3 Dec 2022 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
We contacted Navistar for a move in November, thinking that they were an actual moving company, and not just brokers. Navistar then quoted us a price of $6,123 based upon the amount of furniture and boxes that we were expected to move.
On the day of the move (11/11/2022), the driver asked us when we would like them to deliver our things. We said we wanted them delivered in three days (11/14/2022). We were told that this was doable. They began disassembling our furniture and carrying out moving boxes onto the street in front of our house. When most of our boxes and furniture were on the street, he changed the moving cost from $6,123 to $19,000! He also said that he “wasn’t going to nickel-and-dime” us for extra charges, and that he gave us a discount from what should have been $22,000. We were obviously shocked and at a loss for words. But he said that unless we agreed to the new price of $19,000, that he couldn’t continue and could not load our items onto the truck. He tried is make us feel better by saying that the brokers do this all the time (give a low estimate) to get the business and that he is stuck being the “bad guy” who has to revise the moving cost. He also said that, due to the amount of boxes we had, we were fortunate that he brought a bigger 35 foot truck instead of the normal 26 foot truck. We felt that we did not have a choice and told him to continue.
We arrived at our destination location on 11/13/22 and waited for the confirmation call regarding the delivery time. Since we did not hear from them by 2 pm on 11/14/22, we called Navistar. They checked with a “dispatcher” and said that the delivery will not take place on 11/15/22 as promised, but that it could be later on the week, possibly 11/17 or 11/18. So we then called the actual movers, USA Logistics, at 323-244-4399 which was the phone number listed on the revised contract. We found out that the phone was no longer in service. We then called their toll free # 833-252-5903 which was answered by someone who said to call back on 11/18, and that by law, they had up to 21 business days to make the delivery. Finally, we also called the driver who actually drove and supervised the loading of the truck. He did not pick up and so we left him a message to ask about the delivery date that was promised.
At this point, we got deeply concerned and suspicious about all the events that had happened. We then started looking at reviews of USA Logistics on the internet and discovered that they had very, very bad reviews. Thankfully, one of the reviewers (a previous customer/victim of USA Logistics) had a very detailed plan as to what action steps we could take. Based upon the recommendation of that reviewer, we contacted Michael Garcia, an attorney who specializes in interstate moving company cases. His number is 877-299-0550 and he is based out of San Diego, California. He was incredibly helpful, and with his assistance, we filed a complaint against USA Logistics with the Department of Transportation (DOT). From this point forward, with an attorney and the federal investigator looking into our situation, things moved very quickly. Within one day, the movers agreed to honor the initial estimate of $6,123 and completed the move on 11/18/22. Our situation would not have resolved so quickly without the help from the previous reviewer, Michael Garcia, J.D., and the DOT federal investigator.
The aftermath:
It turns out that the “35 foot truck” was a lie to convince us that the three-fold increase in moving cost was justified. When the items finally arrived at our destination location, they were in a 26 foot truck with room to spare (the truck also had another shipment as well!)
We are grateful to the reviewer whose detailed review and suggestions helped us. We are also grateful to Michael Garcia who made it possible to end this nightmare scenario.
However, upon unpacking and unloading our items, we found that most of furniture was damaged to some extent, that some were in such bad shape that they were unusable. Many of our tables and chairs had broken legs, and bookcases had cracks. Many of our boxes labeled “FRAGILE” were not handled with care, and many of our cutlery and china items were broken. We also discovered that our nearly new refrigerator was broken and that we need to have that replaced. We have moved many times in the past 30 years, but this was the worst experience that we have encountered. Our suggestion to others considering an interstate move is to, instead of using an interstate moving company, consider U-pack or PODS. This way you are in charge of packing and moving, and not at the mercy of a moving company who could take advantage of trusting customers.
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