dirt smudge.  I am curious, you stated you had to have it all cleaned again?  The entire house?  During our conversation you did not tell me that you were getting that done.  Do you have a receipt and form of payment proof of your second cleaning after we left?  If so I will take into consideration of some compensation for that.  

   

  In regard to the scratch on the wood floor, our insurance company denied the claim.  Apparently if I am correct the scratch was noticed upon moving a box or something and that is when it was noticed.  ********************* stated that there was nothing said upon the walk through at the end. Also, with the information that it was found upon moving something off of the area, there contention is the homeowner may had caused the damage.  By the pictures it was about a four inch scratch.  Also, I would like to see a receipt of work completion and form of payment and I will consider possibly helping with the cost. 

   

  Please review all forms sent to show all signatures, my letter regarding the claim resolution and the follow up cost sheet with *****'s remarks.

   

  Thank you for your time.

• Initial Complaint

  01/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired this company to handle my move.I was up front with how much stuff I needed to move.After agreeing to their service, an email was sent that contained the following line."We are also fully insured and bonded. "My complaint is as follows.1. They were late to arrive on moving day - This pushed my move into a second day that I also needed to pay for. The crew that showed up to move my items was not prepared to move the amount of items I had. When the crew showed up (late), they were in shock because nobody told them. - They refused to take the large items from the garage, even though the moving truck was half empty. The reason was.. one of the guys had a concert to get to after work. - This absolutely cost me more money.2. They don't disclose their moving contract until moving day when the truck is in the driveway. Because of this, you don't have an opportunity to review it before moving day when you NEED to be out of the house. - Example: You don't get to see how poor the insurance is until moving day. It's not posted to their website. When a consumer sees "We are also fully insured and bonded." - you assume that if they break something, they replace it and not 30 cents per pound,3. They damaged my lathe. - It was here I found out how bad their insurance is. 30 cents a pound doesn't come close to replacing the damaged machine.That was almost five months ago - and I still haven't see that insurance check that they said was coming to cover the damage.Around month 4, and getting frustrated about the lack of progress. When I was speaking to the lady on the phone, I said a bad word, not even directed at her, or in a bad tone, but she flipped out and hung up on me. - Keep in mind, her movers used far worse language when moving my stuff. The bad word was said when I was describing her poor insurance policy and the timing in which it's finally shown to the customer who has no time to review it.I want my lathe replaced. - 30 cents per pound isn't close.

  

  Business response

  04/21/2023

  This letter is to address the above complaint with Mr. *********************************

   

  I first want to stress my apologies to both the BBB and ************** for the extreme delay in a response.

   

  I will address his letter in the order in which it is written.

   

  Regarding insurance.  We are fully insured and bonded.  I have included a certificate of insurance. AS far as the coverage for household goods, it is only .30 cents per lb. per article.  We have general liability insurance, cargo insurance when in transit, truck liability insurance and a $5000.00 dishonesty bond insurance.  It is posted on our website, at the bottom there is a link stating rights and responsibilities.  

   

  We were most certainly late that day.  I can see by looking at is confirmation email that we were supposed to be there at 8:30 a.m.  Unfortunately, I do not know the circumstances as to why, as it is not noted on the paperwork.  I do see the notes that  when arrived there was more to move than indicated, and it could not be done in the same day.  The fellas were overwhelmed upon arrival because of the difference in what was noted and what there actually was.  I have attached the back of his work order to show what we were told there was to move. It did result in an additional day as he has said.  I have attached the contract and walk release form for each day.  He, has indicated that he had to pay for the second day.  Yes, he did.  We did not charge him an additional travel fee.  He paid for the the time the fellas worked.  Which he would had paid for the time if everything would had been done on the first day.  He was in agreement for us to do another day upon our conversation with him.  At the time of his move there was nothing that indicated that he was upset with this. Nothing cost him anymore money than what he paid.  He would had paid for the labor hours regardless.  He would had either paid it all in one day, or as it happened in was in two different days.

   

  Yes, one of the men damaged the lathe, it is noted on our paperwork, as well as the lead mover ***** called the office immediately.  It most certainly is not our intention to break our customers possessions.  I completely understand being angered.  While there is no excuse, the fellas are human and sometimes incidents like this occur.  

   

  The check was issued to ************** on December 29th. Check number 5586  In the amount of $75.00.  He had indicated when he booked that the lathe weighed ******* lbs.  We issued the check for 250lbs. If the lathe weighs more we are happy to adjust the amount.  However, it has never cleared the bank, and ************** indicates he has not received it.  We are happy to issue a new check and if the lathe weighs more, we will make the check reflect as such.  I will not replace the lathe, I will pay for the insurance that he is contracted for.  

   

  Yes, I most certainly did hang ** on **************, I am not going to be talked to in the manner in which I was being talked to.  Frustration yes, swearing at me no.  He states my movers used language far worse than he did?  First of all, they do not yell and swear at me.  Secondly, if they were using bad language, and had offended you in anyway, I would like to know, because I do not want my fellas on job sites, making ** look unprofessional.  If they did I am sorry and I have a meeting with all of the men on your job next Tuesday, and let them know I will not tolerate this type of a complaint.  

   

  I am now back to work full time and have been for about a week and half.  My responses will be in a timely manner.

   

  Regards,

  *******************************

   

   

  Customer response

  04/21/2023

   
  Complaint: 18817444
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Thank you for getting back to me about this issue I would like to get resolved.
  I would like to point out a few things from your reply.

  The reason your team was late that day is because another job was put on their schedule for that morning.

  I was very clear when I reserved your services that I had a large garage that was full of large woodworking tools that needed to be moved.  Most of them were on mobile bases making it easier to move them around.  I was also very clear when I said I had a full size Juke box that also needed to be moved, and I gave you the make/model of the jukebox so you could look it up.  At no point did anyone from your company come over to my house to actually look at the items that needed to be moved or make a game plan on how to move the items. Because none of that info was given to the movers, they did not come prepared for what I had to move.

  2nd Trip could have been avoided had the 1st movers loaded the tools from the garage as I was asking them to do. All the large items were absolutely ready to go on day 1, and I would have been able to grab the smaller items with the car the next day when we were cleaning the house.  While you didnt charge travel, the total time charged DID include time traveling between addresses, and the 2 man crew on day 2 cost more per person than the 3 man crew from day 1. (175/3 = ***** per mover per hour, 130/2 = 65 per mover per hour) It absolutely would have been less for me had the movers on 8/20 taken the items from the garage in that half empty truck. It would have only added a couple hours at most.  Even your movers on 8/22 were in agreement that the garage should have been done on Day 1.

  You mention that I did not indicate that I was upset about needing a second day for the move. I was absolutely upset when we learned your crew couldnt do it on the day we planned because we needed to be out of the house to get it ready for pictures.  I stayed calm, but I was absolutely upset about this needing a second day, and lining up on the same day someone was to be there to photograph the house. When the photographer was scheduled 2 weeks in advance, it would have meant a costly delay on getting my house on the market if we didnt get those pictures completed.

  Those contracts you are talking about are not shown to the customer until your drivers are in the driveway. I looked on your website, and it says you are insured, but nowhere does it say 30 cents per pound on the website. The customer has no way to know this until they have 3 guys in their driveway and no choice but to sign the contract because they have to get moved on THAT day and good luck finding another mover to assist if you decline the contract. 

  The page where is says everything was re-assembled No, your movers refused to put anything back together.  They said they would help take things apart such as bed frames, but would not put them back together.  That document is also not presented to the customer until the end, after I already re-assembled the items myself as they were unloading the truck. Doesnt matter, I was able to do it.. However, later on in the week, I did find several boxes not put in the correct rooms that were noted on the boxes.  This was upsetting, but again, I just dealt with it and did it myself.
  

  We never received a check from you for the damages. That check you mention, never arrived, and I told you that over the phone. Every time I called in to ask about it, I was never given a straight answer on when the payment would be sent and for how much.  As for the amount of the check, thats absolutely frustrating. That tool costs $500, and Im not sure I can even get the part that was broken. (Tail stock assembly).  To offer such a small amount when I cant even buy the part that broke, meaning Ill need to likely buy a completely new lathe, is absolutely frustrating.  Then to tell me that its what was in the contract, after that contract isnt presented to the customer until moving day when there really isnt any way to decline, is also frustrating.
  

  As for hanging up on me.  I did not call YOU any name or use any language that was directed at YOU. I called your insurance, and the way its presented when the customer has no choice but to accept the terms, a bad word.  You wouldnt even let me get a word in, or apologize for hurting your feelings when you completely misunderstood what I had said.  At the point of that call, it had been several MONTHS since the move, and the issue still wasnt resolved, and my tool was still broken, while I was getting strung along with no explanation, then you tell me Well you signed a contract. Do you really expect people to stay completely calm after stringing them along for months on a damage claim and then offering so little for such an expensive item, then resorting to a contract that the customer signs under duress because they have no choice but to accept it due to the timing in which it's presented?

  Also, Your moving crew The people you sent to my house while I had kids in the house. Used FAR worse language than I did. I did not kick them out of my house. I find it hard to believe that they dont use any offensive words when they get back to the office.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  

  Business response

  05/16/2023

  Good Afternoon,

  University Movers position stands as in the original response.  We are willing to pay the amount of $75.00 to the claimant.  It is what was agreed and signed for.  We will not be issuing any other settlement amount.

  Regards,

  *******************************

  Customer response

  05/20/2023

   
  Complaint: 18817444
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I also stand by my reply.

  The contract you are referring to isn't shared with the customer until moving day when there are 3 guys standing in the driveway, and I HAVE to be out of the house.  As I'm sure you are aware, rescheduling a moving day on the same day you are supposed to be moving, simply isn't possible for most people due to contracts with the homes that require people to be out of their homes on the dates agreed.  The email reply I received when we agreed to the move about a month before the actual moving date said "We are also fully insured and bonded."  Isn't that a bit misleading? Not disclosing the actual insurance terms until the customer really doesn't have a the choice to say "No" puts the customer in a bad position. Why would the customer think that the insurance doesn't replace what was broken when the email says you are "Fully Insured"? There were no attachments on the email, making it impossible to see the contract ahead of time - See attached image of the email you sent.

  This is deceptive practice in my opinion. You are leading the customer to believe their items are fully insured, when they aren't.

  As for payment. You said a check was coming last year. After I told you it never arrived, you didn't look into it and re-issue a new check? The move was 9 months ago, and I still don't have anything from you to resolve this. Not a single cent as arrived. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  

  Business response

  05/22/2023

  I am sorry, there is nothing more we are doing.  I have a legal document signed.  If you will not accept then we are at an impasse.  I have absolutely nothing to add to my response.  We can keep going back and forth, however my position is not changing.

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