A U.S. Navy veteran who tried moving his belongings last year said most of his items were still missing after dealing with a moving company, KING 5 reports.
Joseph Samuels is a Coupeville, Washington resident who worked at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station for 15 years. He told reporters his cross-country move became a nightmare after he hired Northwest Relocation, a moving company based in Portland. The movers were supposed to deliver 75 boxes filled with household items and valuables to Georgia and Alabama in November 2020.
Only 23 boxes arrived late by that following winter, Samuels claims. On top of that, some of the items were allegedly broken or damaged.
"The lamp broke, my grandfather clock; the glass is broken on two sides of it," the 71-year-old vet says. "It was just a mess... I'm not happy at all with the way this went."
What makes the situation worse is that Samuels says he signed a waiver section of the paperwork that makes it difficult to get his belongings back.
"My lawyer told me, she said you know with the paper that you signed, you're not going to be able to get anything back with the simple fact that it would cost you more to try to retrieve yourself in what you signed," he explained.
KING 5 looked into the Northwest Relocation and found their profile on the Better Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. According to their page, they're not accredited by the BBB and they have an "F" grade.
Ben Spradling, who's with the BBB based in Tacoma, says moving-related problems and scams happen more during the summer and spring months.
A Sammamish woman experienced a similar problem recently after her belongings have been missing for months.