A Pittsburgh-area family said their out-of-state move became a giant headache. Here's their warning.

CBS News

6 days ago

A Fayette County family is sending a warning message to others who may be looking to move out of the state.
Ashley Krzysiak recently moved from Uniontown to Florida and hired Don Farr Moving and Storage out of West Mifflin to pack up, load and haul her and her in-laws' belongings.
"Upon the estimate, we had both homes looked at by a gentleman named Nick. He came through to inventory both homes. My home, at the moment, wasn't boxed up yet. It was just the physical items in each room. My in-laws' home was almost fully boxed up. So, inadvertently, through the inventory process, we got the quote. We settled on Don Farr. We were a go. We were excited," Ashley Krzysiak said.
Krzysiak said she was quoted $18,088 for the move. She paid in full before delivery.
"We provided a $5,000 deposit to book the move there. I don't remember the specific date, but you had to have a $5,000 deposit. We did that, and then the remainder, they required the full moving cost before they showed up, which was bothersome to us. But again, we are trying to withhold our end of the agreement. We didn't think anything of it," Krzysiak said.
She said the movers showed up on July 14. By the afternoon, she said it was clear not everything from both homes would fit into one truck.
"The decision was made to bring in a second truck," Krzysiak said. "So, the next morning, they went to my in-laws and brought that truck, filled it up to capacity, and then brought in an Enterprise rent-a-truck to pick up the overflow. It was explained to us by Don Farr's team that truck was going to be brought back to the warehouse, that second truck was going to be offloaded off of the Enterprise rent-a-truck and then onloaded to a Don Farr moving truck, which was subsequently going to follow our first truck to Florida."
On the day of delivery, July 19, Krzysiak said only one truck showed up.
"When that second truck never showed, that was a huge surprise because here we're anticipating furniture, clothing, items that they needed, that we needed, and really was my in-laws whose truck was missing," Krzysiak said.
Krzysiak said she immediately worked to get in touch with Don Farr Moving and Storage for answers.
"The only communication that we had with Don Farr from the moment the truck pulled away from Pennsylvania 'till the arrival on the 19th in Florida was on Friday the 18th, when we received a phone call looking for more money because they said the truck was 3,000 pounds overweight," Krzysiak said. "When we got the phone call on Friday the 18th, it was basically, 'you're 3000 pounds overweight, pay $2,000 or we're not delivering on Saturday.' So, that was a huge red flag for us."
Krzysiak said they came to an agreement to split the difference and settled on paying an extra $900. Krzysiak said she wasn't hearing back from the company and decided to take her concerns to social media.
"I had to, unfortunately, take the matters into my own hands and utilize social media to try to gain some traction, to try to get their attention because we weren't getting anywhere by communicating," Krzysiak said.
"The post specifically said, 'Hey, we're missing an entire truck. My father-in-law is on a mattress on the ground' and instead of problem solving and saying, 'Hey, here's where the truck whereabouts are. Here's where your items are. Here's where, when we can deliver immediately,' it was, 'We can possibly get to you by the 31st,' and they were appalled that we would allow him to sleep on the floor, as if that was our intention, or are we were in control of that," Krzysiak said.
Krzysiak said Don Farr Moving and Storage then offered to purchase and deliver the family a bedframe.
In an email shared with KDKA-TV, the claims department with Don Farr Moving and Storage said, "I would like to have a replacement bed frame delivered to your residence today, if possible." The email went onto say, "While I know there may be other concerns from your relocation, I hope this step can offer a bit of comfort and be resolved quickly with your cooperation."
"This wasn't a matter of a missing bed frame. This was a matter of an entire truck missing," Krzysiak said.
She said the company then blocked her on social media.
On July 24, she said the company called with a tentative plan to deliver the second truck on July 31 and offered her a $2,500 refund.
"The contingency was if I would sign a non-disclosure, take the post down because it's not a good look on their company. And then that would be the only way that they would consider any type of reimbursement for the family beyond the initial small 10% off," Krzysiak said. "A refund with a silence offer."
Krzysiak said they denied the refund.
"The operations manager, his name is James, reached out to us, and he was polite and respectful and really came from an angle of wanting to problem solve. But the problem solve was offering a small refund out of good faith, just for the inconvenience, and this was prior to having a date for when the second truck actually was going to come and before the second truck even came to know how poor of a condition those items arrived in. So, I declined that initial offer of that small refund," Krzysiak said.
She said after that, conversations about when a truck driver was available to drive the second truck down continued.
"The power of social media, you know, did its thing, thank goodness. So, when we finally got a response that was probably within 24 hours of that initial offer, they had a driver that was freed up. That driver was to leave, I believe it was either Thursday or Friday, but the arrival date was just this past Sunday, the 27th," Krzysiak said.
The truck arrived on Sunday, July 27, but Krzysiak said matters only got worse.
"I was really hopeful that that truck was going to come on Sunday and it was going to be a redemption moment," Krzysiak said. "When that truck arrived and it opened up, we kind of gasped. Every piece of furniture, the boxes, were completely smashed. Whether they were marked fragile or not, it didn't matter. And it just kind of got more and more heartbreaking as the truck continued to get offloaded."
She said she took pictures of all the items damaged and sent them to Don Farr Moving and Storage, and posted the latest update on the move to her social media.
"The communication is pretty much nonexistent at this point because they continue to say, because I continue to take to social media, that they are no longer willing to speak to me," Krzysiak said.
Krzysiak said that after the second truck was unloaded, she began to review the inventory paperwork from the company and found that a washer and dryer that weren't theirs were loaded on the truck.
"Both of our homes, we have washers and dryers in them, and we left our washers and dryers in Pennsylvania. So, I'm not sure what else was on the truck that was not ours. And I don't know specifically because I didn't physically look in the truck, because I, again, was trustful of the company, that that was something that they had integrity, and there was not going to be a surprise. But lo and behold, it turns out, there were other families' belongings on the truck that shouldn't have been there," Krzysiak said.
KDKA-TV reached out to Don Farr Moving and Storage to learn more about what happened.
According to the owner's son, David Fix, "The Krzysiak's signed contract listed approximately 405 items to be moved. However, upon commencement of the move approximately 850 items were ultimately shipped—more than double the estimated volume. Despite this, our goal remained the same to deliver all the customer's belongings efficiently and securely."
Fix went on to say that due to the unexpected "volume discrepancy," a second truck was needed.
"Don Farr Moving negotiated a discounted rate of right around a 10% increase to accommodate the customer and complete the move despite the workload doubling in size," Fix said. "We offered that reduced increase as a gesture of goodwill, knowing it was a frustrating situation and wanting to make it a little easier on the customer."
KDKA-TV asked Fix if it is standard policy to offer to buy and deliver an item for a customer who is waiting for their delivery, referring to the bedframe.
"The customer posted on social media the evening of July 21st, stating a bedframe was missing. Don Farr Moving responded quickly and offered to buy and have a bedframe delivered on July 22nd, which the customer declined. It should be noted that Don Farr Moving had already delivered several beds on the July 19th offload. Concerns about damage were also reported at that time. Our in-house claims department was immediately notified & sent claims paperwork to the customer & explained the claims process. We additionally placed our own insurance provider on notice at that time," Fix said.
Fix went on to say that is not something they typically do, "but we offered it in good faith just to help make the situation right."
KDKA-TV then asked if it is typical to add another customer's items to a truck for another delivery, and why a washer and dryer were on the truck.
"The Krzysiak move was conducted on a consolidated route, which is common practice in the moving industry. Each shipment is inventoried, labeled, and separated. In this case, the only additional items on the truck were a rug and legs to a café table that were part of a separate delivery for a U.S. service member in Alabama, scheduled for delivery on the return leg of the trip," Fix said.
Fix went on to say, "We recognize that this situation did not meet ours or the customer's expectations and are committed to working in good faith to bring it to a fair resolution. Don Farr Moving & Storage has served the Pittsburgh community and beyond for decades, and we remain focused on delivering quality, reliable moving services."
"My hopes, obviously, are that we can share awareness of the situation so we can ensure that something like this doesn't occur again. Also, just to make sure that we're rightfully compensated," Krzysiak said. "I absolutely want this to just go away, as much as anyone else does. But the reality is that there's been a lot of wrongdoing, a lot of lack of communication, damage to items, breach of contracts."
Krzysiak said her family is now working with an insurance provider and has not heard from the owners of the company since.
If you're planning a move, you do have rights. In fact, the federal government launched a campaign back in 2019 to help protect customers when moving from state to state. More can be found online.
In this case, the Krzysiaks say they have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.