New Villager + Moving Company Issues
 

RE: New Villager + Moving Company Issues

Hello, We are new to the Villages. We are very excited to finally be here, but ran into serious issues that we need some advice on.

Issue: Our trucking moving company really screwed-up, and "F" us.

For instance:

1.They delayed our furniture delivery several weeks from the original posted delivery date
(we were left stressed, sitting in an empty house and had to buy some basic items.)
2.Held our furniture "for ransom" until we paid the final balance, "before" final delivery
(a short story we will post later)
3.Delivered pretty much all of our big furniture damaged, countless dishware and items broken,
4. Two TVs were badly water logged/damaged (other items soaked, wet)
5. Stolen / "missing" - 2 other TVs, various electronics, household items.

Since then:
We are were very stressed, but now at an anger stage.
We setup what we had delivered, or what we could.
We contacted local police to start a police report to be on record.

More:
We have done some digging even deeper, and found this is common practice to Villagers. And, this trucking company changed "sub-contractors" many times before our items were delivered.

Question: Does anyone know of, or recommend, a good attorney or law firm?
We want to sue these guys for the stolen/missing & damaged items.

Thank you,
TheNewbies

I've never heard about this being a common thing for the Villages. There's been no major complaints from any neighbors in my neighborhood who've moved in recently, regarding broken or missing items. One guy had a dent in his refrigerator. That's pretty much the worst of it.

We always had a moving insurance policy cheap no deductible. Most moving companies piggyback loads on long hauls

Thanks Orange. We too hope that's not the issue and just a one-off problem.

The police officer we spoke with though, said he has had a couple of recent complaints from people their movers. ...Stay tuned, we will dig into this possible activity and keep everyone posted what we find out.

Wow. I'm glad that I have never had anything worth moving.

We moved from Minnesota close to three years ago and had no issues with out moving company. I'm thinking (cannot recall for sure) it was Covenant Transport. One broken item.

We did a lot of research on moving companies beforehand, considering not just price but reviews, reputation, etc.

When I move to Florida from Boston I had an alarm clock and my clothes and when I moved into different homes and condos in Florida over the years , I had an alarm clock and more clothes

We moved from MN as well, but just last year. We had some damaged items, to be expected, and they assembled some of the furniture incorrectly or incomplete. Called them back and they corrected what they could. I filled a claim but unless I had the original items, I was SOL, pictures didn't matter. All total I think we had about $1500 in damages and they offered us $500. Since most of the damaged items were tossed, repaired or replaced, I took the $500. Thought my time was worth more than fighting them and I might not get anything.....

Question - did you find these movers on your own, or were they recommended through an official Villages relocation agent? Reason I’m asking is that I will be moving in a few weeks to TV and am working with a Villages relocation agent to hire a mover.

Most of my neighbors bought new here, did not bring much from old location , it they did, they used a pod...

Certainly not a “common” thing.

Use the village location expert. They are awesome.

Village Relocation Services
 

We used the relocation services. Best help I ever had. They made my move easy and pleasant. I recommend them.

same problem
 

had same problem when I moved here. Big mistake, should have sold everything and started over. They "lost" about 1/3 of my things, charged me more money than agreed and were 3 weeks late getting here. Called my attorney and was told would cost more to sue than what things were worth. Wrote it off as bad experience.

My movers ruined most of my furniture, were not insured for the service they provided even though they produced a current certificate. All of their insurances denied the claim and no lawyer wants to be bothered. They are only interested in trip and falls and car accidents. I’m relying on karma to take care of them.

Called my attorney and was told would cost more to sue than what things were worth. Wrote it off as bad experience.[/QUOTE]

Check out small claims court……

This is Florida. You can find an attorney on every corner. Good luck and sorry you had such a bad experience. Hope things get better for you. When we moved here, we used a local to area we came from moving company. Everything went great. You have to be careful with these larger moving companies

We moved from Michigan almost 3 years ago, and loaded what we were bringing with us into two of the biggest PODS you can get. Loaded them ourselves, locked them ourselves. They were stored, and delivered on time. We paid Village Movers to unload them from our driveway and assemble things in our house. A very smooth and problem free trip.

We used the Villages Relocation Service and chose one of the moving companies they recommended and was very pleased. Everything went as planned with no issues whatsoever.

It's not just in the Villages that this happens. This is what happens when you hire a company that uses a broker and move cross country sadly. Good deals in moving can be a horrible idea.

Best moving companies, do lots of research and always best to have the same people that load your furniture, unload your furniture.

We used Two Men and a Truck. Not cheap but they are a solid company and stand behind their product. They sadly did damage some of our items and every single one was repaired to new condition. Looks beautiful, now they are not happy about it but they stand behind the product

We used a moving company years ago. A bigger company paid for insurance turned out that we didn’t get all her items. Several items were damage. No insurance policy was bought even though we were charged and paid for one. Unfortunately, we just wrote it off. But moving companies suck and they hire usually fly by night people who just throw **** in the truck not all but most are not that great. And they all hold your items hostage for a final payment and it must be in cash. They won’t even take a check from you or a credit card at the end.

Always hire a good company and get insurance. Delivery time in writing.

When I moved here three years ago, I used The Villages Relocation Service. There have three moving companies come to your home and provide the cost for moving. You select one of the movers. I had the movers pack the dishes and glassware. The service was excellent -- all furniture was wrapped, all dishes were well packed. Everything arrived on schedule -- no damage to any of the furniture and not one item was broken. Highly recommend.

When we moved, I hired muscle on both ends to pack / load / unload the rental truck.
>> I drove the truck <<
Didn't have any trouble getting there on time. Nothing was missing / wet / damaged. As a bonus, saved many thousand$

For those who haven't moved yet, if you're able to do so, this worked great and was relatively stress free. For those who must hire out the whole job, get references and check reviews. Two men and a truck indeed do good work. I've used them locally but didn't know they would handle and interstate move.

Using a POD (or several) is also an option but you still don't control the timing of delivery. But, they are sealed and you do control the packing / security of the unit (again, except for where it is at any given moment).

My 2 cents.

Folks, you really don't need to click on the "Quote message in reply" box unless you're replying to a secondary reply.

Sounds like you got the moving company from hell. I moved here from NJ and they loaded the truck in front of my house and the same truck delivered all my stuff here in Florida. Also, I had moving insurance that if something worth value was damaged then it would have been covered.

You’re doing the right thing by getting a lawyer but you better have a lot of proof what you said is what really happened & not word of mouth. I’m on your side, just make sure you have text messages or letters from them saying what you said. Yes definitely get a good lawyer!

The Villages Relocation Service
 

If you don’t mind my asking how much did their service run ?

I, too, had issues with my mover. I moved from Silicon Valley, CA in 2017. My issues were not with broken items, ( I had none) but with the pricing. The final price exceeded the firm quote by approximately 5K. I will not go into details on this forum, but I am merely posting this note to say that all is not "butterflies and unicorns" when making a major move like I did.

You really need to do your homework when it comes to Moving Companies. Unfortunately you came across a very bad one. Once when I let the Government pick my company for me they subcontracted and it was a disaster. However, the Government not the moving company picked up the cost of some of the damage but not all. I would not say it is widespread but it is a lesson for anyone moving. Get References, get references and get more references. I had a very good company but still big pieces get chipped and believe me they were wrapped well. Now compound this with nobody wanting to work. I am sure they are getting the lowest of the low to do this type of work. My girlfriend had her furniture held for ransom too. I do not believe she was compensated. Be happy to be here and write it off as a learning lesson. If you move again locally use the Village Movers they have a very good reputation and I am sorry this happened to you. I know firsthand how maddening this can be. It would benefit others to name the company and the person responsible.

I feel bad that you had a bad experience. We used a Pod and had no problems.

Just wondering if your home insurance might be of some help. Assuming you had insurance at the time your stuff was moved. If your assets are insured when the process started, and then end up lost, damaged, stolen during the process, there may be some residual responsibility with that resource. Long shot but they may offer some further guidance.

Have you filed a claim with the moving company's insurance. I believe that you have six months to get the claim filed. We just moved with JK Movers. They did a great job although we have two small problems and one of them is our fault!!!

We used a national company who put the job out to bid and lucky for us got a good driver who didd his job with a couple of hiccups.

He hired two guys in Va who were great and hired two guys here who were not so good. The local guys broke a glass table and set it up so we would not see damage until later on.

Driver somehow left our bed in a previous stop but owned up to it and rented a small van and drove 200 miles to pick it up.

Pickup and delivery on time so overall was a satisfactory experience.

The money you spend with a lawyer will hurt you the chance of recovery is low it is better to not take the cheapest company and read fine lines. Don’t shoot the messenger you can claim on insurance but then your insurance company dumps you or raises premiums. Better to expose the company and get busy letting the world know 10 times over not to use this company. This you can do yourself but do it with vigor and be relentless 😎

If you can get help loading your large items get a POD. Take only those pieces you absolutely love. Only you have control over the POD using a padlock you supply. They pick it up and hold it at their facility nearest your location for delivery date you request. Used lots of bubble wrap and blankets. Nothing lost, stolen or damaged.

Moving
 

I heard stories like this if you get the less expensive movers. Get a reliable local mover they will rent a truck and do it. Our 3 moves were no problem minor table scratch they fixed. BUT we used a national mover, LOL the Villages Movers back to Texas and a local Texas outfit back here. AND get insurance