ComplaintsforMeridian Moving & Storage

• Initial Complaint

  04/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction: 2/17/24 Customer spoke with GM at ******************, was quoted three hours to move a 1900 sq ft home to a new home 2 miles away. Spoke with GM ***** and customer biggest concern was ********************** all heavy objects and a treadmill. MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE stated they move treadmills all the time, and that was an easy move for MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE. 2/17/24 MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE spent hours over wrapping items to move. Unethical business practice to up charge for packing materials not needed and slow speed to charge the customer more than quoted. Customer started ********************** items on their own to speed up the process. MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE employees smoked in house, customer sent video, and GM tried to deny it. Broke many items, including the treadmill. GM stated if customer sent all pictures, make/model/SN number, they would refund. Customer sent all information via text and email to MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE. MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE then stopped all communication. Customer has a dispute of charges on their credit card to recuperate lost/broken items. MERIDIAN MOVING & STORAGE is unethical in their business practices and does not resolve issues with damaged/broken items they caused.

  Business response

  04/25/2024

  *****, 
  
  It looks like we did submit your claim already. We haven't been ignoring you. I have had **** in our office reach out to you to go over some options for the treadmill. 
  Feel free to reach out to him any time at **************.

  Customer response

  04/26/2024

   
  Complaint: 21604502
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The owner has not contacted me to discuss, using **** as the go between.  The treadmill did not have a full replacement cost claim put in.  *********** offered me less than it would take to even have the broken treadmill hauled away. I spoke with **** on what the company needs to do to make this situation right and was told that if it was made right to remove my complaints.  *********** has failed on their end to provide a moral and ethical customer service/help to rectify their wrong doings.

  The owner of the company should take responsibility and contact me directly.  I will continue fighting this until a legitimate response and solution is reached.  

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

  Business response

  05/02/2024

  *****, 
  
  We have sent you a copy of your contract which goes over our claims process. 
  Please feel free to give us a call once you have read through it to let us know if you have any questions on it.
  The DEMAND you are making toward us is not a viable solution. 
  

  Customer response

  05/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 21604502
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  While I was dealing with ****, he offered if I removed all complaints the owner would pay for the cost I am out.  ****, not the owner ******, called me back to offer me less than it would even take to have the broken item removed.  I said this is not a satisfactory response/resolution and the handling of this by. This company should not be falsely stating to the BBB they are trying to resolve issues and work with the customer, when that is not fact ********************** is unethical with how they conduct business and respond to complaints, therefore, I stand by my complaint to the BBB.

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

  Customer response

  05/02/2024

  Further, company states they have sent a copy of the contract.  Didn't receive/never has been sent since day one when paid deposit for move.

  Business response

  05/13/2024

  *****, 
  
  I went through all means of communication including text messages, emails and phone records and there was never a mention of your move only taking 3 hours to move 1900 square feet. We quoted this move with "3" movers, which could be where that information was mistaken on your side. A 1900 square foot home is approximately a fully loaded 26 ft truck which can average 8-10 hours with a 3 man crew. The mileage and distance between the locations would be irrelevant in this case considering the hours mentioned are merely the time it would take to load and unload. As mentioned previously, the individual that you mentioned who used his vape pen was terminated as soon as he got back to the office that day. 
  We offered you a payout for your treadmill which is far more than what our insurance policy would have paid, you declined the payout. 
  We are sorry that we are left with a bad experience on your end, that is never our goal here and we truly strive to provide exceptional customer service and experience from start to finish. 
  Thank you for being our customer. 

  Customer response

  05/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 21604502
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The payout offer was far less than the value of the property damaged and was not a fair and/or reasonable offer. There was also no call from the owner to address, instead using an employee (who is not even the General Manager) to address. While I appreciate the fact that incident with the individual vaping in my residence was terminated, there is a lack of due diligence on the owner's part by not addressing the quoted time per ***** the *** the quoted dollar amount, per ***** the *** and the false information of sending over a contract/etc. via email which has never occurred. A true and honest business would have the owner addressing the situation, making it right, instead of hiding and providing the BBB false information. I stand behind my complaint to the BBB, but will continue my other means to recuperate the costs of damages caused by Meridian Moving and Storage. I am no longer interested in reviewing false information provided by this company.  This case should be marked as not resolved, a complaint against this company, and I will continue other means to get to a resolution.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Meridian moving & Storage stole items , damaged items, damaged home, lied, and upcharged $995 from quote.

  Business response

  09/01/2023

  ****, 
  
  I first want to start by apologizing that your experience with us did not meet your expectations. 
  We strive to provide a great service all around, however, sometimes - especially in the moving industry, accidents can happen. 
  We have an insurance policy, which we have already sent you in order to start the claims process for the damaged items/home - so that will be handled. 
  The accusation that we stole some of your items is speculation. We have been in business for years and have not had accusations of theft. Each of my movers are background checked and honest, loyal workers. 
  Every day that the crew gets back with the truck, we do a full truck inspection both inside the cab and inside the trailer as soon as they arrive to get supplies loaded and ready for our next day. 
  There was no sign that any of them had forgot something on the truck that was yours. 
  As for your quote - you were quoted **** hours for this move and it ended up being exactly 12 hours. There was NO overcharge. Please see the email I sent you which states this verbatim. I would be happy to post screen shots as an attachment to your complaint here if that's needed. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  1/10/23 Meridian Moving has a poor business model. I was charged for two hours of labor in which they did nothing but stand around for 30 minutes. The movers showed up inappropriately dressed for the conditions and denied the job, but I was still charged $258. They hounded me to sign paperwork for no work completed and then used it against me when I tried to dispute the charge. I agreed to the $100 deposit, but I still feel Im owed $158. Stay far away from this unethical business!!

  Business response

  03/08/2023

  ***,
  
  We have been calling you to try and get in touch for an explanation and to go over reimbursement options. We also sent a text message yesterday that has not yet been responded to. 
  We would like the opportunity to make this right for you, so please contact us either by calling or responding to our text and we can get this handled. 
  Thank you.

  Customer response

  03/08/2023

   
  Complaint: 19456124
  
  I am rejecting this response because they just reached out me yesterday. See below:

  Meridian (3/7/23) Hey *** this is **** at Meridian Moving & Storage. Im not sure if you have been getting my calls, but we have been trying to reach you to discuss the service you hired us for previously. We are more than willing to refund the payment that you are disputing, but we just wanted the opportunity to explain why we charged that in the first place. I know this has been extremely frustrating for you and I can assure you, we want nothing more than to leave this off on good terms. Feel free to give me a call or just a quick respond to this text and we can get to work on making this right. Thank you. 

  Me (3/8/23) Good morning, ****. Youre more than welcome to share why you charged me for no labor, but I dont think were going to see eye to eye. Especially since you used unnecessary paperwork against me. 
  
  Awaiting a reply. They can refund me via Zelle using my phone number. 
  

  Sincerely,

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

  Business response

  03/15/2023

  ***, 
  
  It looks like you have definitely received our text message and haven't responded or returned our phone calls.
  Please get back to us here at the office. 
  Thank you. 
  

  Customer response

  03/20/2023

   
  Complaint: 19456124
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Meridian is trying to deflect this issue onto me. I don't play those games. I responded to **** at ************ on March 8th just as I stated above. And received no response.

  Sincerely,

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

  Business response

  04/06/2023

  ***, 
  
  We are not deflecting the issue. The contract specifically states "Carrier will make reasonable efforts to complete pick up / delivery and is not responsible if the physical conditions or other special circumstances prevent completion. ******* will charge for waiting time caused by shipper tardiness, lack of access, weather or any other causes beyond the carriers control." The trailer you had dropped off by a 3rd party, completely unrelated to Meridian Moving, dropped the trailer on a sheet of ice. The area was too slick for us to move heavy furniture and for that reason, we waited around for you to contact the 3rd party so that they could move the trailer. This did not happen. We still had to pay our employees for the time that they waited at your home. I am sorry that you feel like this is unreasonable of us. We offered to take that portion off of your next bill if you wanted us to come back another day, but you hired another company instead. 

  Customer response

  04/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 19456124
  
  I am rejecting this response because this company talks out of both sides of their mouth. Go back and re-read their messages. It stated  earlier they were willing to give me a refund and now they are giving me verbiage from their contract. I hope this information gets published because they show their true character. I will just continue giving my experience with Meridian Moving to the ********* of ****** Rock. The "word of mouth" has a lot more value.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  11/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I scheduled a two part move with Meridian Moving & Storage and paid a $100 deposit on 07/19/2022. The move itself had two stops: one to move myself from my apartment in *********, **; and one other stop to my mother's apartment in *********, **. We had decided to move-in together into a house in ******. The move itself occurred on Friday, August 12th with the first stop to my mother's apartment, the second stop being my apartment. I was assured in talking with the owner, ******, that the size of the truck they provided would be enough to move both apartments without having to make a stop at the new house before going to my apartment. This did not happen. The movers spent over an hour "wrapping" furniture and moved very slowly. 4 total movers showed up, one of which complained about how heavy the items were. Eventually they were able to get the truck loaded, but clearly did not pack the truck well because it was full from just the first stop (my mother's apartment). It was so full that two of the movers had to spend an extra ~45 minutes trying to repack the truck, which included shoving a brand new (~6 month old) mattress on top of all the other furniture items, causing a large tear and hole in the mattress. After they finally were able to unload the items from my mother's apartment, they then headed over to my apartment. Most of my furniture items, included an end table, coffee table, tv stand, and couch table were damaged and handled with little to no care. I have pictures to document this and can try to gather video of the movers stuffing my mothers mattress into the moving truck. They also dragged the furniture across the oak wood floor of the home, scratching and denting walls from the second story of the home all the way to the basement (I have pictures as well). We have documented all damages to both furniture and the home. I will try and file with the state, but movers should not be allowed to take advantage of people like this and damage their things.

  Business response

  12/01/2022

  Alex - 
  
  We do not give a guarantee that our truck will be able to fully move the contents of any location unless we schedule an in home estimate to view it in person. The reason being, we have moved people in 1 bedroom apartments that are hoarders and even just those contents exceed a maxed out moving truck. When I spoke with you, I told you that I can not guarantee anything but that most situations that were similar to yours ended up being just 1 fully loaded truck. We have been in contact with you for months regarding the issues you faced and have not once discredited you in your claims at all. We worked with you through the process, even through all of the yelling, cussing and threats you made on every phone call. Our team here in the office has already gone through the entire claims process with you and given you your options for payout toward the claim. We have not once taken advantage of you in any way. We finished the service you signed up for and completed the move for you and have taken care of the claim as well.

  Customer response

  12/01/2022

   
  Complaint: 18467693
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  ******- 

   

  Your team was not able to provide me with the insurance claim or any proof. Your employee, ****, flat out admitted that he didn't even know if the claim was submitted to insurance since ******, your other employee who submitted the claim, quit. An issue of this magnitude I figured would be handle by you- the owner. 

   

  Let's get this clear ******- I never once cursed or threatened you, nor your employees, whether that be to your business or to you personally. Maybe you are getting confused with the numerous other complaints that have been filed from your frustrated customers. Furthermore, you accused me of defamation on a phone call for simply voicing my complaints about my experience with your company. Gaslighting your customers will not work, especially when the evidence is very clear here.

   

  Your movers damaged thousands of dollars worth of goods including a hole that your movers tore in a brand new mattress. I watched as one of your employees, ***, stuffed this into the truck. It's almost as if the 4 man team you sent had no idea what they were doing- which led to a longer move (repacking the truck) and also damaging numerous furniture items. Your claim that you've provided was for $180 in compensation for damages, which is no where close to level of damage your movers caused. I've seen the responses you've given customers and I am blown away that you are still in business, taking advantage of customers by running a company that doesn't train their employees, much less caring about the items that they are moving.

   

  I am willing to work with you on a resolution- but $180 is no where close to the level of damage. Please let me know if you are willing to work towards a reasonable resolution that actually makes sense for both parties. 

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

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  ****, 

  You were in direct communication with our previous employee, ******, after everything that occurred during your move with us. Upon her departure, we spoke with you again and were able to get this handled for you immediately. As much as you would like to deny this, every single phone call you have made to our office has been you screaming and threatening us. This is not me gaslighting you by any means, I am just letting you know that acting this way does not speed up our claims process at all and is completed uncalled for. 
  we have a fully signed contact from you that specifically states how our claims process works multiple times on multiple different pages. **, along with every other licensed and insured moving company in the *****************, are required to have standard valuation insurance which is formulated at 60 cents per pound per item, after a $250 deductible has been met. We have offered to waive the deductible completely and give you the full payout, but you are wanting full value replacement for your items which is not something we offer within our normal pricing structure. If you wanted full value replacement, it costs extra and would have needed to be mentioned and solidified prior to your move with us. 
  we may have a few customers that were unhappy with our service, just as every other business across the world - but we also have hundreds of positive reviews as well. We stand behind our service and know that we truly value our customers and their experiences. We have offered you the full payout based on what you signed for and went above that by offering to waive the deductible. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had a scheduled move from ********* ******** to *********** ******** and hired Meridian Moving and Storage located at ****************************************************************************. The move was scheduled to take place over two days due to the company's smaller sized trucks available. We were quoted by employee, *********************************** a cost of TOTAL ESTIMATED COST FOR 3 TRUCKS SPLIT BETWEEN 2 DAYS: $3,754.50 (Attached). The five person crew showed up the first day and things did not go well from the beginning. The first deceptive business practice was for the ******* of the crew to tour the house and point out "specialty items" and said we must pay cash to have his crew move those. The so-called "specialty items" totaled $650 and he would only take cash. They then proceeded to initiate the move. The crew began damaging walls, floors, cabinets, ceilings. I phoned the company and spoke to a representative named ****** (or similar). She claimed to be the manager. I expressed my concern over the amount of damage taking place. After over 8 hours the house was only approximately half loaded. I phoned ***** (manager) again and she told me that they would not unload anything at new house unless I paid over $5,000 (attached). My family and children had nowhere to sleep that night and we were extorted to pay this fee. The next day the crew returned to finish the other half of the home and again, the same thing happened. In order to unload I was forced to pay another $3,000. After trying to get some resolution with company, they refused all phone calls and emails. Only the employee, ******** returned e-mails and he admitted that the crew slowed down (which forced overtime fees). He also emailed me saying that the owner, ****** would only pay $300 in damages and ONLY if I took down a negative review online.

  Business response

  11/08/2022

  ****************, 
  
  We do not use "smaller sized trucks" - we use the industry standard 26 ft box trucks, which are what any local moving company will use for daily operation. Anything bigger than a 26' truck requires a CDL and is considered a semi truck/trailer. During the initial walk through of the home for your estimate, the specialty items are mentioned and the amount that we collect to have these items moved gets paid directly to your moving crew and is not collected by the company at all as profit. I agree that the moving crew asking for cash can seem suspicious and deceptive, however, they ask for cash in order to avoid having to wait for that amount to be added to their weekly paychecks. We have since corrected this and their way of approaching this topic overall as a company and do apologize for the lack of communication on how these payments and items are handled. On the first date of your move, you were not in town and we were dealing directly with your wife who at the time, was refusing to sign any of our paperwork and provide payment for the services that were provided that day - because of this, we collected payment prior to the truck being unloaded in order to avoid issues with collecting payment and having to proceed with taking this to court in order to collect. This is actually written out within our contract that we collect payment prior to the unload and have the right to do so (as do most moving companies). In no way were you extorted to pay the bill - we had you scheduled for 2 days to complete the move in order to stay within legal hours of service. The quote we provided, that you have attached from ****, is a non-binding estimate and does not include any material that we used during the move, which is the reason it ended up going over. As for the payout for the damages that occurred, you sent us an invoice stating that the total amount to get the repairs done came out to $300 - which we had agreed to compensate you for. There must be a misinterpretation on the reviews part - we are asking that you PLEASE remove the 3 reviews you have posted under different names and profiles that are not our customers and have nothing to do with the use of our services. This is considered commercial defamation and will handled appropriately if the 2 fake reviews are not removed. 

  Customer response

  11/08/2022

   
  Complaint: 18365641
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I appreciate the timely response and recognize a number of valid positions taken in defense of your employees and business.  It is my sincere intention to put this matter behind both parties with a fair and equitable resolution. 
  
  
  But the facts remain. You company and employees were in possession of our personal belongings and you held those hostage and refused to release them unless an exorbitant amount of money was forced over. To be charged over $8,000 for a local move is difficult to defend. While I recognize estimates are not binding, are you taking the position that your employee underestimated the move by over $5,000? 
  
  
  In addition, the refusal to return the next day, unless a credit card number was turned over to you and no understanding on what is to be charged. Here is the list of charges made by your company on my credit card:
  
  
  August 30: $5026.47
  August 31: $2222.14
  August 31: $724.50
  
  
  After repeated requests for receipts and detailed explanation of charges, these request were all refused. 
  
  
  With regard to damages, by only agreeing to pay damages legally owed to the consumer, you cannot base paying those by forcing actions on the consumer. Here again, these types of forced actions can be construed not only in a civil sense but in terms of a criminal violation as well. It appears to be well documented in previous complaints with this Bureau that the forcing of money to be handed over to employees in the form of Venmo or cash is cause for concern as well as the documented complaints describing the exchanging of money for positive reviews. 
  
  
  I am willing and hoping to settle this with financial compensation. I think we can all agree I was grossly overcharged and treated with unethical and questionable business practices. 
  
  
  I hope you will agree to put this to rest once and for all. 

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

  Business response

  12/01/2022

   ****************, 
  
  We are currently in contact with the *** to respond to your many attempts to come after our company. I am sending you an email, once again, that will have copies of your contracts from both dates that show all charges involved and everything you seem to think is unfair or unreasonable is mentioned multiple times within the contracts that you and your wife signed. These are the contracts we use for all of our moves with all of our customers and is also what almost every moving company will also use. The amount you are demanding for us to reimburse you is unreasonable and is the reason that all of these claims have been denied. When we come out and do an on site estimate for you, we base our pricing on what is mentioned during that walk through. Upon our arrival, the scope of the move and the instruction on what your wife wanted us to do was far beyond what we had sent the quote over for. At this time, while we sort through all of  your fake and duplicate reviews, any financial compensation beyond damage claims will be put on hold. 

  Customer response

  12/05/2022

   
  Complaint: 18365641
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Once again, I still have yet to receive a single email from your company with any detailed or itemized charges for this move. You were given multiple opportunities to make the situation right but refused to communicate with me and the many attempts I have made. This resulted in me utilizing all available consumer tools to resolve the dispute. I consulted with an attorney who handles legal situations with moving companies and he advised to first attempt to resolve the dispute with the vendor and if you are unable, then please let me know and we can move forward. He was very aware of the deceptive business practices that Meridian Moving uses, and when I told him that they charged me over $8,000 for a local move from Littleton to Castle Rock, his response was complete shock (as any reasonable person would agree). 

  You state my demands are unreasonable. Is it unreasonable to demand a business be true to the amount agreed upon and act in good faith? Your company has done neither. You deliberately held our things hostage and demanded additional funds. In addition, it is documented you denied legal damage claims and only agreed to pay if negative reviews are taken down. Among the many dishonest business practices these are the two most alarming. 

  You speak continually of problems with online reviews and "fake reviews" The only "fake reviews" I am aware of are the ones that your current employees have posted in recent months. There are quite a few of those! If you have any issue with online reviews I suggest you take them up with those vendors. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩