USA Express Moving - Phoenix

PLEASE DO NOT PRINT THIS NOTE IF YOU ARE GOING TO INCLUDE MY NAME OR EMAIL

ADDRESS. THANK YOU.

Type of service: Moving Company

General Complaint: Customer Service, Lack of Response, No Detailed Invoice,

Overpayment

Letter to Moving Company

January 30, 2007

President

USA Express Moving

701 Canal Street

Bristol, PA 19007

President

USA Express Moving

3330 W. Papago ST, Ste. C

Phoenix, AZ 85009

Re: Move, Nov. 26, 2006

Dear Presidents:

Although very late in coming, this letter is to express my extreme

disappointment with your company and my move from Scottsdale to Mesa,

Arizona, a mere 20 minutes away. Your workers were argumentative,

disrespectful, unprofessional, and made an already stressful activity even

more so. Perhaps part of the reason for this is that they had another job

after mine and were rushing. I had specifically told your representative

that it generally takes six hours to move my belongings. I move a lot and

have very few large pieces, but I have a large quantity of books (hundreds),

equipment, and art that are time consuming to move. She estimated three men

at three hours for $300. I ended up paying nearly $1,000.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. My first conversation with the lead mover, (name withheld), was an

argument about packing my television. I have moved countless times, usually

with large commercial carriers such as Bekins, and have never had a

television packed in anything except furniture blankets. I was told *I

*should have packed it in a box. I can't even lift it. When I refused

to have them box it, they decided not to pack or wrap anything. They were

just throwing my belongings in the truck and standing on my couch to move

the boxes around.

2. After I told them to start wrapping up some of the items, they

decided to wrap everything (in boxes for which I had to pay), including a

30-year-old television that had no value. However, they would not wrap

glass. In fact, they wouldn't take any glass table tops or lamp fixtures.

What kind of mover refuses to take glass? So, I was left with heavy glass

table tops that I had to carry down a flight of stairs and into my vehicle

without assistance. I am 5' 2" and about that old. I was horrified!

3. Mid-day, I bought them lunch. Why? Because, despite my willingness

to tell them where they could go on their own and buy lunch (after they

asked, of course), they insisted that they had to follow me to the

restaurant. They had my stuff on their truck, and I was concerned that I

would not get it back in good condition. I would consider this to be

intimidation.

4. Finally, when we arrived at my new address, they quickly set about

unloading. At first, they were willing to unload the boxes in the rooms

designated (the boxes were color coded), but as time went on, they put them

in a walk-in closet, which they told me they would because they had to get

to another job. Now I'm finding myself struggling to find or reach items,

particularly heavy boxes that are stacked upon stacks of other boxes.

I have been waiting to write this letter because I have been very busy and

have wondered about the value of putting time into such an effort. After

all, I can just refuse to recommend your company and can post an item on the

Web attesting to my experience. However, as I try to reach a box, now shoved

way back in the closet where I cannot reach it, I am angry. So, here it is.

As a final note, I will tell you that a few years ago I made a similar move

in Los Angeles, hiring a company that charged by the hour. That cost about

$300. About a year ago, I also hired an hourly company to move my mother

from a 3-bedroom house to an apartment in Tucson: two men, six hours, $500.

As for me, I will not hire any more hourly movers.

I would truly appreciate a response.

Sincerely...

Addendum: I never received a response and have been calling now for two

weeks. The company will not return my calls or fulfill my request to provide

a detailed invoice of the move. It appears that they did not deduct my $100

down payment and that they may have charged me twice for travel. I guess

I'll never know, though, since no one will return my phone call.

(Please do not print my name or e-mail address)