The following is a copy of the complaint I sent to the NJ attorney General's Office plus a wrap up of the situation. It's long because I included every detail. After reading it i'am sure you will NOT HIRE A ATLANTC PLUS MOVING FOR YOUR NEXT MOVE. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, 03/10 On January 1 I contacted Matt at A Atlantic Plus Moving & Storage. He gave me a quote to move my daughter from her apartment in Bloomfield, NJ to Summit, NJ with an additional stop at a nearby storage facility for the rest of her belongings. My wife, daughterand I then decided to store her remaining belongings in our garage in Lanoka Harbor, NJ. I then contacted Matt and asked for a new quote with this change He informed me that the original quote of $308.00 for our original estimate would increase to $424.00 to cover the extra 1 hours of travel time from Summit to Lanoka Harbor. At that point, I asked him if this estimate was accurate because of horror stories I heard and read about movers jacking up the price before unloading at the final destination. He assured me not to worry, and at worst case scenario it might be an extra hour if there was traffic or an unavoidable accident along the way, but he would work with me if that was the case. Again, I asked him if this estimate was correct. He assured me it was and could not see how it would take longer than the 5.5 hours with travel time. I then received an email on January 4th confirming the new quote. I then contacted your office to inquire if there were any complaints filed for this company and a couple of other ones I was considering. I was informed that this company had no complaints filed with your agency. The lady I spoke to also informed me to make sure that whoever I hire to make sure that they come to Bloomfield to do an estimate in person. It was illegal for the mover to do the move unless this was done. I was also informed about this by a couple of other movers I spoke with for an estimate as well. I then contacted Matt and asked about this and he said for an apartment this was not necessary, only if Jen was moving from a house. SO THERE WAS NO ESTIMATE PERFORMED IN PERSON FOR THIS MOVE BY A ATLANTIC MOVING & STORAGE! He went by what I described to him over the phone. On the day of the move, 01/31/08 the crew of 3 showed up. The foremans name was Tony. I showed him what was going to which location. He then had me sign and initial several forms. The only charge I saw was the labor rate per hour. I then asked where the total was, he said that gets filled in at the time of completion of the job. He would give me a more accurate figure when we left Summit for Lanoka Harbor. I was never informed of this figure. He also informed me that only cash or certified check was accepted for final payment. This was never brought to my attention by Matt when I booked the job. At about 5:15 pm Tony and crew arrived at my Lanoka Harbor address some 2 hours after they left Summit. The same drive took me 1 1/2 hours. Tony said there was traffic along the route they had to take. Tony then started going over the bill with me and started charging me for 8 hours not 5. There were charges for fuel service, tolls, tax, packing materials and 2 hours for their ride back to Passaic, NJ. None of these charges were ever disclosed to me at the time of the estimate, during my conversations with Matt or the day of the move. The bill was going way over $1000.00. When I refused to pay that amount Tony told his men to stop unloading. One of the horror stories I heard about movers that I spoke to Matt about was unfolding right in front of me. TYPICAL SCAM!!! Tony asked me did I really think that this job was only going to be the amount quoted and that I should have known that the bill was going to be higher. This is the moving business he said. I informed him to call his boss and he said he couldnt because it was after 5 pm and nobody was in the office. I insisted he get Matt on the phone. Matt said he informed me about the extra drive time back to their shop. After arguing with him for some time I told him I refused to pay any of the charges that were not explained to me upfront. He said he would only charge me 1 hours for the drive back. Total bill of $873.00 double the amount originally agreed upon by Matt and I. I also explained to Tony that I only had $500.in cash. He then said I could put the rest on a credit card. I was informed in the morning that credit cards are not accepted for payment. I paid him the $500.00 in cash and $373.00 on my Master Card. It was only after we settled the bill that the rest of the crew unloaded the rest of the belongings. After the truck was unloaded Tony than had the nerve to ask me for a tip, which I had every intension of giving them before I got scammed. Stupidly I gave them my last $60.00 of my work money because I felt bad for the other 2 workers. On October 22nd 2009 I had my arbitration hearing with the NJ Attorney General and Atlantic plus moving. Evan in the hearing under oath, Alex and his wife, who represented the moving company, lied about the events and offered me $100.00 to put the situation to bed. I refused. About a week later I was informed by the Attorney Generals office that I was to be awarded $224.50 by Atlantic Plus. After waiting nearly 7 months for my payment I asked my family attorney how to go about collecting this refund and she sent Atlantic Plus a letter on my behalf demanding payment. Also she would file a motion to enforce the payment and file sanctions and demand council fees. They ignored this letter. Finally at my wits end on 09/23 I contacted the Attorney Generals office again and was put in contact to the head of the dept. Of NJ movers & warehousemen. He told me he would get me my award himself and he did. After he informed Atlantic Plus he would not renew their license for 2011 unless they paid the award, they finally did almost a year after they were ordered to do so.
Steve, Lanoka Harbor, NJ
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