Subject :AVOID STEELE

Comment : AVOID STEELE AND VAUGHN FOR INTERSTATE MOVES I am a senior professional who has moved 12 times over 35 yrs (including internationally) and my move with SV was the worst move experience I have ever had. I don't generally write reviews of this type but I feel compelled to do so now to warn others. I initially used SV for a move from VA to GSO in 2018 and it was handled well. Based on that, I returned to SV 18 months later for a move to Houston. SV told me they regularly handle interstate moves. Here's what happened: - My initial plan was to move directly to HOU in March, after I found a home here. However, 2 wks before Christmas, I received an offer on my house in GSO which required me to vacate in early Jan. SV said “no problem.” However, then the problems emerged fast and furious. - 1st, I asked for my shipment to be sent directly to HOU and stored here. As SV does not have an affiliate in HOU, they convinced me to store in GSO where they could control the cost (i.e., collect the storage fees). • 2nd, I now had to pay for 2 moves – a local move into their GSO storage facility and an interstate move to HOU. At this point, I should have realized that SV could not handle the move. But, at the time, I was dealing with everything that comes with selling a home, starting a new job, traveling for work, and preparing for the move and the holidays. • 3rd, after the truck moved away, I discovered that a small suitcase and 2 chair cushions were loaded onto the truck by mistake, items in the guest toilet were left behind, and damage was done to the door sills. - 4th, after scheduling the move to HOU, SV called to ask me about delivery logistics in HOU. They had looked at my address on Google Maps and concluded that they could not park their truck on my street. This was probably right, but one would expect that they knew how to deal with this. After all, they are a moving company. Nope. The requests I received were to ask my landlord and call the City of HOU to determine if I needed to get a permit for their truck. This request came in the middle of a very busy work week as I was adjusting to a new job in a new city. Nevertheless, I immediately tried to get in touch with my landlord (but he did not respond) and I said that I would drive by the house over the weekend. As I was getting pressure from SV for an answer, I took the logical next step – I called other moving companies in HOU to determine how they would handle the delivery. • 5th, as I talked to other movers, I thought it advisable to consider having another mover collect my items in GSO and deliver them to HOU as SV was increasingly appearing to be unfit for this portion of my move. So, I asked for information from SV about wgt and cu ft to find out what it would cost to have someone else deliver them. • 6th, within less than 60 mins of finding out that I was considering other options (and more than 2 wks before my scheduled delivery), Bryan Jones, the SV owner, unilaterally cancelled my scheduled move and told me to get another mover. This was done by email (without the courtesy of a call) and despite my advising him that I was simply trying to get information on how to get my move done efficiently on the basis that SV had placed on me the onus of working out the HOU logistics. • What followed were the torpedoing of my very busy workweek arranging another mover, extra cost, and a series of emails from Bryan seeking to justify with selective facts his unprofessional judgment and business practice of unilaterally cancelling a scheduled move for a 2-time existing customer (who he referred to as a “potential customer” despite the fact that my 14,000 lbs of household furnishings were sitting in his warehouse) without the courtesy of a discussion to work out what could have been chalked down to, at best, a mis-communication or, at worst, a job that was too big for SV to handle. My dismay with SV remains as I unpack my shipment to find crushed and broken items and unusual packing decisions (Why is the power cord for the TV on the 3rd floor packed with the dishes from the 1st floor? Why was a heavy item packed on top of a $250 flower arrangement? Why are heavy items packed at the bottom of dishpack size boxes? Etc). I have asked Mr. Jones to refund a portion of the fees that I paid to SV to cover the added expense of hiring a 2nd moving company and to remediate the low service quality. His response has been to accuse me of “extortion”, to threaten to report me to the Bar and to repeat his selective facts justifying his decision to cancel my move, which he will no doubt post here. As I have no desire to deal with him further, I’m chalking this up to a bad experience to learn from. My recommendation to others: If you have a complex, long-distance move, take the time and make the investment to go with a reputable national/international moving company and steer well clear of SV.

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