Update on LA to Brooklyn with Broadway Express

[meydele]

I have just gotten an update from my local movers, All Star, about the progress of unloading the Broadway Express van. The van was loaded at the end of the day on Monday, March 25 in Los Angeles and then did not arrive at final destination (Jersey City, NJ to save fees related to bringing a full-size cross-country van into the 5 boroughs) until midday today (supposed to be 12 noon, but I understand the van did not arrive until almost 1:30). This is within the window Broadway Express provided.

Initial reports from All Star are not encouraging. The first thing Rich from All-Star asked was "Who packed this van?" Well, I paid the Broadway Express driver $600 (!! $125/hour - which he assured me was a special discount rate - for just him) and Lindemann's "Professional Movers" over $2000. Initial reports are art boxes with the sound of glass moving around inside and a damaged bookcase. So long as the art itself isn't damaged, I'll consider myself lucky, I guess. But what really gets me is the report of a mover holding my antique wall clock in his hands and reporting that it is cracked on the side. I paid to have that clock packed. How does it end up at the end of the trip wrapped or placed in such a way that someone can hold it? I specifically asked to have it in a box. It is a lovely antique - or, at least, it was. I expect that it will be at least another hour before I get to see the state of my things. Since I did not meet the truck, at the suggestion of the local guys (it's hard to get to the meeting place on public transportation), I will have to rely on reports from All Star. I'm a little dismayed that All Star doesn't seem to have had an idea how much stuff I have. It's 24 feet on the truck, hasn't changed during the 10 days on the road.. Everyone assured me that they were coordinating and that I would not need to be "in the middle." I thought I had arranged for 2 trucks and a large crew. But I was asked whether I would agree to putting more men on in order to get the job done more quickly and was informed that hey were sending a econd truck out as the job was well underway. I agreed, as it is already close to the end of the day and I do want to get my stuff into my new apartment. More when the stuff arrives.

[Diane]

I'm sending the author a PM to try to find out what happened. In a PM to me a few weeks ago she said that after talking with Lindemans, she wasn't as down on them as she had been before, because they had had to do a lot of the packing for her.

If I don't hear anything back, I'll post this incomplete review about BE, Lindemans, and All Star.
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Diane
Check out domestic companies on this thread. Click here for a detailed, authoritative article on international moving.

[moving562]

Our name's are David and Brandi Lindeman we're the owner's of Lindeman's Professional Movers.

We set this all up at the last minute for her. She never asked for a written estimate and she booked us within days of her very large move. She also failed to mention that we didn't charge for the second truck. This is a savings of $25 per hour ($340 discount).

We had to load the two trucks, shuttle them down the hill and load to the Broadway Truck. When we arrived at her home there was a neighbors car broken down in her driveway where we needed to park and also partially blocking half the staircase!!! (This car was eventually towed) She had 3 flights of stairs in front and now a long carry to our trucks for a good part of the morning. This was a circumstance beyond the control of the Carrier.

It was a possible 2 mile shuttle to a park where we were to transfer the loads in the parking lot! We then had to unload and reload which is not as easy as it may sound.

She left for a dinner party and this led to the items being left behind. This was a partial move so it was especially inappropriate to leave because we had no way to reach her with questions due to the fact that we were way up in the hills and had no cell reception.

Now as far as loading the truck who's advice to you follow? The movers who physically do this everyday or the man that drives the truck? I told her the Broadway guy didn't lift a finger and that she should not pay one dime for him, he was elderly and appeared to be handicapped. She paid him for nothing.

We had two crews in two different places and a missing Shipper.

The Broadway driver was not helping her by stressing her out by telling her we needed to load HIS way.

He had filthy pads and a lack of equipment. WE are a clean high end moving company. HE only had about 60 pads for us to wrap her goods with.

We did what we were hired to do. Crate, supply, pack, load, shuttle, unload and reload. When we left we locked up and couldn't get back in to put the door back on, and she was MIA so we apologize for that inconvenience. Reinstalling a door is a relatively easy thing to do so a neighbor could help. We would have come back at her request but we had no idea.

We always wrap to protect against damage we care about our customers and would not want to disappoint anyone ever. We still stand by our men and we don't believe she was overcharged in anyway.

They did quickly pack because I was present for the crating. You have to pack a little better for a long distance move than for a local move so this may have appeared slower to her.

We sincerely regret the negative comments she made about or company and would like to point out that she had no damage claims made to this company.

Once we have loaded the truck we count on the driver to drive responsibly to her destination. The movers who unload are dealing with a loaded truck and have no idea what they are getting into so of course they have no idea how it was packed. They could damage something and just blame it on the guy's who loaded the truck. It's just that easy for them to blame us.

I specifically saw Gino pack that clock in a box so I know for a fact it WAS boxed. If she requested an item be packed it was packed! The other movers may have removed it from the box. The driver could have climbed on the load, heard something break, removed it from the box and left it that way for the other crew to find, who knows?

We know we loaded very tight. Because were only given 21 feet. We were told it HAD to fit in that 21 feet. They only added the extra 5 feet for the additional items going at the end of the day. So some glass may have broken in transit do to the tight load not because we did something improper.

She essentially had two move's in one day, this is time consuming. The extra space needed on the truck was the boxes she had Broadway take, she did not have the book boxes shipped separately as she stated above.

We are saddened by this post because she had a lot of issues that we worked around for her and she doesn't seem to appreciate all our hard work, effort and honesty.

With all the horror stories out there we are proud of the fact that we have never in 13 years of business had a claim filed for insurance and that we were complaint free until this.

Sincerely,
David and Brandi Lindeman Owners
Lindeman's Professional Movers

[Diane]

Thanks for coming here to give your side of the story. I for one believe what you say. I know that Broadway Express was very upset by what the driver did and they immediately removed him from hauling household goods. If you look at what is already posted in the Superlist about this move, it is very mild and does not put any blame on you. (The customer never responded to my Private Message referred to above.) I do think you should do what you can to fix your "CCC" BBB rating, which will inevitably be a red flag for future customers.
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Diane
Check out domestic companies on this thread. Click here for a detailed, authoritative article on international moving.

[moving562]

Thanks Diane we appreciate that. I did send the BBB an e-mail today and informed them that thay have an inaccurate address for our office and should contact me regarding the issue.

This is a CCC rating with the BBB:
QUOTE "CCC A good rating. We would expect nothing less than a satisfactory business transaction, but read our full report to determine if you have any questions or concerns." END QUOTE

You have a great web site, keep up the good work!

Thanks again,
Brandi Lindeman

[Diane]

You're welcome. Re your BBB rating, MovingScam.com tells people never to use any company that has below an "A" rating with the Los Angeles area BBB. We are aware that horrible companies in other areas have somehow managed to achieve "A" ratings from the BBB in other states, but so far the Los Angeles BBB seems to be holding the quality line pretty well.

In my experience, a rating like yours means that the BBB is mad at you for not answering their query and if you just answer them, the problem will probably go away. (If you join the BBB, it will probably go away faster.) I believe that you have a good company, so try to get some of your satisfied customers to post reviews here to counterbalance this one iffy report.

[moving562]

Hi Diane,

We wanted to let you know that we have taken care of the BBB rating for our company. We really love this web site, you brought something very important to us to our attention, thank you. We now have a “AA” rating that will go up to “AAA” in six months. We hope someday to be one of your approved companies.

Sincerely,
David and Brandi Lindeman Owners
Lindeman's Professional Movers

[Diane]

Good news! I made a note of your BBB rating in the Superlist. If you can get three more good reviews and no bad reviews posted, you can get a symbol on the Superlist, the first step toward being approved.