Let's start out with the straight out LIE. We were given a form called a "non-binding estimate". I was assured that this was all it was - their best guess - and the truck would be weighed before and after our goods were put on the truck. I was further assured by the driver the day the shipment was picked up that I would get an invoice showing the weight (which he openly said he thought was about 1/2 of the estimate).
Day before delivery, Studdards contacts me and indicates they are attempting to charge our card for 101% of the ESTIMATED amount. I informed John Crum that they were NOT to charge the card for the ESTIMATED amount, rather we wanted the promised invoice. We are told we MUST pay the 101% of the ESTIMATE and that in a month or so they will get around to putting together a real invoice and a possible refund.
They did everything electronically (including the inventory which they email, but you have to sign a blank document before they leave! Had you seen the inventory you would have thought I was shipping the junk Goodwill puts out their back door! How does wood furniture get termed "moth eaten"? ) and now suddenly they need a month or so to provide REAL numbers and eventually mail us a check? We are talking about a difference of approx. $3,000 based on THEIR estimate. Never was it ever suggested to us that we would OVERPAY and then trust them to give us a refund when they got around to it. In fact, again. I was told over and over (and the paperwork says the same) that this was just a non-binding ESTIMATE. We were told the 101% ESTIMATE number was merely our guarantee that we not have to pay more than that number.
John Crum's answer: This is Mayflower's policy, not Studdards. Well John, I hired Studdards, not Mayflower. Studdards is responsible for the companies they contract with.
Now once that truck is emptied (and the company has walked off with my money) how the hell am I suppose to be able to prove that these people who have proven their dishonesty really did weigh the truck?
There was also a problem with Studdards packing the remotes to the Temperpedic bed and then wanting to ship the box spring at an angled position because THEY incorrectly packed the remotes in a regular box instead of the parts box and couldn't find them. Driver came unglued at me because I insisted the expensive box spring would NOT be shipped incorrectly because of their mistake.
I have changed my rating from 1 to 3 stars due to the communication and efforts of Sheba, Studdard's customer service rep. Sheba was on vacation the week of our move. However, immediately following her return she contacted me to find out exactly what had happened. She did what she could to expedite the return of our money from the over charge (101% of the estimate) and appeared to understand our objections to such a policy. We also discussed the need to inform prospective customers about what the "non-binding estimate" means since it doesn't mean what one would suppose from the words used.
Sheba has continued to advocate on our behalf when we discovered we were charged for boxes the driver claims to have unpacked but didn't and other annoying issues that have come up.