We find ourselves in an extremely difficult situation today thanks to the nefarious business practices of 1st choice moving, that was supposed to move our household items to Los Angeles from Seattle. After seeking multiple quotes, we chose First Choice Moving.
First Choice provided a binding estimate of $1909 for 3400lb. (430 CF) based on weight (detailed inventory done which was listed), and this included one stop at a storage facility, and a $50 charge for additional flights of stairs after the 3rd floor (since our elevator was inoperative)
The movers were scheduled to arrive between 11am and 1pm, but showed up only at 3:30 pm after multiple phone calls. The lead driver came up and visually estimated that we had twice the cubic feet stated in the estimate without walking through the agreed upon inventory list, and despite the fact that our written binding quote was very specifically based on weight, not volume.
Nevertheless, our original estimate of 436 cubic feet which was used to determine the weight was confirmed by my mother-in-law who did a thorough inventory re-check and found that and our original estimate of 436 cubic feet was correct.
The mover wanted to charge us $3350 for 800 cubic feet! He strongly objected to the lack of a working elevator (although this was agreed to in the estimate), and wanted to charge $400 for 8 flights of stairs (while there were only 6 flights with 42 steps). This lead driver's final estimate was $3350 (!!), and since he was so late in arriving, his office was not open and we could not reach a manager to resolve the situation.
In addition to not inspecting the inventory list he tried to pull another fast on us by telling us that he would charge us for the additional weight for all items that were listed in the estimate as being dropped off at local storage 4 miles away all the way to LA! And this was despite the fact that we had estimated and included another $100 charge on the original binding estimate for the extra hour of work to do the drop off! - absolute rip-off and downright dirty tactics.
We suspect that the driver wanted to take advantage of us given we were in a corner and would have to submit to his strategy as it is labor day weekend - which also means it is not easy for us to find an immediate solution / replacement.
We could not get through to anyone at 1st choice and I made a snap decision to send him away and not touch anything in my house. He has left us with his 'revised quote' which I fully intend to use in my litigation proceedings against this company that should really not be doing business at all - unethical, rude, liars and cheats trying to make a fast buck by exploiting unsuspecting consumers. AVOID AT ALL COSTS and save yourself time, money, and effort.
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