On 1/6 we contacted several moving companies to find one who could move our possessions from Chino Valley AZ to the Phoenix area (88.5 miles) as soon as possible, and had the ability to store or belongings for an undertermined length of time. Desert Sun Moving was available immediately, and gave us a verbal sight-unseen quote of $1750. This was based on the "average weight" of a 3 bdrm home plus 2 living rooms and an office - "approximately 5000 pounds". We understood that we would also be paying an additional $200 per month for storage, but the first month was to be free. (We thought this sounded like a reasonable quote, since we had just moved the EXACT same furniture a month prior, but a shorter distance, for $600.)
Desert Sun Moving came to our Chino Valley home on 1/8/10, and moved our belongings to their storage location in Phoenix, AZ. Nearly everything was already packed, but they did pack paintings, mirrors, and some larger items that required special boxes. The Desert Sun estimator told us then that, based on his visual inspection of our possessions and on his 9 years experience as an estimator, he thought the weight of our belongings would be closer to 7500 pounds. We said fine.
But when we received a call from Desert Sun the following week to inform us the our belongings had weighed 13,120 pounds, and that we now owed them an incredulous $5,774.77, we went to their office to discuss the problem. They showed us a weight ticket as proof of their claim. It showed the preloaded truck weight at 36,880 pounds, and loaded with our belongings at EXACTLY 50,000 pounds. They said this was common, stuck by their claim, but adjusted the total bill to $4975.05. We paid them $2875.85 that day, but left without a resolution.
Before we had a chance to dispute the additional charges further, we found a home to purchase and made arrangements to move on 1/27/10. Desert Sun agreed to deliver our possessions that morning, but then refused to unload the truck until we paid them the additional $2,099.20, which we were forced to do.
To make things worse, we found that many of our possessions were damaged, most damages acknowledged and noted by Desert Sun employees when the unloaded the items. So, on 2/4/10 we filed a damaged goods claim with Desert Sun Moving. We were told that an insurance adjustor would come inspect the damages within 14 days. It's now been 60 days, and we have never heard from them.
We feel strongly that Desert Sun Moving owes us $2300.00 for excessive moving charges, and an additional $1000.00 for expenses we have insured to have damaged and destroyed possessions replaced and repaired. But, even if that doesn't happen, somebody needs to put a stop to this disreputable company and their unscrupulous business practices!
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