I am enclosing a summary of the reprehensible events that have transpired over these past few weeks regarding my unfortunate situation with a moving company that involved a subcontracted Bronx based moving company. I appreciate anything and everything that you can do to guide me as to how I can properly recover my home furnishings and personal items that were supposed to be moved from my Manhattan apartment to my condominium in Wilton Manor, Florida (in Ft. Lauderdale). Let me get right to the specifics:
Via internet research, I narrowed my search for movers to six moving companies. After checking with the Better Business Bureau, I eliminated 4 of 6 of these companies and I chose of the remaining two, a company named Progressive Van Lines, Inc.
I contacted Progressive via the internet requesting a quote for my move and they emailed me a quote (see Attachment A). After reviewing the quote, on April 2, I called Amir Barox, the Relocation Consultant whose name was listed on the Progressive quote that was emailed to me to further discuss specific details. I asked Amir to further explain the details of the quote such as does Progressive wrap my furniture, do I pack my belongings myself, timing of the move, etc. Amir responded that the wrapping of the furniture was included in the quote, but that boxes would be an extra charge, and if I wanted them to pack my boxes, it also would be an additional charge above and beyond the quote.
At that point, I told Amir that I was interested in engaging Progressive Van Lines to move my belongings and I told him that I would pack my own things. I also was clear with Amir that I was not moving all of my things and I went through a specific list of those items that I would be moving.
I then told Amir that I was expecting to close on my Florida condominium the end of April, but that I wasn't sure of the timing and I did not want to commit until I knew the exact date that I would be closing on my condo.
Very soon after this initial phone call with Amir, I began getting inundated with emails and phone calls from Amir on a daily basis. I was very clear with Amir that I did not want to move forward with an official engagement until I knew the timing of my closing. He then stopped calling, but continued to email me on an almost daily basis (I have copies if needed).
When I found out the date of my condominium closing, I then called Amir on April 19 to book Progressive Van Lines as my mover.
I asked Amir how long it would take to drive my belongings from Manhattan to Wilton Manor, Florida and he said 7-10 days. I then asked when a date was available for Progressive to move my belongings from my Manhattan apartment and he told me April 28 or April 29.
I told him that I was in agreement and asked him what I needed to do to move forward.
He told me that he would email and fax a contract.
I told him that I wanted to pay the $300 deposit with my American Express card and he agreed. I then asked him how and when the balance would be due and he told me that they would like the payment in the form of cash or postal money order upon delivery of my belongings into my condominium in Florida. I then told him that I was not comfortable with this payment arrangement as I had a previous bad experience with movers. I told Amir that I would like to pay the balance with American Express and he said that would not be a problem. I did tell him that I would tip the movers in cash.
At this point, April 21, I filled out the contract and provided my American Express number for the $300.00 deposit. I signed the contract and faxed it back to Amir at 408.943.0701.
On April 27, I had not heard from Amir and I emailed him to find out if the Progressive movers would be arriving on April 28th or April 29th per our previous conversation on April 19th. Amir responded that he checked with their dispatcher and that the dispatcher would have an answer for me later that same day.
Later that same day, I received a call from a man namedBenand he told me that the movers that movers would be arriving to pick up my belongings the next morning, April 28th, at 8AM. He left me his contact number, which is 718.742.2035.
The next morning comes and goes and I finally called Ben at 1PM to find out why the movers had not yet arrived. He told me that the driver had not shown up and that they would arrive at my apartment around 3PM that day.By 4:20, he called me and told me that the movers were on their way and in mid-town Manhattan and he asked me for directions to my apartment and told me that they would be arriving in 20 minutes. They never showed.
At 6 o'clock, after not having heard word one, I called Ben and he told me that the truck broke down and that the movers would be arriving around 10PM that evening (April 28th).
At 10:20PM Ben called and said the movers would not be coming that evening and that they would now be arriving the next morning at 9AM (April 29th).
The same thing happened on April 29th, no show/call and say on the way, etc. And it wasn't until 9:20PM that evening that the movers finally arrived.
Three young men arrive. Immediately, upon arrival, one of the three movers asks me if I have cash on me this seemed extremely odd and out of place. I asked him why he was asking for cash. He answered, for tipping. I told him I have no cash on me and if they had come during the day, I would have had time to get cash. Then he asked me if I had a bank account so that I could go and get cash. I avoided the question and told him that I pay everything with American Express and that I don't tip until the job is done. Then he asked if I could get a cash advance on my American Express and I told him no (I was uncomfortable at the thought of leaving strangers in my apartment while I went to get cash).
At that point, one of the movers told me that my contract with Progressive Van Lines is a different arrangement than the arrangement that these movers' had made. I was very confused at that point because I thought, and had been led to believe by all of my interactions with Amir Baroz and Ben' the dispatcher, that these men were Progressive Van Lines, Inc. Employees. After inquiring, the movers told me that they were subcontractors for Progressive and that they were hired by Progressive to pack and pick up my belongings and bring them to a central location where Progressive would then move my belongings to Florida.
At that point, the movers began loading the truck with my belongings and finished loading at 2:30AM. The same mover that earlier in the evening had been pressing me for cash told me that he would be coming right back upstairs with the final inventory list which contained detailed information about my belongings. He also told me that he then would go and have the truck weighed and that he would call me to confirm the weight. He never came back upstairs to my apartment with the list and he never called me with the weight.
Right before the movers left my apartment for the last time, I noticed that this same guy had a form that had two different weights listed for my furniture. One number was 2000 lbs. And the other number was around 2,700ish lbs. I questioned him why this second weight number was listed and he told me not to worry about it because I had already contracted for and had paid for 2000 lbs. This seemed odd and I asked him what the weight of the truck was before my belongings were added and he told me not to worry about it since I had already contracted for 2000 lbs. And it was clear that my belongings weighed significantly less than that.
First thing the next morning (April 30th) I called Amir and I told him that the movers never came back with a copy of my inventory like they told me they would and that the movers never called with the weight. Amir told me not to worry. I told him I was very uncomfortable with the situation.
On this call, Amir confirmed an earlier conversation that my things would be arriving at my condo in Florida on May 7.
I traveled to Florida on May 6 to prepare for the arrival of my things the following day.
May 7th arrived and this same Ben called me and said that my things would not be delivered that day because there was problem with the driver. I asked him when should I expect my things and he told me either May 10th or May 11th.
May 10th came and went, as did May 11th, and on May 11th (Tuesday), Ben told me that it would now be the following week before my things arrived in Florida.
I told him this was a problem because I was due to fly back to New York on that Friday, May 14th and I wanted my things delivered before that date.
I expressed my displeasure and we ended the call without resolving the issue.
At that point, I tried calling Amir Baroz at Progressive and he did not return my calls
so then I called Progressive Van Lines customer service line and they told me that it was not their responsibility to ensure a delivery date and they told me that it's only an estimated delivery date. Before returning to New York that Friday, May 14th, I went and introduced myself to my neighbor and asked him if it would be okay if I left a set of keys in case my movers finally showed up with my belongings. He graciously agreed.
I also gave my neighbor an envelope that included the final payment per my agreement with Progressive. I told him not to present the payment envelope until my things had been moved into my apartment, per my agreement with Progressive.
On Saturday May 15th, I am now back in Manhattan and I receive a phone message from someone named Leon who tells me he is the driver of the truck that has my belongings and that he is in Tallahassee and he asks me to call him at 954.868.5654.
I returned his call and he told me that he would try to deliver my things either that Sunday or Monday (May 16th or 17th). He also tells me that he will need cash payment before he moves my things into my condo. I told him that I would not pay until my things were in the condo and that I was very uncomfortable because I did not know him. I told him that my neighbor had the key to my apartment and that he would let the mover's in and that he had an envelope that he would give them with the final payment once my belongings were in the apartment.
Leon then told me that I needed to call his boss about the situation and he gave me the phone number of his boss that was 866.770.4355. He did not give me his bosses name and when I called the number, a message came on that said I had reached Star of David Moving Inc. I then left a message asking someone to return my call as soon as possible.
You may be wondering why, after agreeing with Amir that we would settle my final payment with my American Express card that I am now referring to an envelope that contains a final payment.
During that last conversation with Ben on that Friday May 14th, Ben told that I would have to settle my final payment in cash. I told him that Progressive, via Amir, agreed to allow me to settle my final bill with my American Express card.
At that point, for the very first time, he told me that he did not work for Progressive, and that he was a subcontractor who worked for Lehigh Moving & Storage (Bronx based) and that I would need to pay cash. After not receiving a call back from Star of David Moving Inc., I called back the next day (today, May 17th) and asked the person that answered the phone to please explain to me where my things were and how Star of David was involved. The Star of David representative said that they would deliver my things today as long as there was cash payment waiting. He threatened me and said that if they show up at my condo and someone did not settle the final payment in cash prior to them removing the items from the moving truck, that the movers would not unload my things and they would refuse to release my things to me and would begin to charge me $150 for returning without delivering and an additional $250/week for storage. I received a phone call from my neighbor telling me that the driver, Leon, was at the apartment requesting cash payment before they unloaded my things. I told my neighbor that no payment would be made until and unless they unloaded my belongings. The movers refused and left with my things.
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