National Moving & Storage: A fraud company - Moving Review

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Company name: National Moving and Storage
Address: 19045 Erwin St., Tarzana, CA 91335
Website: www.national-moving.com
Phone: 888.818.9705; 8182996501
USDOT License: 2082697
MC: 726992

Job no: P271632
Moving from: Pullman, WA to Normal, IL

Date: May 17, 2011
NMS gave us an initial quote of $1300. We paid $300 to NMS as initial deposit to book the moving truck and movers. We provided the credit card details to David at National Moving & Storage and he charged the card over the phone. The pickup date for our stuff was scheduled for June 26, 2011. It was also agreed that we would pay $600 on the day of pickup and the residual $650 on delivery. David also said that our things would reach us within 10-12 days from pick up. He asked us which was the first date we’d be available for delivery and we said July 1. He said that our things would reach us by July 8-11 at the latest.

June 15, 2011
Driver by the name of Cesar calls us and asks whether we’d be okay if our things were picked up on June 24 or June 25 because it’d be easier for them. We contacted David to ask why there was this sudden change in plans but he had no clue about what was going on. He asked us inform the driver directly about our decision. We agreed to a June 25 pickup.

June 25, 2011 (newly agreed upon pickup date)
Two people arrive in a Budget truck. Their names were Cesar and Marcus. After packing and loading all our stuff, they mentioned that our things weighed 1197 lbs. more than the 3000 lbs. for which the initial estimate of $1300 was given. They did some strange math and we have no idea how they arrived at the conclusion that our things weighed 1197 lbs. more. The revised amount now became $2709.26 and after negotiating for a discount, the total amount was agreed to be $1744. The driver demanded that we pay half the new amount ($872) at that time and the other half on delivery. He also demanded that we pay him in cash and write a check in his name because he needed gas money. We paid him $400 cash and wrote him a personal check for $472. The residual outstanding was $872 on delivery.

July 5, 2011 onward
David said our things will be delivered on the weekend of July 8-9.

July 11, 2011
Our things did not reach us over this weekend. Upon contacting David, he said that there was a delay due to 4th of July and that our things would definitely reach us within July 15. He also said that our things were on a truck in Wyoming at that time.

July 15, 2011
Our things still did not reach us. We called to speak with David who wasn’t available. Someone by the name of Jonathan picked up instead and informed us that our things were now in Iowa and would reach us in the week starting July 18. He also said he’d call back on July 18 to confirm the exact ETA.

July 19, 2011
Neither Jonathan, nor David called us. When we called, we were told that the new ETA was now July 22-24.

July 26, 2011
When we called David to inform him that our things had still not come, he said that the axel of the truck in which our things were had broken and that it was being fixed. When we asked where the truck was, he said it was on the border of Iowa and Illinois. He also said that truck would be fixed on July 26 or 27th at the latest and that the very next delivery would be ours.

July 27, 2011
Jonathan now informs us that the trucks broke down, not between Iowa and Illinois, but between Nebraska and Iowa. By this time, we were pretty certain that neither of these people had any idea where our things were and that they were misleading us as to the location of the truck.

July 28, 2011
When we called this time, we got someone called Jamie who yelled at us and stated that the truck was not fixed. Upon further questioning, he revealed that the truck was broken down not for 1-2 days but for the last 10 days. On the same day, David informed us that he had already arranged for another truck to collect our things from the broken truck and deliver to us within the next 1-2 days. When we asked whether the new truck was being sent from California or Iowa, he quickly changed his story and said, he hadn’t yet rented the truck but that he would do it as soon as possible and that it could be either CA or Iowa.

July 29, 2011
Someone named Golan calls and says he has our things on his truck and that he would deliver on July 30 or 31. When we asked where he was, he said Wyoming! He also said that his records indicate that we owe $1187 plus $75 for each flight of stairs that he’d have to climb. We were outraged since the total outstanding as per the signed contract was $872.

We spoke with Jonathan and David and we told them how their unprofessionalism was causing us a great deal of inconvenience. They said they would try to make it so that we don’t have to pay the remaining balance upon delivery. In a heated debate with Jonathan when we yelled at and insulted us, he said the total was indeed $1187 and that the pickup drivers had made a mistake. After much arguing, he said he’d call back. He calls us back and agrees that the total outstanding was indeed $872. We double checked this with David and instructed him to inform the driver of the revised amount. We also negotiated that the $75 for a flight of stairs be waived on account of the inconvenience being caused to us. We then called the driver to verify the new total amount and he confirmed that it was $872.

In future conversations with David, when we reminded him of his promise to make sure we didn’t have to pay $872, he said that we’d have to pay at first and that at a later date, our refund (partial/complete) would be processed by the claims department and that a check would be mailed to us.

July 31, 2011
The driver calls and says he is waiting nearby at a grocery store for helpers. After a few minutes, he says he is at our address but can’t find our townhome. We asked for his exact location and drove to meet him where he and his semi was. When we said he’d have to drive inside the townhome community, he refused outright saying that his truck won’t fit. When we asked what the solution was, he said he’d just dump everything on the road and that we’d have to make our own arrangements. He was extremely rude, arrogant and made racist comments against Indians. We finally agreed that we’d rent a small Budget truck, unload our things from the semi and then he and his helpers would unload at our townhouse. He then quickly said that if we paid him an additional $100, he’d get the semi as close to the townhome as possible and then they would walk the extra distance. Wanting to get this thing over and done with, we reluctantly agreed. Throughout the unloading process, he kept making offensive comments against Indians, asking personal questions, and even refusing to take things upstairs saying that we’d have to pay him extra because some boxes were apparently too heavy and that he wasn’t Mexican who according to him have extra discs on their spines!!! We also learned from him that he picked up our things on July 26 from Oregon! So basically, all this while when David and Jonathan kept saying our things were in Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa etc., they were lying.

Note: We Googled this company and their phone numbers and found that they have done this before. Please see: http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=95497. It seems this company went by a different name before (Greenlight), with a different USDOT license. The registered address of NMS was the same as Greenlight.

Throughout the whole process, not once were we told the truth about where our things were. David and Jonathan had NO IDEA where the truck was and every time, they kept lying to us, wanting to cover their previous lies.