**UPDATE 9/21/09 – Received yet another e-mail about Transamerica. The victim, Suzanne, has summarized her experience in a comment below. She also pointed me to this article of a local news network covering a woman in Seattle who was screwed by Transamerica Moving in much the same way as me and many of the unfortunate victims who have posted on this blog and contacted me directly via e-mail. It’s fantastic to see some damaging news coverage on these guys. Let’s hope this is the start of a trend.
**UPDATE 8/13/09 – After arranging with another moving company, we finally received our belongings that had been left in Denver. Many of the items possessed deep scratch and scuff marks. Our leather couch had deep tears on the arms. These marks were visible upon the initial pick up by the new moving company. Also, upon unpacking everything in our new home, we discovered that not only had my iPod, money, and camera been stolen but that a very sentimental (and expensive) watch which was given to my brother as a gift was stolen out of his packed items and much of his girlfriend’s jewelery had also been taken.
Also, in an attempt to persuade readers Transamerica Moving has left fraudulent comments below under the names “stephanie” and “DELIA.”
It might be of interest to anyone reading this who has also been taken advantage of by Transamerica Moving to contact me. There is a substantial group of people in the same boat who are taking legal action against them. The more people we have willing to share their stories, the better. My e-mail is abohannon28@gmail.com.
**UPDATE AS OF 7/09/08 – The rest of our stuff still has not arrived and, upon calling Transamerica Moving Inc. to inquire about the status of their arrival, Transamerica has REFUSED to deliver the rest of our stuff because their negligent business practices that inspired us to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau resulted in the revoking of their license. They told us they refused to deliver the rest of our property until we wrote a letter of apology to the BBB (which, to my knowledge, is illegal). According to Transamerica, we filed a fraudulent claim regarding my stolen belongings, which, I guess, legitimizes their decision to break contract and refuse to deliver the rest of our stuff. The case report # for the theft is listed below and the responding officer’s card is still in my wallet (his name is Halladay). Now, Transamerica is telling us we will need to hire another company to pick up our stuff (which, not suprisingly, is still in Denver). I am astonished Transamerica Moving Inc. is still in business.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
As many of you know, recently we had a less than pleasant experience with Transamerica Moving & Storage, Inc. To recapitulate, they:
Were 2 days late arriving at our residence in Colorado. They were also 3 days late getting our stuff to our final destination in San Diego.
Failed to fit all our stuff in a 26 ft truck, though we were independently quoted a weight and size that would have no problem fitting in a truck of that size. What’s more, when my brother and I recently had to move all the stuff from a storage unit into a temporary rental here in San Diego we were surprisingly able to fit everything in a truck the same size. We even had room to spare.
Lied to us regarding a drop the movers made at a distant storage unit in Denver. They claimed there was another person’s stuff on the truck and that was the reason they couldn’t fit everything. Supposedly they had dropped this person’s stuff off so they could fit the rest of our stuff. However, upon asking the movers themselves about the other person’s stuff once they returned, they informed us that they had unloaded our stuff, NOT someone else’s and that there wasn’t anyone else’s stuff on the truck besides ours to begin with.
Stole from me. The movers they hired stole an envelope containing $400 dollars in cash (in an envelope that has”Country Club Bank” printed on it), my iPod nano (green), and my digital camera (Canon Powershot) with a 2GB memory card inside with thousands of pictures from my recent backpacking trip in South America. I contacted the Westminster police dept. but I don’t expect anything to come of it. My case report # is 2008-06378. Once we were in San Diego and the movers met us at the storage unit to unload our stuff, one of the movers, John David, was missing When we asked Carlos, obviously the primary employee, where John David was he informed us that he had failed to come to work that morning. He further informed us that he had originally picked up John David on the corner of a Home Depot where he was living out of his car. He thought he’d give the guy a chance to make some money, he said. The guy Carlos brought with him to help him unload that day was originally from Mazatlan and spoke little English. I asked him where John David was and after smirking, subtly laughing, and asking why I wanted to know he told me John David had taken another job in Canada. What this means, I have no idea. The two stories about John David’s disappearance were interesting, nonetheless, and made me question who actually stole my belongings.
Continuously failed to return our phone calls. After frequently promising they would get back to us ASAP, our calls were returned only a few times and never in a timely fashion.
Overcharged us. They told us our hardships were “to be expected” and refused to dock any more than $200 and the 3% credit card fee, a total discount of approx. $326 off of a $4,200 move fraught with problems and frankly unprofessional business behavior.
Have still failed to deliver the remainder of our belongings, as of 7/3/08. The items that were supposedly someone else’s but which turned out to actually be ours are still somewhere between Denver and San Diego, if not still in Denver. They were supposed to deliver the items 3 weeks ago, a week following our arrival in San Diego, but have at this time failed to do so. Also, they haven’t returned our calls regarding the status of our remaining items. On June 20th we called and were told our stuff was going to be picked up and then delivered on the Monday of June 23rd. It was not. We called on Thursday, June 26 and left a message that has yet to be returned.
After filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Transamerica responded saying they were “amazed and disgusted” by our dishonesty regarding the theft and proceeded to tenuously refute our complaint.
As of 6/18/08, Transamerica Moving Inc. in Carlsbad, CA had its BBB accreditation revoked. It’s Van Nuys location in LA also has received a rating of ‘F’, the BBB’s lowest rating. As an explanation, the BBB writes on their website that an ‘F’ rating means
We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.
I wanted to post this experience for anyone who’s planning a move in the near future. I do not wish the frustration, stress, and expense caused to us by this horrible experience on anyone else. I advise you not to use Transamerica Moving Inc.
We expressed our frustration to the officer who responded to our call about the theft and he sympathized with our troubles. He told us how his brother had recently moved to Las Vegas and the company responsible for his move had lost the container with his belongings, which consisted of many perishable items, at a warehouse in the city. The perishable items either melted or rotted and it took them 6 weeks to recover the lost container. After sharing in each other’s amazement and amusement at such negligent business practice we warned him about Transamerica. The look on his face was priceless. “Transamerica? No way. That’s the same company my brother used!”
BBB’s rating of Transamerica’s Carlsbad office
BBB’s rating of Transamerica’s Van Nuy’s office
Tagged: corruption, moving, my life, negligence, transamerica
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36 Comments
wow… that is a TERRIBLE company… sorry to hear that man…
dude that sucks, but if I were a moving company, I would never mess with the likes of Adam Bohannon considering this
U-Haul, Penske, et. al: take note
I was wondering if you ever recieved your stuff. The reason I ask is I am now going throught the same thing with this company. If you feel like please email me at calebohewitt@gmail.com
Thanks for telling others about this. They are definitely off my list.
My experience with Transamerica Moving (Reseda) mirrors yours. I was overcharged, goods were held hostage, items missing or stolen, many items broken, and absolutely no response to claims, nor to the Federal Surface Transportation Board, yet they proudly display the Better Business Bureau membership seal. Well, they have at least one complaint filed with them now.
Hi there. My situation was just like yours (sadly) but much much worse. Would love to talk with anyone personally who is dealing with this company.. I would like to find an attorney who wants to take them on. I’m out about 30k!!
Billie..cbbillie@aol.com
Transamerica never delivered our stuff. Because we complained so persistently they terminated our relationship and refused to work with us. We were forced to find another moving company (in this case it was an independent mover) to pick our stuff up in Denver and drive it to San Diego. Once we received our stuff all of our items exhibited scuff marks and scratches on the wood. Screws had been stripped and pulled out of place.
Adam… I spoke with a few people yesterday who are interested in getting a class action. Please contact me so that I can talk to you. cbbillie@aol.com.. Heard some crazy stories yesterday. Thanks… Billie
I just came across this blog after searching this company.
I was one of the first victims. They had an A rating on BBB before my complaint.
They damaged my old house (screen door, flooring, walls, carpet) and ruined many of my belongings (fridge, BBQ, furniture, etc).
I also paid for their 2 hour lunch at Jack in the Box.
The best part is that they WOULDN’T FINISH UNLOADING THE TRUCK until I paid them a tip. How ’bout THAT!
About $3000 in damages, and I settled for $500.
I feel your pain, but looks like your experience was much worse.
G’day!
As an Australia-based Blue Jays fan, I found your blog on google and read a few of your other Blue Jays posts.
I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
i moved with transamerica and I actually had a good experience.
am i the only one??
I had called a few references from people that they moved with too.
thats weird to read what im reading..
**Edit by Adam: This comment is a fraud. The IP address of this comment matches Transamerica Moving Inc. See results of WHOIS search below.
WHOIS Search Results
75.23.4.46
Record Type: IP Address
AT&T Internet Services SBCIS-SBIS-6BLK (NET-75-0-0-0-1)
75.0.0.0 – 75.63.255.255
TRANSAMERICA MOVING INC-060610002810 SBC07502300404029060610002842 (NET-75-23-4-40-1)
75.23.4.40 – 75.23.4.47
I was wondering if you tried applying the 110% rule which is stated the most amount that they can legally charge at the time of delivery. I am going through the same situation and read the handbook that they provided. Could you please e reamail me…I”d really like to know what happened and need advice how to handle this. Thanks
my email is jnlo21@yahoo.com
I was wondering if you tried applying the 110% rule which is stated the most amount that they can legally charge at the time of delivery. I am going through the same situation and read the handbook that they provided. Could you please e reamail me…I”d really like to know what happened and need advice how to handle this. Thanks
jnlo21@yahoo.com
WOW…..I cant believe these crooks are still in business.
They picked up my stuff in two rental moving trucks instead of one, They dumped it in storage then told me the bill would be $5,000 more then the estimate or I would not get my stuff. I paid these crooks and filed a complaint with L. A. sheriffs dept, L.A. FBI and California attorney generals office. This is not a moving company it is organized crime !!!!
Stop them before they steal from more people.
P.S. They also wrecked a bunch of my stuff.
After reading these comments I am totally depressed. My situation is identical to ALL the bad experiences I’ve read here.
I got involved with Transamerica the middle of June to move my household goods from California to Missouri. They originally quoted me about $4,000 to move 8500 pounds of household goods. I have since been told (unofficially) the bill could be as high as $9,000. Part of that incredible number was a balloon cost on the day of the pickup of $1,500 for packing tape and shrink wrap.
On the day of my move they showed up several hours late with a 26′ Ryder truck and two (appeared to homeless guys) wearing Transamerica tee-shirts. They worked until late in the evening to load the truck and finally determined the truck was too small and would have to return in the AM. This delay caused me the expense of staying in a local hotel so I could meet with them again to finish loading.
I was initally told it would take 3 to 10 days for my things to arrive in Missouri. Now, going on one month, I still haven’t received my furniture or any word when it will arrive. I also can’t get my account manager, Joy Penelton, to tell me, in advance, the amount of my account balance. She hasn’t returned ONE phone call in over three weeks so, its impossible to get any information. I am certain this deleivery will turn in to a hostage situation and I will have no recourse other than to pay the ranson.
I “also” contacted the FMCSA and found them to be of no help what-so-ever. Who are these people and what are they supposed to do for us consumers. I’m not even sure they are a functioning part of the DOT. The booklet I was givin by the Transamerica driver (required by law) was absolutely meaningless.
By the way, the ACTUAL weight of my household goods according to Transamerica was 14,020 pounds. They had estimated (after I meticulously completed the inventory) about 6,000 pounds. I asked them for a quote for 8,500 pounds just to make I had not missed anything. I should also mention, I had moved 4 years earlier with United and, at that time, had MORE furniture and, they gave me an actual weight of 10,000. So, I think Transamerica is padding thier weight by at least 5,000 pounds. I wish I knew of some way to (legally) confirm my assumption.
I can’t beleive this carrier is allowed to continue to do business. I wish there was some way I could voice my complaint to the licensing authority to try to get their license revoked. I can’t find ANY federal agency or governing authority to get help.
If any one reading this email can offer advice, I would greatly appreciate it.
Adam, I am so sorry to hear about your experience. It identically parallels my own. I still haven’t received my household effects or even been told what my final bill is going to be. I’ve only been told (unofficially) it will will be more than twice my original quote. I haven’t been able to get anyone to return my phone calls in over 3 weeks.
You seem like a bright, resourceful young man. Did you ever find any way of getting help either federally or locally in this matter? I very much interested in any help or advice you can give. I have just started this horrible process.
I am glad to hear your nightmare is over. Hope you enjoy San Diego.
Thank you,
Rod Solina
(former native Californian)
NOTE: Everyone who is dealing with this company. Here is some advice.
1. Take pics of everything. Especially license plate numbers of the truck that picks up and drops off. Compare the license plate number of the weigh ticket to that of the truck that actually moves your belongings. Chances are.. they will NOT match. Mine didn’t as well as others I have spoke with. They will try and state in court that your weight is way over limit. Have these documents and pics and be prepared. You will win in court.. I did. Trying to collect will be the fun part.
2. They are insured. File a claim with Transgaurd Insurance.. 800-323-8560.. policy number is TCP111246.
They are being investigated but as you can see from above they are watching this blog. So it’s best that we are careful not to give these crooks any heads up.
**************ADVICE*****************
HAVE A POLICE OFFICER ON SITE WHEN THEY DELIVER IF YOU CAN. IF NOT, TAKE AS MANY PICTURES OF THE VEHICLE LICENSE#, DRIVER AND MOVERS, ALL DOCUMENTS, TRUCK, AND BELONGINGS. MAKE SURE IT’S YOUR STUFF ON THE TRUCK. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. THEY NEED TO PROVIDE A RECENT WEIGHT TICKET, OR YOU CAN GET IT REWEIGHED AT CLOSEST WEIGH STATION. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE TRUCKS WEIGHT(ASK SOMEONE AT WEIGH STATION), OR COULD BE IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT, OR ON SIDE OF TRUCK. KEEP ALL DOCUMENTS, AND DOCUMENT WHO YOU HAVE TALKED WITH IN THE OFFICE(NAME, DATE, REASON), COPIES/RECEIPTS OF PAYMENTS INCLUDING CASHIER CHECKS. CHECK FOR DAMAGES AND ITEMS STOLEN BY COMPARING YOUR INVENTORY LIST USED WHEN PACKING. FILE CLAIMS AND CONTACT OFFICIALS.
I also had good experience with Transamerica Moving and I did check their references before I made my reservation. My actual weight was 800 lbs more than the estimate (7000lbs estimated- 7800lbs actual weight) I asked to reweigh my load and it actually came out to 7900lbs. But Transamerica steel charged me for 7800lbs.
My advise to everyone: if you not sure that you weight is correct, request a reweigh!
We, too, were victims of the infamous TransAmerica Moving & Storage! Here’s a brief account of our experience:
We contracted with TransAmerica Moving & Storage to move our belongings from State A to State B in 2008. The quote was based on the weight estimated by another moving company who did a visual evaluation so we had an accurate weight of our items. (Lesson Learned #1 – Keep every e-mail, piece of paper, document everything!)
We were quoted a reasonable rate which they said was due to the fact that they making a were delivery in our state near our move date and better to have a load on return. We were quoted $1976.28 including fuel surcharge, plus supplies and a 3% credit card fee. We paid a deposit of $250 with another $1000 due at pickup and the balance payable on delivery. (Lesson Learned #2 – If it sounds like a slick sales line, it probably is)
When the truck arrived at our destination the driver told us that our goods weighed 9580 lb. (over double the visual estimate) and figured the amount due using this weight. They would not remove anything from the truck until our credit card had cleared. The amount charged to our MC was $3344.79 bringing the grand total for the move to $4594.97. Quite a difference from $1976.28 !! We were coerced into paying this or they were going to keep all our belongings in the truck, take them back to their warehouse and hold them until we sorted things out with the office. (Lesson Learned #3 – It doesn’t matter what their phony weigh tickets says. The law states that they can only charge 110% of the non-binding estimate. If they think you owe them more, then they are to bill you. Holding your belongings hostage is breaking the law. They are intimidating you into paying.)
We were given a copy of a weigh ticket that the driver said proved our things weighed 9580 lb. There is no time on the ticket, no bill of lading number, no customer name. Also, there is no Weigh ticket of when the Tare weight was taken, so we have no way of knowing the weight of the truck prior to loading.
We complained by phone with someone named Joy. She said they would get back to us by . We heard nothing, so we filed a complaint with the FMCSA on and advised TransAmerica that we had done so and would be escalating the issue if they didn’t reply.
Finally, after complaining to the Better Business Bureau. the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Department of Transportation we filed for Arbitration with the American Moving and Storage Association. After several attempts to contact the company, TransAmerica finally sent a fax saying they would participate. We filed our papers and evidence, paid the fee but then TransAmerica fell silent. When they didn’t reply to multiple requests, the arbitration process was stalled. (Lesson Learned #4 – With TransAmerica, it is a waste of time and effort to try and resolve anything the ‘correct’ way. Don’t bother. Take them directly to court.)
Our last and only other alternative was to file in Claims Court.
We won our case but now must try and collect from these scam artists.
If you had a similar experience, don’t hesitate to take them to Small Claims. You have the law on yours side – the 110% rule. The judge will ask you to prove how much the non-binding estimate was, how much you paid and will give them only 110% of the estimate with the balance as your judgement. They are breaking the law every time they do this and we can only guess it is a lot of times every month.
If you are reading this blog because you’re thinking of using this company for your move – DON’T!!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry to hear about your misfortune, but happy that you found some legal recourse. I’m astonished by how many e-mails I receive from people with similar stories. Thanks again.
**Edit by Adam This comment is a fraud. The IP address of this comment matches the IP of the previous fraudulent comment which matches the IP of Transamerica Moving Inc. See results of WHOIS search below.
WHOIS Search Results
75.23.4.46
Record Type: IP Address
AT&T Internet Services SBCIS-SBIS-6BLK (NET-75-0-0-0-1)
75.0.0.0 – 75.63.255.255
TRANSAMERICA MOVING INC-060610002810 SBC07502300404029060610002842 (NET-75-23-4-40-1)
75.23.4.40 – 75.23.4.47
WOW I CANT BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING! I WORKED WITH THIS COMPANY! AND MY MOVE WENT SOOOO SMOOTHLY! MY HUSBAND HAD A SMALL PROBLUM WITH THE MOVING GUYS AND IT WAS THAT THEY WERE MOVING TO FAST AND MY HUSBAND AND BROTHER IN LAW COULD NOT KEEP UP WTITH THEM!(THEY WERE TRYING TO HELP) FINNALLY THEY JUST GAVE UP AND LET THE GUYS DO EVERYTHING THEM SELVES! WE DID ASK FOR STORAGE! SO WE RECIVERED OUR BELONGINGS 45 DAYS AFTER THEY WERE PICKED UP JUST AS WE PLANED! OUR POUNDAGE WAS ESTAMATED AT 11,OOO BUT WE ONLY CAME OUT TO 8,300 SO WE ENDED UP PAYING LESS THEN WE THOUGHT WE WOULD ! WOW I RECOMED YOU LOOK INTO ANY COMPANY YOU DO BISSNESS WITH YOU CANT JUST GO WITH ANY FLY BY NITE COMPANY! I BELIEVE IF YOU HAD A PROBLUM WITH TRANSAMERICA IT COULD HAVE BEEN RESOLVED IN A BETTER WAY OTHER THEN SLANDERING THERE NAME ON THE INTERNET!
Does anyone else find it interesting that the Trans-America fraudulent posts either lack proper grammar and or/ have horrible spelling? P.S. Adam – class-action lawsuit?
Appeals Case.. WON!!!!
Well some good news. I won my small claims case against Transamerica in June. They appealed and I just won the appeals case last week. The judge spent over an hour with us listening to both sides. They sent a woman on their behalf whom I have never spoke to or heard of. She was very unorganized and completely lied the entire time. The judge could obviously see this. The reason for the win of the entire $8000 judgement: THE 100% RULE.
For those of you going to court, print out the FMCSA/DOT regualations that state that they cannot charge over 100% of a binding not to exceed quote.
Now comes the even more fun part… collection. Will keep you updated.
********WARNING******DO NOT USE TRANSAMERICA!!!!!!!********
I only wish we had found this website before hiring Transamerica Moving.
We had exactly the same experience! We received an inital quote of
of $3,002 to move our belongings from Portland, Or to Tucson Az. The day before our belongs were to be delivered we received a call from Tony Plummer our so called rep who stated that the actual weight of the shipment was a additional 2840 lbs. Our new price…..$5,031 including $590 for packing materials.
We disputed this and requested the weight receipt. Cannot prove anything, but our experience mirrors everyone elses. If you try to challenge they charge you an additional weigh fee of $200. The driver had problems trying to prove the weight, did not have a weight ticket. I have read another post that if you use these guys, take pictures of the trucks licenses, drivers, etc. We requested the registration of the truck showing the weight, but no telling, we didn’t check the VIN we had no idea of what we were dealing with.
Our belongings were wrapped in dirty greasy blankets which transferred grease to all of our belongings. I’ve sent a copy to adam here maybe he can post it. Our belongings were broken, and it is unlikely we will even come close
to being reimbursed. The so called insurance policy excludes almost everything of ours that was broken, electronics/appliances, musical instruments. Ask to see a copy of the insurance claim form, it’s a joke.
Here are our specific complaints:
Greasy blankets, furniture covered in grease
left wood kitchen table upside down on tile floor, unprotected by blankets not assembled, one leg on wrong, no other legs attached
nothing reassembled, bed, entertainment center, treadmill etc
many items left in boxes, taped etc
Packing tape left stuck on furniture, have ruined the finish on wood furniture, have spent many hours trying to remove adhesive melded to belongings
Items damaged and broken
As if all this wasn’t enough, the damaged property, being ripped off, stress etc. the attitude of Transamerica was like …”So? Here’s how you get glue off of your furniture….
We are going to set up another website to try to warn people of this NIGHTMARE excuse for a moving company….
DO NOT USE THESE GUYS!!!!!!! LOW LIFE POND SCUM and I’m being nice
P.S.
I just discovered that someone in Seattle had the same experience….
but they were lucky and had a news crew waiting. Here is the link….
http://www.nwcn.com/localnews/consumer/stories/NW_091009GJB-movers-mark-up-cost-TP.16a7b1b4a.html
is 213 6wedding gift basket0 many 238this 115 1unique wedding gift ideas31 Manual 0and 2 501wedding gifts for groom7 Giving a 561few 1 306parents wedding gifts3 Muscle 389chair next to the bottles in the foreground 313 3best wedding gifts9 how to increase circulation without using expensive drugs 3treating 1 5wedding gift bags2 is 271
Here is an update to our continuing saga.
As I mentioned here before, we took these people to Small Claims and won. When they didn’t pay us the judgment within the court allowed 30 day period, we filed the papers to have them appear before the Judge to explain and provide information on their finances.
We sent the forms to the LA Sheriff, Van Nuys to have the papers served at their address in Reseda, CA. Guess what? They moved, according to the leasing office.
Now we need to track them down and try to serve them before the time limit for our court date of November 9th.
There must be some way we can stop these crooks. Any suggestions?
Mid- July we contacted TransAmerica Moving to receive an estimate to move us from California to Illinois. We spoke with a lady named Joy. We gave Joy an idea of what was going to be moved, and Joy provided an estimated weight of 5,180 lbs. at a rate of $0.56/lb totaling $3,042.94. We were also told we would receive 5 wardrobe boxes free of charge. Joy did explain that this was an estimate and that the price may vary depending on the actual weight of the load. We agreed to use the services of TransAmerica and provided a $250 deposit over the phone to hold our rate. We were told that half of the estimate would be due at the time of pick-up. Joy also explained that after pick-up it would take 3-10 days for delivery of our belongings, the maximum amount of 10 days only due to us having a small load.
On August 3rd, TransAmerica Moving arrived to start the move, and we gave them a cashier’s check in the amount of $1,522.00. They were surprised at how long it took them to get to our residence (probably about 9 hours from Southern CA) and were in a huge hurry to get back on the road. The told us they were heading all the way back to So. CA and that our things were going to be put in storage. Everything was rushed in the end, and the result was that things were not taken that should have been. We were told Joy would contact us with a final amount due.
After arriving in Illinois, we waited a couple of weeks and never did hear from Joy or TransAmerica. We called and spoke with Joy and asked her the status of our move. Joy told us she didn’t know and would get back to us. We also asked her for a total amount due, and she told us she would let us know. Joy never called back, and a few days later we called again and asked her if she had a delivery date scheduled. She told us she would have to check with dispatch and get back to us. It had been almost 3 weeks since they picked up our things, and at the time we were going to be out of town for a week, so we told her to not schedule delivery during that week. She told us she would leave us a message and let us know what was going on.
When we returned, we contacted Joy again and asked for the status of our things, since she failed to call us with a message and update. She told us that there was delivery scheduled for September 6th, 7th, or 8th, and that the driver would contact us. We asked again what the total amount due would be, and again she told me she would get back to us. Again, she failed to do so. After having our things for over a month, TransAmerica did not deliver on the 6th, 7th, or 8th, and no one contacted us delaying or canceling the “scheduled” delivery.
After several more conversations with TransAmerica during the week of September 13-19, we received no new information. We were told a few different conflicting stories, from “there was an issue that was finally resolved”, to “oh, I thought you were all taken care of”, back to “I’ll need to contact dispatch and find out if a truck with your stuff on it is heading that way”. Never once was there any remorse from Joy about what we as a family that had just moved across the country was going through. Never any sign of urgency to make things right. It was literally a challenge to get any answers out of TransAmerica and Joy. It wasn’t until we continually called TransAmerica and asked for the name and number of someone in charge of Joy, which we were constantly told that she was the only one that could help us, that there seemed to be some action taking place. Joy contacted us on September 23rd and told us that delivery was scheduled for September 25th or 26th and that the driver would contact us with an exact date and time. Again we asked for the total amount due, and for the first time we were made aware of the balance when she faxed us the amount due of $4,848.00. The driver called on September 23rd and informed us he would be making the delivery on September 28th instead. The driver called again on September 26th and changed the delivery date again to September 27th.
We were surprised by the drastic increase from the original estimate and irritated by the delay and inconvenience of such a late delivery, as well as having no notice of the amount due. We contacted the Department of Transportation to find out what our rights and responsibilities were in this situation and what recourse we could have against TransAmerica for their lack of cooperation and late delivery. DOT said that we were only required to pay the original estimated cost plus 10%, and the remaining balance would go to a 30 day due date, and we could file a complaint for the late delivery. They also told us that due to the increase in weight hence the increase in the cost, that we could request the load be reweighed and could witness the reweigh as part of our rights.
On September 27th, the driver arrived at our residence in Illinois, 7 weeks later than we were told and expected. We explained to him, Tony, the situation and asked him to have the load reweighed. Tony told us that he could not do that as he had two other loads on his truck to be delivered. We told Tony that if he weighed full now and again after our belongings were unloaded, then he could give us an accurate weight. He told us he wasn’t going to be able to do the reweigh. We told Tony that we were not able to get to the bank to get any money as he called on Saturday afternoon after the bank had already closed to tell us that he would be delivering on Sunday instead. Tony told us he would not be able to unload and that he would return Monday morning.
On September 28th, Tony arrived again. We handed him a cashier’s check drawn in the amount of $1672.00, the amount still owed from the original quote plus 10%. We explained to Tony what we had been told by the DOT. Tony told me he was not able to make that decision and he would have to call the office to find out how to proceed. After about an hour and no word on what was going on, we called TransAmerica and asked to speak to Joy. Another Tony answered the phone and told us that Joy was not in the office at the time. We explained to Tony what was going on and he told us, “You’ve had seven weeks to get the money together” and then told us that he would have Joy call us back. A few minutes passed and Joy called. We told Joy that we were not happy with what was happening and informed her of what we were told by the DOT. We let her know that we had the money due her as explained by the DOT and requested delivery. Joy told us she had told us the balance due weeks ago and that she would not deliver without payment in full. Joy also said she had paperwork with our signature on it verifying we were aware of the total due long ago. We have not signed any paperwork from TransAmerica that shows a final amount, so we asked Joy to fax the copies to us. Joy told us she would. The driver was told not to deliver our property and drove our things to storage. We have yet to receive a fax from TransAmerica showing the final balance and a date before September 23rd with our signatures on it.
During the “delivery” on September 28th, and the phone calls determining what would happen since we didn’t have the final amount due, Tony from the offices of TransAmerica informed us that we would now be obligated to pay $500 each day the moving truck was at our house, as well as storage fees. He was even threatening us that he was some federal law guy, and that the next person he better hear from is our attorney. Now, I ask you, where was this all-mighty Tony guy when I kept asking for a decision-maker besides Joy to contact me during all this?
We’ve called the DOT again and explained to them what had happened, and the representative told us that they could not hold our property hostage, and that offering them what we had was fulfilling our contractual obligations to TransAmerica. The representative told us that TransAmerica’s actions at this point were illegal and were violating our rights.
It’s been 11 weeks since TransAmerica Moving picked up our belongings in California, and we still have not received them. The only communication from TransAmerica since September 28th is a very generic email informing us that they still have our property, we still have a balance due, and that they would like to work things out with us. It was about 3 sentences long, and signed only by TransAmerica Moving. We are taking the next step with this. What I’m learning is that most people just pay them the money they say they owe, and let it go. We’ve been told quite a few times that it would be cheaper for us to do the same, rather than pay the fees that may add up if we press charges. We believe this is exactly why they have gotten away with this for so long. We would never want anyone to go through what we have, and are committed to making them get more than just a slap on the hand.
Same problems as about every one else with this horrible company. We ended up taking them to small claims court and of course won (they didn’t even show up) We have contacted their insurance company and have filed a claim with them. Of course, TransAmerica won’t respond to any question the insurance company has for them and it is stalling the claim. Hopefully it will be over soon.
I could go on and on as everyone else did about the damage they did, how they were late picking up and delivering, and how they overcharged by 220 percent. They also unpacked our things and left them on the front lawn and just took off. Almost every box we opened had something broken in it. they are HORRIBLE!!! Stay away
We, too, appear to have been victimized by the creeps at Transamerica. Though we know we were overcharged, we paid, only to find out that about 60 or 70 of our 350 boxes were not delivered…it took me about a week to determine what was here and what wasn’t. Now they don’t answer their phones nor return email. There is a currently a case pending against them (I just saw the legal notice in the LA Times dated today, 12/29/09)…I called the attorney and am going to try to join in the “fun.” If you are also interested, get in touch with me and I’ll fill you in. Just to let you know, I’m out about $10-15K, and my moving bill was $13K.
Just discovered that my kids’ penny and ancient coin collections are also missing. That’s in addition to 48 boxes of custom greeting cards, two large boxes of custom postcards, a reel to reel tape deck, about 350 7″ reels containing a vast collection of music, and a effing wheelbarrow. Isn’t that lovely? These lying, thieving rat bastards actually sifted through all of our stuff and took what they thought was valuable. These pitiful fools didn’t realize that the coins were cheap, maybe two, three hundred bucks worth; they missed my real treasure (thank God), worth easily three hundred times that because they were too stupid to notice.
You know, if one does business with humans, aware adults expect to be ripped off a bit…but when you take from children, that makes you effing EVIL! And EVIL will be destroyed!!
@Jeff Berkeley: Jeff, We are in a legal battle with TA right now and have met them in Federal Court several times. I looked for the legal notice in the LA Times you mention but did not find it. Can you send me the link? margo@flattenme.com
We just found out that Transamerica has filed a ‘no asset’ bankrupcy. My attorney tells me this pretty much means we will get nothing and they will get off free. Anybody know anything else?
That is not necessarily the case that you will get nothing. We are still pursuing our Federal case against them. Email me at margo@flattenme.com if you have won a judgment and are still trying to collect. If we stick together, there are all sorts of possibilities.