Perilous interstate move: Contact 6 helps family get belongings
MILWAUKEE - A family of three moved across the country with only the essentials. They thought their moving truck would follow in a couple of weeks. Months later, they asked Contact 6 to step in.
In mid-September, Jeneba Tucker was finally able to unpack her moving boxes. She’d waited nearly five months to get them.
On April 15, movers loaded Tucker’s things onto a truck in Washington State.
"They said they would move our stuff," said Tucker. "It should be there by the time we arrived, which was the 24th of April."
In June, a moving truck showed up at Tucker’s new home in Mequon, but with the wrong family’s belongings inside.
For Tucker’s two daughters, the wait dragged on.
"One of them packed their baby blankets, thinking they would be OK," said Tucker. "She was not."
By the time another moving truck pulled up with the correct delivery, it was September 7th. The truck arrived three days after Contact 6 emailed the business asking where it was.
"Thank you guys so much. I cannot thank you enough," said Tucker.
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Tucker and her daughters now share a home with her mom, Linda Tucker, who hired Elite Van Lines out of Fort Lauderdale for the move.
"Their regular timeframe was one to two weeks," said Linda Tucker.
Linda Tucker says she understood there might be some delay and the movers couldn’t guarantee an exact delivery date.
"Weather’s bad, three weeks, but you don’t expect five months," said Linda Tucker.
Linda Tucker admits she did not read her contract in full before signing. She says if she had, she would have noticed there was no guaranteed date of delivery. The contract reads, "All pickup, load and/or delivery dates are only estimates and are not guaranteed."
The contract also says the Linda Tucker was not eligible for a refund of her down payment.
"I thought that was sort of absurd. To take all your stuff, not deliver it, and still not be able to get your money back," said Linda Tucker.
The Better Business Bureau in Florida gives Elite Van Lines a B- rating. Linda Tucker says she thought it was a moving company, but it’s actually a brokerage operation. That means Elite Van Lines books the move then hires a moving company for the job. In this case, it was Green Pelican Movers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) says as of August 30th, Green Pelican Movers are "NOT authorized by FMCSA to transport or arrange the transportation of household goods." The FMCSA’s website doesn’t say why but shows that Green Pelican Movers has 15 complaints since 2023.
"I just felt cheated," said Linda Tucker.
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The movers who finally delivered the Tuckers’ belongs said they were sub-contractors from Illinois. They told Linda Tucker that her final payment of $950 dollars was waived.
"The people that came from Chicago were very nice," said Linda Tucker. "They knew that we had been through a lot."
While unpacking, Jeneba Tucker noticed that some of her belongings were missing, including her tools, beauty supplies and rugs. Her contract does mention insurance for her stuff but at "$.60 per pound".
Consumer attorney Bob Murphy of Murphy Law Firm says it’s minimal protection and all the government requires that movers provide.
"At sixty cents per pound there’s no incentive for the moving company to protect the person’s property," said Murphy.
Murphy says the complaint he hears about interstate movers usually fall into three categories. The first is damaged, lost or destroyed items. The second is low-ball estimates that increase as boxes are loaded or before they’re unloaded. The third is late or missing deliveries.
"The consumer doesn’t have a lot of options," said Murphy. "The industry is not heavily regulated by the state or federal government, so there’s not a lot of oversight."
Among Jeneba Tucker’s boxes are also a few items that aren’t hers, including a TV, rug, canes and fishing poles. However, in one box she found something irreplaceable: her daughters’ comfort blankets.
"I can’t just buy these things again," said Jeneba Tucker.
Neither Green Pelican Movers no Elite Van Lines sent Contact 6 a statement about the Tuckers’ experience. However, the businesses did follow-up with the Tuckers to discuss a refund for the family’s missing items. The Tuckers estimate their out-of-pocket costs are around $2,300. Linda Tucker says an exact refund hasn’t been decided yet.
To avoid an interstate moving nightmare, you may want to buy additional insurance for your belongings. You can also opt for a national carrier with name recognition and good ratings. Also, you may want to rent a minivan to keep your most valuable items with you and off a moving truck.
If you have a consumer complaint and want to see if Contact 6 can help you, file a complaint form.