I hired US Movers on January 23 to move a one bedroom apartment from Waldorf, MD to Springfield, VA. This is only a 35 mile drive. I was told by the woman I spoke with on the phone that I would only be charged $90 per hour. I asked her about the travel time and was assured that I would only be charged for the trip from Waldorf to Springfield.
So, I signed the contract thinking that the move would only cost about $200. One day before the Feb 2 move date I received a call from the movers stating that they would have to come one day early, and I agreed. They showed up a little after 3:30 PM. That is when things went south. First, they asked me for a $500 deposit, on top of the $100 deposit that I paid a week earlier. I thought this was a little unusual for a $200 move, but I agreed when he assured me that I would get the difference back. Then he brought out three credit card charge forms, again unusual. One was for the $100 that I already paid, another for the additional $500, and a blank form with no amount on it, again red flags.
I asked him why he wanted me to sign for the $100 deposit that I paid a week earlier and why I am signing a blank form. I was told that it was just procedure, I thought this was strange, but I signed all three, including the blank one. After we arrived in Springfield and everything was unloaded I got the shock of my life. My $200 move jumped up to $942. This crook used the blank credit card form to tag me with an additional $342, and kept my $500 and $100 deposits.
After I complained I found that they charged me for 4 hours of labor, even though they only worked 2.5 hours. They charged me $226 for packing material, which only consisted of tape and bubble wrap. On top of that, they charged me for three hours of travel time to and from their office, that's right, they charged me $270 just to drive to and from their office. They also hit me up with $86 for gas to go 35 miles.
The next day I complained to the manager and was assured that he would fix it. Three days later, it was still not fixed. I called the manager again and he gave me some excuse that he has not seen the invoice yet and he has to wait another week to see it. He said the reason for that is because the company that he subcontracted is located in North Carolina and he is in Georgia. However, he is using a Northern Virginia phone number and Southern Maryland fax number. So either he never changed his phone numbers when he moved to Georgia or he was lying.
Beware of this company, they will give you a low quote to get your business and then stick it to you once you sign the contract.By that time it is too late to back out because they have a $600 cancellation fee. Please people, do not do business with US Movers, USA Moving and Storage or anyone affiliated with them. They are con artists and will rip you off.
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