Absolute Relocation Services

This review is for a northwest Florida to Ohio Move. On November 30, 2022, we contacted several moving companies to set up a move from Crestview, Florida to Commercial Point, Ohio. We were contacted by “William” representing Absolute. We explained that we were very limited on time because we had to return to Ohio. We explained the move would originate from a 10x20 storage unit, that everything was either in boxes or plastic tubs and the only furniture was a queen size bed (NO mattresses) and a dining set with a China hutch (some of the furniture had already been wrapped in plastic by a different moving company). He agreed it sounded like an easy move. We were unsure of how many cubic feet on a truck would be needed, but that the unit was only ½ to ¾ full. William provided a quote over $5,000.00, and we responded that we’d discuss it and get back with him. He immediately asked what it would take for us to hire Absolute to do the job, we said the cost needed to be less than $5,000.00. He asked us to give him a few, then he came back with another quote under that amount. What we didn’t realize was that to get below the dollar threshold, he reduced the size of the move. We said we’d think about and call him back the following morning. The following morning (December 1, 2022) we called William and paid the deposit. He explained that to get the cost down he’d reduced the cubic feet of our move, given the fact the storage unit wasn’t stuffed we weren’t concerned; although we questioned the ethics involved. William acknowledged our time constraints (that we needed to leave Crestview headed to Ohio early morning of December 3, 2022) and assured us Absolute would take care of us. We received confirmation that the move would be on FRIDAY December 2nd, not only from William, but from the driver as well. We arrived at the storage unit at 0700 on Friday December 2, waiting for the crew to arrive. We sat at the storage unit all day to only be called late that day that they would not be coming because the driver was maxed out on his hours. During this call, we were told they would be there first thing Saturday morning, we reminded them we were supposed to be on the road early Saturday, but we understood the DOT time restraints and could delay our leaving until that afternoon; but that was it – they had to honor their commitment. We felt everything would be ok given the fact they essentially just had to grab boxes and tubs (along with the few pieces of furniture) then load on the truck. It should have been a very simple, straight-forward load. Saturday, 3 December 2022 • Two individuals arrive at the storage unit in a rented/leased Enterprise box truck o Neither appeared to be professionals representing a professional company, they lacked even a “t-shirt” with “Absolute Relocation Services” on the back (they could have been two random people off the street). • After doing the paperwork they began moving the tubs/boxes (approximately 50) and the driver comes to tell me there is a 60/40 chance that all our items will fit. We are shocked at this point because none of our furniture has even been moved out of the storage unit. Absolute has not left our move any room for size error in this truck as it was so full when they showed up. We walk out to the check the truck and what we see is appalling. The movers are inside the truck smoking and walking all over our boxes inside the truck. See attached pictures. We look over and our TVs and antique mirror that are boxed up from our prior movers that say DO NOT Lay flat are on the ground lying flat. During all of this we call “William”, and he tells us that there is nothing to worry about and of course the call does get heated. It is after lunch at this point and what should have taken a couple of hours is taking way longer than it should and we need to be on the road back to Ohio. By this time, the movers were taking our items and shoving them wherever they would fit. We had to ask for our items to be removed and to be packed better and to be wrapped. The movers asked me to unwrap some of our items that the prior movers wrapped because they were too bulky and would not fit in the truck. One of these items, an antique end table is now missing. At this point in the move, we are watching them more closely and stickers are not being placed on our items, so we continuously ask the driver and his helper to do so. The driver’s helper says he does not speak any English and seems not to understand anything we tell him. • We began watching things more closely and some of what we saw was very disheartening: • We were very concerned over the lack of space that we were given as well as the lack of organization and division of the items already in the truck. The driver told me he didn’t load the truck and had never seen it done this way. The items that were already in the truck were separated by a bungee cord. we specifically asked how our items would be separated and he just said our items would have stickers on them. • Basic tools, such as a screwdriver and adjustable wrench, were unavailable; yet needed to disassemble a metal shelving unit – William stated on the phone the crew would handle any disassembly necessary – we had to get tools and took the unit apart ourselves in the essence of time • At this point in the day, the driver of the truck comes to us and tells us some of our items would not fit and they would have to be put on the back of the truck, but for us not to worry. The driver was meeting with the driver of the big truck straight from the storage unit to move everything over. We agreed to have the items put on the back of the truck. See attached pictures. About three hours later when everything is finally out of the unit and either in the truck or on the back of the truck, we realize the driver doesn’t have the necessary ratchet straps and tools not to mention the know how to hold the items on the back of the truck so that the items don’t fall off. My husband had to get on the back of the truck and try to make sure our items would not fall off. • By the time it was over, and the driver was paid, he told me that they were not meeting the driver of the big truck and that our items to include antique furniture that is almost 70 years old would be in the elements all night long. We told them they better walk to Wal-Mart and buy some tarps that we were done helping them do their job. We told the driver that the items on the back of that truck were not secure enough to drive very far and that he was taking the lives of other drivers into his own hands. He said the company didn’t care. He also said the company didn’t like how he had it and asked my husband to help him take it down and do it again. My husband refused. The next morning, we contacted “William” and asked to speak to the manager because of our numerous concerns over this move. “William” told me he was the manager. Our biggest concern was how our items were placed in the truck and the fact that they were not properly identified as mine and the lack of stickers. He basically blew me off and told me all our items would get here and that they had stickers to identify what was mine. We told him time and time again, that was not happening. We told him we had no reason to lie, and he told me that he didn’t know me and that we could be lying. We began contacting “William” about our delivery two weeks after our pickup. To say he is unpleasant, offensive, and off-putting is an understatement. He continued to tell me that our items were in transit. “William” told us in one breath the driver would call us the day before and in the next breath that the driver would just show up. He said that if they called and gave everyone a 24-hour notice, this would be an even longer process. Our items were not in transit, our items were sitting in a storage unit in New Orleans. After numerous heated calls with William, we received a phone call from the delivery driver. On Monday January 9th, he was in our driveway at about 1:00 A.M. waiting for a 7:00 A.M. Delivery. The driver and the worker were very diligent in their work and had everything unloaded quickly. They worked with my husband to make sure that the boxes and items that came in were marked off the list and that the items that didn’t have stickers were accounted for. When we started identifying items that were missing, the driver mentioned seeing certain items in the storage unit in New Orleans BUT they didn’t have stickers, so he didn’t know they belonged to us. This just cemented our concern from the very beginning. He did remember seeing something and opened another compartment in his truck and found two additional items that belonged to us that didn’t have stickers on them. After reviewing the paperwork, appears that the employees did not do the proper paperwork and check in each item when they went into storage. Any reputable mover knows how to use those forms. You check the items in and out. When we checked the items off when we received them, they never show they went into storage, which we all know is incorrect. If the paperwork is correct, our items stayed in one truck the entire time and should have all arrived. We sent “William” an immediate text at time of delivery regarding missing items and received a telephone call from (650) 667-5885 regarding pictures of the missing furniture. We have been dealing with them from this point forward and the delivery driver has also sent me some messages. Because of the lack of identification on the part of the driver/employees, we are missing an antique dining chair, antique end table and boxes of yearbooks, baby pictures, shelf railing and Christmas dishes to name a few. The inventory that the driver did is garbage. If you’re going to have someone do an inventory, they need to know what the items are. The driver and the other gentlemen were not fluent in English and so there was a huge communication barrier when it came to naming items on the inventory. The antique chair was found in the truck with no sticker in Cleveland. The end table was found with no sticker in a storage unit in New Orleans. we want the boxes/tubs found. If this has happened to us, then it has happened to many others. We can imagine storage units all over the place with items that people don’t realize they are missing. The items that we know we are missing as of now are items that we can’t replace because of the sentimental value to them. We can tell you that they are in Lowe’s packing boxes with black magic marker number of 1-50 and or plastic tubs. There are at least 7 of these missing. We have filed a complaint with the BBB. We received an email from their insurance company, CSI Pros. When I completed their request, they immediately denied my claim because of the paperwork. Due to Absolute's lack of detail and professionalism when completing their paperwork, it is not legible. The copies that I have are not legible. Luckily the delivery driver had me take pictures of the white copies, so we did have those. CSI offered us $129.00 to settle our claim which we have denied. We don’t want the money. We want our items located. It is one thing if the item is damaged, it is another if the item is missing. The items in the boxes have no monetary value as they are pictures. The furniture belonged to my grandmother and have been found and we want them. Items just don’t go missing. We believe that Absolute has placed consumer’s items in storage units without the proper identifying labels and have left them as unidentifiable. We sent text messages to (650) 667-5885 numerous times requesting updates. On Wednesday, 18 January 2023 • Received a response saying that our first delivery of missing items would be “tomorrow or day after” and “Second, not scheduled yet about two weeks”. We have followed up on that text three times with NO response back. We have asked what other items were found/located with no response back. Monday, 30 January 2023 • Sent another text message to William and xxxxx • Received call from Jasmine (231-471-2221) @1440 o They’ve located our items, will be delivering within 1-14 days – the driver will contact us to schedule delivery; she’ll call back with what items they’ve found Tuesday, 14 February 2023 • Contacted “Jasmine” who answered the phone with “OH MY GOD”. I told her who I was, and I wanted to check on the status of my delivery and to follow up on why she didn’t call me to tell me what items were located. She said she was stressed but that wasn’t my problem and then hung up on me. Wednesday, 15 February 2023 • I called “Jasmine” back to follow up on the call from the day before and she said she would call me right back. She called me back a bit later and told me they were shipping my items to me. I said that was fine, but I would need a tracking number. Thursday, 23 February 2023 • I called “Jasmine” back to follow up on the tracking number and was told she would call me back by end of day with the tracking number. Tuesday, 28 February 2023 • I texted (973) 576-4652, (650) 667-5885 and (213) 471-2221 (which are all representatives of Absolute) requesting the status of this delivery. • I received a response saying they had been sick and provided a tracking number. • A person from (650) 667-5885 called and told me that they never found the chair. I told them that this was incorrect that the original delivery driver found the chair in Cleveland and that this was not just a box. This was a chair. You can’t just lose a chair. See attached message from Delivery driver. Wednesday, 1 March 2023 • Telephone call from “Casto / Costa” (650) 667-5885 and was told that the Captain’s dining chair has NOT been located and that the delivery driver was wrong. I informed this person that a chair does not disappear. The chair was either placed in storage and lost, damaged, or delivered to the wrong person. Regardless, it didn’t disappear. It would appear from Google reviews and social media that Absolute has boxes and missing items all over and if I had to guess these items are sitting in storage units. Our items specifically have NO monetary value to anyone as they are pictures of my children and old furniture that have no matching pieces. Our furniture per your employees have been found and now we need you to make the delivery happen. As a side note, I have spoken with several other customers of Absolute. One of those customers told me that they received boxes that didn’t belong to them, and they told Absolute. These boxes were Lowe’s moving boxes that had no stickers on them. This is yet another example of items that Absolute's employees did not identify correctly and are probably sitting in a storage unit.