ComplaintsforAmerican Relocation and Transit, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  07/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  ****** *******, owner of American ********************************************** was contracted to move my family cross country. A written contract was completed and approved, which included packers to pack and load the truck, a specialty group for a crate and ************** and people to unload the truck. Services were paid in full July 29, 2022 and specialty group services paid on Aug. 6, 2022.A couple months after the move ****** was contacted to talk about damaged items. He said an insurance claim had to be filed and there was a $1000 deductible. The issue was downplayed and seemed there was no intention of filing an insurance claim.Feedback on the move was sent on Jul. 18, 2023, which contained a list of damaged and missing items. Reimbursement for the missing items and the name of the packing company was requested. The reply was nothing was missing and offered $2000 in compensation.Damage to a major item was discovered. An update was sent but there was no response. After 4 days I sent an email and requesting $4000 compensation, excluding any items not listed on the initial email as it didn't seem fair. The reply was the claim was preposterous and an insurance claim needed to be filed within 9 months. The insurance claim deadline isn't stated anywhere on the contract and he was willing to file a claim the day before. I replied with an email containing replacement prices for all the damaged and missing items along with some photos to show the damage. I was willing to negotiate in order to receive enough compensation to cover repurchasing the damaged and missing items. No response is expected.Attached is the contract and the email chain, which contains a list of all the damaged and missing items and replacement costs for those items. I'm requesting the BBB's help to obtain the $4000 reimbursement from American ********************************************* for damaged and missing items.

  Business response

  09/22/2023

  *** never had to respond to a complaint before, so please bear with me. Some of the details involving this situation are indeed very interesting. 

    I received some personal emails from ****** just prior to the BBB complaint, but I wont go into that because the information seems somewhat too confounding to address logically. 

    I think there are three areas to address regarding this job. Missing items, damaged items and liability. 

    ****** contacted me for the first time almost exactly a year after her goods were delivered. 

  She states in the complaint that we had communication a couple of months after the move. To the best of my ability to recall, this is not the case. There is certainly no email correspondence of which I have record. 

    A year after the move she stated to me that she had finally unpacked her boxes. Thats an unusually long amount of time to take and that would be required to retrieve belongings that are apparently so valuable. Who knows what could have happened to things we moved in that length of time regarding potential damage and loss. 

    Everything I was requested to move was loaded on my truck and everything that was loaded was delivered. 

    In terms of liability, obviously there has to be a period of time when a company will no longer assume liability and in the moving industry that period is nine months. 

    I made an offer of good faith a year after the move when ****** contacted me to pay $2,000 for compensation. I was trying to be helpful even though I didnt feel responsible given the circumstances. 

  For example-several missing books and a damaged brake lever on a bicycle a year after the job was completed were on her list. 

    Its not unusual for a cross country move to be accomplished with no incident of loss, or damage. 

  If her job was the exception I apologize. 

    The people I hired were professionals. The ********** crew and I have worked together many times. 

    ****** did not accept my offer and due to the lengthy time between the delivery and the complaint an insurance settlement was no longer an option. 

    Whoever may read this, I thank you for the time youre taking to hear my response. 

   

  *************************;

  Customer response

  10/04/2023

  I called the BBB in Sep for an update regarding American Transit and Relocation because it had been almost 2 months and was informed the case was closed due to no response because from the company.  The complaint being filed in July.  Today I received notification that there was a response and it closed after a week because I didn't respond.  This needs to be reopened as I only received notification today.  The good faith compensation was only countered due to it being well below all the items stolen and damaged.  American Transit and Relocation are the ones who took any form of reimbursement off the table and ceased communications.  This is evident in their 2 month delayed response.

  Customer response

  10/17/2023

  I'd like the complaint to be reopened as the business response isn't an acceptable resolution.  My request was to be reimbursed $4,000 for missing and damaged property.  Here's why.  MMS, who was contracted by American Relocation & Transit, was informed of the dryer's damage at re-installation.  The business was aware of this damage before leaving our home. The attached phone records verify there was a conversation with American Relocation & Transit on Aug. 21, 2022 lasting 20 minutes.  At that time inquiries were made on how damaged items were handled.  No information was forthcoming on the process or a time frame and American Relocation & Transit requested the conversation resume once every box was opened.  The contract is attached and one can see there is no time frame stated to file an insurance claim.  American Relocation & Transit was aware this was the first time using a moving company and they should have been forthcoming with any pertinent time likes, like the deadline for filing an insurance claim.  Unpacking an entire home takes time, especially when young children are involved. 

   

  This is an abbreviation of communication but please review the conversation in entirety through the emails which are attached below.  When American Relocation & Transit was contacted again, stating displeasure of the move and requesting to finally file the insurance claim.  American Relocation & Transit didn't send claim information but offered $2,000.  I countered the offer with $4,000 because it wasn't enough to cover the damages; providing a partial list (because I had stopped tracking all the damaged items) of missing and damaged items, photos of the damaged items, cost of replacing the items and asked to open an insurance claim in rebuttal.  Their reply was no and the time frame to complete an insurance claim had closed.  American Relocation & Transit needs to be held accountable for the missing and damaged property.

   

  Please let me know if there is any additional information needed to move the complaint forward.

   

  Thanks for your attention in this matter,

  ******

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