Ameli Moving Is Dishonest and Unprofessional
I hired Ameli Moving (amelimoving.com) in October. I was pleased with their website and they seemed reasonably professional over the phone. Boy, was I wrong. Please read on to see just how unprofessional and dishonest they are, just how badly I have have been treated, and exactly why you should avoid them. The short story is that they defrauded me, I sued them, I won, and now they are refusing to pay the judgment.
The Nitty Gritty
I did not want to pay a fortune to move my 2-bedroom apartment so I decided not to go with the very high end of movers - that being Allied. Allied had come in, done an inventory, and had printed out a quote for me. They were extremely professional but I did not want to pay almost $1,000 for a rather simple local move. So I started looking at less expensive movers. Ameli Moving came up in some of my searches. I was impressed by the references they had on their website. They also sounded professional over the phone. I checked their license. It was current (now it says their Household Goods Permit is Suspended). And their prices were very competitive. Their price for a 3-man moving team and a truck sufficient to move us was $89/hr if I paid by credit card. That beat almost everyone else in their class. Most others were in the $120/hr range for 3 movers.
I called Ameli, described what was in our apartment, and asked if they would come out to give me a quote. I was told that they would not come out prior to a move for only a 2-bedroom. While I wasn't entirely happy about that, it did seem to be common in the industry. Only the really high-end companies were offering to come out before the move to do inventories. I described what was in our apartment - including my exercise equipment - and they assured me that it would take a maximum of 6 hours to do the move.
Moving day arrived. I had been packing for days and was exhausted. At 9:20 AM the movers showed up. There were 3 of them: Alex, Alex and Max. They seemed to be nice guys. They were driving a 26-foot truck. They began immediately. The boxes I had piled up were put on dollies and rolled out of the apartment. And the furniture started to disappear. Even the exercise equipment was on its way out. All seemed to be going reasonably well. At around 11:30 AM I was thinking we might be moved in by early to mid-afternoon. Then we encountered a problem!
Alex the foreman came up to my wife and I and told us that the truck was full. He also said that the reason that the truck was full was that someone else's things were in the truck. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Alex sensed my displeasure and said he would not charge me double-time in transit because it was their fault. I was not happy but there was not much that I could do about it at that point. My wife got into her car and led them to our new house - 15 miles away.
Unfortunately the truck they were driving was unbelievably slow. My wife got them on the highway but was then stuck at under 50 miles per hour because the truck simply could not keep up. She called me from the car to tell me that people were gesturing and yelling at her as they went by. But she stayed the course and, almost an hour later, they finally made it to the new place.
I remained in the first apartment, getting the last few things into boxes. I eagerly awaited their return. At 3:00 PM I called my wife. They're not here yet, I say. They left over an hour ago, she responds. I hope they come back, I say.
Luckily I had one of our phones still unpacked and was able to look up the cell number of one of the movers through caller ID. I anxiously called it. No answer. I left a message. Now I was starting to get nervous. We were way behind schedule. And I couldn't contact them. I started thinking of what to do if I didn't hear back from them. Luckily the phone rang. It was Alex. Hello. I got your message. We went for lunch. We'll be there in 15 minutes. It would have been nice for them to have told us they would disappear for over an hour.
At around 5:00 PM the movers once again started getting things into the truck. But they were moving much more slowly. They were outside for long periods of time. And they did not seem to be taking sufficient care of our things. I saw a couple of lamps thrown into open boxes, for example. The move was no longer going smoothly. It now appeared that these movers were just stretching out the move as long as they could and were no longer taking care of our property. They also were no longer so congenial.
At around 10:00 PM they announced that they were done. I went through the apartment, gathered a few things that I saw left behind and then took them down to my car. I met them in the parking lot and told them I'd meet them at the new place. I then went to the leasing office to drop off the key and some paperwork.
I was delayed at the leasing office so once I got on the road I rushed to our new place and quickly emptied my car. Then we waited. And waited. Finally, at around 11:30 PM they showed up.
Upon arrival, the truck was opened, a couple of pieces were taken out, and then Alex came into the kitchen with paperwork. This was the very first time that I was seeing paperwork at all. He begins filling it out. He is charging us for 14 hours plus packing materials, etc. The total is over $1500! That's waaaaay more than even Allied - the Rolls Royce of moving companies - had quoted me! I protest. Given that they had to make 2 trips instead of 1, why should I have to pay for all those extra hours? Plus they had disappeared for long periods of time.
Alex is not negotiating. And the other movers have completely stopped moving. He makes it clear that the moving break is going to last until I pay and sign the paperwork. He starts getting aggressive. I'm in a very vulnerable position. I want all our stuff unloaded. He says to take it up with the management and that he just works there. It's extortion. But I do not see what choice I have. He tells me to sign the contract in a bunch of places. I read through the contract and see that they haven't done things that they were supposed to do. But what choice do I have? I want my things unloaded. If they leave with my belongings I may never see them again. I refuse to sign a couple of places but in the end I give him my credit card. I can't believe how horribly I have been treated by this company.
But I just want these scam artists out of my house. Once the credit card is processed, they spring into action. The truck is unloaded without delay. They are done by 12:30 AM. They leave. I can't believe what a disaster Ameli Moving has been.
The weeks following the move are chaotic for us. We are unpacking, living out of boxes, getting used to our new surroundings. I do manage to look into California law regarding movers. They have broken a few. They were to have given us a contract and a quote up front, which they did not do. They also were to have give us a booklet that is published by the California Public Utilities Commission, which they did not do. I also find them on a BBB website where they are based. They have an (I just checked and they are up to a triple C now.) I feel foolish for getting involved with these dishonest people.
Over the next couple of weeks I discover even more issues. A couple of our lamps are broken beyond repair. Tools are missing. A wall was badly damaged. Much of the exercise equipment is scuffed up and parts are missing from there too. It's so upsetting.
I write a long demand letter to the owner.in it I outline what they did wrong: Taking 15 hours for what should have been a 6-hour move. Giving us a truck with someone else's things in it and forcing us to make 2 trips instead of 1. Giving us a truck that could not even go 50 miles per hour (at one point one of the movers actually complained to me about how old and horrible the truck was). Breaking and losing a bunch of things. Damaging the wall in our new house. And basically taking way way too long to do a simple 2-bedroom move. I ask that I only be responsible for a reasonable move time and for reasonable packing materials. I think that I should have paid in the $600 range for this kind of move at their rates.
I do receive a response from Elena. She asks that I fill out a form for the damaged items. There is a problem with that, however. One of the things I initialed on their form (after the move) states that they are limited to 60 cents per pound for damaged items. My lamps are not heavy. They are valuable, but not heavy. I email her and tell her I am not going to be satisfied with 60 cents per pound and that we can just ignore the lamps. I want a settlement to be based on what we should have paid had they performed properly. She does not respond. I call and email but receive no more responses.
Since they then stopped communicating with me, the only option I saw for myself at that point was Small Claims Court. I went to the court and filed, opting for service by mail.
Unfortunately, proof of service never arrived and eventually my court date came up. I headed to court to get a continuance so that I could have Ameli served by a sheriff instead of by mail. But, to my surprise, Elena, the owner, was there. And she had brought a woman named Jasmine who was going to be handling this claim for her.
I had gone to court expecting to have the hearing rescheduled but they showed up and waived service. I explained to the judge that I had not prepared for the hearing because I thought they had not been served and asked for a continuance. Elena and Jasmine protested, however, because they had had to drive from Los Angeles. The judge decides that I must present my case in the interest of justice and so Elena and Jasmine will not have to drive down from Los Angeles again. The only problem with the scenario is that I was not prepared to present my case. I did not even have a list of the damages with me. So, I presented what I could off the top of my head.
Elena has Jasmine do the talking in court. She is a disaster. She says many things that are not true. The judge sees right through her, however. The judge slams them. He tells them that because they did not give me a contract up front there was no contract and therefore he is going to come up with something fair. He says he will call some moving companies and ask them what my move should have cost. That suits me just fine.
Elena and Jasmine try to negotiate with me after the hearing. Jasmine tells me the judge didn't understand the case. Therefore she is willing to offer me $300 to settle. I have tremendous difficulty dealing with people who treat the truth as loosely as Jasmine does. I get up to leave. Elena tries to intervene with a $500 offer but I am confident that the judge is going to give me something fair. I tell them I'll wait for the decision from the judge and I leave.
About a week later I receive the judgment from the court. I have been awarded $730. Had I been able to prepare, I know I would have been awarded more. The fact is, that I was not able to present my evidence and did not even have a list of the damages they caused.
Now I have to see about collections. The Small Claims Court tells me that Elena has 30 days to file an appeal. If they do not pay within 30 days, or file an appeal, I then will have to have the judgment enforced.
Thirty days later nothing has arrived. I call Elena. When I finally reach her, she tells me that she is considering appealing because the judge didn't know what he was talking about. I tell her she has missed the deadline for the appeal. She asks me why I think I deserve $730. I go through the story with her again. After about 15 minutes on the phone, she tells me that she has decided to pay me and to have it done with. I believe her for some reason.
Two weeks later no payment has arrived. I call Elena again. No response. I begin leaving messages for her. Finally, Jasmine calls me. Jasmine starts into the whole judge didn't understand and we are thinking of appealing again. She says she has been talking to a lawyer about it. I tell her that she has missed her deadline for appeal and any lawyer would have told her as much. She says she will talk to Elena.
That was weeks ago. I have made it clear that I will be doing whatever I can to make sure that they pay me. That includes publicizing their fraud, complaining to any licensing authority, doing a collection through court, and whatever else is necessary. I still cannot believe how dishonest these people are.
Jaime
San Diego, California
U.S.A.
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