Nationwide Moving and Storage LLC

I was looking to move items from the sale of our Arizona home to our home in Iowa. I was trying to save money. I thought I had found just what I wanted when I talked to Nationwide. Nationwide asked about what items I would be having moved. I sent photos of all the items and a complete list of everything that was to be moved. Nationwide assessed what the cost would be and I signed a contract that would guarantee the price with no "up charges".

I was unaware that Nationwide was only a "Broker" and hired other companies to actually do the move when I contacted them. Nationwide did explain this to me, but since I hadn't moved cross country before, I didn't realize the mistake I was making.

The first moving company showed up on the designated moving day. A member of the crew walked around checking the items to be moved and taking photos. He soon informed me that he would need to charge me a significant amount over what I had contracted (remember the "no up charges" in the contract). To Nationwide's credit, when I contacted their customer service, I was told to tell the moving company "No" and they would find another company to complete the move.

The second company, named Figueroa, arrived a couple of weeks later. The man who appeared to be in charge of the crew and two other fellows loaded our belongings in their truck. I asked the driver approximately how long it would be before our belongings would arrive at our home in Iowa...he said, "7 to 10 days".

Not that I didn't trust the movers, but I placed air tags in several of our totes when I packed so I could see how close to delivery we were. I kept the "7 to 10 days" schedule In my mind. After a few days, I checked the location of the air tags...they were in Mesa, Arizona approximately 5 miles from the home where they were picked up.

Now you may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with Nationwide?" Let me tell you...since our belongings were supposedly going to be delivered in "7 to 10 days", and they were still in Mesa, I called Nationwide. Nationwide told me that "That's completely normal. Your belongings are in a HUB and when one or two other jobs are combined with it, the moving company (Figueroa) would bring all of the items together to their destinations." I believed this assertion and patiently waited to see progress of our possessions from Arizona to Iowa.

After a week, I again checked the location of my air tags...they were in Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA. Again, I called Nationwide and wondered why our belongings were significantly farther from Iowa than when they were picked up. Nationwide told me that our possessions were taken to a LARGER HUB.

I patiently waited another few weeks and then I called Nationwide again. I was told that Figueroa was having difficulties finding a driver to bring our belongings to Iowa. In the meantime, I had the phone number from the driver Figueroa had employed for the move. He told me that Figueroa wouldn't pay him, so he left our possessions in Los Angeles (I knew where the items were...air tags). He placed our belongings in a storage unit...a Public Storage facility.

While Nationwide was trying to solve the problem with Figueroa, I had to pay $250 for three months for our possessions to be stored in Los Angeles. I didn't want to see them on "Storage Wars". Figueroa soon was out of the picture because they went out of business...go figure.

Nationwide sent a letter to me and approximately 30 other people that were in the same situation saying, "that since they didn't know where our belongings were, that we would have to find someone on our own to pick up and deliver our possessions." I quickly informed Nationwide that I knew exactly where our possessions were, and I expected them to complete our contract.

Nationwide said they would attempt to find another mover to pick up and deliver our possessions. Nationwide then informed me that they could not find anyone that would perform the move and they reimbursed me 1/3 of the contracted amount. The reason it was 1/3 of the contract is...When you sign the contract you pay 1/3 of the cost to Nationwide. You pay 1/3 of the cost to the mover at pick up and 1/3 of the cost to the mover at delivery. So I had only paid 1/3 of the money to Nationwide and 1/3 to Figueroa. I got nothing from Figueroa.

I ended up hiring a reputable moving company from our hometown in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Two Men and a Truck, and they drove to Los Angeles, picked up our belongings, and delivered them within a week. It was very expensive, but worth every penny to get our possessions where they belonged.

Bottom line:

DO NOT USE NATIONWIDE...DO NOT USE A BROKER, PERIOD.

PAY THE MONEY TO HAVE A REPUTABLE MOVING COMPANY MOVE YOUR POSSESSIONS.

THE BROKER REALLY DOESN'T KNOW THE MOVERS THEY ARE USING! NATIONWIDE DIDN'T.

ALWAYS USE AIR TAGS SO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BELONGINGS ARE! IF I HADN'T USED THE AIR TAGS, I WOULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN OUR POSSESSIONS BACK!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4795

The initial phone call went great, I told him about how many boxes and things i needed to move. I was giving an amount of approx. 286 cubic feet of space on the truck...what that means, no idea. I was told that what i described would fit perfectly and there would be room for a bit more. Turns out i had to leave stuff behind, only got 256 square feet, and it cost $500 more than the price quoted. They said i had 94 square feet more than allowed..how they figured it out, no idea. I will say the customer service from them was excellent, but the service of what i got was horrible. A tip to the company....please explain what 256 square feet means in a truck (its only one layer of stuff in the back of the truck...not very much for the price you pay really). And they are a broker....things will always go wrong when they say one thing, the the people who move say another thing. I can only hope that it will be delivered on the day they put down for me to deliver it. All in all a VERY disappointing experience.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $2700