NATIONAL VAN LINES

Let me start by saying that we couldn't have done the move ourselves, and the workers did work hard. There was a large quantity of items of a complete household. The initial appointment was kept (with a call letting us know they were running late), but then all went well. Ed was very professional & informative. He viewed our complete household, gave us the book that the DOT recommends you get (note only two of the companies we met with did this), went home & sent us a quote. In the interim we decided not to keep our treadmill & elliptical, so we let him know & a revised quote was given. Once we decided to go with them we were given a contact name & new number. This turned out to be a agent of National Van Lines, 'Southern CA Moving'. We had a hard time getting a commitment on the date our items would be picked up & in fact got this only on the Friday prior to pick up on the following Wednesday. The driver called the night before to confirm, he called the morning of to say he was running late. The crew sent to assist arrived on time & waited for his arrival. The guys worked hard once he arrived, there were 5 guys, who worked for 9 hours. They wrapped our stair rails with blankets to protect them right away & were very conscientious. All items were loaded, not all were tagged & inventoried, but we were assured nothing else would be going with our part of the trailer, which was almost the complete cargo area. We received a call letting us know the rate was LESS than we were quoted, which was very good news. Delivery was right on schedule & was great for most of the day. This time there were 4 guys, 2 of whom were only here from about 9 -2, the driver & assistant were here for almost 9 hours. The problems we encountered were as follows: by the end of the day, they were tired, & it was evident they wanted to be done. They just started stacking stuff in the garage, pretty haphazardly. It wasn't possible to go over all the items at that time. There were several items that they dismantled at pick up to fit into the trailer, that were not re-assembled at delivery, & in fact we are still searching for the missing parts in order to complete the assembly. One dining table placed in our basement is missing several screws, so although it looked as if it had been done, it is not complete/sturdy or safe to use. One entry table is missing a leg that we've yet to find. One floor lamp is missing the pieces to attach the shade, so is currently un-useable. One floor lamp was bent & snapped in two, a vintage entry table had some of the edge scroll work broken off, a baby carriage was bent, the drawers from a bedroom dresser were removed at the time of delivery, & all have the hardware/sliders broken. There were garlands of flowers from a 4 poster bed that I was given a tabletop full of pieces that had come off with a 'whoops', they used a hand truck going up the stairs which left black tire marks on our carpet. I had to ask them if they wanted me to wrap the stair rails after they made a gouge in one, before they did wrap them. We have a few small gouges in the walls & a few scuff marks. Our step ladder was used during the unloading, but was placed back on the truck & taken when they left. I called & left a message for the driver, but no call back was received. It was very hard work, & I don't mean to diminish that in the least, however, the care & attention to our furnishings that was promised, just wasn't what we received. I let the company know & didn't get a reply. When I sent a second email stating this apparently is how they do business & advised I'd been asked to complete the Angie's List survey, I did get a response & have since received claim forms to complete & be processed. They require them to be notarized, & as we haven't yet received our new drivers licenses, I can't complete that portion to submit. Once that is done, I'll update the outcome...