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TERRIFYINGLY misleading, intentionally preys on customers to get more $$
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I’ve been lucky enough to complete four cross country moves in my days. Life has taken me to some pretty amazing places … and as a result, I’ve worked with my fair share of moving companies both large and small. Natiowide Van Lines, is – hands down – the WORST one I have ever worked with. EVER. If I could give zero stars, I would. Things started out great. I spoke with Suzanna who gave me a too-good-to-be-true quote, professed their honorable business values, and professed that they knew my new move-in area well enough to wrangle Miami’s complicated move-in/move-out regulations with ease. I was so pleased that I encouraged my parent, who would be doing a similar cross country move, to get in on the action and set up their own move through Nationwide. However, in the days leading up to the move, I received several phone calls that raised the bright red flag of doubt:
1. The company would be tacking on an additional $500 (in addition to the original $300 I already agreed to in my quote) to move the piano. Which I agreed to – it is a $7000 instrument after all. Especially because this extra fee was meant to cover the cost of special movers who knew how to pack, disassemble, and reassemble a piano properly. 2. Despite having told them I could not, under any circumstances move into my new apartment until the first of the month, they said they would be delivering on the 25th… of the previous month. Five days early. Normally, this would be great, but considering I had clearly expressed that my lease would not begin until the 1st, it felt like a ploy to very conveniently rake in another $900 (the fee to “unload and reload” your items should you not be able to receive your items in accordance with their delivery schedule. They also were conveniently out of any later pick up dates to accommodate a later arrival. And 3. The movers would be arrivng a full day later than I had originally anticipated to pack my furniture and pick up my boxes. Interesting. I took these revelations in stride and was fortunate enough to be able to pro-rate my lease to facilitate the early delivery (trust me, I’d rather pay my landlord another few hundred dollars than shell out even more money to Nationwide’s mysterious “add on’s” fund).
Then move out day arrived. And things went WAY downhill. Fast. The foremen tried to tack on another $150 here for a long haul (despite the fact that they only had one hallway to walk down). And another $200 there because they didn’t know my end tables had stone tops (a nuance which they conveniently did not include as an option on the initial estimate sheet or in discussions with the quote “expert”). And you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that there was no “special piano expert” in toe. The foreman was extremely rude to my father, pugnacious with me, and generally difficult to deal with. Phrases like “this isn’t my job” and “that’s between you and the moving expert” were on repeat. Since you had to pay half the move in cash up front, I was literally held hostage.
Fast forward to delivery day. In a twist of cruel fate, my building’s service elevator was out of service for a grueling seven hours. To help ease the situation, my building outfitted the foremen with a trolley cart and said they could unload the big items (couch, piano, etc.) in the loading garage, and then wheel the small items (boxes, small chairs, desk, etc.) up through the main lobby. Instead, the head foreman took this opportunity to smoke cigarettes in my lawn, nap, and complain about the situation. I offered to help him set up in a way that would work to get it done faster and had the security guard coordinate with him ways to make the situation better. He simply would not do it. He wouldn’t even open the doors of the truck unless the elevator was working and insisted that the remainder of the move be paid in FULL (in CASH) before he even touched a box. Another red flag so there would be no recourse if (and in this case WHEN) damage occurred.
By the time the elevator was working, the foreman was in another bout of rage. Feeling – yet again – held hostage by these movers, I didn’t want to press the issue about having unpacked earlier or be overly aggressive since they had total control over my belongings. And yet, I couldn’t help but think his sour mood was much of his own making and reluctance to just get the job done in tandem with my building. The movers left my apartment an utter disaster. My side chairs were thrown on top of my couch. There was padding everywhere (which they refused to take out). They had badly chipped my desk (which they packed) and broken the leg off my wet bar (which they also packed). But most disappointingly, they had broken the piano’s pedals and the last three keys on the keyboard were not working. Before I could even give the foremen a tip they slammed the door and stormed out. I sat on the floor and sighed.
When the moving company reached out for a review, I frankly told them about the situation and the customer serviced representative began with a sympathetic promise to get the issue resolved. After two hours of phone calls, he agreed to send $300 to cover the cost of the piano fix (quoted at $150) and any additional damage the tuner found while fixing the keys. It also felt a bit like hush money since I had threated to tell the world about this experience and encourage my family not to use them for their own move. Two weeks went by … and then three … and I had received zero updates about the compensation. When I reached out, they had yet another convoluted, circumvent, rambling set of excuses to explain why they didn’t intend to send me any damages after all. I’m not at all surprised considering every interaction with Nationwide has been fraught with double standards and financial shadiness. Par for the course at this point. The measly $300 wouldn’t even cover the $800 I paid to have the piano “professionally moved” to begin with and certainly didn’t address the damage done on my bar or desk. Their consolation? “You can file a penny on the dollar claim for your damage” (the coverage being so pitiful it’s almost laughable – yet ANOTHER detail the moving “expert” conveniently left out when quoting and binding my original estimate).
All in all: A BORDERLINE FRAUD and horrendous customer service. Beware. Beware. Beware.
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