Call Kurtis: Complaints Against Moving Companies On The Rise During California Exodus

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — With more and more people packing up and leaving California, many are describing moves from hell. And when one Sacramento woman had problems with her moving company, she decided to call Kurtis.

Carmen Zavala moved from Sacramento to just outside of Las Vegas, last December. She used a local company called Spartan Van Lines. She says the whole move cost $13,000 and to her horror, she found vases smashed, glass lampshades were broken and a piano delivered three weeks late.

"I pay all of this money, all of my savings," said Carmen. "I have all of this money saved for them to just destroy my furniture, my things that I cannot even replace?"

We looked into the company and found that several other customers have complained to the Better Business Bureau about Spartan Van Lines over the last year. Complaints like "most of our furniture was damaged or destroyed," and "movers moved around 40 boxes in total. Out of those, six were missing."

CBS13 reached out to the company to try and get some answers. A spokesperson for Spartan Van Lines blames a truck shortage for some of the problems, and says in some cases, people packed their own things poorly.

The spokesperson added that they are working to resolve complaints, offering more than the contract allows. But responses on the Better Business Bureau's website say that many were not satisfied with the offer.

After hearing from Carmen, and with reports of a California exodus, we wondered if moving company complaints are on the rise.

Turns out, they are. According to the state regulator for the moving industry, The Bureau of Household Goods and Services, yes. We asked for their numbers and found out that complaints reported last year more than doubled from the previous.

And this year is already on track to beat last year's numbers.

After we reached out to Spartan Van Lines, they agreed to start processing Carmen's claim.