My fiancee and I contracted Giant to do a move for us from Arlington, VA to Minneapolis, MN on August 1. We were given a price quote based on 5,000 pounds, which would be changed at a rate of $. 51 per extra pound. We accepted their bid. Giant movers came to our house, loaded eveything up, and called us a couple days later saying, indeed, it would be extra. After the weighing, we were told our total cost would be $3,373. I have a weigh ticket which indicates that the
weight of our shipment was 6,180 pounds.
In prior negotiation and conversation, we were up front with the representative, a Mr. Kyle. We told him there was an elevator in the building we were moving to, but it would probably not be able to be used for a couch and large chair. As our new place was on the third floor, we were wondering if there was an extra charge for stairs. Giant assured us in emails that the cost was $75 per flight. So, we were prepared to pay $150 extra if necessary (two flights).
On August 8 at 6:05 PM Central Time, the Giant Truck and its crew (Riadh and Dennis) showed up with our stuff. I was there to receive the goods, but my fiancee was still away in another state. Assessing the situation, Riadh told me that there would be an extra $1,300 charge based on the amount of stuff we had, and the stairs. Over the course of several cell phone calls, my fiancee and I communicated to Riadh that the agreed to price was $75 per flight. Riadh suddenly started changing the terms of the contract right there, saying that was for the first 2000 pounds.
Nowhere in the agreement between us and Giant is this stated. There is no "first 2000 pounds" language. Also, he started changing the definition of "flight" to be five stairs. We were ready to pay $373 (the balance due Giant after our payment of $3,000.) Furthermore, Riadh decided that the walk from the truck to the elevator constituted excessive distance (even though he had pulled up the truck so the ramp basically touched the door of the building). Guess what? This excessive distance was also subject to his "after the first 2000 pounds" rule.
A couple other points of our discussions and cell phone calls:
1. Mr Kyle supposedly no longer worked with Giant.
2. If we wanted to have them hold on to our shipment until the morning when we could straighten this out, the cost would be $1000 extra. Again, this is not in any agreement.
3. Riadh finally agreed to have his manager call my fiancee to verify that this extra charge was legitimate. While talking to the manager, Ron, we realized there was no way to prove his identity and affiliation with Giant. He had my fiancee call the main Giant number and a particular extension. Ron said he trusted his driver over our sense of things. It became apparent however, that he was using a cell phone to talk to my fiancee and even provided that cell phone number when he got frustrated with the amount of time we were taking and wanted us to call him back again.
After some discussion, Riadh decided to be nice to us and cut us a deal, reducing the added cost to $1000 (notice the recurring dollar figure). Of course, if we did not want to pay $1000 extra, he could just put our stuff on the curb and drive away. Having been in town all of 24 hours, I would have been stuck with moving 6000 pounds by myself.
I'd like it known that despite all of this treatment, I provided bottled water and cans of Coca-Cola and, in the end, gave both Riadh and Dennis generous gratuities. And now, after unpacking, we discover that some fairly expensive items have disappeared somewhere between Arlington and Minneapolis.
In the end, I had to pay $1000 beyond the estimate, based on fraudulent reasons, or have all my possessions put on the curb.
I am familiar with movingscam.com (only learned of it after this incident), I have filed a complaint with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and know that Giant's insurer for cargo is Adriatic Insurance Company. I will do what I can, but wish I had done a better job of researching Giant beforehand. Never have I learned a better lesson about caveat emptor.
Yet, there is no excuse for this fraud, and any company that would do this for so long (I have indeed read all the complaints) and continue to deny any wrongdoing is clearly in need of further government and regulatory investigation.
Brendan
Minneapolis, Minnesota
U.S.A.
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