Strongly Worded Letter to PODS

October 10. 2015

John Koch

PODS Enterprises

13535 Feather Sound Drive

Clearwater FL 33762

Re: Account xxxxxxxx

I’m writing to complain about the appalling, terrible, incompetent and generally unsatisfactory “service” you provided. Your driver failed to deliver my POD on 10/7/15 as scheduled. I had hired and paid a non-refundable deposit for unloading it. Your driver apparently found the site “unsuitable”. I dispute that. I suspect your driver simply didn’t want to bother and since I was not present I was unable to persuade him by means of a generous tip to do so. This is not merely terrible service. It is a dishonest practice and borders on extortion.

You compounded this incompetence by not timely informing me of this failure to deliver the POD. When your representative Robin finally did so the following day, it was too late for me to cancel the movers I had hired to unload the POD. I assured Robin that even Google Earth can see there is plenty of level space to park the POD and politely asked them to reconsider. Robin said she would pursue the matter with the storage center manager. Robin never called me back.

Knowing that the delivery site was on a hill, I did have some concerns about this site. However, when the POD was delivered to San Diego to be loaded, an even more challenging site was presented. The 16’ POD was backed up my long driveway on a steeper slope with even narrower clearance, and was placed on a level RV-sized spot to be loaded. Accordingly, I believe I was not unreasonable in assuming that while the delivery site is admittedly challenging, the RV-sized level site adjacent to the house is a slightly easier location for a skilled driver to deliver the POD to the final location than it was to deliver it to the pickup location. 

When I called again I spoke to Phil and requested that you reconsider your unilateral and unreasonable decision not to deliver the POD. Phil said he checked with the storage center manager and driver and they insist the site is unsuitable. I have since had a professional mover personally survey the site and he has assured me he will have no trouble parking the 17’ truck I have subsequently rented. He is familiar with the PODS truck systems and says the site is suitable provided the driver is competent.

Further compounding this unreasonable unilateral decision, your practice is apparently to then drop the problem back in the customer’s lap and expect the customer to not only make but to pay for additional expenses incurred in making other arrangements. Phil politely informed me that you are holding my POD hostage in another city and told me that not only am I responsible to empty the POD, but also that you would charge me to store it until I could do so.

I am now therefore done being polite. You should have delivered the POD. You should notified me promptly that there was a problem and given me time to have a real professional travel to the location to discuss with your driver and possibly show him how to do his job. If your driver was unable to perform his job, you should have offered to transport the contents of the POD to my location and put them inside the dwelling. At the very very least, you should have offered to store the contents for an extra month for free. While your representatives were perfectly polite, they were as compassionate and helpful as broken toasters. It is now too late for your company to make this right at your own initiative because I have been forced to make alternative arrangements.

Accordingly, here is what happens next. I will be bringing a competent crew and a truck to the storage center in Sumner on Monday, November 16, 2015 where they will unload the POD into a rented truck. I am giving you timely notice of the remedies I demand on Monday, November 16, 2015 from the Storage Center in Sumner WA:

1.       I will expect to receive a check for a full refund of all fees paid to PODs since you failed to perform the services I contracted for.

2.       I will present you with an invoice for the cost of renting a truck and a crew to unload and move the contents of the POD twice: into the truck at your center and then into my house.

3.       I will expect this to be paid in full for these additional costs in not more than 30 days, although I would prefer to receive a check on November 16 because I have no trust in your company.

It might interest you to know why I am so upset about this situation. I am a 68-year-old woman with heart disease and high stroke risk whose husband died 6 months ago, so you can imagine I have a low tolerance for such unpleasant surprises as the treatment I have received. Thanks to PODs, I have been unable to occupy my home in Burien and have been forced to remain in San Diego and pay 2 mortgages. Furthermore, the additional anxiety and stress your actions have directly caused me can easily be documented by my medical record of consulting with my doctor to adjust my heart and anti-anxiety medications to get me through this ordeal.

If your storage center manager is not prepared to refund my fees and pay my additional expenses on November 16, 2015, please be advised that this will cause me additional damages. In that event, I will pursue all legal remedies available to me including not only an action for compensatory damages for the initial and additional expenses you have caused me (truck rental, moving services, additional living expenses etc.) but also punitive damages for the inconvenience, physical and mental stress and intentional infliction of emotional distress as substantiated by my medical record.

Furthermore, I will avail myself of all social media to tell my story to my friends and ask them to share my experiences with their friends. I have already informed USAA of the facts of this situation and will continue to keep them informed.

You should be ashamed of your employees, your business model and your way of handling avoidable problems to your customers. I am asking you to please do the right thing here.

With all due respect...