I got scammed by the United Van Lines driver(?)

[cancan42]

I guess we got scammed(?).

This starts with the estimate. She continually told us we would be “getting a lot of money back” because she put in a lot of leeway. After the first estimate we told her all we added in an email and she adjusted the price up. We told her we were leaving a side-by-side refrigerator and a console sewing machine and she did not adjust down at that time. The day of the move she stopped by and again mentioned that we were leaving a lot of things and we would be getting a “lot back”.

The big problem was with the Driver. My sister asked Tom to call us with the weight and he agreed he would do so that afternoon or the next morning. He did not call at all. If he did not or could not comply, he should not have agreed. He should have asked if one of us wanted to follow him over to the scales. He was representing the company. We were charged for 11,620 pounds according to weight tickets the driver got on his way into TN and again when the van was empty on his way back to FL.

When we got the check for $1.98 I emailed Joni for the weight when Tom weighed our shipment at the Suddath scales. Joni told me to call Bonnie. My sister called Bonnie (the move coordinator) and when she called back she had the following figures for us: 50,460 gross weight and 42,080 trailer weight. Shipment weight 8,380. I explained to Bonnie that those figures made much more sense and what we believed the difference to be. She said she would check it all out and call back. The difference in the weights is 3,240 pounds.

About 4 hours later, someone named Paula from Suddath did call but not give her position. She was very curt telling me that we would receive no more refund because the driver had two weigh tickets within 24 hours that supported the weight charged.

HERE is the problem - there was a pickup truck in the rear of the van. Since my sister had to sign and pay before the doors were opened; no one could see the truck onboard. The driver had a accident trying to turn around and twister the rear bumper and dented the "belly compartment" of the van. It was only while my friends and neighbors helped to get the twisted bumper off the van for him, that the doors had to be opened and they saw the pickup truck in the van.

3,240 represents a lot of money to retired people. I will be filing a scam complaint here; I sent a letter to Suddath, and United Van Lines inside the Customer Service Survey we returned.

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I am very pleased to report this situation has been resolved completely to our satisfaction by the President of Suddath, Deerfield Bch, FL – Ms Julie Cobb.

First I want to thank Diane and Rick for directing me to Julie with our problem. Both recognized this firm as being one of the better moving names in south Florida. Rick advised me to write to the President but before I had a chance; she called me.

Someone she knew from the business called her about my post and she had all the facts at hand. Julie said we were indeed correct. The weigh tickets did not support the driver’s inventory sheets and our things weighed only approximately 7500 pounds instead of 11600 pounds. She took the time to explain that the drivers work for United and she would take care of notifying them of the incident. Julie promised she would not allow this driver to work out of her yard in future. That made me feel better knowing he would not get a chance to do this to another Suddath Deerfield FL customer.

We just received the check from Suddath Julie had sent. It is nice know that there are still wonderfully honest people in business out there.

Thanks to Diane, Rick, Bonnie at Suddath, and of course Suddath President Julie Cobb. Our holidays can be peaceful and merry!

Carol and Kathleen

[Diane]

Hi - it sounds to me as if you may have a legitimate complaint. I see from your former post that the original weight estimate by Joni (sales rep) was about 10,000 pounds and the booker was Suddath in Deerfield Beach, FL - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=98147#98147

There are people posting here who work in the United/Mayflower system. Perhaps one of them can intervene to get this straightened out. I would hate to see Suddath in Miami lose its listing here as a high-performing company. Drivers frequently get busy and fail to call with the weight. That's not the issue here. The issue is the possibility that you were charged for transporting a pickup truck that was not yours.

To minimize the likelihood of such problems, people should try to get a GNTE estimate if possible and not settle for a Nonbinding estimate, which is apparently what you had.
_________________
Diane
Check out domestic companies on this thread. Click here for a detailed, authoritative article on international moving.

[Rick]

Simply having a pickup on the same van isn’t suspicious in itself. Typical household drivers handle multiple shipments in each load and may have 22,000-25,000 lbs packed in the van when their finished loading an assignment. The 3,240 lb difference in the transportation weight and that reported by Bonnie seems too light for all but the smallest pickup trucks.

What is suspicious is that Bonnie reported weight amounts that were less than what the driver had the transportation charges calculated on, and the confusing information about the dates and locations were each weight was obtained.

The consumer protection regulations require that the carrier give the customer the opportunity to view all weightings and request a reweigh or back-weigh before delivery commences. It doesn’t sound like this happened.

Contact Bonnie and ask for the name of the scale, date, location, and weight amount on each weight ticket used to calculate your charges. After you written down the information, ask to have legible copies of each sent to you. Then ask how and where the transportation weight of 11,620 lbs was obtained. Write down that information also.

If your shipment included bulky articles (boat, skiff, canoe, utility trailer etc) on which a weight additive applies, then the transportation weight could legally and legitimately be higher than the weight showing on the weight tickets.

If there were no bulky articles in your shipment and you’re not satisfied with Bonnie’s explanation, ask to speak to the president of Suddath’s Ft. Lauderdale office. Tell Julie that you’ve already submitted a letter to both Suddath and United but you would appreciate her looking into the situation just to satisfy your uneasy feeling.

[Rick]

Glad things worked out and we really appreciate you taking the time to update your post!

[Diane]

Yes, Carol, thank you for updating. I changed the topic title to make it clear that this driver (Tom N.) works for United Van Lines and not for Suddath. It does seem as if Suddath's employee Paula initially handled the situation badly - what would a customer do who didn't have your "connections"? - but at least the president (Julie Cobb) came through at the end.
_________________
Diane
Check out domestic companies on this thread. Click here for a detailed, authoritative article on international moving.

[ArchieWhite]

I don't think it's right to use a man's name on here and say he is [deleted].....there are 2 sides to every story, and he has been judged guilty here without a trial. It may even open up somebody to legal actions, using a persons name in this manner. I would be careful.

[Diane]

Archie, you're right . . . I took out the adjective and used only his last initial . . . note however that Julie herself told the customer that she asked that he not be sent to her yard in the future. People can look at the runup to this thread to see how he acted and judge for themselves - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=98147#98147