April 25
The following is a summary of our dealings and problems we are having with an interstate moving company called Elite Van Lines located at 1551 NW 65th Ave, Plantation, FL 33313. Their telephone number is 866-594-6683. According to their better business reports that I have obtained (using different telephone numbers) they show two different presidents names.
One is Ronit Bizavi at tel # 954-236-2694 and the other is Eyal Malul at tel # 866-594-6683. Other phone numbers that are also active are 561-833-5366 and 305-538-4040. One of the better business reports I obtained lists the original business start date as: 07/03 although a manager I spoke with named Ben said they are a reputable 12 year old business.
In November my wife and my daughter and I put our household items into storage in a 20 foot container located in Gorham, Maine and moved to Palm Harbor, Fl. We became settled enough by March to begin considering having our household items moved down to us. We had a reputable Portland, Maine based mover inspect the contents of the storage trailer and give us a written quote.
The quote seemed reasonable but we decided to explore other companies over the internet to see if we could get a better quote. The best quote we got was a verbal quote from elite van lines in florida. They quoted $1302.50 for 4000 lbs, same estimated weight that the Maine mover used, and they quoted $1660.00 if the shipment weighed 5000 lbs. Not knowing anything about unscrupulous moving companies we agreed to give them a $250.00 deposit via credit card to commence the move.
We did not know that they are required to provide us with a written order for service which both parties must sign, a bill of lading, an inventory list, a D.O.T. Movers handbook and many other items. They did not provide any of this to us at any time... NOTHING IN WRITING WHAT SO EVER.
They showed up at our storage unit on 3-23 late and in the dark where they were met by our neighbor Armand Smith. Armand unlocked the storage container and called me to say that they wanted him to sign the bill of lading so they could start loading their truck. They assured him it was just a standard bill of lading stating that they could carry our goods, not a binding contract. I told him to look it over as best he could in his dimly lit car and sign only where necessary for them to load up.
They directed him to sign what was a blank bill of lading with only the origin address and delivery address. They directed him to sign on various areas of the document and initial other areas telling him it was just standard industry clauses that he was signing like limiting the liability of the company to only. 60 per pound per article in the shipment and a clause that stated I, the shipper, hereby acknowledge that placing an order to move under 72 hours does not require a written estimate.
They even had him initial a start and finish time that was not yet determined. They also asked him for a cash deposit for half of the estimate we had recieved. Armand said there was no way he could provide that to them. The driver made a call, presumably to get the ok to load from a superior. When the driver got off the phone he told Armand he got the ok to proceed.
Armand stayed for about an hour to watch them and noticed that they were making a list of the prepacked boxes and articles of furniture as they loaded their truck. Armand called me at about 9:30 P.M. And told me things looked like they were going smoothly and that he was going to head home and I said fine. Shortly after Armand left I got a call from the driver saying he needed to use some boxes, bubble wrap and tape to further protect our contents.
I gave him the ok to use only what was needed to protect what was not already prepacked by us. At about 1:20 A.M. Sunday morning I got another call from the driver saying he was finished loading and that he had a final price for us. He said the final price would be $3921.00. I was floored. How could this be I asked him. He said the total cubic feet exceeded our quote. This is the first time I had heard that we were paying based on cubic feet. All the companies we had contacted for quotes were using pounds. We were getting quotes for a 4000 lb shipment and a 5000 lb shipment.
Without even arguing about the price I told him this price was totally unacceptable and that I wanted him to immediately unload his truck back into my storage container. He said no, no, let me make a call to see what I can do. I said again, take the $250.00 deposit that you've already got from me and unload your truck. Do not go down the road with my belongings. He said please let me see if I can get this straightened out for you, I'll call you right back.
In hindsight I should have called the Gorham, Maine Police to make him unload. After about 10 minutes he called me back to say he had spoken with one of the principals of the company and everything was going to be fine, not to worry. Someone from the company would be calling me Sunday to give me discounts that would get us down to quoted price.
By Sunday afternoon I had not recieved a call so I called the driver, Tony, on his cell phone. I could hear that he was in a truck and I asked him where he was with my stuff and he said just outside of New York. I told him that I hadn't heard from anyone and he said he would try to call them and that I should hear from someone within 15 minutes. A half hour went by so I called Tony the driver again.
He said he couldn't reach the office on his cell phone because of the location he was in but that he would make sure someone contacted me on Monday 03/25. We waited in vane all day Monday for a call. On Tuesday 03/26 I called the office and spoke with Linda who was the person who originally gave us the phone quote. She did not know of any special arrangements made by Tony the driver on our behalf and then went on to explain that their rates are based on cubic feet not weight.
I said this is the first time you've said anything about cubic feet and that we had disclosed to her at the time of her quoting that are items were in a container that measures 20' x 8' x 8' and that it is approximately 75% full. I asked her why she didn't use those figures for her rate calculation. Her answer was that she worked on our quote with the dispatcher and would I like to speak with him?
I said yes, and when he got on the line he said he remembered quoting Linda a rate based on pounds and that he wasn't given any container measurements. I told him his driver assured me that I would not pay more than I was quoted and he looked in his computer for any notes from the driver and did not find any. I told him, why would I let your driver take my household goods down the road for anything but the quoted price. After all I had a written estimate from a respectable Maine moving company, that had physically inspected the size of the shipment, and quoted a price of under $2000.00.
He laughed and said if I could produce such a quote he would deliver our shipment for free. But beyond that he said I would need to speak to the manager, who's name is Ben, but he is not in at this time. I asked him to make Ben aware of the situation and please have Ben call me as soon as possible.
The next day I waited till about 2P.M. For a call from Ben. None came so I called the office. Ben is in and out today and they don't know if he is expected back. I left another message that it was urgent that I speak with him. Just for the heck of it I tried to reach Ben again at around 6P.M. And to my surprise he took my call. I briefly explained the situation to him and said to him that he must be aware of my problem by now but he said he knew nothing about it. No one in his office had made him aware.
I told him of his drivers assurances to me and he said he knew nothing of these assurances either. I told him there was no way I would have let his driver go down the road with my goods without those assurances and that I had been quoted less than $2000.00 by a reputable Maine mover who had been in the business for years. He told me that anyone could doctor up a quote. I then told him that I was in Florida and that the company is in Maine. How could I get them to lie for me or how could I get my hands on company cost estimate sheet.
He replied by saying his company is a reputable company that has been doing business for 12 years and that his rates are the best in the business. I told him that regardless of all that I didn't intend on paying anymore than what was quoted by the Maine mover that actually viewed the size of the load. He said to get him a copy of that estimate and we would talk when he had that. He also said that their rates are based on cubic feet and that our estimate of 4000 lbs. Equaled 571 cu. Ft. And that figure times $2.40 yielded a quote of $1370.00.
He continued by saying his tariff allows him to charge between $5 and $7 per cubic foot on any excess beyond the 571 cu. Ft. And that his driver charged the excess 325 cu. Ft. On this shipment at the $7 or highest possible rate. He said he could immediately bring that charge down to the $5 level and save us $650.00 off of our total bill. I told him this was still not acceptable and that I didn't have anything in writing from them. He did not offer to send me anything in writing at all and I was ignorant of my rights at that time.
After numerous unsuccessful tries at having the Maine moving company fax their cost estimate I finally asked them to put it in the mail to me. When I finally had that document in my hands I faxed it to Bens attention at Elite Van Lines. About 10 days had passed from the last time I talked with Ben to the time I was able to fax the cost estimate. I called after faxing the estimate and was told by the secretary that the fax was hard to read. I told her I would resend it and call her back.
When I called her back she said it looked fine and she would put it on Ben's desk for him to see when he returned. I asked her when she expected him to return and she said she didn't know. The next day I called for Ben and was told he was on vacation and that he would not be back until Friday 04/19. I asked if there was anyone there that I could speak with in Bens absence and they connected me to David who knew nothing of our situation.
He said he could reach Ben on his cell phone so I instructed him to make the following offer: I stated that I would pay the total cubic feet that they claimed they picked up (896 cu. Ft.) at the $2.40 per cubic foot rate that was quoted and charged for the 571 cubic foot that they estimated 4000 lbs. To be. Plus I would agree to pay the $276.00 in packing materials used. David said he would relay this to Ben and someone would call me back or Ben would get back to me on Friday the 19th at the latest.
My wife and I have both called everyday since Friday 04/19 and the only thing we get is that no one is in the office but the secretary, they are all in and out. We've told them it is imperative that they call us back but no call back. We've told them we are going to the better business bureau but no calls back. We've told them we are calling the attorney generals office in Florida and no calls back. We've told them we are filing a complaint with the U.S.D.O.T. And no call back.
Please help us in any way you can to retrieve our household belongings that mean so very much to us.
It's as though they are holding our life hostage.
This is a huge potential loss for our family and it's making my wife and I both sick. I suffered a heart attack seven years ago and I don't want the stress that these crooks are inflicting on us to bring me to that end.
I've done a great deal of research these past few days and this company is not only of every black list out there but is also family related to some of the worst of the worst in the moving world. Site after site that I've seen on moving scams has this company and it's principals listed and I for one think it's time to investigate and prosecute these companies and their principals for their unscrupulous business practices.
I personally will continue to that end.
Ammendmant dated 04/25
My wife Rita called for Ben at Elite Van Lines today to attempt to find out the location of our household items. She asked Ben how much money he would need to get our goods to us. He stated the full amount
that the original driver had quoted to us $3921.00 plus storage fees for 1 month of $448.00 for a total of
$4369.00. They state on their web site that they provide up to 1 month storage for free. So here we are
at over triple the amount originally quoted. I put in for a qoute over the internet at moving.com based
on 900 cubic feet from Maine to Florida and Elite Van Lines was the low bidder at $1485.00 and here they are trying to charge $4369.00.
Who knows what the price will be if they ever show up. Ben said we would have to pay before he would release the goods from New Jersey. He said if we could at least send him half of the payment by overnight courier that we could by some time before his lawyers would have to begin proceedings against us. He said the lawyers start proceedings after 30 days of non delivery. They stole our stuff and they are threatening to sue us. Unbelieveable!!! What audacity!!!
Please help us shut these crooks down.
Glen
palm harbor, Florida
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