HA! Not so very professional with World Wide Van Lines.
I’ve never dealt with a moving company before, and hope never to again. Maybe I expect too much from professional businesses. Like them being professional.
The process to move Mom’s household items began with many quotes from moving companies and then my choice of World Wide Van Lines on April 6th with a several hundred dollar deposit. This I followed up with the requested inventory list which took some time as not everything in the house would be moved. Turned out to be approximately 4200 pounds so I overestimated to 5000 pounds for the quote. Better to get a credit than be shocked at the delivery point.
Date for pickup set the day before we were to fly to Arizona, Mom’s new home state. (A completely different and unfinished story.)
Written in the signed contract World Wide Van Lines states, “Services contracted constitute delivery of a licensed insured professional moving company trucks on, before or after your estimated move dates… Client is aware of a 48 hour pick up window of the date shown and the following 24 hours.”
OK, the World Wide Van Lines’ professional movers would show up Tuesday or the preferred Wednesday, or possibly on Thursday after we flew out. A gracious neighbor held the house key and second payment check.
Monday evening the World Wide Van Lines’ nightmare began with a call from dispatch giving Wednesday morning as our pickup. So far so good. Then Tuesday evening the professional driver called to say he was in Pensacola (I think that’s Florida) and couldn’t make his delivery there until morning. Then he’d be on his way to us by Thursday morning. I gave him contact information to keep in touch with the neighbor and me.
After a 5am security check at the dinky Harlingen, Texas airport complete with Mom standing up from a wheel chair and being patted down, we were the last to board. Then while waiting to board in Houston I called the neighbor to check on the move and was told the professional World Wide Van Lines’ driver had called to say he’d fallen asleep behind the wheel and wrecked his truck but would be there in the evening.
Does this sound a little fishy? Me too, but you must remember my brains were on overload due to working on all the logistics of this move for over three weeks. And then there’s my mother.
Friday morning (my breaking day) when I called the neighbor for a move update I’m told that the driver called Thursday evening from Houston and would be there in 7-8 hours. I told the neighbor not to let the movers in or give them the check payment. I called the professional World Wide Van Lines’ driver and told him to stop, no pickup, no entry and no money. Then left two messages with the person I’d been dealing with at the company office. Please remember that was on Good Friday when I suppose professional moving company employees don’t work.
I kind of had the weekend off and hope all of you had a blessed Easter.
After no weekend response from World Wide Van Lines, I called Monday and complained about the driver and their lack of professionalism. I repeated the story to a supervisor who told me it would be looked into and he’d call me back. (Not yet anyway.)
I also put a stop to the order. Circumstances have changed and the move will be much smaller than World Wide Van Lines’ minimum of 2000 pounds for a hefty balance due. I sure could use that deposit money to rent a small U-Haul trailer.
Along this moving nightmare journey I’ve heard many people judge the professional moving business as many things, and none of them are professional. Just saying.
We've moved a bunch over the years with all the different van lines. It is all about the driver whether you have a good experience or not and it sounds like you got a dud.
What a pain.
Wow, that's very unimpressive. Good luck!
Good luck with working this out. Gotta love professionalism…
– Jazz
Love Mike's messages for you on your return. Gaelyn you have my thoughts with you. Moving from South Africa was a nightmare. I was not allowed to pack anything, customs would only allow the professional packers. Things were not packed properly and valuable china ornaments were broken. Boxes went missing and insurance said I had to state each and every item in each box. How was that possible when I did not pack, and the boxes were only numbered and the name of the room they came from. Even that was incorrect we would find a box that said kitchen that should be bedroom……. I could go on for ever. Thank goodness the move to France has all been done in my car and a guy with a van who loaded with Nigel and unloaded with me. This time it has been a pleasure.
I NEVER want to move with movers ever again, in fact I just never want to move again full stop!! Diane
I.M. sayin' the only professional in this whole mess were GeoGypsy. Just sayin' ya know….
My daughter wants some of the stuff out of my house, and I dread hiring movers. I think we will probably do it ourselves with Uhaul or a similar company. Sorry to hear you are having so many problems, dealing with Mom is a big job and you don't need the stress of incompetent companies.
I've read a lot of horror stories about moving companies but this is among the worst.
The only time we hired someone we used "Three Men and a Truck" which is a franchise. The guys who worked were local guys. We sort of worked side by side with them.
So sorry you're having to shoulder all the work. Soon, things will be for the better.
Oh dear, I nope you can locate someone who truly is professional to help you!
OMG—that's about all I can say. MB
I have heard horror stories about professional movers too Gaelyn. I'm sorry you had this piled on your plate along with all the other stuff you had to deal with in moving your Mom.
I'm a retired truck driver "suicide jockey" (if you remember the song)..not a "bedbugger" though. Drivers can make a big difference in service. You didn't need to get that kind of treatment.
It will be nice to have you back in the Canyon…miss your posts from there.
the best of luck with working this out.
so sorry to hear you're having such big problems, Gaelyn!
hope for sunshine-y days to come.
big hugs
betty
Gaelyn, if my renewed passport had arrived I would have been down there to help you in a flash. I have moved way too many times but I now have it down to a fine art. I can only imagine what it is like to be working with an aging parent(s) and then to have this challenge.
My thoughts, blessings and hugs!
Smiles and remember "this too will pass"
There are good companies out there, but the nightmares induced by the bad ones can be epic, so it's always helpful to get a head's up where that's the case. You were wise to cut them loose.
What a nightmare! I think you made a wise decision not to let them pick up mom's stuff. Who knows how they would have handled it. Uhaul does sound like your best bet at this point.
I have nightmare stories regarding courier companies, but have never used a moving company. Very unprofessional indeed.
That's just incredible – awfully so. I'm so sorry. We've never used a moving company but now I never want to.
What a pain in the rear! It sounds to me like this company has contracted drivers instead of company drivers. If they cared at all about their reputation as a company, they would have done something by now. Don't they know we all blog?