6 Jul 2023 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
WARNING - NEVER do business with this company! They deserve only the worst possible negative rating. I could write a book about my nightmare experience with Atlantic Relocation Systems (“Atlantic”) and what a huge mistake it was to use them for the overseas shipment of my household goods. Given the space limitations for this review, I’ll provide only a very brief overview of the bait-and-switch tactics Atlantic used on me. It all began with their salesman - Andy Orlin. He came to my storage unit in Georgia where all the items for overseas shipment were located and visible for his inspection. He made a persuasive sales pitch about Atlantic’s alleged great shipping business connections and his personal expertise. Much of what he said turned about to be demonstrably false. But by the time I was able to discover Orlin’s many misrepresentations, it was too late to use another shipper as Atlantic had my belongings in their possession. For example, his “expert” estimate and initial contract price for the complete process was 15% lower than the actual amount I was ultimately billed. He also misrepresented the size of the shipping container that Atlantic would use (he said 20' but they apparently used a 40') which lead to me giving away many valuable items and furnishings I would have otherwise kept and included in the shipment. Another huge misrepresentation - Orlin’s promised delivery date was off by almost 4 months! But once they have your belongings, there’s no turning back - you’re stuck with being another victim of Atlantic’s deceptive business practices. Very soon after Atlantic took my items, Orlin began a series of excuses about delayed delivery (all due he said to Covid and other transportation issues despite his original assurances that delivery would be completed in approx. 4 weeks and be unaffected by Covid). Orlin also began sending me a number of “updates” in attempt to justify the delays and insisting that I would have to pay even more money, despite my having paid 100% of Atlantic’s total price up front as they required. Remember, the price I’d already paid had increased 15% over Orlin’s false “estimate” and Atlantic’s initial contract. When I challenged Orlin’s assertions that I would have to pay Atlantic even more money, Atlantic unilaterally and without any prior notice or authorization charged my credit card (using the card number I provided to pay the entire contract cost up front) an additional approximate 6.5% over the escalated price I’d already paid. After my detailed objections to Atlantic’s improper use of my credit card and my threat to sue them on a variety of counts, Atlantic refunded the illegitimate credit card charge. Incredibly, I then received a money demand from Atlantic’s delivery subcontractor in the country of final destination (an outfit named Trallero - whom I’d never heard of and with whom I had no contract). Trallero insisted that I pay them directly (per instructions from Orlin) despite Atlantic’s written contract that it’s charges included door-to-door delivery. Orlin then directed Trallero to stop the delivery of my property until I paid Trallero directly for the fees apparently owed to it by Atlantic. As would be expected, I immediately notified Orlin that Atlantic must pay all fees to Trallero as I had no obligation to pay, and no contractual relationship with, any of Atlantic’s subcontractors. Orlin’s response was like that of a guilty child - he blocked any further communications from me. As a result, I then had to correspond only with Atlantic’s attorneys. I informed them that I was ready to file a multi-count lawsuit to hold Atlantic fully liable for the breach of its contractual obligations, its bad faith conduct and fraudulent business practices, and the recovery of all fees and costs incurred by me in enforcing their obligations. Following the attorneys brief and legally unpersuasive attempt to justify Atlantic’s actions, the attorneys quickly reversed their position and agreed to reimburse me for the full amount ($1820) I’d been coerced to pay Trallero (per the instructions of Orlin) to have my belongings finally delivered. During that process, Atlantic’s attorneys also attempted to include “confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions” in a release agreement to prevent me from publicly exposing Atlantic’s inexcusable conduct. But I refused to keep Atlantic’s malfeasance a secret and Atlantic’s attorneys again backed down. Atlantic then paid me and I remain free to inform the world about Atlantic’s deceitful business practices. The final sad chapter of my experience with Atlantic was filing a claim for damaged and missing items. The insurance carrier finally responded and paid me $8,705 to settle my claim. Many of those still missing items are forever irreplaceable. What happened? Did Atlantic intentionally destroy some of my belongings or just inexplicably lose them? Unbelievable!
I challenge Atlantic to attempt to disprove any part of what I’ve said.
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