ComplaintsforCollege Bound Movers

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  CBM was hired to move me on 9/20/22. On top of the excessive damage to the majority of my furniture, other items, and the walls and woodwork leading to my apartment, my floor lamp "missing", finding the crew in the back of the truck an hour after they arrived with a few empty bottles admittedly drinking a few of my nips that they helped themselves to, I had to spend the day feeling uneasy and intimidated with a visibly agitated, in a rush, rude, undue influencing crew chief. After several back and forth attempts for fair and just resolution, I have none. While I appreciate the "courteous gesture" of a partial, $600 refund on the full amount I was charged. $1,210.98, that still leaves me paying the other portion to them for putting me through this horrible disturbing experience. The restorer sent "at their cost" touched up maybe 3-4 minor damaged areas on 2 pieces of furniture. The other damaged items were buried in storage and that didnt matter because the majority type of damage he said he could not repair, especially the dining room table that was DELIBERATELY gouged just before CBM quickly exited my apartment, jumped in the truck and sped off down the street without a word. During the very first phone call response from my initial complaint email, I was informed that the damage to the table was admitted to. I did not warrant any of this mistreatment. I remained pleasant even after finding them drinking, destroying my fireplace, and damaging one item after another. The longer this carries out the more damages I am discovering. The contracts you are pushed to sign are written in the tiniest print, excessive, and you are not given a chance to look them over when they are shoved in front of you with undue influence by an agitated crew chief that has made it obvious he had somewhere else he needed to be. Additional insurance should not be necessary and was never mentioned. I am happy to supply copies of all corresponding emails and pictures documenting all of it.

  Business response

  01/06/2023

  I would like to address your complaint from start to finish. From the start of the move things were a little chaotic as a third party called in to provide inventory and arrange this move. This resulted in a timing issue on move day as there was way more inventory than we were contracted for. There were tequila nips empty on the back of the truck. Not that it makes it right, but I would like to remind you that on our first call, you said you offered them the nips. The person that drank those nips was terminated as this violates company policy. For your move, additional insurance was declined and therefor per the DOT, you were covered at .60 per pound. You are correct, as a courtesy we sent a woodworking professional out to your residence at no cost to you to help rectify the situation. He fixed the items that were present in the apartment at the time aside from the table as that was past “repair” status. The courtesy was also extended to fix items in storage as well once the items were out.  He would have no idea what he could and could not fix in storage as he never saw the items in storage. The fireplace was on a cart and was backed into by the customer. It flipped off the cart and became damaged. There is no time limitation to any contract that you have to sign. If you were confused/needed clarification/ or wanted an hour to read the contract, you could have had it.Having said all of that, we understood the situation wasn’t ideal and offered you $600.00 plus paying the expense to have a woodworking professional come out to do repairs. You declined that offer. 

  Customer response

  01/07/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because:
  Unfortunately, that is NOT an accurate account of what transpired that day and it is infuriating that this business continues to be deceptive and arrogant ignoring the key facts.  I DID NOT OFFER any one nips.  One mentioned the basket and I said something in JEST.  I did NOT say help yourself and I certainly DID NOT TELL ANYONE TO DRINK THEM WHILE MOVING ME.  The fact that employees were drinking at all at the start of the job sitting in the back of the truck an hour after arriving while charging me by the hour and complaining about how long the move was going to take is beyond acceptable and severely lacks professionalism from a company that brags about their award winning service. The employee that they claim to have fired because of this, had mentioned that this was his last day with the company! There was an admittedly second crew member that was also drinking.  Aaron made mention that he was not the one driving, but the person he thought should have been driving was NOT the person that drove into the storage parking lot after taking excessive time to get there, arriving nearly 20 minutes after I did and I left my house 10 minutes after them. So basically they are claiming that they only fired the ONE crew member that was working his last day, by choice, to leave the company.  I was told this crew did not have a time constraint because of another move after mine.  When they arrived they took inventory and said the estimate had to be adjusted because there was more than they thought they were moving, which I was completely fine with. No one was trying to be deceptive as to what needed to be moved.   If a third party scheduled the move and did so only as a favor to them to give them business, they should have called to verify inventory and let me now when they were coming.  Extra insurance was never offered to me and why should someone need it when the people doing the damage should be responsible. Every time I was told to sign something it was under undue influence. I was not given any time at all to look over any paperwork the day of the move. When I did try to start reading, the crew chief got more and more agitated. (and mind you, I was alone in my apartment with 2 men, one of which was visibly agitated the entire day). For them to now claim that I could have had an hour to read everything is not even close to being accurate.  I honestly dont understand why this company would chose to take this situation to this level of arguing what transpired that day. The person responding to this complaint WAS NOT THERE.  All of this could have been avoided if they had just done the fair thing under the circumstances and because of the severe amount of damage, some deliberately, and refunded what I was charged.  While I appreciate their "Gesture", they are still making me pay them over $600 for them to treat me the way they did and damage all of my property. This behavior was witnessed by several people, the landlord as well as the contractor doing work on the house next door.  The cart that they claim I backed into and that is why if fell off the curb and damaged my fireplace, another inaccuracy.  For some reason the hutch was put back together on the truck before moving it into storage.  After putting it on the cart with the fireplace it would not fit under the door. So when they attempted to take it down off the cart, the cart was moving all over the place and started to roll towards the curb at which time I attempted to grab it before it did.  I DID NOT CAUSE THAT CART TO END UP OFF THE CURB!!!!!  Why would I want my property damaged?  I had no intention of mentioning any of this, including the drinking, but it escalated so far beyond being able to overlook all of it.  The deliberate table damage just before them running out the door with crew chief yelling to other crew to "get in the truck" and them speeding off down a residential street with out a word to me, just made it impossible to let go, if businesses are not held accountable for their unprofessional and disgusting behavior, it will keep happening to other consumers.   And another incidence, my missing floor lamp that they just keep ignoring when mentioned.  I am not sure how much time I left in my 30 min limit before my response gets deleted but there is so much more clarification to this response that I will likely not have s chance to submit. I asked repeatedly for a fair resolution so we could all just put this behind us but instead they have chosen to drag this out, likely with the hopes that I would stop pursuing what is reasonable under the circumstances. I was not looking for any more than that.  There are other bad reviews out there and I am sure not all dissatisfied customers take the time to post them.  The attempted amount of deception and denial is an insult and unsettling.  To say I have been traumatized by all of this is a strong word but I honestly feel that is how to explain how I have been made to feel.  I am not going away.  I want fair resolution, and at this point, not just the refund of what was paid.  I want my lamp back or replaced, I want my fireplace replaced and I want my dining table top replaced, It not only has the unrepairable gouges that were done deliberately, other major scratches and blemishes, it also has the green paint from the walls outside my apartment etched into all the corners  They excessive damage they did to the stairway walls, ceiling and woodwork in the hall shows how careless they were with my property.  As far as the many many other damages, including the carved X in my night stand after I pointed out that it had been damaged, my damaged table lamp,  well that would be categorized as typical from a move, even though extreme, I am not seeking reimbursement, I will just live with those. 
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******

  Business response

  01/19/2023

  In response to the continued complaint by ***** *******, I have attached correspondence between College Bound Movers and Ms. *******.
  Claiming she was under “undue influence” while signing paperwork is Ms. *******’ s perception and not something our staff purposely creates.
  
  Ms. ******* received and open 10 emails regarding her move. Therefore, there were NO surprises as to terms, conditions, coverage, and payments on the day of her move.
  The Crew Chief is not responsible for offering extra insurance. Limited Liability was selected and is valued at $.60 per pound for items covered within our Terms and Conditions.
  
  Ms. ******* has threatened small claims court, and written damaging public reviews.
  After countless apologies and an offer to reimburse Ms. *******, College Bound Movers is not willing to make further concessions beyond the offer of $600 as a good will gesture for her unpleasant experience. 

  Customer response

  01/27/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: College Bound Movers was not "threatened" with a law suit.  My only mention was that I would appreciate a fair and just resolution, hoping to avoid litigation.  Regardless of what was emailed and when, I was put under "undue influence" by that crew chief.  I was NOT allowed time to read what I was being told to sign off on when the job was not even completed yet and i had not had a chance to see in the back of the truck.  The crew chief that CBM continues to defend, not identify, and mask his actions was extremely and visibly agitated from the start of the job and took it out on me and my property.   The escalation of this entire unpleasant situation could have easily been avoided, with out responding to the review request email I received from CBM, as well as seeking assistance from the BBB and AG. i am not the only consumer that has experienced this type of unprofessionalism and disregard from this company, I am just only one of few that took the time to stand up for myself and not let CBM try to strong arm me into going away.  Once again, CBM has ignored the fact that prior to damaging and taking my property, at least 2 of the 3 crew members were found in the back of the truck drinking alcohol nips that was taken from my house, on time I was being charged for.  (CBM continues to wave off that fact by trying to justify that a comment I made in jest about those nips when they were mentioned to me, excuses them from taking them, clearly not the point, they certainly were never invited to take them and/or drink them while on the job!)  Coincidentally my floor lamp "went missing" after the truck left my house and the crew was very delayed arriving at my storage.  

  Any reviews I responded to were requested by CBM.  My response was nothing but the truth.  I did not write damaging reviews.  They provided unprofessional damaging service with continued arrogance and disregard for a consumer.  The results of their behavior caused this.  As I stated on one of my reviews, this aftermath could have easily been avoided and moved on from had they, if nothing else, reimbursed the full amount I was charged and paid.  That would have still left me with missing items and extreme unrepairable damages the only difference is that I would not have been paying them for doing all of this to me. 

  To accuse me of "pushing" that cart over the curb resulting in my fire place being damaged beyond repair is insulting and frankly disturbing.  The "Chief of staff", Ms. M*********, that responds to these reported facts, was not present at my move and I dont see how she could be present at every move CBM works.  She "100% assures me, no damage is ever deliberate or intentional".  For Ms. M********* to repeatedly deny, defend and assure anyone 100% that her employees would not do any of this, is just another example of the arrogant responses that i continually receive.  

  I have before and after pictures of all of the extremely damaged furnishings, I have witnesses that saw how my furnishings and myself were treated during this move that again, I was charged for and paid for.   

  1. Attitude and aggravation started upon arrival at what they thought they would be moving and was actually being moved. No items were purposely not mentioned by the person that made the reservation. A visit to the home to verify inventory or even a phone call asking, especially knowing full well that the person booking them was not the home owner would have given the crew chief a heads up to not work that day if he had somewhere else he needed to be. 

  2. All 3 crew members were found in the back of the truck next to several empty alcohol nips that were admittedly taken from my home and consumed while I was being charged by the hour.  

  3.An increased price adjustment was made after inventory to be moved was added,  When I then reduced the items to be moved (not because of cost, but rather to reserve space where it was going to), there was no decreased price adjustment. (which was not an issue, just another point)

  4. After leaving my home 10-15 after the moving truck, I ended up having to wait for them to arrive at my storage. (10 min max away in traffic)   (Could not have been a lunch break, that was NEVER a mentioned reason) coincidentally my lamp went missing. 

  5. My fire place was damaged while removing my hutch from the cart because they put it back together before moving it into storage and it then would not fit under door on cart.

  6. I noticed and mentioned visible damage to items as they were placing them into storage, this agitated the crew chef even more, likely the cause of the X scratched into the top of the  first damaged item mentioned.  

  7. Irreparable damage to my table was admitted to by the crew. Drinking was admitted by the crew. 

  Ms M********* claims that "that behavior is not tolerated and the "person" was let go".  Which person? The one crew member that no longer works for CBM was not "let go" because of all of this.  He was admittedly working his last day by choice and according to Aaron, there were at least 2 of the 3 crew members that were drinking.  So no action was taken with the other employee? Aaron said the one that was not drinking was driving but that was not the person that drove the truck into storage.   It was also mentioned at first visit after complaint that there had been previous complaints about the crew chief's rude attitude. 

  Ms. M********* has repeatedly demonstrated a blatant arrogant disregard for how to treat customers.  This all could have been resolved if a fair and just resolution was presented.  I was never looking for anything more than that.  If CBM thinks that a partial refund of what I was charged is a fair and just resolution, they are lucky to have never been put in the position they have now put me in.   I realize to say I have been traumatized is extreme, but it has caused me more stress, waisted time and severe upset than anyone deserves under the circumstances.  I have done nothing wrong here.  I did not warrant any of this poor disrespectful treatment.  All I did was put my trust in a so called "award winning" company and  this was the result.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  06/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had reached out to college bound movers to move a new fridge from my garage up to my kitchen and put the old fridge in the garage. . My stairway has a railing that is narrow but the fridge would fit with the doors removed. I let the estimator know that I had removed two of the four doors and that the fridge would fit as long as the the fridge was flipped upside down to get up the stairs. One of the doors was wired so it was not removed as that would require re wiring the machine. I assumed that a “professional” moving company would be able to get this done fairly easily. When you hire a company like this you would expect they would show up with the proper tools to do the job. That did not happen. I’ve had a lot of large items delivered and moved and the people doing the deliveries always had the straps that make moving large items look easy. The people that came over did not have any of those or even any blankets to prevent any damage. Without a tape measurer they decided they needed to take off the 3rd door and needed to borrow allen wrenches and a screwdriver. They then removed the leveling legs off the fridge as well. They asked me if I had any strap for one of them to get some more leverage and I said I have some tie downs in the garage. I think they were tired of me saying that they need to flip the fridge so that the door was on top and over the railing. They had called for an additional guy that was on his way at this point. While I was in the garage I heard the grunting of them forcing the fridge up. Needless to say the fridge was damaged as well as my hardwood floor and also some tiles in the walkway cracked. There was also a wall that was damaged. When I brought up my frustration they asked if I would like to speak with a manager about the damage and I said yes. Damage was looked at by Aaron and was agreed that there was damage. I was offered 100 dollars to fix the fridge door only if I signed a form saying I wouldn’t write a bad review about them

  Business response

  07/19/2022

   Please see detailed description of events below:

  Based on the notes that your sales rep left, “moving fridge within home, says it is on dolly and he has taken doors off has to go out to front steps to be moved into home” Unfortunately, Jaylen did everything he was supposed to do in this situation as a crew chief. He assessed the situation and tried to remove the door that was not yet removed but had difficulty based on the electronics that were running through the door. I would imagine that this was the reason it was the only door left on there to begin with.  Once he looked at the path to where the fridge needed to go, he knew it was going to be difficult to do without damaging the fridge and/or the home and that’s why he had you sign the waiver. We have these waivers readily available so that when we run into a troublesome piece or area, we can assess the situation and give the customer the choice to proceed.
                 In this case, the issue arose, and we were told to move forward with the acknowledgement that there could be damage caused by moving the piece. At College Bound Movers we pride ourselves in Customer Satisfaction and low damage rates since 1991. It is our goal to do everything in our power to ensure we make our best effort to not cause damage(s) to customers’ property. In this case the refrigerator with the door was just too big for the area in which it needed to go. Unfortunately, all of the proper steps were taken, all of the paperwork was acknowledged and for those reasons, we are unable to honor a claim for this incident.  I did find that the door can be purchased from **** *** for $99.99.
                 I do apologize and did confirm with the crew chief about the levelers. If you need a hand getting those back on I would be happy to send a crew out to do that at no cost. 

   Even though the customer did not have insurance we still offered to pay for the refrigerator door. The customer declined as he wanted us to pay someone to install the door as well. Based on the paperwork College Bound Movers is not liable for any damages on this move. We feel as if we went above and beyond by making a one time courtesy in offering to replace the door. As it is mentioned above, the customer advised the sales rep that all doors would be off which is why we scheduled the job. Had this been done, no damage would have occurred. 

• Initial Complaint

  11/09/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On October 15th we hired College Bound Movers to move us from Manchester to Londonderry for $4300.00. In the process, they damaged an antique chair, indoor dog house, dining room table and put a hole through the desktop of our desk. I have called and emailed them 7 times. They only responded to the first email saying that we didn't get insurance and the federal rule is .60 valuation. They went on to say that by looking at the email pictures they estimate damages at $250-300 and we should just get a handyman and fix it at our own cost. Since then they have not returned phone calls or emails. (I have not been rude in a single communication) Our desk is ruined and has a replacement value of $559, our antique chair will need much more than a handyman. The table and dog house would need some simple repairs.

  Business response

  01/11/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/11/19) */ ******** and *** ****** had a large move with us involving 2 trucks with overnight storage. The estimate was $4,690.79 and was closed out under estimate at $4,170.79. In reviewing the move-day paperwork, the Declaration of Valuables was signed as N/A. All College Bound Movers jobs include free Limited Liability coverage at the federally mandated rate of $.60/pound. They were offered additional Valuation Coverage and it was denied. Our Field Operations Manager was in regular contact with Mr. ****** regarding his claim and offered a settlement. Mrs. ****** accepted the settlement via email and Mr. ****** did not agree with her. It is our continued goal to provide exceptional customer service and sympathize with the ******'s and the unfortunate and unintentional claimed damages. We have made a settlement offer based on their selected coverage and it was denied.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩