This post is to help consumers be aware of the many ways that Unigroup, Mayflower, United Van Lines, Drivers can scam consumers: 1. The weight you pay is NOT the actual weight of your items. Unless you weigh every box and item yourself you will never know. This is how they make money..they skim the top off he weight, especially if they give you a binding estimate. 2. They are not up to date on technology. They do not use scanners or bar codes for each box or item. Ask yourself way a 1.8 billion dollar company doesn't have the latest technology...maybe there is an advantage to them. If other billion dollar CPG brands can manage to bar code and scan billions of individual items nationally, and Amazon can bar code and scan every shipment, surely this company could do it... 3. Drivers and help will lie to you and say all your boxes are there. They may not hand you paperwork at the start of your move-in so you can check each box when it enters the house. Often times they will bring in multiple boxes and rush the process and this creates a barrier to the consumer being able to inspect and look at each box. DO NOT TRUST THEIR WORD. THE MOMENT YOU SIGN OFF ON THE PAPERWORK YOU ARE SCREWED AND THE DRIVERS KNOW THIS AND WANT TO GET AWAY WITH THIS BECAUSE IT WOULD BE MONEY THAT COMES OUT OF THEIR POCKET. The fox is watching the hen house. The process is broken and there is zero integrity. 4. The drive may not check in with the destination agent and may hire his own "guys" at the destination at a cheaper price. Be aware that the cheap guys the driver hires may not have went through background checks and finger-printing so we as consumers do not know who the heck we are allowing into our homes...BLIND TRUST EVERYONE. WAKE UP!!! 5. You need to carefully and methodically set up your receiving system personally. Do not use the driver or company, do not rely on them to be honest. You are the enemy in their eyes, the consumer that complains and the thing they have to be careful of manipulating so they don't lose any money. - Allow them only to go through 1 door of your home. Have someone stationed there. No box goes into the home without checking it off on the paperwork and inspecting the box. Take photos of each box immediately and start your claim/documentation. Yes, be that careful and that exact. It is the only way you will be able to look out for yourself. 6. Mayflower/Unigroup - they care more about corporate moves and repeat corporate customers so they will pay more attention to ensuring those people are happy as they want to maintain the business account. So if you are an independent consumer moving you need to be extra cautions about your move. 7. The driver and all people entering your home should be in full uniform. If they are not then take pictures. Call corporate Mayflower / Unigroup in Fenton MO immediately. Take video. Document everything. 8. If your new home has a security system with cameras - have them rolling prior to the movers coming so you have video footage of the move and the people. 9. Get the names of each individual that entered your home. Theres are your personal possessions. Don't trust anyone. Moving is difficult and finding good talent isn't easy. The requirements for a Unigroup/Mayflower mover can be just a year to 2 years experience. That's it. And, they can miss background checks and felonies. 10. The driver is not supposed to leave the residence/move for any reason and if he/she does you need to have the Unigroup/Mayflower phone number and call. Have another person record/video tape you so you have documentation of averaging. 11. VIDEO TAPE YOUR MOVE, every detail. It will be your best evidence. 12. Mayflower/Unigroup is an inbreeding of their own people - affiliates sit on the board of Unigroup, there is an old boys club, they watch each other's back and may look the other way. How can Unigroup honestly investigate another mover or driver when the owner of the moving company sits on their board or a committee. They will then support each other, discuss how unrealistic consumers are and how its "a numbers game". 13. Read the legal case Chen VS. Mayflower. Chen won. It was only a slap on the wrist for Mayflower but the case speaks volumes about how far Unigroup will go to try to keep old laws in place that are self-serving. https://casetext.com/case/chen-v-mayflower-transit 14. Do not trust their claims adjusters - see if they are licensed, ask for their license, registration and documentation that proves they are a real claims adjuster with experience 15. Do not believe their claim repair estimates. The repair people may tell them one thing and Mayflower/Unigroup may lie to you and tell you a different story. Remember, it is a numbers game for them, they are pressured to deliver shareholder profits at all costs and a claim, loss, damage does against their internal rating/award system and affects their insurance costs. 16. Drivers are supposed to have ongoing background checks. They may not do them as regularly as you think Get the drivers business card and then do your own background check online...especially if you have issues...you may be very surprised at what you find out such as felonies and ongoing traffic violations. If you can get the name of the driver at the time they pick up your load than get it ASAP and run your background check, scope out the driver on social media, look for arrest records, felonies etc. so that you can determine on your own what you are dealing with. Don't believe the advertising, marketing and spin the company puts out 17. If you have to hire an attorney be sure to find one with transportation/logistic experience or you will get screwed. And, most of the better attorneys will not take a case from a one-off consumer because they want to work with the big corporations and get paid the big bucks...taking a case like yours will prevent them from making money. 18. Mayflower distributes the revenue collected for a given shipment among the agent booking the shipment, the origin agent, and the hauling agent, with Mayflower retaining on average 13% of the charges for the actual transportation of the shipment. (Pl.'s LR Resp. ¶ 13.) When cash is collected by an affiliate at delivery, the funds are retained by the affiliate but the affiliate enters the amount collected into Mayflower's system and that amount is posted as a debit against the affiliate's account. ( Id. ¶ 12.) When Mayflower distributes the revenue from a shipment to the affiliate who provided the service, the revenue is posted to the affiliate's statement as a credit. ( Id.) The accounts of the individual affiliates are cleared on a weekly basis and payment is made either to or from Mayflower. ( Id.) Charges that are levied in addition to the estimate ( i.e., charges that exceed the estimate) are also collected and distributed by Mayflower. (Def.'s LR Resp. ¶ 15.) Credit card payments are collected directly by Mayflower, although there are some exceptions. (Pl.'s LR Resp. ¶¶ 10-12.) Generally, shippers must obtain preapproval of their credit cards before they may use them to pay for services. (Webb Dep. at 114-17.) On an infrequent basis, shippers are permitted to pay at the point of destination without having obtained preapproval of their credit cards. (Pl.'s LR Resp. ¶ 17) (citing Webb Dep. at 185-86.) Under Mayflower's policy, shippers seeking preapproval of their credit cards must generally submit their cards to the booking affiliate companies, who in turn transmit the data to Mayflower's central credit department. (Pl.'s LR Resp. ¶ 17.) 19. BEWARE - Just because a truck for your local move says "Mayflower" doesn't mean that brand is actually involved...it is really the local company that is moving your items. The "halo" that they get from the consumers believing they are Mayflower creates the impression in the consumers mind that "hey I should trust them more". Hold the phone and don't go there - do not turn over your trust. You need to understand what is really going on..... The local moving companies continue to conduct local ( i.e., in-state) moves under their own authority, and keep that business completely separate from their relationship with Mayflower. (Webb Dep. at 174-75.) When conducting local moves, local moving companies may identify themselves as Mayflower affiliates and use trucks with the Mayflower logo, but must explain that, for local moves, they are not "Mayflower." ( Id, at 175-76.) 20. WARNING ABOUT PUTTING THINGS IN STORAGE - Storage of property also falls outside the affiliates' relationships with Mayflower. The responsibility for storage is the local company and not Mayflower...so if you are suing you need to sue the local company and you can put Mayflower. Be sure to video tape and photograph the trucks that use the marketing "agent for Mayflower" as they want the marketing benefits but under the facade there is a sobering reality. BEWARE. 21. Go look at the storage facility - have the moving company provide you with pictures and get everything in writing - how security is handled, who is allowed in and out of the facility and so forth. Is it climate controlled? It is important that you look past the illusion of marketing. The illusion of the "Mayflower brand" to see what is behind the curtain. To know what you really area buying. There is not other industry in any business that can operate with such a lack of transparency, with this kind of illusionary advertising/PR/marketing. The government bodies that are supposed to be overseeing this entity - unigroup, mayflower and related brands....are they really independently doing this? 22. It is time to disrupt this sector of business. It is time for a "Tesla" of moving. This entire dinosaur of an industry must collapse and die off. The slimy ethics, the inbreeding of activities/people, the CYA and look the other way behaviors...there needs to be a #METOO for the moving industry, they need to be exposed. We need innovators from the Tech Sector to come in and develop the software, apps and so forth were consumers can watch their merchandise in real-time travel. There needs to be photos/video of each item tied to bar code. There needs to be driver CDL background checks - MONTHLY. Consumers cannot allow the risk of having felons in their homes, with their children, wives, elderly and so forth. HOW CAN UNIGROUP NOT HAVE THE LATEST APPS AND BAR CODES????? If they are a 1.8B corporation where is all the money going? Why are the no reinvesting it in technology? Here's some advice Unigroup Chairman, H. Daniel McCollister and President Marc Rogers -- get your act together...get up to speed on 2020 and where technology is at or be eaten by the innovation that is going to have you as a snack because how you treat people begs for complete and total disruption of your industry. We are wondering if their of these guys even have social media accounts. FedEx and UPS transport way many more packagings than UniGroup. Why is it they know where every box is and UniGroup doesn't? You almost want to feel sorry for Unigroup given how pathetic and clumsy the entire enterprise/system they put in place is.
How do you know they are lying?