National Moving Network, AY Transport
Ripoff scam con artists extortion Anthony Lucas

I needed to move from Minnesota to Pennsylvania. I used the National Moving Network online form to submit a request for information. The NMN rep who called - Anthony Lucas - asked only a few questions before offering an extremely low estimate. However, he told me that in order to secure the date, I had to pay a $500 downpayment by credit card.

I held off for a few days, but because of the low estimate, I reluctantly committed to NMN. I received paperwork the next week indicating a mandatory $400 insurance charge. I called Anthony and left a message of complaint; he called back to tell me the insurance was recommended but not mandatory, because otherwise the company only insures by weight, not value.

Over the next week, I became increasingly concerned and left several messages with Anthony that I needed to know that he had received my paperwork, that my load date was confirmed, who was doing the moving, and exactly how and when final payment was to be made. He sent an e-mail assuring me he would keep me informed. I never heard from him again.

After several more calls and notes, I got a call from a different representative two days before the scheduled move date "confirming" a wrong date of the next day. I spent much of the night preparing, only to find out he had had the date wrong.

When they did show up on the scheduled date, it was just two people, neither of whom spoke English well. Their paperwork identified them as being from AY Transport. They did not bring any tools, they did not mark boxes as they packed, and it took most of the day to box and load. I also found out when they were nearly done that I was the first of three loads that were destined for that truck, and that my stuff had taken up much more room than they allotted. They requested a tip when they completed loading the truck.

When they finished, they handed me paperwork explaining all kinds of charges we had never discussed, and then one of them handed me a card with a California number (not toll-free) I was to call the next day to get the actual payment due on delivery. I called the California number the next morning, and the person who answered did not identify the company or her name, and told me to call back that afternoon. I called back in the afternoon, and again the people answered merely with "Hello" and did not identify themselves or their company. When I questioned this, they informed me their answering service wasn't working, whatever that meant.

After several calls, all at my cost, I finally got all the details - the cost was more than $700 more than the original estimate, and they would accept only cash or a postal money order. Also, they couldn't give me a delivery date.instead, they gave me the cell phone number of the driver, and told me to call him the next day - Thanksgiving - to get the delivery date.

I called and the driver did not answer the cell phone (he later told me it was a temporary phone, whatever that meant), nor did he return my messages. I called the office twice more Friday - again at my cost - and they told me he was in Pennsylvania, but they couldn't get in touch with him either. They promised to call me with information.

I finally heard from the driver the later Friday and he told me he would deliver Saturday around 1, and would call one hour before delivery. Growing more concerned about giving them cash, I called the company Saturday and talked to a customer service representative and told him I would pay only with a personal check. He would not accept that, nor would he accept a credit card "because I don't have a credit card machine here."

After a lot of running around, I got the cash. Without a call, the driver finally arrived at about 4 P.M. Saturday and would not unload the truck until I gave him the cash. I considered calling the police, but reluctantly gave him the money. However, we blocked the exit path of his truck, and I insisted on documenting every item unloaded, and we examined everything for damage. None of the three people doing the unloading spoke English very well, so communication was difficult. It wouldn't have mattered. The "leader" told me I should investigate my moves better in the future. I hope this helps others do so and avoid National Moving Network and AY Transport.

Mark
Woodbury, Minnesota
U.S.A.

Company: National Moving Network, AY Transport
Country: USA
State: California
City: San Jose
Address: 530 N. 8th St., San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: 4089750660

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