On 10/9 we used this company to move a short distance. We found them on the internet and were given a reasonable quote. The movers arrived over 2 hours late - we had to call the office numberous times to check on the whereabouts and were given a very rude reply about traffic.
When the 4 movers arrived one of them came out of the back of the truck - he was riding over 2 hours in the back of moving truck with no seatbelt, no seat, etc. We had specifically asked the company if they provided proper transporation for all of their employees before we contracted with them. We were lied to.
Before they began we had to sign a conctract which was long and confusing. We asked the main mover to explain and he told us not to worry - the move wouldn't take long. They had us initial a not to exeed amount which was well over triple the quoted amount... Again he said he had to have our initials and they used that amount to cover themselves in case of emergency but it wouldn't come close to that.
We went ahead and initialed just wanting to get this going since we were already 3 hours behind... We had noticed from our online quote that the use of boxes, blankets and tape was free but that extra cardboard was not free. We specifically asked that they use moving blankets in most cases. The contracted stated 4 men at $105.00 per hour. The estimated time was 5 hours - we were fine with that estimate. After everything was finally loaded at the old house we went to the new location (we drove one of the movers so he didn't have to ride in the back of the truck with all of our belongings - it was dangerous).
When we arrived before any unloading started were were given our bill - they made sure you paid before they unloaded. The bill was for $1500.00 and we were shocked. We immediately asked why and were told that were charged over $800.00 in packing/cardboard supplies. We called the office and complained to the the manager and were talked to very rudely and were told that if we didn't pay they would take our belongings and leave.
We asked for an itemization of the cardboard used and none of the movers could provide us with specifics - our receipt isn't even specific and nobody could explain it - it looked like they wrapped the large appliances and furniture in cardboard for no reason. (washer, dryer, refrigerator, etc.). We agreed to pay (we had no choice) and we asked to put in on a credit card - the contract said we could pay by cash or credit card. We would receive a 5% discount if we paid in cash. We didn't care about the discount - we are in the banking industry and fully intended to stop the payment on the credit card.
The movers called to put our credit card through and we were told their machine was down. They could only accept cash. This was not right. We called again to the office and argued and were treated very rudely - and told that they would just leave with our stuff. (We really didn't have the money to pay for this - we had to use cash that we had set aside for utilitiy bills, etc.) We had taken a loan from retirment acccounts and family just to pay for the move which was necessary - we had to move from a two story to one story for medical reasons.
Finally, they unloaded the truck - we paid for 4 movers and 2 worked for the full unloading; the other 2 guys spent the last hour taking tape off of their blankets and reloading the cardboard that we paid for. I'm sure they put it back in their truck and will charge someone else for its use. One of the movers that day even told us what a terrible company it was and how they were 'crooks'. It was a terrible experience and this is the most dishonest company we have ever dealth with.
Elisabeth
Santa Rosa, California
U.S.A.
0 comments