I hired Paramount Movers last week through an internet request for movers to send me quotes. They contacted me through their salesman who told me they were owned by Paramount Studios (that they move film sets etc.) and they decided to go into residential moving. I gave him a 500.00 deposit to hold the move date. He informed me that I would not have to pay anything until dellivery.
In addition, the salesman provided me with a quote to move from So. California to the Chicago area and it seemed to be very reasonable. When the movers showed up at my house they had a rental truck from Enterprise. When questioned about it the supervisor of the spanish speaking other two became agitated and told me they are so busy that they have to rent trucks to keep up.
Well, this situation just got worse. The quote I had received (why I hired them in the first place) was completely bogus. He had to review all the items and it turned out in order to get the same price quoted I would have to leave approximately half of my furniture. (I only had limited funds). I decided to go ahead since he already had 500.00 of mine.
My elderly mother was present and was keeping an eye on them and noticing they were not putting stickers on all the items. The supervisor said to her "Look grandma, you don't need to tell me how to do my job, just let me do my job".
She was so upset he made her cry. We were intimidated by these clowns. Unbelievably, they charge by the cubic ft.instead of weight so there is no way of knowing if the quote is accurate or some obscure mathematical roque mover equation. (Illegal by the way according to the Federal Transportation Safety Administration who licensed these guys with a DOT# for interstate moving.) Once they had loaded my goods or at least the ones I could afford to load he informed me he needed to collect 60% up front. I objected and he called his "dispatch", he came back to me and said there was nothing he could do (or I for that matter as he had all my goods on his truck). After they left I found out that suspiciously my jewelry case with over 500.00 of jewelry was missing. I filed a police report. A complaint with BBB and Feds... The inventory list provided was ineligible with missing items. When I tried to go over it with him he had one foot out the door and became agitated once again.
The supervisor (Oren) he wouldn't give his last name to me. Wouldn't give me a refund for a refrigerator that they could not remove. I asked him to credit me and he said he couldn't and I would have to deal with dispatch the next day. I contacted them and got the same run around with people being out of the office, leaving messages etc. I finally spoke with the "manager" Dee and she said she would look into my complaints. I sent her a detailed list of their unethical practices along with the failure to disclose that they will be transferring my goods to another carrier (required by law). Under contract law they are the trustee for my goods and they are obligated to disclose any third party who will have my goods who are not party to the contract. They are also required to provide at time of signing a binding contract to present several other items such as information on their arbitration, identification # of the vehicle (s) in which the mover loads my shipment, the Surface Transportation Boards required release rates valuation statement, and the charges for any optional coverage. She said she would get back with me by the end of the day. No call, I called her. She told me she couldn't deal with my issues since there was an emergency and she had to go. An emergency? I said no way, you are not going to do this. She said she would look into these issues tomorrow. Thurs. Well, let's see I have been trying to get resolution since Mon. Not a good sign.
Now they have my goods in storage in L.A. Somewhere and I am trying to resolve these issues as well as the theft. Dee at the office told me she has honest men working for her and they would never do that. I said" You mean honest men like Oren who told me he has worked for you for 5 years? And you have been in business since 8? That Oren? Or Tony the salesman with the bogus quote who said you are part of Paramount Studios?"
I would require any mover to show proof of workman's comp, since according to the Federal Transportation Safety Adminstration they have three drivers (more than one employee requires it). If they enter your home and are injured they can actually sue you if there is no workman's comp in place.
I have contacted an attorney who has advised me to rescind the contract immediately and require the return of my goods. Buyer Beware!
Lauren
san clemente, California
U.S.A.
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