I called several places for estimates and agreed to All My Sons because the lady on the phone, Connie, told me that the entire cost of my daughter's move from Sarasota, FL to Melbourne, Fl would be $99/hr for about 6 hours of travel there and back, and approximately 3 hours of labor.
After they were here for the 2 hour minimum, the cost would be prorated in 15 minute increments. She estimated the move at between $800-900.
She asked me to tell her what items we had to move and said it was about 3 rooms. She stated that we would not be charged for any blanket wrapping on items. I told her that we had a washer/dryer to move and that she would be moving to a two-story townhouse. Connie said that wouldn't matter. It was all included in the $99/hr charge.
She made no mention of any other surcharge. I assumed there would be tax. There was nothing said about any "formula" that would be used to determine the cost or the use of Mapquest mileage to determine the time of the trip. She definitely gave the impression that we would be charged by counting the minutes it took for the move. She NEVER mentioned anything about charging "time and a half" after 8 hours of work.
I called the company on the day before the move to confirm the time and price and was told the same things as in the first phone call.
The day of the move 2 workers arrived and Chuck called in a start time to Connie at 8:45am. They moved things into the truck until 10:45. (2 hours)
They then informed us that they didn't have enough money for gas, so we should meet them back to the office so they could get a check. We got gas and drove over and they were not there. They finally arrived at 11:30 because they said they had to stop to get ice.
Thinking it would only take a minute to get the check, my daughter and I waited and waited. Finally, I went in to find Chuck sitting by Connie's desk eating lunch! Connie then told me that she had stopped the clock while they were there. However, I found out later that she only gave us "credit" for one half hour, when it actually took from 10:45 to 12:00 (1 hour and 15 minutes) to go out of our way for this check!
Not only that, when we went back out to leave, Chuck told me he had to go cash the check so we should follow him there. He told my daughter and I that the clock wouldn't start again until we got onto the interstate (Hwy 75). By that time it was 12:30 so we clocked the time from there. It took us exactly 2 and 1 half hours to get to the door of my daughter's townhome.
At this point, we had calculated 4 and 1 half hours total time. The unloading of the truck went from 3:00 until 4:25 when Chuck came in and said they had about 30-45 min. Of work left so he had to call into the office to get the final cost. We were expecting a cost based on about 6 and 1 half hours of work with 2 and 1 half more for traveling back. Total 9 hours, adding tax, in the$1000 range and what we were expecting
He called in and then told us that the final bill would be $1729.76!
This was because there was 13 and 1 half hours of travel time, plus $45 for the washer/dryer, and $15 for the stairs! We were so shocked. I got on the phone with Connie and asked her to explain the high cost. She said since we went over 8 hours, the remaining 5 and 1 half hours were charged at time and a half, plus there was a "fuel surcharge". She also made sure to tell me that she had credited us 30 minutes for the time at the office.
I told her we were never told about the time and a half or the surcharge, and reminded her that I had told her upfront that we had the washer/dryer and the stairs and was told there was no extra cost. She denied all of this, and claimed to have the tape to prove that she had made a confirmation phone call in which we had discussed these things. I asked to hear it, and she conveniently played a recording on which I could only hear HER voice not mine.
Then she hemmed and hawed and said she did have it because all conversations were taped and that she would have to rewind the many calls on it to find mine. She actually began rewinding a tape recorder, and proceeded to explain that while we were figuring this out, "time was still running" and that the charges were going up! I fought this and told her to stop the tape and to find it to play for me at another time. We expressed great anger about this bill, but could not get her to back down. The only thing she did was to take off the charge for the stairs, $15.
At this time my daughter wrote a check for the amount, because we felt threatened with an even higher cost. Chuck called it in and was told it would not be approved. We knew there was plenty of money in the account, so she gave her debit card number. No problem. Chuck then laughed and said they won't ever approve any checks because a stop payment could be put on it.
He further informed us that this company was crooked and that they did this often. We were devasted. I then called back and asked to speak to the owner to get a clearer explanation of how the got to 13 and 1 half hours. She began to tell me that the distance there and back was 5 and 1 half hours each way, based on a "formula" they use, an average truck speed of 50 mph and the distance given by Mapquest!
It didn't matter that it took us less than 3 hours, and that we paid for the tolls for them on the way. Finally, my daughter got on the phone sobbing that this was her college loan money they were taking and then the owner, Betty, calmed a bit and told her that she would automatically credit another half hour, and would also credit us back time if the GPS showed it took less than the 5 1/2 hours, and that she would call back.
The movers left the townhouse at exactly 5:02, but stood in the driveway talking to one of the neighbors. We didn't notice when they actually drove away.
She didn't call, and wasn't in the office for several days. One day I got Connie to give me the actual GPS times for the trip there and back. The time there was 3 hours from the time we left the office; the time back was 4 hours and 15 min. Because they didn't take the tollways.
When I finally got to talk with the owner Betty, She told me we were charged for 9 hrs of travel and 7 hrs of stopping, minus 2 1/4 hours of "credit" equalling 13 hrs/45 min. But we were only charged for 13hr 15 min. This was so very confusing to me. I asked to please get an actual breakdown of each cost which led to the $1729.76
She said she would get it ready so I called back the next day and got yet another explanation of the hours/cost. She told me we were charged from 8:30 to 11:15 (2hrs/45min) and then from 11:45 to 6:00 (6hr/15min). Total 9 hours plus 4 hours to travel back equals 13 hours.
8 hrs @ $99= $792.00
5 hrs @ $148.50 = $ 742.00 (time and a half)
fuel surcharge $165.26
1 appliance $ 30.00
Grand total $1729.76
It's amazing to me how that suddenly added up exactly, and this was once again different from what was told to me each time I talked to someone. I am not asking for an unfair moving cost, but I feel very confident that we were overcharged by about $600-700.
I feel that this company lied to us. They were rude and unprofessional on the phone. One time Connie hung up on me. And most of all, they do NOT listen! I feel frustrated that they can get away with these kinds of practices time and time again. We are clearly not the first people to have complaints against this company.
Chris
Newnan, Georgia
U.S.A.
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