TEMPLE, Texas — James Davoust looked forward to retiring in a south Temple neighborhood. He hired RoadRunner Moving to move his belongings from Washington to Texas and selected a "First available delivery date" of November 4.
RoadRunning Moving didn't show up on November 4, or during the three weeks since. Tired of waiting and getting no explanation from the company as to when his items would arrive, Davoust called 6 News.
"I can't get any straight answers from anybody," Davoust said. "All I've had over the last couple of weeks is, 'We don't have a driver' or, 'We are trying to assign a driver,' or 'We don't have an ETA.' The same song and dance for two weeks."
The items were loaded up from Davoust's Washington apartment on October 27. He selected a "First available delivery date" of November 4. Instead of getting his items on the 4, he got a call from the company that claimed the personal check he had used to pay for the service had bounced. Davoust said he checked with his bank and it had not bounced at all.
"I had to call USAA the next day and it took a week to get resolved," Davoust said. "USAA told me the check had cleared and that RoadRunner Moving had been paid. I was able to pull it up on the website."
RoadRunner later told 6 News that Bank of America had rejected the check and they had to redeposit it.
Three weeks after the check confusion, Davoust is still missing his mattress, bed frames, clothes, TVs, tables and many other items. He said he, fortunately, brought enough clothes in a suitcase and was able to get a couch from a relative in the area. He said RoadRunner Moving had still not told him when his items would arrive as of Wednesday. He called every business day since November 4.
After looking at the contract Davoust had with RoadRunner Moving, 6 News found the fine print of the contract that stated the moving company actually had 21 business days from the first selected move-in date to deliver. That deadline will be Wednesday.
6 News contacted RoadRunner Moving multiple times Wednesday and wrote a detailed email that explained Davoust's situation. The company responded Wednesday evening.
"The entire West is experiencing a lot of setbacks due to shutdowns and the pandemic. We explained to Mr. Davoust that we are doing our best to deliver his goods in a timely manner," May Evan with RoadRunner Moving said in the email. "Mr. Davoust’s items are on the truck and will be shipped after Thanksgiving. The ETA may vary, but his load is estimated to arrive by end of next week, assuming unforeseen issues."
RoadRunner Moving notified customers about their difficulty finding drivers on November 6 via email. Davaust said he could not find a response from the company to address his situation directly and had never been given an estimated date until 6 News got involved.
Davaust told 6 News he should have read the fine print more carefully and that company representatives never told him a delivery could take 21 business days from the first day he selected as available.
"If they had told me upfront that it would have been 21 days or a month before you got your stuff, I would have said, 'No way man, I'm outta here!'" Davaust said.
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