Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/28/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I scheduled a move for 2/18/23 and provided detailed information as to what was involved which was based on a move 10 months earlier. I asked for four men. They insisted they could do it with two. I was quoted $950. At the end of the service, I was charged $1605.67. The movers were apologetic and said that they see this happen all the time with customers. I tried discussing this several times with the company. The first two attempts to understand the charge were met with "we gave you an estimate not a quote." The third time, the owner responded, apologizing and offering a 10% reimbursement. I had suggested that I be reimbursed 1/2 of the amount over the $950. He then changed the amount to $50, and then stated he would not give me anything. I went on the local mom's ******** page to share my experience, and the owner then joined the mom's page to tell everyone he would give them $50 off their next move if they mentioned my post. (The administrator kicked him out of the group immediately for his harassing comments). At this point, I feel the owner, Nathan T*******, should be held accountable. Providing an estimate that is almost half of what I was actually charged is theft. Then the demeaning way he communicated with me, and joining a woman's ******** page to continue to taunt me by offering others money based on my negative experience, is unacceptable. Instead of half of the difference of the overage from the estimate I initially requested, I feel I deserve a complete refund. I have some e-mail communication if desired.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2023

  *** ******* did in fact schedule a move with our company. She called to schedule on February 7th for a move date of February 18th. With only an 11 day notice we could not accommodate a 4-man crew at our 9am time frame and would have to schedule in an afternoon time slot. She was questioned about the details of her move and our management determined she would likely be fine with a 2 man (1 truck) crew. She was advised however if she would like us to send 4 we would absolutely do so, they would just have to be staggered on their arrival times as they may finish their morning jobs at different times. She agreed to these terms and requested the 4 man crew. Upon booking she received our standard confirmation email which is attached and shows it was delivered at 12:25pm on February 7th per the attached email confirmation log. This email was then opened 3 separate times prior to her move date, which is also shown in the attachment. The confirmation email explicitly states at the bottom...

  "The estimated job time is only a rough estimate based on
  industry averages. These estimates are based on customers being well prepared
  and packed, average access from our truck to your home, average amounts of
  furniture per square footage of home, prior knowledge of specialty items and a
  few other variables. If you are interested in having us pack some or all of
  your home to save time and money on move day please contact our office to
  schedule a packing crew. Not being prepared, abnormally long walks, larger than
  average amounts of furniture and surprise difficult items can add time to the
  clock."

  Furthermore, *** ******* signed a contract on move day that explicitly states "The
  customer agrees to pay Big Blue Moving upon completion of their work at a rate
  of $ 170.00 /hr and a one-time
  destination/truck fee of $50.00. (There were 2 of these contracts, one for each of the staggered crews) In addition, our contracts state "This contract is legally binding and your
  signature is evidence that you understand and accept the terms outlined by this
  agreement." Both contracts are also attached for your review.

  Our movers do not see this happen all the time as evident by the thousands of 5 star reviews we have online. In fact our estimates have been found to be within 10 minutes of actual job times when studied and averaged over a 3 month period. However, there are occasions where the actual job times come in UNDER or OVER the estimated time. We do the best we can with the information provided over the phone. This is why we repeatedly explain that our estimates are just ball-park estimations based on industry averages. This was clearly explained on the phone call at the time of booking, in the attached confirmation email, and on or website. We simply charge by the hour, prorate to the minute, and guarantee our crews are going to be working as hard as possible to get the job done. The crew *** ******* had for her move must have been working hard for her based on the comment she left at the bottom of the first contract.

  Once the job was completed all of *** ******* belongings fit into 1 of the 2 trucks, further illustrating that a single 2-man 1-truck crew could have been sufficient for this size job just as we explained over the phone. *** ******* called our office with her concerns about the total. She was in fact advised that we provide "estimates" not "quotes" as well as the difference between the two. She stated that had we sent her a 4-man crew from the start (instead of staggered) this wouldn't have happened, which is incorrect. Since we charge by the man-hour it is irrelevant how many movers you have on your move when calculating the total bill. More movers is a higher hourly rate but the move gets completed in less time producing the same total as a smaller crew taking longer to complete the move.

  *** ******* quickly discounted our logical explanation and continued to call/email with threats of bad reviews if we did not refund money. Across all 30+ moving companies in our network is a no tolerance policy for bullying or blackmailing companies into refunds. From the experience of tens of thousands of moves we know that customers that take this route will not be satisfied. However, in an attempt to still produce a happy customer out of this I did offer a 10% courtesy discount off of the move, something we were not legally or contractually obligated to do. As expected, this was not enough and *** ******* demanded more. We refused and have since removed that offer from the table.

  *** ******* then began to leave bad reviews for our company across many online platforms. Since we have MANY supporters in the area that are part of these various platforms it was brought to our attention rather quickly. The ******** group *** ******* mentions above did receive a response from me personally. It was quite lengthy, explaining the details and inaccuracies of her accusations as well as offering a $50.00 discount for anyone that books a move and mentions the post. This was in effort to show the readers we do not have any problem discounting moves. The problem lies when customers attempt to blackmail our small local business with threats of reviews and complaints to the BBB, we do not tolerate this. I have actually been commended multiple times by other moms in that group for the poise and professionalism of my response. To say I was "taunting" or "harassing" *** ******* is simply untrue. I was well within my right, legally and ethically, to respond to her accusations in the manner I did to protect our business. The ******** group actually deleted *** ******* post in it's entirety after the uproar of comments and and reporting to administrators it caused by our supporters stating the accusations were not true.

  As stated above, and evident now, customers that begin their complaint with threats have been found to be ones we simply cannot make happy. They are out to get something for nothing, just like this. We have already made an attempt to satisfy this customer. There is nothing more we can do.

  Regards,

  Nathan T*******

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/02/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below. I have attached the e-mails sent between Mr. T******* and I (I'm sorry that the correspondence begins on the last page of the document). In the initial email, when I refer to contacting him the third and final time, that includes two prior phone calls I made to his company. The first time, I was told by Levi, (the man who had the initial phone call with me to book the appt), that he would have to speak with Mr. T******* and would get back with me that afternoon. A week and a half after not hearing back, I called again. This time, Levi just repeatedly said, "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do." 

  In regards to Mr. T********* allegations that I bullied him, I am sorry that he felt so threatened by a single mom, over e-mail, who reminded him of the protocol that can be taken in situations of unethical business practice. All of his online reviews though, probably are fake ones or people he has "bullied" to do so - as I'm neglecting to share several other things about my move at the request of the movers due to their obvious fear of their boss. Since I'm such a "bully," Mr. T******* might want to include a body guard for his four movers that are in a single woman's home, sitting at her kitchen table at 9:00 at night, waiting to be paid almost twice what she was expecting. It seems Mr. T******* is the one who feels he is above accountability. 

  The only ******** post I made regarding this situation (I don't know where he gets his dramatic accusations about numerous posts) was removed, because I contacted the administrator, expressing concern of Mr. T********* mental health that he would join a women's page that day, just to pursue his condescending tone and mocking what he did to me by offering others $50 off. I even received personal messages from other women expressing their concern that someone this aggressive knows my address. 

  Mr. T******* offered me an estimate based on his own employee admitting "I didn't think she knew what she was talking about," had his staff out there for 6 hours (which probably would have gone a lot quicker had they not all already moved a home, and had to continuously take breaks to have diarrhea in whatever bathroom available due to being hungover), had a manager answer my phone call the day of the move with "I'm not going to give you any monetary compensation for this" - what business person greets a customer with this before the customer even speaks? - refused to return my call even though I stated on the contract that I was not in agreement to the payment but had to pay in order for the men to leave my home, then correspond to me with such a disrespectful tone and pursued harassment on a mom's ******** page.  I was told the move would be $950, it ended up being over $1500. My initial suggestion of splitting the difference of the overcharge, by receiving a refund of $275, I felt was more than gracious. At this point, I think Mr. T********* attitude and actions speak for themselves in regards to the dishonest and unethical ways he conducts his business. 

  Thank you so much for all you do to promote transparency in how businesses conduct themselves. 
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ********* *******
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 5/31/31, we hired Big Blue to move our home contents to our new home in **********, ****. I was referred to Big Blue by a friend whose experience was positive.
  As advertised, the crew was on-time, professional, and did a great job. Unfortunately when moving a furniture piece into our home, the equipment used left some large visible grease stains on our new carpet.
  The crew was apologetic and fully acknowledged and accepted responsibility for this mishap.
  The problem now is Big Blues response to our claim. Firstly, it took them 3 working days to respond to our claim. Secondly (and reason for this complaint) is that they have informed us it will take up to 6 weeks for them to response with a resolution.
  This time-frame is unacceptable!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/06/2023

  Big Blue Moving Claims Department is currently working on scheduling a carpet cleaner to stop by this customer's home and clean the affected area. His move was 6 days ago and scheduling a repair takes a little time, especially when it is outside of our local area. The email he received from our Claims Department is a generic email customers receive when a claim is submitted. In SOME cases this process could take up to 6 weeks. However, for a minor damage such as this (even outside of our local area) it can usually be resolved in 1-2 weeks...if that long. We are currently in contact with this customer to schedule the carpet cleaning.

  On a side note, our crew reported to claims this grease came from the bottom of a piece of furniture that was moved into the house from an unfinished section of their old home. Based on the pictures submitted from the customer it is our belief this is true due to the location and direction the stain is going. If the stain was from a dolly it would be in line with the stairs not horizontal to them. Furthermore there would be stains all the way up the stairs. The pictures suggest an item was sat at the bottom to reposition before being picked back up and carried to its final destination. This is a normal procedure in the moving industry.

  It is not the responsibility of our moving company to ensure the bottoms of furniture pieces are clean! Nonetheless, we will send a carpet cleaning company out to resolve the issue in an effort to salvage a satisfied customer.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/07/2023

  Good afternoon, 

  This mishap has been resolved by Big Blue to our satisfaction. However I do need to respond to there determination as to why this happened. To begin, the piece of furniture came from the finished portion of our basement, not the unfinished as Big Blue Stated. Also, the underside of the dolly is what caused the stains. This was acknowledged by the moving crew once we pointed it out. In addition, I had specifically stated that a moving blanket be placed over the carpet, which was not done. 
  I would lastly like to add that the carpet cleaner sent my Big Blue asked how the stain happened. We recapped the scenario and was told this piece was moved incorrectly. He had been a “mover” in prior employment and added that a dolly should have never been used in this scenario. 
  As mentioned earlier, we understand “hiccups” happened in this industry. We were pleased with the movers and their job performance. We would have no hesitation in recommending Big Blue to others. However the facts in this scenario needed to be corrected. Also, the biggest frustration with Big Blue was dealing with the “customer care” department.