Budget Van Lines; Super Van Man damaged furniture, missing boxes, unreturned phone calls New York New York

Budget Van Lines contracted my move from Carrollton, GA to Kenmore, NY to Super Van Man (address unknown). My possessions were picked up on 15 July 2008 and delivered on 20 July 2008. The part of the move in Georgia went well. The movers packed my possessions carefully. However, the movers continued to Florida to pick up another household, where they proceeded to remove my possessions, load the other possessions, and then reload mine. When the moving van arrived in Kenmore (at 9:30pm a day late), the movers could hardly open the van door because my boxes were spilling out. Several boxes were upside down, spilling their contents. Every single piece of furniture was damaged in some way, and none was wrapped in moving blankets. There are at least 5 boxes missing, including two boxes filled with CDs and DVDs.

I tried unsuccessfully to contact Budget Van Lines and Super Van Man by phone. I spoke to someone at Super Van Man on 15 August, but he hung up on me after I explained my complaint. I left messages with three individuals at Budget on 13, 15, 19, and 20 Aug. One individual returned one of my messages (but called my parents instead of me) on 20 Aug to say that the dispatcher is contacting Super Van Man. Other phone calls to Budget on 3 and 5 Sept since then went unreturned. Although my contract with Budget states that any claims must be submitted in writing to the carrier (Super Van Man), I am unable to do that without information from Budget. I do not have the address of the carrier; that is why I tried to contact Budget eight times. My contract with Budget states To find out more about filing a claim please call the assigned carrier or call us at 1-800-611-6001 for more information. I called the assigned carrier but was hung up on. Budget failed to return my phone calls. My contract with Budget Van Lines also states that Budget Van Lines will attempt to resolve disputes that might arise between a shipper and a carrier. They utterly failed to do this.

Budget's estimate to move me was much cheaper than other companies. However, the value of the missing items is over $2000. This is not worth the initial savings. Budget Van Lines is completely unprofessional. Avoid them. I also wish I could submit a specific complaint against Super Van Man, but all I know is that the phone number I have for them is a New York number. I do not have an address for them, and do not want to complain against an innocent company that may have the same name.

Julie
Kenmore, New York
U.S.A.