ComplaintsforElizabeth's Moving and Storage

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  1) Elizabeth S&M contracted to pack and move my household goods in an interstate move. 2) My primary complaint involved the damage to my queen-size bed. Because of the damage, the bed could not be reassembled at the destination due to breakage. After a phone call to the individual who took the bed apart, the driver told me that the damage occurred during disassembly. This was consistent with the fact I had slept on the bed the night before. 3) I called ES&M the next day after delivery to ask them what they were doing to do about repairing the bed. This was the first of a total of three phone calls where the move coordinator got *********** more aggressive. On the third phone call he claimed the gentleman who did the bed disassembly had shown me the damaged bed component prior to packing. That never occurred. Further, I never received a written inventory listing the condition of the goods shipped which I should have under the relevant rules and regulations governing moving companies. ES&M never returned a fourth phone call. And I still have after nearly two months a broken bed. 4) The packing services were marginally acceptable. With one or two exceptions, most of the packing crew (2 different ones over 2 days) showed a lack of training. On the second day, the chief of the crew came back from lunch wearing a paper crown from a national hamburger chain and wore it until they left for the day. On the concluding walk through, numerous items were found which had not been packed. The website of ES&M claims to have professional, well-trained packing and moving personnel. These are questionable claims at best.

  

  Business response

  09/26/2024

  First we would like to say that we are sorry that you had a less than good experience with your relocation. We make every attempt to reach this goal as a company. Please find attached Inventory that was requested. Customer signed it on 8/29/24 as part of her delivery. There is a possibility that her inventory, when it was automatically sent from the application, was sent to a spam folder or to her old email address that was cut off when she left her residence at origin. To address the issues regarding the bed, we have attached pictures showing the condition of the bed PRIOR TO ANY RELOCATION. Once the mattress was removed, the extent of the pre-existing damage could be seen. This damage is clearly seen in the photo 1 of the termite dust The customer was shown the condition of the bed at origin and we documented the condition with the photographs. There was considerable termite damage along with damage by others prior to us being contracted to relocate. Per our contract, we are NOT RESPONSIBLE for pre-existing damage to HHG or any damage caused by termites. There is no way to fix this bed without replacing the parts that have been damaged by others. Once we documented the damage, we packed the bed up so that it could be removed from the house as directed by the customer. Regarding Item 4 for packing services it needs to be stated that the customer was not ready for movers. Management had to go to the residence on pack day to consult with the customer and explain that we would not be able to complete our scope in the agreed dates of service at origin, We had to extend our pack on the job from one day to two days because the customer would not allow us into rooms to be packed until she "went through the room" to discard item she didn't want to take with her and to do laundry prior to packing. We had to send a second crew out to pack on day two of the job, because of the issues associated with the customer not allowing us to perform our scope of work on the originally planned day. The customer was not charged for this additional service. Regarding the numerous items not being packed on the concluding walk through, the customer not allowing us to pack in certain rooms at certain times caused considerable confusion among the crew members. The crew lead stated that this issue caused considerable delays at origin to get packed and loaded.  In conclusion, all items that were supposed to be packed and loaded were packed and loaded as the customer signed the inventory noting as such. This attention to detail is a sign of a professional moving and packing crew. Again, we apologize for your relocation not being a good experience. We did try our best to make everything go as smoothly as possible within the confines of the contract and terms of the agreement for service. 

  Customer response

  09/29/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: There was no termite damage to the bed. In order to have termite damage moisture is required. No visible evidence of moisture or termites is provided by the photos. Further, the house was thoroughly inspected for termites during the selling process. The inspector checked under and behind furniture and found none. Finally, I had a professional woodworker examine the broken pieces as well as the rest of the bed. He found no evidence of termites and concluded that the damage to the bed resulted from forcing during disassembly. Therefore, the answer offered by ES&M is not believable.

  The photos were the first time I was given evidence of damage. Nothing was noted to me at the time or on the inventory. As it is the inventory was incorrect or incomplete. Items which I never have owned were noted on it, and not everything delivered was listed. Finally, I should note that every piece of furniture had the same remark about condition noted. I am wondering how chairs purchased less than six months provided by a single person living alone would be stained and worn? This is not credible.

  At the time I engaged ES&M to move me, the representative said the packing would take two days. No washer and dryer were to be moved, so doing wash during the period of packing is not relevant to the discussion. Promptly at 3:00 p.m. on the first day of the packing, the crew left with the statement that a crew would arrive in the morning to complete the packing. The first crew left the house wide open (doors open) with boxes in front of the doors so that I had to call on a neighbor to help move things so the house could be secured for the night. On both days, the crews had access to all areas for packing. Even with this, items were found on the final walk through which should have been packed.

  The job performed by ES&M was unprofessional and not as promised.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ********

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