Allied Van Lines Agents

We got quotes from 5 moving companies, and chose Allied/​Coleman because of its great price guarantee and reliable reputation. On our move day, the driver loaded half of our items on the truck, and then called the Allied/​Coleman agent because we used small recycled boxes for the move instead of large ones (totaling to more «items» but the same amount of goods to move). The relocation consultant, Larry Corley, who did our initial inventory, returned to our apartment and doubled the price of our move because he stated that we had more items than when he did the initial inventory. In fact, we had actually donated several items and had less to move overall. We later found out from the driver that this is a common scam Larry and his General Manager at Coleman are known for. Larry quotes low prices initially as a guarantee to bait customers, and then changes the price on the move day when most people have no choice but to pay the higher price. We tried working with Allied to get our money back after the fact, but they stopped responding to our case. Our advice: find another company. This one is a scam.

Don’t know why I am surprized they screwed us again. Perfect ottoman they damaged — did not bother
to wrap it up so got dirty on truck — looks like yellow majic marker, dented top of dryer, broke chairs, lost china, to many missing items to mention = now they say ottoman was dirty, dryer was previouslhy damaged and they can’t properly identify china — gave us nothing. Lots of scratches on furniture, I have spent hours with touch up markers. Awful, awful, awful. Forth time we have have been screwed by various moving companies. Never bother to move your stuff. Sell it and buy new and save yourself the hassel. The feds seriously have to get involved in this stuff = they are out of control. Tried to work with feds — they are no help.

When moving from Atlanta, GA to Austin, TX, I called Allied first for a moving quote. I knew them to be a large company and had a recommendation from a friend that had used them previously. I called mid-​May and the quote process was straight forward and easy, as I was directed to one of their moving contractors, Berger Transport. I was able to schedule a delivery date and signed and scanned all necessary documents to the company.
That was were the ease ended. I will try to keep this brief, but there were and still are so many things wrong with their service.
My «Moving Coordinator» was inept, unprofessional, incompetant and had no attention to detail. Ms. Karen Witcher was responsible for consistently getting my name and moving information wrong, failing to coordinate with the government storage facility (A-​1 Horton) where my household goods were stored. This caused the storage facility additional labour as they had to move my house hold goods back and forth twice from the loading dock back into storage. At one point, Ms. Witcher gave me their driver’s personal cell phone so that I could coordinate the move with A-​1 Horton. Are you kidding me?
I made phone calls to Ms. Witcher and Berger daily the week that my items were scheduled to be delivered, only to find that they had no available drivers. Additionally it was A-​1 Horton who contacted me 5 days after the scheduled pick up date to inquire as to what the issue was with the pick up. Unacceptable! Ms. Wticher had NO IDEA that anything was wrong, and made no attempts to call me regarding the issue.
Ms. Witcher’s email correspondance was juvenille and downright stupid. She made excuse after excuse as to why the move wasn’t being coordinated, why they didn’t have a driver, etc. Thankfully, A-​1 Horton was more than accomodating and went over and above what they needed to do to assist me when Berger was failing at every task. Ms. Loretta Horton, the owner, made sure to email me personnally at each point of the move to keep me informed when Berger continued to drop the ball.
It only slightly improved when I involved Ms. Witcher’s supervisor, Mr. Dave Morecy, in the situation. Eventually my goods were delivered a week late, causing all sorts of issues with my move in, my ability to work and just overall frustration.
But it doesn’t end there. Upon delivery, Berger charged my credit card as agreed; but for nearly $ 500 OVER THE AGREED CHARGES. It took a week for Ms. Witcher to furnish me with an itemized bill. After which I noticed that a «Shuttle Fee» had been hand-​written in. I referred back to my early emails with Berger when I inquired into this Shuttle Fee as it was listed on the moving quote. It is a fee that is required when a tractor-​trailer is unable to access either the pick up or drop off location. I had confirmed with both locations that a tractor trailer would indeed have access, so the Shuttle Fee was removed from the quote, but here it is, in the final quote and charged to me.
After two emails to Ms. Witcher, including her supervisor on the CC line, there was ZERO RESPONSE. It wasn’t until I disputed the credi card charge with American Express, and sent a THIRD EMAIL to Ms. Witcher and her supervisor, explaining the disputed charge, that I receieved an «OUT OF OFFICE» for Ms. Witcher (by the way she had been in the office for my first two emails), and then a very apologetic email from Mr. Morecy, stating that they will credit my account immediately.
DO NOT WORK THROUGH ALLIED, OR THROUGH BERGER TRANSPORTATION. They are unprofessional, incompetant and are an obvioulsy poor addition to the Allied Company and a black eye on a possibly competent moving company.
If you are moving, I highly recommend A-​1 Horton. In all of this moving drama, they went over and above, did not charge me nor Berger Transportation late storage fees that they were absolutely entitled to, based on the delay in pick up.
Avoid this frustration if at all possible.
Thanks.
Erin Thompson