The moving company, NORTH STAR VANLINES, has failed to meet the terms of our contract and have continued to extort money from us while holding our all of our furniture and belongings hostage in two storage lockers in Massachusetts.
We contracted with NORTH STAR VANLINES to conduct our relocation move from Plymouth, MA to Carmel, IN (Indianapolis area). The original contract terms were for the amount of $3564.00 with a pickup date in Plymouth of June 23rd. A $400 deposit was given 4 four weeks in advance to secure the truck with an inventory list that was at least 85% complete and accurate. A final inventory list was given to NORTH STAR VANLINES 4 days prior to the original contracted pickup date (as requested by NORTH STAR VANLINES) and the quote was increased to $4528.00. This was not unexpected and was mutually agreed to based on a 100% final inventory list.
The morning of June 22nd, we called to confirm the move and get an estimated arrival time. We were told to call back between 4 and 6 that afternoon as that was when all of the dispatch work for the next day would be completed. We called back then and only got an answering machine. They did call about 7:30 that night and left a voice message on our cell phone telling us that they didn't have a truck for us and would not be showing up as contracted. They said that they would be there on June 24th instead. (The call was made to a cell phone that they were requested not to use as it was turned off due to airline travel.) We spoke with a number of people at NORTH STAR VANLINES on the morning of June 23rd but ended up having to accept the pick up change of the 24th (or they would give the truck to some other customer). About 5:30pm on June 23rd Izzy Tweg called to inform us that if we had to agree to pay another $2000 or they would not send the truck the next day. All attempts to locate another moving company on such short notice were futile - including renting our own truck to do the move ourselves. We were held hostage at the 11th hour due to the closing of our house which was taking place on June 24th and had no choice but to agree to NORTH STAR VANLINES terms. We were between a rock and a hard place, so agreed to the additional $2000. We felt blackmailed and extorted to say the least! The agreed upon price at this point is $6450.00 (with no charges to be incurred for blankets etc.) with the truck to arrive the morning of June 24th. We were told that 4 movers would arrive with a truck large enough to handle all of our belongings. A new contract was emailed to us and we agreed to send a reply indicating our acceptance of the new terms.
To make a long and painful story shorter, the truck that was finally dispatched was not of the appropriate size and didn't arrive until 4pm on the 24th (it was supposed to be at our home at 8:30am). On top of that only two people arrived too do the moving. They were named Ty and Elvis. They were also dead on their feet and informed us they hadn't slept or showered in 3 days. We ended up purchasing and bringing in food and coffee in order to keep them working on the move. They ended up dragging out the move over what turned out to be two days. Two storage lockers had to be secured in the local community in order to remove our belongings from the house in several trips so that the new owners could take residence. The movers insisted they'd take on that expense and handle the paperwork involved. It's not until now that we realize they hold the lease to the lockers and we can't get our stuff back even though we know where everything is. Of course, legal action is currently being taken in this regard.
The movers took until 6pm on Saturday June 25th to complete the move out of the house and it took them until midnight to get the items into the second storage locker. We closed on the house, but the new owners legally owned our stuff for a period of 24 hours and stayed in a hotel until these jokers completed the move out of the house.
The company raised the price AGAIN once the move was completed to the storage lockers to $9433.00 for delivery to Carmel, IN on July 29th. The price was negotiated down to $7800.00 at that time with the original driver, Ty, who had moved the furniture to the storage facility. NORTH STAR VANLINES was contacted July 18th to confirm the delivery date of July 29th. A 50% payment of $3715.00 was paid on Wed July 20th with a guarantee that delivery would be made on July 29th.
On July 28th we contacted the storage facility to check to see if our items had been loaded on a truck in the previous days, assuming the truck would be in transit by this time. The items are still in the storage facility according to the person managing the facility. I contacted the moving company to ask what was going on. I ended up speaking to the a woman named Ivanna and I was told they didn't have a truck available and that I would have to be patient and wait approximately 10 days until I could expect delivery. Ivanna was completely unhelpful and refused to let us speak to anyone else.
I requested the NORTH STAR VANLINES insurance information and a form to fill out an Inconvenience Complaint. I was told they would not provide me with any information whatsoever. I agaub asked to speak to the Owner of the Company, Izzy Tweg, and was told that he was "out of town" and not available. I asked them to have him call me on my cell phone as soon as possible to discuss the matter and I have still not heard from him at this time.
I also told them I would be filing a civil lawsuit and complaints to all possible legal / law enforcement organizations. I was told that was fine and to go ahead and that they didn't care. I have sinced filed a complaint with the FMCSA as well as the Attorney General's Office in both Florida and Massachusetts. As well, the American Mover's association and Better Business Bureau have been contacted. The police in both Plymouth MA and Carmel IN have been contacted. Next on the list is the FBI and the Sheriff's Department in both Florida and Massachusetts. I'm continuing to go down the list and I will be initiating legal action to put these people out of business.
People involved in this fiasco from NORTH STAR VANLINES are named Ivanna, Ben, Charlie, Ty, Elvis and Izzy Tweg - the owner. This company needs to have all of their licensing and transportation authority revoked. There are now other people launching complaints out on the internet at this time which did not exist at the time when we did my research into hiring a moving company. Something needs to be done immediately. I will also be creating a website to denounce this company in every possible way that will have tags to bring it to the top of every search engine regarding movers, etc.
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