moving

It doesn't take much to please some customers. Patrick tells us Ryder charged him $200 for moving truck damages that already existed before he rented the vehicle.  More Â»

Jesse, who wrote to us last week to complain about Ryder's broken guarantee, has contacted us again with a follow up. We also spoke with Ryder directly to ask how their "Guaranteed Availability" promise actually works, so that future customers know what to expect.  More Â»

Joe's plight proves it's always a good idea to keep your credit card addresses updated, otherwise you'll find it tough to forward your postal address.  More Â»

If you saw this image on the Ryder website, you might think that it means two things: that they guarantee some sort of vehicle availability to customers, and that they will make sure you are satisfied with your experience. You would be wrong. Update: Ryder has responded to Jesse's complaint.  More Â»

Matt and his family used the portable storage company PODS for their recent move. The company rents you a storage container, then stores it or moves it around on a truck for you. Their system sounded pretty great, but then things started to go wrong. Very, very wrong. What followed was a tale of broken promises, underestimations, and their belongings being held by the police (!) that would put fear into the heart of any person planning a move.  More Â»

Earlier this week we wrote about how BoA told Jesse he could never have an account with them, but they wouldn't give a specific reason. A lot of readers and tipsters suggested ChexSystems was the culprit, so we asked Jesse if there was something in his credit past causing the problem.  More Â»

After reading about how Jesse was banned for life from Bank of America for no clear reason, other readers wrote in with similarly bizarre BoA stories. Wayne was locked out of his new account after he opened it and charged a $75 overdraft fee. Chris was sent checks linked to a duplicate account and then charged penalties when the checks bounced. Edward's new account was closed but the CSR refused to tell him why, and he was charged a $60 "research fee" for the closing. When Edward went to a BoA branch to clear things up, he says the employee there told him, "That's why you don't open up accounts online."  More Â»

Jesse tried to scam Bank of America. No, wait. He tried to open two accounts at once! No, that's not right either. He did something wrong, that's obvious. Isn't it? Hello? Please tell us what Jesse did wrong, Bank of America. Your lifetime banning confuses us.  More Â»

Chris and his wife moved recently. To do so, they rented a truck from U-Haul. They planned ahead, booked their truck in advance, and did everything correctly. They just had the audacity to request a truck that wasn't located an hour away from their new home. This was apparently too much for the U-Haul infrastructure to handle.  More Â»

Consumerist reader Dionicious and his brother tried to rent a trailer from U-Haul over the weekend. First they were faced with a closed location, then they had to ask before the company followed through on its $50 "Right Time, Right Location" guarantee. They hoped that was the end of the screw-ups, but the next day an angry employee called and threatened to file criminal charges against the brothers. Too bad there's not some sort of $50 "We Threaten You, We Pay" guarantee.  More Â»

Find or give away free moving boxes at freecardboardboxes.com.  More Â»

ASAP Van Lines, a moving company we've covered in the past for alleged abuses against customers, has changed its name to Chicago Moving Systems. You have been warned. [MovingScam.com] (Thanks to Christopher!)  More Â»

Earlier this week we posted about Cory, a man who had a bad experience with the moving company he hired to schlep his belongings from New York to North Carolina. Now Quality Van Lines has responded with their side of the story.  More Â»

Cory and his girlfriend moved from New York to North Carolina this summer. They hired Quality Van Lines out of Clifton, NJ to handle the move, but soon regretted the choice: they overcharged him, failed to deliver on promises, and damaged not only his belongings but his car. Cory wants to know what his options are now—and we want readers to know how to avoid hiring companies like Quality Van Lines in the future.  More Â»

Ah, New Zealand, the land of kiwis and hobbits. Daniel and his girlfriend went there to set up a studio and get paid to do recording sessions. They're musicians. They hired Morton Van Lines to ship their equipment from LA to NZ, but after over seven months of struggle, they got it, or their money back.Turns out the equipment was shipped to the wrong country and then returned to the USA. Maybe if Morton Van Lines ever returned a phone call or an email it could have been straightened out. But nay. Here's Daniel's story...  More Â»

In what looked like a daring move, the CEO of Uhaul, Joe Shoen, gave out his "cellphone number" on national TV and invited customers to call him with their complaints. The problem is, when you call, he doesn't pick up. If you leave a message, it's not returned. You get to hear Joe's gruffly charming voicemail message, but can't leave one of your own. His mailbox is full.  More Â»

Movearoo.com is a new website that appears to offer free assistance with your move, helping you set up things like phone service, gas, and electricity at your new address. The site calls itself "Your Total Moving Resource." It's a helpful site, sure, but you should be aware that it's funded by AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest, and exists primarily to promote their services. In other words, you won't find a comprehensive list of competing phone service providers through Movearoo, only those offered by the three sponsor companies. A consumer advocate points out the drawback of making Movearoo your sole relocation resource:  More Â»

Look, we know gas is expensive, but don't save a couple bucks by topping off your U-Haul's gas tank with water. We won't pretend to care about U-Haul—not even U-Haul cares about their vehicles—but the next renter will want to bludgeon you with a rusty ice pick when their truck breaks down because you hosed the engine.  More Â»

Now that it's summer, many people are doing the moving thing. For some, this might mean renting a truck or trailer from U-Haul, like reader Ryan. He reserved a truck from U-Haul online well in advance of his move, but when he went in for pickup was told none were available. Ryan called corporate, who called the store and convinced the surly manager to give Ryan a truck. Three days after Ryan returned the truck, he got this voicemail from from U-Haul: “This is Alexandria U-Haul Rentals. Your rental truck was due three days ago and you haven't returned it. If you don't return our truck today I will call the police." See how Ryan handled the situation, inside.  More Â»

The moving company responsible for the moving disaster that we mentioned the other day has written in to share some information about the way insurance works in the event of such a catastrophe.  More Â»