[golfing eagles]

Help!!! Has anyone out there used Atlas Van Lines, especially within the last year? If so, was of your furniture damaged? More specifically, they give you a "Relocation Services Descriptive Inventory" with a "condition at origin" column. Did anyone think there was notation of pre-existing damage that you did not think was there?
I ask because I finally reviewed that document to make a claim, and found that every single piece of furniture was marked scratched, nicked, and "rubbed" on every surface, even brand new pieces that don't have a mark on them. A sofa completely covered in microfiber was marked as "scratched", as well as torn even though there are no tears.
This is not an accusation and draw whatever conclusions you wish, but I'm really interested if anyone else has shared this experience.

[Neighborat10]

I had the same experience with Mayflower movers. Every single piece of furniture was marked as scratched, torn, and damaged as well as every box was noted as being broken. They tore my couch as well as damaged countless other items. The real kicker was I had them wrap and pack granite tiles for a table and when they arrived they were broken also. I went through a lot of channels and had to fight but I was finally compensated for my damages. Good luck and don't give up!!!!

[NavyNJ]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Help!!! Has anyone out there used Atlas Van Lines, especially within the last year? If so, was of your furniture damaged? More specifically, they give you a "Relocation Services Descriptive Inventory" with a "condition at origin" column. Did anyone think there was notation of pre-existing damage that you did not think was there?
I ask because I finally reviewed that document to make a claim, and found that every single piece of furniture was marked scratched, nicked, and "rubbed" on every surface, even brand new pieces that don't have a mark on them. A sofa completely covered in microfiber was marked as "scratched", as well as torn even though there are no tears.
This is not an accusation and draw whatever conclusions you wish, but I'm really interested if anyone else has shared this experience.

Wow....that sounds like a really tough experience with them! And, based on the other post about a similar situation with Mayflower, it seems to mostly boil down to which "local Agent" you happened to book your move thru, more so than the actual moving company. We moved in March from NJ to TV and used one of Atlas's several Agents in NJ, based on local knowledge of them and many, many referrals over the other Agents.

All in all, it was a great move with absolutely zero issues. And regarding the notes and comments made on our Load Inventory Sheets when we were packed onto the truck, before they left, we actually spent the better part of 30+ min in our kitchen going over each and every page of the paperwork (Inventory, Check Lists, Bill of Lading, Insurance Docs, etc.) with the Driver (always the guy in charge). So it sounds like your crew did things quite a bit differently, unfortunately.

Hope you get all your issues straightened out to your satisfaction.....and better luck on your next move (if any)!

[mixsonci]

Don't they give you a copy of the list that you must sign BEFORE they take your furniture away? Were these boxes marked when they handed you your copy? If not, you should be able to use your copy of the list as proof that their check marks were made AFTER your furniture left your residence.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by mixsonci

Don't they give you a copy of the list that you must sign BEFORE they take your furniture away? Were these boxes marked when they handed you your copy? If not, you should be able to use your copy of the list as proof that their check marks were made AFTER your furniture left your residence.

Unfortunately it did not work that way. They packed and tagged all the boxes and furniture, loaded them on the van and locked it up. Then, as darkness was falling on day 4 of packing and preparing to leave early the next morning, they handed me their inventory list of 591 items on 20 pages. There was some chicken scratch in the condition column which I was too fatigued to even notice, so I signed it. But even if I had paid careful attention and wanted to dispute anything, what was the option? Unpack the entire van and go over it line by line?
Likewise, when they unloaded in TV I had 400+ boxes all over the place and furniture roughly in place and more in the garage. They are sitting in the truck ready to leave and hand me the same 20 pages to sign. It took 5 weeks to unpack most of the stuff, how could I inspect it? The only obvious damage was crown molding ripped off a large cabinet, and the driver stated "It was like that". It wasn't.
When I went to make my claim, I was able to decipher their codes and to my surprise, every piece of furniture was noted to have several types of damage on all sides, totaling 1,258 separate areas of damage. Second hand furniture stores would have less "pre-existing" damage, so this was an obvious attempt to prevent damage claims by noting everything as damaged to start with. Their problem, however, is that I have only found 11 areas of new damage and 5 that I knew was present----16/1258. This misrepresentation in an attempt to avoid potential damage claims meets the definition of fraud, which is easily proven by all the items that are completely pristine to this day but are noted to have extensive damage.
Most of the damage was to glassware packed in boxes, which they attempted to cover up. For example, a pair of expensive hand made art deco glass candlestick holders were packed by the movers, and 1 was broken. The intact piece was wrapped in a single piece of thin packing paper. The broken piece was wrapped in a full 3x5 sheet of padded paper and was broken into pieces. The problem was that not all the pieces were in the paper, so this was a lame attempt to show how carefully it was wrapped, when it is obvious they broke it prior to packing it.
To give you an idea of how bad this move was, I have attached a "slideshow" that I sent to them. Since the pictures speak for themselves and I have withheld the name of the local mover responsible, I am not committing libel

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Neighborat10

I had the same experience with Mayflower movers. Every single piece of furniture was marked as scratched, torn, and damaged as well as every box was noted as being broken. They tore my couch as well as damaged countless other items. The real kicker was I had them wrap and pack granite tiles for a table and when they arrived they were broken also. I went through a lot of channels and had to fight but I was finally compensated for my damages. Good luck and don't give up!!!!

Seems like this is a practice shared by some local movers. BTW, the 1258 notations of damage were just on the furniture, there was only 1 notation of damage for the 350+ boxes they packed. Unlike your sofa, my 2 piece sectional is absolutely pristine to this day. Interesting is that it is noted by the movers as being scratched and torn on the sides, front, back, arms and seats. It is totally covered with microfiber, so I have no idea how it could be "scratched", and I guess all those tears just miraculously repaired themselves

[Jima64]

Over the years moving companies have run so many scams for overcharging or preventing accepting responsibility I am not surprised by this op's complaint. They know they have you over a barrel and lit is hard to get proper compensation.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Jima64

Over the years moving companies have run so many scams for overcharging or preventing accepting responsibility I am not surprised by this op's complaint. They know they have you over a barrel and lit is hard to get proper compensation.

I will. If you look at the attachment to post #5, I have photographic proof of transporting hazardous materials without a license as well as insects. I also have the phone #'s for the US DOT, US Dept. of Agriculture, the EPA and OSHA. I also have photographic evidence of fraud. I think they'll be interested in a fair settlement.

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I will. If you look at the attachment to post #5, I have photographic proof of transporting hazardous materials without a license as well as insects. I also have the phone #'s for the US DOT, US Dept. of Agriculture, the EPA and OSHA. I also have photographic evidence of fraud. I think they'll be interested in a fair settlement.

There are other option's. The Two Savage Guy's From Brooklyn or
even better...Vito & Rocco! Fuggetaboutit! GE you got them for sure but it's going to be a process to get to the financial finish line.

A few weeks before we departed Jersey a friend used a mover to Orlando from my neighborhood. He boasted about $1500 for the movers and the truck and Blah Blah Blah, his total cost was $4800 when done because the original number was only an estimate. We spent $2500 for a Pack Rat and $500 to load and $300 to unload,,,tips included. We saved a $1500. My friend had similar damage like you did and is fighting the battle just like you. United Van Lines will make things rite quickly...that's my gut feeling. My Jersey friend has a problem because it is a small family owned mover. A damn shame that this must be dealt with at such a stressful time in out lives.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Nucky

There are other option's. The Two Savage Guy's From Brooklyn or
even better...Vito & Rocco! Fuggetaboutit! GE you got them for sure but it's going to be a process to get to the financial finish line.

A few weeks before we departed Jersey a friend used a mover to Orlando from my neighborhood. He boasted about $1500 for the movers and the truck and Blah Blah Blah, his total cost was $4800 when done because the original number was only an estimate. We spent $2500 for a Pack Rat and $500 to load and $300 to unload,,,tips included. We saved a $1500. My friend had similar damage like you did and is fighting the battle just like you. United Van Lines will make things rite quickly...that's my gut feeling. My Jersey friend has a problem because it is a small family owned mover. A damn shame that this must be dealt with at such a stressful time in out lives.

I was thinking Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I was thinking Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz

Oh brother do I want to see you prevail on this case.

[ColdNoMore]

During one move I had a three guy crew that really hustled in packing up the old home and although I told them that their truck would be marginal for all of our 'stuff,' they were able to make it.

I thought going with a company (generally good reviews and while not national, they were a fairly well-known/respected local mover) that charged by the hour, especially since I was helping, would be the way to go.

Boy was I wrong.

After getting to the new home, all of a sudden they seemed to have become drugged with something that made them move in slow motion.

The biggest surprise though, was without even asking first the foreman closed the door with about 1/2 of it unloaded at the new place and demanded that they get paid (agreed to cash ahead of time) before unloading the rest of it.

Say what?!

Talk about a different attitude and chill almost immediately, I was in shock. I had made about a dozen moves in my life prior to this and had never had this happen before. While I understood the potential of them getting stiffed, they should have figured out that since they were moving me from/into houses that were far from low end that the odds were small of me trying to skip on the bill.

I paid him 3/4 of the bill and told him that he really didn't want to push getting all of it, until the job was completely done.

There was one guy who wasn't all that speedy to begin with, but when he walked into the new house with only a small plastic planter base (think small frisbee) in his hand and asked "where does this go"...I lost it.

I immediately told the foreman that the lazy dude would no longer be on the clock from that point forward.

When the same dude stood off to the side watching while opening and closing his switchblade (trying to intimidate me), is when I called the cops.

Long story short, the police hauled off the nutcase (outstanding warrants) and the foreman then decided that I was the wrong person to have pulled this kind of chit on.

After finishing unloading without further issues, I paid for the rest of it, generously tipped the quiet and hard working guy on the side and quietly sighed a breath of relief that it didn't turn out worse than it could have.

[outlaw]

It must be a New Jersey thing. There are a lot on online businesses out of New Jersey that seem to have a lot of bad reviews. As a rule, I don't do business with NJ internet companies because of this.

[MrGolf]

I used South Hills Movers, a national family owned moving business out of Pittsburgh for our move to The Villages. In fact it was the third time we used them. Only two pieces were damaged. I dropped on and my wife dropped the other. They were a pleasure to deal with and the only things marked damaged were things that were damaged before they were loaded and were pointed out to us. They loaded when they were supposed to and arrived when they were supposed to. Were efficient, courteous and professional.

[redwitch]

After more moves than I care to count, I learned one easy rule. Tell the movers to show me whatever they are going to mark as damaged. I will mark that item if I agree. That way, no claim of damages at the other end that aren't legitimate and no chance they can claim prior damage. Protects both parties (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

However, I really prefer to just pack and move myself. Much easier in the long run. Hire some day workers at both ends to load/unload. Has worked the best for me.