Posts Tagged my life

Update on our horrible moving experience. Transamerica Moving Inc. receives ‘F’ from Better Business Bureau, accreditation revoked.

July 4, 2008 at 3:05 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

To read the most recent update on this situation, please visit my new blog at http://www.adambohannon.org/blog/update-on-our-horrible-moving-experience-transamerica-moving-inc-receives-f-from-better-business-bureau-accreditation-revoked/

There are many, many more terrible stories about negligence and intimidation by Transamerica Moving from extremely unhappy customers that you may read yourself, many of which are seeking recompense for their troubles.  Transamerica has also been posting fraudulent comments in order to try to persuade readers.  The IP addresses of these comments have been revealed below for all to see, which further undermines Transamerica’s attempt to prevent the onslaught of negative feedback that their negligent business practices are generating.  Action is being taken.  If you have fallen victim to Transamerica Moving, please share your story on my blog and/or get in contact with me at abohannon28@gmail.com.  You are certainly not alone.


**UPDATE AS OF 7/09/08 – The rest of our stuff still has not arrived and, upon calling Transamerica Moving Inc. to inquire about the status of their arrival, Transamerica has REFUSED to deliver the rest of our stuff because their negligent business practices that inspired us to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau resulted in the revoking of their license.  They told us they refused to deliver the rest of our property until we wrote a letter of apology to the BBB (which, to my knowledge, is illegal).  According to Transamerica, we filed a fraudulent claim regarding my stolen belongings, which, I guess, legitimizes their decision to break contract and refuse to deliver the rest of our stuff.  The case report # for the theft is listed below and the responding officer’s card is still in my wallet (his name is Halladay).  Now, Transamerica is telling us we will need to hire another company to pick up our stuff (which, not suprisingly, is still in Denver).  I am astonished Transamerica Moving Inc. is still in business.

As many of you know, recently we had a less than pleasant experience with Transamerica Moving Inc. To recapitulate, they:

Were 2 days late arriving at our residence in Colorado.  They were also 3 days late getting our stuff to our final destination in San Diego.

Failed to fit all our stuff in a 26 ft truck, though we were independently quoted a weight and size that would have no problem fitting in a truck of that size.  What’s more, when my brother and I recently had to move all the stuff from a storage unit into a temporary rental here in San Diego we were surprisingly able to fit everything in a truck the same size.  We even had room to spare.

Lied to us regarding a drop the movers made at a distant storage unit in Denver.  They claimed there was another person’s stuff on the truck and that was the reason they couldn’t fit everything.  Supposedly they had dropped this person’s stuff off so they could fit the rest of our stuff.  However, upon asking the movers themselves about the other person’s stuff once they returned, they informed us that they had unloaded our stuff, NOT someone else’s and that there wasn’t anyone else’s stuff on the truck besides ours to begin with.

Stole from me. The movers they hired stole an envelope containing $400 dollars in cash (in an envelope that has”Country Club Bank” printed on it), my iPod nano (green), and my digital camera (Canon Powershot) with a 2GB memory card inside with thousands of pictures from my recent backpacking trip in South America.  I contacted the Westminster police dept. but I don’t expect anything to come of it.  My case report # is 2008-06378.  Once we were in San Diego and the movers met us at the storage unit to unload our stuff, one of the movers, John David, was missing  When we asked Carlos, obviously the primary employee, where John David was he informed us that he had failed to come to work that morning.  He further informed us that he had originally picked up John David on the corner of a Home Depot where he was living out of his car.  He thought he’d give the guy a chance to make some money, he said.  The guy Carlos brought to help him unload that day was originally from Mazatlan and spoke little English.  I asked him where John David was and after smirking, subtly laughing, and asking why I wanted to know he told me John David had taken another job in Canada.  What this means, I have no idea.  The two stories about John David’s disappearance were interesting, nonetheless, and made me question who actually stole my belongings.

Continuously failed to return our phone calls. After frequently promising they would get back to us ASAP, our calls were returned only a few times and never in a timely fashion.

Overcharged us. They told us our hardships were “to be expected” and refused to dock any more than $200 and the 3% credit card fee, a total discount of approx. $326 off of a $4,200 move fraught with problems and frankly unprofessional business behavior.

Have still failed to deliver the remainder of our belongings, as of 7/3/08. The items that were supposedly someone else’s but which turned out to actually be ours are still somewhere between Denver and San Diego, if not still in Denver.  They were supposed to deliver the items 3 weeks ago, a week following our arrival in San Diego, but have at this time failed to do so.  Also, they haven’t returned our calls regarding the status of our remaining items.  On June 20th we called and were told our stuff was going to be picked up and then delivered on the Monday of June 23rd.  It was not.  We called on Thursday, June 26 and left a message that has yet to be returned.

After filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Transamerica responded saying they were “amazed and disgusted” by our dishonesty regarding the theft and proceeded to tenuously refute our complaint.

As of 6/18/08, Transamerica Moving Inc. in Carlsbad, CA had its BBB accreditation revoked.  It’s Van Nuys location in LA also has received a rating of ‘F’, the BBB’s lowest rating.  As an explanation, the BBB writes on their website that an ‘F’ rating means

We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.

I wanted to post this experience for anyone who’s planning a move in the near future.  I do not wish the frustration, stress, and expense caused to us by this horrible experience on anyone else.  I advise you not to use Transamerica Moving Inc.

We expressed our frustration to the officer who responded to our call about the theft and he sympathized with our troubles.  He told us how his brother had recently moved to Las Vegas and the company responsible for his move had lost the container with his belongings, which consisted of many perishable items, at a warehouse in the city.  The perishable items either melted or rotted and it took them 6 weeks to recover the lost container.  After sharing in each other’s amazement and amusement at such negligent business practice we warned him about Transamerica.  The look on his face was priceless.  “Transamerica?  No way.  That’s the same company my brother used!”

BBB’s rating of Transamerica’s Carlsbad office

BBB’s rating of Transamerica’s Van Nuy’s office

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Yesterday: cycling and participant observation

June 8, 2008 at 5:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

Yesterday afternoon my brother and I went on an hour-long bike ride along the San Diego coast. The weather was amazing and the view from Coast Hwy is remarkable, especially near the Carlsbad area. Since this was my first time riding in dense traffic on a road bike and this is something I have never shared with my brother (nor my father) I felt I should reflect on the experience. Both my brother and my father are triathletes and they have been since I was young. I never got into doing triathlons, but I have always been a runner, starting young and continuing until now. As a competitor I stopped running track after high school, but I still enjoy going for a run now and then to clear the cob-webs from my head. They have always tried to talk me into doing a triathlon, but I’ve always denied – not enough time to train and frankly it’s something I’m not very interested in (doing myself, that is).

I have, for a couple years, wanted to get into cycling (or at least try it out). So yesterday my brother decided to take me out on a ride (complete with the sponsor covered spandex and speedy looking helmet). I thought this was a great opportunity to see what all the hype was about. Both my brother and father are very active in the triathlon subculture. When I visit my father in Overland Park, him and I usually hang out with his triathlon buddies (which consists of me listening to them talk about their training and upcoming races). I had pondered a few years ago doing an ethnography of their group as they trained and subsequently participated in an Ironman, of which my father along with multiple of his friends have done many all over the country. They certainly are a different breed. They have all the qualities that we anthropologists like to attribute to a “culture” – seemingly religious concern with physical wellness and personal achievement, camaraderie among fellow triathletes (in Overland Park they have a tight-knit group called “KC Multisport”), and frequent rituals (training and races) that serve to reinforce their beliefs and further define their community. So keeping all this in mind I accompanied my brother on a bike ride to gain a kernel of insight into one piece of the triathlon lifestyle.

After an initial learning curve, we were off (the funky handle bars and tiny peddles are a pain to get used to). The Encinitas/Leucadia/Carlsbad/Oceanside area pretty much has bike lanes every where you go which is super-convenient. We started pretty slow, getting passed by fellow bikers along the way (who always seemed to acknowledge our presence). My brother explained to me I should shift gears frequently in order to keep the same cadence in my legs the entire time. He also explained to me the correct positioning of my body which KILLED my perineum as well as the pad’s of my hands. Aside from the initial pain the whole experience was really enjoyable. When the bike lane eventually widened we rode side-by-side and talked about our recent move to SD, among other things. It was exhilarating to be coasting along with the cars, taking in the scenery around me, and doing it all on my own two legs. When we decided to turn around and head back we had a bit of a head wind which made the ride a little more difficult but just enough not to be impossible for my first ride. Indeed, my legs were numb when we finally got back, but it felt great. The endorphins were surging through my brain putting me in a state of mild bliss and the sense of personal accomplishment after riding 12 miles on my own two legs was satisfying.

Since I can work from home (if I ever get *absolute* confirmation that I can start working) I’m going to try and stay active, possibly through cycling. If that doesn’t work out I will fall back to my staple of running. My brother really seemed to enjoy the whole experience (as I would have expected – he’s been doing it for a long time). We stopped briefly along the way to take in the ocean and watch a few surfers who were hanging out with 4 or 5 dolphins that were riding the tide in. He told me that’s one of the reasons he loves riding, especially in the mountains or some place with beautiful scenery. You never know what you’re going to see. I couldn’t agree more… the ride yesterday was a lot of fun and I hope to continue my participant observation soon.

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Finally made it to San Diego (after a stressful move and being robbed)

June 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

I don’t even know where to start.  Our move to San Diego was so exhausting I don’t have the energy to write it all out so I will try to summarize.  It all started with the moving company (Transamerica) consistently telling us they would call us back regarding the the status of our move and consistently breaking that promise.  We were forced to return our own phone calls only to get the message that the person we wanted to talk to had “stepped out of the office” or “was busy at the moment” when that same person told us hours before they would call us “right back.”  We were told our movers would show up on Wednesday (the 28th) but they didn’t show up until Thursday.  We were also told they would show up in the morning around 10 since we had plans for that evening (and my brother had plans to take his girlfriend out for their anniversary).  They didn’t show up until 4 o’clock which set everything back.  When the movers were finally almost done (they worked their butts off getting all the stuff in the truck) they couldn’t fit the washer and drier, the patio table, or the treadmill in the truck.  They claimed they hadn’t known about it.  However, a week before someone came out and documented all my brother’s belongings and gave him a weight estimate.  The movers had this list and the washer and drier, table, and treadmill were on it.  The movers informed me they were going to go weigh the truck and call my brother after the weigh (he and his g/f were already at dinner while I stayed back to keep an eye on the movers).  They left, but never called him.

The next morning I am going through a couple of my bags upstairs (I had flown out Thursday morning) and noticed an envelope full of money ($400 to be exact) missing from my backpack.  What was odd was another envelope full of checks in the same zipped pocket was still there.  I had just recently closed my bank account because I was moving and was going to deposit the checks and some of the cash that day at another bank.  Since it would take a while for me to receive my debit card, I needed the cash to spend on food.  What was also odd was that I had sealed the envelope with the checks in it and it had been slightly opened, just enough to see inside.  I looked and looked but couldn’t find the other envelope.  If it had fallen out (which I highly doubt, if you see the pocket you’d know why) then why didn’t the other envelope go with it?  I then look in the main pocket of my backpack and realize my green iPod nano is missing as well!  I had placed it in the main area of my backpack when my plane landed and we were getting off.  Realizing that the only people who had been in that room were the movers….

We contacted Transamerica and the police (as well as the Better Business Bureau and a lawyer), but nothing was going to come of it.  My stuff was gone, Transamerica didn’t care, and the movers weren’t going to confess.  Our main worry at that moment was the status of my brother’s stuff.  Everything my brother owned was in the truck that the alleged thieves were driving.  Had we been robbed entirely?? My brother called Transamerica to complain about the stuff the movers had left behind and they claim that there was someone else’s stuff on the truck and that the movers had dropped the stuff off at a storage unit about an hour away and were on their way back to pick up the rest of the stuff.

Upon their return my brother asks them about the stuff they unloaded.  Evidently, according to Carlos, one of the movers, they had unloaded my brother’s stuff, not someone else’s.  There wasn’t anyone else’s stuff on the truck besides his.  So my brother calls Transamerica back (gets a message machine) and complains once more about being lied to and wanting to know how they planned to get the rest of his stuff to San Diego by Sunday (it’s Tuesday now and the mover’s still aren’t here and Transamerica has yet to call back).  I also confronted them about my money and iPod which they denied taking (of course).  I gave them the opportunity to place it back with all the stuff so I could find it later.  I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but this situation was like seeing a mess in the kitchen that’s not yours and your roommate denying it’s his when it is only you two living together.  I ultimately called the cops and gave them as much information as I could about the two movers, the truck they were driving, etc. but I think the cops have better things to worry about than my lost $400 and iPod nano.

So we are now in San Diego.  The house isn’t ready yet and probably won’t be ready for another few weeks (it was supposed to be ready on Sunday).  We’ve had to bounce around from hotel to hotel with my brother’s dog and my cat (she probably hates me… I’m such a terrible owner for making her go through this).  It’s been one crazy, long weekend!  But the weather is great and we are finally in a stationary place where we will be for another week before moving into a temporary rental property (hopefully).  Our real estate agent Libby is amazing.  She’s been so helpful in getting us situated and making sure we don’t lose our heads.  She’s even trying to find me a place of my own on top of helping my brother and his g/f with their place.

I’m probably leaving out a bunch of details – so many things have gone wrong that I can’t even be angry.  It’s actually at the point where it’s amusing to see.  Such a “civilized” society with so many inefficiencies and errors.  Guess it helps keep me grounded.  Libby said something really enlightening yesterday.  She said she felt like when things keep going wrong it was God/the universe/higher power/whatever reminding you that you’re still on the planet, just in case you’d forgot.

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Rapid changes: moving, goodbyes, and job decisions

May 28, 2008 at 10:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

Haven’t blogged for a while.  Things have been moving incredibly fast since graduation.  On top of moving all my stuff from my apartment in Manhattan to my Dad’s house in Overland Park, I had to say my last goodbyes (one of which was my g/f who I won’t see for possibly 2 years – wasn’t easy), work on a project for one of my professors (we are creating a video tribute to the late anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis which will be screened at Oxford in June and hopefully the AAA meeting in San Francisco in November), and juggle multiple internship/job offers.  I won’t go into too much detail about every offer I received, but I will say I ultimately landed an internship with Sun Microsystems.  I’m not completely sure what I will be doing aside from researching how to leverage internet media for educational purposes as well as working with Second Life, so look forward to me blogging a lot about such things.  I’m very excited to get started, as I can work remotely and set my own hours (could be dangerous, I work all the time).  Since I can work from home I decided not to stay in Kansas City but to get out of pocket and head to San Diego with my brother.  He just got a place in Oceanside a few blocks from the beach (he got a new job as well).  This Thursday I fly to Denver, where he lives now, then Friday through Sunday we are going to drive to Moab, Vegas, and finally San Diego.  Should be a nice little road trip.  If anyone knows of some cool places to see along the way, I’d be delighted to hear about them.  I will make sure to take some pictures and post them later.  Anyways, that’s it for now.  Life is a little up in the air at the moment.  Will get back to blogging regularly when everything settles down and my feet are on the ground again.

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Post-graduation excitement, ambiguity

May 18, 2008 at 1:53 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

Today was the big day. This morning me and many of my friends graduated from K-state. If I had to sum up how I feel right now I’d have to say light. I’ve felt so heavy with obligations and deadlines for the longest time that now that all that is gone (sorta) I actually feel lighter. What the hell am I going to do with myself!? I had a hell of a time modifying my website… I couldn’t decide how I wanted to describe myself. What am I now that I’m not formally a student? It’s interesting in and of itself that when asked to describe or introduce ourselves we always begin with our name followed by “and I am” (usually a noun). This is sort of misleading since we are multiple things at once, and these things are never constant. At that moment when we are saying “I am a student,” we are saying what we think is appropriate and important for that context, leaving out all the other roles we play that aren’t necessarily relevant. Obviously, I’m not making an argument here. I know it is more efficient from a cognitive standpoint to summarize yourself into an easy-to-comprehend package so others can frame you in a particular way in order to understand “you.” But which role do I hold to be the most important? That was the tough question. The environment around me no longer defines who I am (campus, K-State, class, my professors, etc). As you can see, I decided to stick with “student.” I think I’ll always stick with that. At the moment it works since I’m planning to continue my education in the near future, but besides being a formal student, I think I am a Student (as we all are) in that I enjoy studying pretty much anything as well as learning from others and the world around me.

So, here’s to always being a Student. :-)

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Whoa, I’m on Google Maps

May 13, 2008 at 12:04 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

I know a little while ago I blogged about how cool I thought Google Maps street view was, but I think it just got a little too close to home. Check out this image my brother pointed out to me. That’s my truck sitting in my Dad’s driveway back home. It must have been taken very recently because prior to a few weeks ago I hadn’t been back home with my truck in a while. I don’t remember seeing the Google mobile anywhere on my street, but evidently it was lurking! Creepy!

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My lady-friend is headed to Hawaii!

May 3, 2008 at 3:38 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

She was accepted to Teach For America after an arduous interviewing process and today she accepted her position in a rural area outside of Honolulu.  She will be gone for two years teaching special ed.  Congrats to her!  She’s very excited and I’m confident she will do an amazing job.  It will be sad to see her go.  I’m staying mainland to look for a job here in Kansas.  I can’t wait to hear about her experiences.  Maybe I can convince her to start a blog ;-)

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