Complaint Review: North American Van Lines - Stone Mountain Georgia

Our sales guy, Larry Corley, is a complete joke! Sold us then never ever talked to us after that.  It isn't his job to look after your move.  His job is to survey what needs to be moved, figure out how much your move will cost, and issue you a binding quote in pounds. 

He may not even work for North American or Beltmann; some of these surveyors have independent agreements with all of the major moving companies.  As a result, his job isn't to handle your move.  That's what a moving coordinator does.  So far, it sounds like everything is working as it should based on what you wrote.

This company arrived at my house on May 23 to load the "trailer" that they said they needed to get down my street (and by the way, my next door neighbors had United Van Lines 72' truck come down the street with no problem).  They arrived 2 hours late smelling like pot!  If a driver even thinks for a second that they're going to need a shuttle, then they will order one for you.  Insofar as the guys who came onto the job, they won't work for the mover either - generally the driver calls the guys on fairly short notice to assist on the load.

The truck never left Atlanta until May 31 (8 days after they loaded truck) and didn't arrive at my new location until the very last day, June 8th, after which Larry had ensured that we may even have our delivery there by June 1st! That should have been my first red flag.  That should not have raised any flag.  Good old Larry has no idea how long it will take to get your shipment from origin to destination.  If he did, then he's clairvoyant.  All of that depends upon whether there is a truck/interstate driver available to take your load.  Perhaps there may have been when the move was quoted, but not on May 23rd.  That's why there's always a delivery window, and if they deliver on the last day, then that's how it is.

I've already had to file a claim from when the loaders dented my wall and begged me not to file anything since they were contractors (another lie that Larry told).  Technically, there is no moving company that employs its packers, moving crews, and drivers.  All of them are independent contractors who sign contracts with the agent to perform a move.  Some of the larger crews might work for an agent for North American, and United, and Bekins. 

The reason they use I/C's for the move is that the employment and insurance costs to hire these guys would make the cost of moving astronomical - much more than it is today.  A guy like Larry may see the packing crews or the drivers as people associated in an almost employer/employee type relationship.  However, legally that isn't the case.  It's also important to know that whether they happen to be employees or contractors really doesn't matter.  If there is a claim filed, the agent will hold the contractor responsible for the claim.

The workers are not employed by North American. They are employed by Beltmann Relocation Group.  No, they don't work for Beltmann the agent either.  When the guy told you he was a contractor, he meant that he was a contractor.  In reality, the only employees in a moving company are the coordinators you dealt with, maybe the sales person, and probably the warehouse people.  Everyone else is either management or a contractor.

Perhaps you need a better idea of the structure and size in order to better gauge context.  North American as a moving company establishes agencies around the US that are largely standalone.  Beltmann I believe is one of the largest agents in the North American system, which means they will perform a lot of moves and incur a lot of complaints. 

So when you read about a company with 100 complaints in a year... no one likes complaints.  But if they perform 5,000 moves annually (and an agent like Beltmann could do that many) with the number of crews they have, it puts 100 complaints annually seems small.  North Amercian is a pretty good company and Beltmann a pretty good agent.  However, stuff happens and it happened to you.