Welcome to Wheaton Van Line Complaint Home Page

This Web site tells of a moving company scam and is designed to help others from being treated this way or taken in by this scam.

The Problem

I have had a bad experience with Wheaton Van Lines. In an effort to let others know about my experience I have posted a complaint at the following url: www.TheSqueakyWheel.com
Please forward this complaint to as many people as you know. Wheaton will receive an e-mail each time someone views our complaint. Please help us to SPREAD THE WORD in hopes that no-one else will be taken advantage of by this company.
Thanks for your support.
Yours truly,
Mark and Martha Friedl

The Complaint

February 5,2002


To whom it may concern:

We are writing this letter today in an effort to make consumers aware of how wrong we were treated by this moving company. After getting estimates from seven different moving companies, we believed Wheaton Worldwide Moving Company,(Wheaton Van Lines),was our best possible choice, after all, their promise reads as follows "We are committed to total customer satisfaction...and to treating everyone who comes in contact with Wheaton Van lines honestly, fairly and professionally". They should specify that the promise above applies only if you do not end up filing a claim, because that is when our nightmare began.

On September 13, 2001, Wheaton Van Lines delivered our belongings, that same evening after doing some unpacking I realized some items were missing, I immediately notified our moving consultant, Mr. Leo Kostka and informed him about the missing items, he told me to call the main office and to report it, but when I called, that department had already closed. On September 14,'2001, I contacted the main office, they told me they were going to do a tracer, and that they would be contacting me back as soon as they got some news. A month later I contacted them again, they told me that the tracer investigation takes 60 days. On November 16, '01 I contacted them again, they told me that they had been unable to find my items and for me to go ahead and file a claim by listing all the items that were missing and to go out and "shop" the prices of each missing or damaged item and to list each item and price for the claim and to make sure I sent copies of any receipts that I may have for those items. On November 27,2001, I faxed the claim and a week later, I received a postcard from Wheaton acknowledging that they had received my claim and that it would be processed "as quickly as possible". In December,2001, I contacted Wheaton's main office again to inquire about my claim, someone named Veronica told me that the person who had been handling my claim was no longer working for the company, and that my claim would now be handled by Pat Campbell. As the Holidays were approaching, I started to get anxious because most of my dishes were still missing, so I contacted Ms. Campbell. I left several messages in Ms. Campbells' voice mail but she never returned my phone calls, so I decided to fax her a letter expressing my concern over the missing items. She finally called me and told me that my claim was going to take a while because there were "several claims ahead of mine".

On Saturday, January,13, 2001, we received a letter from Kathy Kendall, Director, Claims & Consumer affairs for Wheaton Van lines, stating that our claim was denied because according to them everything was accounted for at the time of delivery. Apparently, Ms. Kendall is unaware of the way the people unloading the truck operate, they told me, "once we put a box down, we don't pick it back up, so make sure that is where you want it" and he murmured something under his breath. I was baffled at the way these people had snapped at me, so I just tried to keep up with their pace to make sure they set down our items in the right place. I noticed several small boxes that were not labeled and opened so I told them to put them in a separate stack. When the driver came in I told him about it, he told me that the packers in California must not have done their job too well, but that all he made sure of was that these boxes were put in his truck. Wheaton's driver never suggested for me to open every single box and count the items inside to make sure everything was accounted for. As a matter of fact when he saw me hesitant to sign the papers, he told me that he had made sure everything had arrived intact because even though I purchased insurance, he was responsible for the first .00 of a claim. Our moving consultant, Leo Kostka suggested we purchase Wheaton's best insurance coverage, the full value replacement insurance, for "peace of mind",and we did, but we were unaware that we had to open every single box and account for every item prior to signing the release form.

Here is a few items from our list that are missing, potato peeler .00, spoon rest .00, kitchen towels .00, Corelle plates set (8) .00, oven proof corning ware set .00, microwave .00 and the list goes on adding up to the amount of .82. These are just normal things that are needed in any kitchen. As I told Ms. Kendall when I spoke to her "we are not trying to get rich out of this claim, we are just trying to replace what they lost". There was no way for me to know all those things were missing as I have the microwave rotating plate but no microwave, casserole dish glass covers but no dishes, deep fryer basket but not the cylinder, my cuisinart blender motor but no glass jar, cylinder for my cuisinart ice cream maker but no machine, and my mother's in law remote control for her 13" TV which also ended up missing. I begged Ms. Kendall to send someone here (anytime) to investigate, that way they could see that my items are not here, she refused and stated that no-one from her company was coming to my home because Wheaton had not lost anything. I vividly remember my son asking for popcorn when we had just moved in and my husband taking him to the convenience store around the corner and asking to use their store microwave.

What's the point of purchasing Wheatons' insurance if they are only going to deny any claims against them?
Why do the Wheaton drivers pressure people into signing the release forms before they've had a chance to check the shipment to ensure that everything is accounted for?
Everything at delivery was rush, rush, rush, and when they had completed unloading the truck and I hesitated about signing the delivery papers, the driver said "Don't worry so much, you're all right, your son's all right, that's all that matters". I believe they try to sell you all of this insurance and then pressure people into unknowingly signing the delivery forms as a scam to make extra money and then cover themselves from having to pay on claims.It's all a big rip-off!

Mark and Martha Friedl
Midlothian, VA. 23113
FriedlThree@aol.com


Order No: 0473-1994
Wheaton World Wide Moving
Wheaton Van Lines, Inc.
8010 Castleton Road
Indianapolis, IN 46250
(317) 849-7900
(800) 248-4810

Your Support

Please Show Your Support By Visiting The Squeaky Wheel Website by clicking the link to the right or contacting Wheaton Worldwide at their toll free number above or by e-mail below.

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ARE YOU TIRED OF BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF?
So Are We!!! That's why we are starting this webpage and enlisting your help to fight back!!!
Together, we hope to stop big companies from taking advantage of the little guys.
We paid for a service and for "FULL VALUE REPLACEMENT COVERAGE", now we just want our lost / missing stuff replaced.

If You Have Been Taken Advantage Of By Someone or By A Company, List Your Complaint at The Squeaky Wheel and You May Very Well Be On Your Way To A Satisfactory Solution To Your Problem. It's Quick and Easy and IT WORKS !!!
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