Armstrong Relocation Co

Initial Business Response /* (1001, 11, 2015/06/01) */
My apologies for our delayed response to Mr. [redacted]'s complaints. United Van Lines' T-2 container program offers solutions for small shipments, in which containers are delivered to origin residence and the customers' goods are loaded...

directly into the containers and the containers are sealed at the loading sight. These particular containers have a non-typical height and we have select trucks to accommodate them. Unfortunately, we had truck issues on the morning of Mr. [redacted]'s move and in order to accommodate the customers' move-out date we had no choice but to send a smaller truck, which does not accommodate the containers, and load the customers goods directly onto a truck and then crate his goods back at our warehouse. We did not communicate effectively with the customer, therefore, there was not a clear understanding through our customers eyes of what was transpiring, which led to this unfortunate situation. We are truly very sorry to inconvenience our customer. We did offer a good will gesture of $500.00, in which the customer eagerly accepted.

Sincerely,

[redacted]

___________________________________
[redacted]
President

Armstrong Relocation and Companies
Agent for United Van Lines
1601 Fullerton Court
Glendale Heights, IL XXXXX
630.348.1848 direct
800.643.4341 toll free
901.271.7928 facsimile
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 14, 2015/06/02) */
This does not explain the reason why (1) it was also not delivered in crates (2) the inventory check they eluded to performing at warehouse did not note any missing items (3) why truck weight tickets were provided for dates not relevant to our move or in a state between origin and destination.
The $500 was refused because I believe I was fraudulantely charged for services not performed and they have failed to provide evidence of the services they allege to have provided.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2015/06/05) */
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@goarmstrong.com
Customers goods were containerized at Chicago warehouse shipped to destination. Destination agency did not have a truck to accommodate the containers on the customer's specified delivery date. Therefore, the destination agent had to unload crates at warehouse and deliver to residence. Again, we are truly very sorry for the customers inconvenience and perception of the accounts.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 18, 2015/06/10) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
No resolution was offered. The response fails to address all of the issues raised.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/23) */
Armstrong Relocation has been awarded with the Revdex.com "Complaint Free Award" for 4 consecutive years. While it is uncommon and unfortunate, after thoroughly investigating this complaint, we do agree with our customer as we failed to meet...

our customers expectations. We are truly very sorry for the service they received by our company.
In regards to the claim, in order not to inconvenience this customer further, we did not require an inspection and paid his claim per his claimed amount.
Again, we are sincerely apologetic for the service we provided. As past history has proven, this is non-typical service we provide to our customers and we will not let this occur again.

My experience with Armstrong for my July 2014 move from Chicago to Boston started out well, so I'm sorry to have to write this review. Overall, I think Armstrong is a decent local company, but the fact that they are an agent of [redacted] is a dealbreaker.

I had a good experience with their estimator, [redacted] Though he was very slow and responding to my emails/phone calls, he seemed to want to work with me to make sure my stuff arrived in Boston on time during what he acknowledged is a busy moving season. I also enjoyed working with my move coordinator, [redacted] who was very organized and made sure to check in with me often. Finally, the driver and workers (four total) the day of pickup were excellent - they were professional and careful with my belongings.

However, once my stuff was loaded into the truck on June 25th, everything was in [redacted] hands, and it became a completely different experience. To make a long story short, I had a delivery window of June 30th - July 8th, giving them almost 2 weeks to get my stuff to Boston. My things did not arrive for more than 3 weeks. Though [redacted] seemed the be truly apologetic about this, she did not have any power to make things happen more quickly and could only blame the debacle on [redacted] I would like to think this wasn't Armstrong's fault, but this is not their first busy July moving season, and I wish that they had told me they were overbooked and could not accommodate me, rather than allowing me to book and pay for a $5000 move that they then could not follow through on. I also spoke to [redacted], from Armstrong customer service, who actually laughed at my concerns and was less than apologetic.

When my stuff arrived in Boston, it ended up being delivered by a different company than originally promised. They arrived with three people - the driver, his wife and one young helper. They were unaware that my apartment was a 3rd floor walkup and could not get any more help at such a late time. They also insisted on parking their truck in my parking lot despite my request for them not to, and despite my having obtained and paid for the reservation of parking spots on the street (as Armstrong had advised me). I am disappointed that Armstrong did not adequately communicate any of this to them - they booked my move, and I think it was their responsibility to make sure everything was delivered safely. To make matters worse, some of my furniture was scratched/damaged, several boxes completely crushed and others damp (from condensation in the hot warehouse? not sure). The driver actually tried to tell me this was my fault for not packing correctly, but I saw him drop a box carelessly upside down on the floor - if he was treating my things like this in my presence, I don't even want to know how they were handling them during the 3 weeks they were in [redacted] possession.

I think that, for a local move, Armstrong might be a reasonable choice. However, for longer moves, they need to do a better job of estimating the delivery window and communicating with the agent on the delivery end. They could also use someone in customer service with better customer service skills. Finally, they work with [redacted] Lines, so all bets are off once your stuff is packed on the truck...