Recently I had to move for my job relocation, from Orange County, CA to San Diego county, about an 80 mile trip. I saw an ad for AmeLi Moving and Storage company, offering what seemed to be a decent price on moving services.
As part of their deluxe package they throw out the double drive time rule that all moving companies in California are required to charge, so it sounded like a good deal to me. I put down a $100 deposit on my credit card to reserve the move date. This was for no-show customers according to them. They seemed friendly and courteous at first, and the same day I made the reservation I received a confirmation email. So far so good.
I scheduled the move for August 19th, since I had to be out of my apartment by August 20th. On the phone I clearly stated that I had a 3 bedroom house to be moved, even though I only had a 2 bedroom apartment.in fact, one of the bedrooms was a baby's room with not much furniture in it, only a crib and a small dresser. Also, my wife and I moved 85% of our boxes down to the detached garage so the movers would have less work to do. They could just back the truck up to the garage and load the boxes in quickly.
My confirmation email reflected the fact that I had a 3 bedroom house and my stuff was going to be moved by a 2-man crew with a 26-foot truck. Having moved 5 times in the last 7 years, I felt this was doable. The last time I moved, I had basically the same amount of stuff that I did this time, minus a refrigerator and washer/dryer.
That time, I moved with a 2-man crew, from a 3rd floor apartment to a 2nd floor apartment. The guys were dying at the end because of all the stairs, but they still did it, in about 10 hours. The time before that, I also moved with a 2-man crew, from a 1st floor apartment to the 3rd floor apartment. That time they did it in 6 1/2 hours. So going into this move, I felt confident that I could again move with a 2-man crew, and by moving the boxes to the garage I could minimize my costs.
The problem started when the movers arrived. They came into my house with worried looks on their faces. They went from room to room, looking at my stuff, and they began to mumble to themselves. The two of them were both Russian or eastern European, and their English skills were not particularly strong. One of them was about 6'2 but fairly skinny, I doubt he was over 180 lbs. The other one looked a little beefier but not as beefy as some other movers I have had. After checking out the different rooms, they turned to me and started to complain. They told me that I had too much stuff, that the job would take a lot of time, maybe going over 8 hours. Either that or they would have to bring a 3rd or even a 4th guy.
I disagreed with their assessment, I told them of my previous two moves where I had two-man crews and was successful in moving all of the stuff. I didn't get the feeling that they really understood what I was saying. They just kept on with their complaining. The tall skinny guy said he was tired, and that he had been working the last few days in a row. He also said they were not robots. They insisted that it was a 3 or 4 person job.
So I said OK, can you get a 3rd guy? I must have said that at least 4 times over the next 10 minutes, because I had to be out by the next day. I didn't have time to find another moving company at the last second. I figured that although it would cost more to have the 3rd person, at least they would get me moved and they would get the job done faster.
During this complaining session, we had moved to the garage to check out the boxes. This seemed to put them over the edge. When they saw my boxes all piled in neat little rows, I once again heard the comment about not being robots, and a lot of mumbling in Russian. They told me again they could not do the job without a 3rd person. I asked them again, can you get a 3rd person? At this point the main guy, Serge, got out his cellphone and made a phone call.
I thought ok great, they are going to get someone else to come help them. Moving companies always have extra hands available on weekends that they can call if needed. At least they could came later in the day, if nothing else. Serge talked in Russian the whole time he was on the phone, I could not tell whether or not he was talking to a live person or a recording.
After about a minute he hangs up and tells me that they are leaving. WHAT? I say incredulously. Never in my life have I ever heard of a moving crew telling someone that they cant do a job and just leaving someone in the lurch. I asked them again, can you get a 3rd guy? Who did you just talk to? Is there anyone else you can get a hold of? Etc. Etc. Serge didn't really have an answer. As I said earlier, his English was not strong, so I couldn't understand exactly what he was trying to tell me on this point.
At this point I asked Serge for a number I could call, a back line that I could use to talk to someone, a manager or similar. Someone who I could work with to get my stuff moved, because I didn't want them to just leave without a solution to my problem. He pointed to the side of the truck, telling me to call the main 866 number that I used to make the reservation. So I open my cell phone and begin calling.
As I am doing this, the two of them get in their truck and fire it up, preparing to leave. As they are driving away, I leave a message on the voice mail telling the company that I need someone to call me back immediately and help me with this situation, because now I am panicking.
Needless to say, I never received a callback from Ameli. They had my deposit and they were running with it. I ended up calling another moving company, called Sav-On Moving and Storage which I highly recommend if you need to move your stuff. When I called them, I told them I had to be out of my apartment right away, and they were able to come up with a crew on very short notice. Ameli had me worried with all their talk of 3 and 4 men crews, so I did end up using a 3 man crew through Sav-On to move my stuff.
After my stuff was all loaded, the Sav-On guys decided that there really wasn't that much stuff and they decided they could unload my stuff with only 2 men. Total time: 7 hours. Why couldn't Ameli do that? Because they sent an incompetent crew. They were overworked, which tells me they don't hire enough people and they don't pay them much. They also could barely speak English, which is directly the opposite of what is stated on the ameli website, which I quote here:
Let me tell you, I did not receive this kind of service from ameli. Their moving crew was completely unreliable and unprofessional.
So the next part of the story involves me trying to get my deposit back. The deposit was supposed to be taken only to reserve my move date in case of no-show, so they don't spin their wheels and lose money. Nowhere in my confirmation email did it state that they would keep my money even though it was their own crew that turned down the job. You would think that if the amount of stuff I had claimed I had (the 3 bedroom house part in the email) required a 3rd mover, that they would have told me that up front. I would have argued with them based on my past experience with moving, but I would have paid the additional fee. It would have been better than the alternative of paying extra rent to my apartment complex for staying longer than I said I would.
Also keep in mind that at no time did the drivers or the company offer a written estimate for my move. They also did not offer any of the paperwork required by the CPUC, such as the not to exceed form, etc. They just looked around, decided it was too much work and left. I guess they wanted a day off.
Since I was able to get another mover on short notice, I wasn't too concerned with the deposit money. I mean surely, if the company's drivers turned down my job, and they didn't return my calls to make other arrangements, even though they knew of the size of my load up front, then surely they would refund my deposit right? WRONG! The company is completely unprofessional in this regard. When I called back during the week to get my refund, I was told by someone named Eddie, who claims to have just started with the company, that he was not able to authorize my refund. I had to talk to Elena, who mysteriously doesn't come in until after 2pm.
Over the next few days I talked to Eddie several times, I told him to have Elena call me but of course she never did. Then on the 4th call to Eddie, he tells me that he talked to the drivers and they told him that I refused to allow a 3rd man to join the crew!
I was stunned. Not only were the drivers completely unreliable and unprofessional, now they were liars too! They were determined to cover their own asses, and the company was going to screw me over. I told Eddie they were lying, and that I wanted to talk to someone who could rectify the situation. I told them in several voice mails that I would be filing complaints with the BBB, the CMSA, the CPUC, and of course the usacomplaints.com website, not to mention disputing the charge on my credit card. To this date, I have not heard back from anyone at the company.
You've been warned! Do not do business with this company! They are shady. Their drivers do not speak English as they claim they do. They will either try to increase the number of crew members to increase their profits, or they will just flat out leave you hanging! Their customer service is horrible, and they will not do the right thing even if you complain. It should also be noted that on the front page of their website, they claim to have an A rating with the BBB but in fact their rating is a CCC! They have had numerous complaints from customers, most of them detailing inefficient workers. Here is a quote straight from the Los Angeles BBB website:
Complainants generally allege damage to household goods during the moving process and final charges exceeding estimates due to inefficient work crews.
Their whole operation is a scam.in my case they just left with my $100 deposit but it sounds like they regularly send out movers who cant do the job, and end up charging more. Do not be lured by their low advertised prices! You will be sorry. You will end up paying more in the end, or end up in a worse predicament like me.
Michael
Santee, California
U.S.A.
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