Broadway Moving and Storage, Inc.

Review: Broadway Movers & Storage were contracted by La Rosa del Monte to move my container (I just moved from Europe) from the port of Oakland to my residence in Palo Alto. They got to my home at around 9:20am, we waited for a tow truck to remove the car from the 40ft. container, which was done by about 10:30am. The person in charge of the 3 man team requested that I pay $514.00 because there were 7 steps (instead of 6) to get to my first floor apartment and because there were 100ft. instead of 75ft from the truck to my door. Previously they had tried to charge me extra because they argued that the container would not fit on the street just in front of my apartment. I proved them wrong and they couldn't charge me for that. They had not told me in writing about any extra charges at any point and the service I contracted in Europe was for a complete packing and umpacking of my belongins, including putting them back in closets, shelves etc. Since I didn't have any other option, I paid them the $514 they requested and they started unloading the container. They took a break of about 1/2 hr. at 11:30 and a 1 hour lunch at 1:30. At 5:00 they had finished unloading the truck but the boxes had not been umpacked. They did umpack most of the furniture and they put together my bed and my 7 year old's bed, both of them together require about 6-8 screws. There was a dining table, two Stokke (children's furniture) shelves and 1 long book shelve. They said that the shelves and dining room "were not normal" and they left by 5:30 leaving me with some 200 boxes (I have a numbered inventory to prove this), three shelves and a dining table without mounting. I mounted on my own the "abnormal" furniture during the weekend and four days later I am still opening boxes. Given this service, I proceeded to cancel my $514 check to them the next morning. I have moved internationally and within the US 4 times and I have never seen anything like this before. They just did not want to do the work and left me alone to do the job.
Product_Or_Service: Move and umpacking of contents of container
Account_Number: No contract was give

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)
I would like Broadway Movers & Storage to compensate me for the extensive trouble they have caused me. I had to spend 4 days umpacking and I had to mount the furniture they said was "too complicated" to mount. I am not a mover and I could do it, it is just common sense. Mounting commercial furniture is the every day job of movers. If I can do it, they surely should be able to do it. They just didn't want to do the job, they wanted to leave.This

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

We were contracted by La Rosa Del Monte to deliver Ms. [redacted] things. When we get the address we always look them up on Google Maps to see the access, by looking at it we felt that we would need a smaller truck to unload her things. She swore up and down that a big truck would fit in there, so we went ahead and made the delivery. She needed us to arrive by 9:OO because she had to take her

son to his first day of school. Since we came from Vallejo, CA I feel that getting there at 9:20 was acceptable considering traffic. When the crew was about 1/2 hour from her residence we called the tow company to arrive, so that they could unload her auto from the container. This is not an easy process getting an auto from a shipping container. As far as the long carries and flight of stairs that is normal in this industry. I called La Rosa Del Monte and they said that she would have to pay for this that it was not covered under her contract. I was not there so I don't know about the breaks that the crew took but they are entitled to 15 minutes breaks and lunch breaks, I really don't think they would take an hour break for lunch when they are only allowed 1/2 hour. She spoke Spanish and one of my crew members spoke Spanish and she was yelling the whole time they were there. My crew was ready to walk from the job because of the way she was treating them, We do basic reassembly of furniture, as everyone knows it is easier to take things apart than it is to put them back together. She had a very small apartment. When we unpack things it is normal practice to place the things on the first available flat service. I told her that we could get a third party service out to reassemble her items and it wasn't good enough for her she wanted it done that day. I couldn't get a crew out the next day to take care of her unpacking but I told her we would send someone out on the weekend, I did hear back from her the next morning and she was yelling at me and she hung up on me. I have not heard from her since. This woman and I had many screaming matches on the phone because she just would not listen to anything anyone said.

The company that contracted us to do this job messed things up when it was still in Spain, I do not feel that we were wrong in what we did. When something happens at origin and I know about it I always try to make the customer happy, but she was yelling the minute she got on the phone to anyone in my office. We had very short notice once the shipment arrived and she wanted it delivered the same day that we received it. We did have other jobs on our books and had to move some things around to accommodate her, but we did because she was so rude to our office staff. [redacted] at La Rosa Del Monte told us from the very beginning that this woman was going to be very difficult.

The check that she said she stopped payment on went through our bank it was never taken back from us.

I think that she was a very unhappy person, she had just gotten divorced and was not happy. I tried my best to handle her requests but she just wouldn't listen to anyone. I don't normally get mad at customers but when she wouldn't give me a

chance to speak it was very frustrating. We delivered XXXXX# into a small apartment and there was not a lot of room for her things.

Review: Moving company broke my antique table during move on 3/10/13.

Company owner has made many promises for repair and delivery, not done.

3/10/13 Broadway Moving & Storage moved my household from the [redacted] Apartments, [redacted] CA to my home at [redacted] Street, [redacted], CA.

My antique table legs were broken off from the table. A round table approximately 36" with slender curved legs from beneath the middle, walnut, antique. Both of my adult sons were here to assist me with the move and also saw the damage.

The lead crew member placed a call to [redacted] sales person, and brother of the company owner. I also spoke with [redacted] and was offered that they would have the table expertly repaired and delivered to me. I agreed.

I have made several phone calls since then and have received many promises and stories:

4/19/13 Call to [redacted] #XXX-XXX-XXXX

Was told that the furniture was being repaired by an expert who does not work fast, assured will be happy with the results. Was told he would check on it and call me back. I did not receive a return call.

5/10/13 Call to [redacted], business owner, #XXX-XXX-XXXX, and XXX-XXX-XXXX

Was told "I will personally get on it this weekend and call you back". I was not called.

6/6/13 Call to [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] stated "I have a call out to the repair person, I was unable to go and look at the table, I apologize, I will call you back." I was not called.

6/11/13 Call to [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] stated that the table is in [redacted] under repair, that she did not have time to take a look at it yet. She would not give me the name of the person repairing the table. She stated the repair person is an employee of theirs who does handy-man work. Again, she did not follow up with a call.

6/21/13 Left a message to request return call from [redacted].

I was not called.

6/24/13 I called Allied Customer Service Claims at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX. I was told that this move was within California and they could not process my claim. I explained that the local agent was being uncooperative in processing their promises or in helping me make a claim.

6/24/13 Call to [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] promised to have the table delivered this week. I requested to schedule a date for delivery around my work schedule. She did not call me back.

7/1/13 Call to [redacted]. She stated "sorry, something came up, that some things are out of her control." I then told her I will be investigating what to do next, legally.

I have no confidence in this company owner to follow through with their claims to repair and deliver my antique table.Desired Settlement: Either the final acceptable repair of my table, and delivery to my home, or a fair settlement for the value of the table, I approximate $800.00.

Business

Response:

Consumer Response

Thank you for your efforts. I have been working with Shirley Lei, California Public Utilities Commission in SF on this matter. The moving company was sent a letter by the PUC on July 11, 2013. Ms. [redacted] has determined that I was overcharged for the move by $550.00.

Per Ms. [redacted] on 8/16/13 there was no response. On that date she called them to request required documentation by fax by the end of the day. None was received. On 8/23/13 Ms. [redacted] called them again, giving them another chance to respond by fax. None was received. I phoned Ms. [redacted] today to receive these updates. She stated that she will now upgrade the investigation and will have a local investigator visit the business in Stockton. She will call me within the next week with that updated information.

I am not yet moving forward with a small claims filing re the table until this particular matter is resolved. I may consider a theft charge instead.

Thank you, [redacted]

Business Response

We moved [redacted] on March 10, 2013. There was damage to her table and the crew brought the table back so that we could have it repaired. This took longer than normal because of the type of wood it was. She was calling and asking about her table, I had not seen the table so I was telling her that they were working on it and she just wasn't understanding why it was taking so long. Which I completely agree with but they kept telling me that it would be done. Once it was done I went to pick it up from Vallejo myself and was going to deliver it to her, it would not fit in my car after I was told that it would. I failed to call Ms. [redacted] and tell her that it wouldn't fit. It got to be summer and I did forget about it. I work in our Stockton office and the table was in our Vallejo office. I know that this is poor customer service and I feel bad that I did keep Ms. [redacted] informed about what was going on with her table.

We have returned her table to her along with a check for $500.00 for the inconvenience and stress that she went through with this table.

I just called Ms. [redacted] to make sure that she was happy with her table, I had to leave her a message.

I am sorry for the problems that this has caused her and I do want to make her happy. I know in the future if we have any problems that I will handle them differently and I will keep the customer informed of what is going on.