My husband and I are in the middle of a move from Hubert, North Carolina to Sierra Vista, Arizona. We believe that the movers we hired, Discover Moving & Storage, Inc. (based in Charlotte, North Carolina), have broken numerous laws and continue to do so.
An initial estimate of $6153 was made over the phone. It was based on $. 54 per pound, estimated weight of 8702 lbs, and included $1200 for packing. We signed the Moving Quote a few weeks before the move would take place. However, when the movers arrived on Wednesday, May 14 at 1:30pm, they indicated that it would cost somewhat more, but said they couldnt provide a final estimate until they started loading the truck.
After loading the truck late that evening, the foreman, Roni, quoted me a revised price of $15,000 and indicated that if they itemized everything the following morning it would be much more (the foreman indicated that $15,000 was a deal). He also requested a $600 tip for him and his crew, stating that if I help him out, he would help me out. I refused to accept the new price of $15,000 and instead called the police.
The officer arrived and said that there were two options: (1) unload the truck and pay the movers for packing materials and labor or (2) agree on a new price. The officer then left. At 11:00pm my husband and I, now exhausted and worried about our baby, agreed to pay $9000. I signed the Bill of Lading, gave the foreman a personal check for $4500, verified that this was a flat fee and that there would be no more charges added on later based on weight or other obscure details, and the truck drove away.
The next afternoon at 3:00pm, the owner of the moving company, Lior Dangoor, called from Charlotte and said they would not do the move for less than $11,000. He said that the truck weighed 278 lbs more than our original (phone) estimate of 8702 lbs. I was then given two options: (1) come to Charlotte and gather our possessions for an undisclosed sum or (2) agree to a new price of $11,567.85. The owner indicated that the foreman who negotiated the $9000 price was not authorized to do so and that the contract that I had signed the night before was invalid. At this point, fearing extortion, we stopped payment on our check for $4500.
Anthem Claim Management was apparently hired by Discover Moving & Storage, Inc. And on Friday, May 16, Joshua, who works for (or possibly owns) Anthem Claim Management faxed me the paperwork that Discover Moving & Storage, Inc. Had but did not leave with me on May 14. It seems that I did in fact sign some documents for Packing Materials Charges and a Revised Written Estimate. However, these documents were blank when I was instructed to sign them within 30 minutes of the crew arriving at my house, and I never saw them again until they were faxed to me on Friday, May 16. Therefore I never knew how they were calculating their charges.
On Monday, May 19 we were contacted by Mr. Dangoor again and he requested the $11,567.85 for our possessions. My husband negotiated with him, and they agreed on a total remaining balance of $8,750. I asked him to fax me something in writing. He sent me a handwritten document with his signature cut off of the bottom. I typed up a document similar to his but with more details so that he could not charge us for anything extra.
I sent the document to Mr. Dangoor via e-mail on Wednesday, May 21. On Thursday, May 22 I had not heard back from him and called Discover Moving & Storage, Inc. No one answered the phone and I left a voicemail message. Finally at 4:59pm Mr. Dangoor called me back and said that he had been speaking with someone at the DOT and that legally he could not give me a discount and that the final amount due would have to be the $9,000 that we agreed to on May 14.
He said that he did not send the packing materials list to the person at DOT because if he did he would have to charge us $11,500, so I should not be confused when I see that the packing is only $3,000 on the contract. Mr. Dangoor also told me that he was advised by the person at the DOT to ship our possessions to Arizona and put them in storage near our new house; when we finally pay him our outstanding balance we would be sent the key for the storage facility and we could unload our possessions ourselves. However, Mr. Dangoor said that he would not do that because its not very nice.
In spite of our conversation and the amount discussed, the fax we received is asking for the inflated price of $15,732 for our things an amount that was calculated after the truck left my house on May 14. Furthermore, the revised written estimate sent to me by Anthem Claim Management has been altered since it was faxed to us on May 16; reasons for the rescission of the original estimate have been added to my signed copy without my authorization.
These include marking the revised estimate as binding; indicating packing was the reason for rescission; indicating weight was a reason for rescission; and filling in the original dollar estimate in the box for the original weight estimate and forging my initials next to the number. Mr. Dangoor also states in his cover letter of the fax that if we do not pay the full amount (whatever that is) he will be putting our things in storage in Arizona, as stated above, exactly as he told me he would not do.
I was contacted again by Mr. Dangoor at 12am Sunday, May 25. He left a voicemail message stating that he is still planning on having our things in Arizona on Tuesday, May 27, but that he needs the $4500 initial payment and that we will pay the other $4500 upon delivery, before the truck is ever opened. He goes on to say that if we do not pay in full he will put our things in storage near our house in Arizona as stated above and in his fax from May 22.
Because of the 110% rule, my husband and I believe that we should not legally have been charged more than $6768.30 in order to get our things packed, loaded, shipped to us, unloaded and put together as stated in our original Moving Quote. Discover Moving & Storage, Inc. Had a reasonable estimate of our household weight (they were only off by about 3%) and they had an exhaustive inventory list that we spent hours compiling.
We have now received our things and paid $8,750 in addition to the $495.28 deposit that we paid on March 28. Several items have been damaged, and we still feel that we more than overpaid and were definitely taken advantage of. Legally we should be compensated $2,476.98 plus the cost of all damages.
If you need copies of any of these documents including the original Moving Quote, Bill of Lading, faxes, e-mails, etc. Please let us know. We have it all documented and would be glad to share it in order to see justice for ourselves as well as for other consumers.
Mama Cuchara
Austin, California
U.S.A.
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