In February of my wife I moved from Salt Lake City, UT to Findlay, OH. After receiving several binding estimates from reputable movers, we opted for the least expensive option with OK Moving and Storage (AKA Eliad Van Lines or UB moving.com). Our original estimate totaled $3489 which included numerous boxes, assembly / disassembly of furniture etc. Our movers were supposed to show up at 6:00AM. About 6 hrs later, they finally showed up... I was terrified to find 3 Israeli's who could barely speak English in a rented Rider truck rather than a professional organization!
As they packed up the truck it quickly became apparent that we were going WAY OVER the allotted amount of space. (We used the on-line calculator and accurately input all pieces of furniture / boxes etc). I have now learned that you should NEVER use a moving company that charges by the cubic foot (they can't lie about weight). I then found that according to my quote, I was entitled to about 15 ft of the van. They were supposed to be moving a 4 bdrm house in 15' of an 8x10 van! Our quote of $3489 was rapidly approaching the $10,000 figure when I told them to quit packing and unload everything. Several arguments erupted between myself and the movers.
At one point, I sent my wife inside to call the police. The only way I was going to ever see my belongings again was to pay them each $100/hr for the work already done.in reality, I couldn't afford the delay since people were moving into my old home the next day. We negotiated a final price of $6115!! The only catch, I had to pay in cash.
By this time it was pushing 10:00 PM and there was no way possible I could get cash. They finally settled on a personal check. Upon delivery, they again requested the usage of cash and told my wife that since she didn't have the cash, they would stay in a hotel and hold our belongings captive until she came up with the $3,000 in cash. She eventually paid.
In the end, nobody would assist me in resolving the problems. I have now determined that all of the companies are out of business that were involved in this scam. Not really a surprise given how they operated.
Here is what I know about these "moving thugs". Most all of them are Israeli's living illegally in the US. The primary people are David Assulin, Shalit Baruch, Ralf, Michelle and Ben. Since I contacted the police, they have information on 2 of the men from the truck— Fernando J Brimberg (dob 4/18/80 CA DL D3867627) and Michael Itach (dob 1/21/78). Thankfully, most of our belongings made it to our next home.
I question if we didn't have police involvement whether or not I would have ever seen our belongings again. Several tables have large slices on the top (presumably from a large knife), two end tables were completely ruined along with our office desk. I attempted to contact these individuals on numerous times afterwards however, no phone calls were returned. When I threatened the use of an attorney, they just laughed and said good luck finding them.
To anyone moving across the country, stay away from any small moving company. Stick only with large, reputable national firms. I have found in my research so far, that quite often young men finish their time with the Israeli national army and move to the US to make some quick money before relocating to someplace cheaper in S America. The work for these scam moving companies and make a ton of cash in a short period. The owners of Eliad, Ok Moving and UB Moving have changed their company names several times. Unfortunately, they simply change their name and begin their fraudulent ways over and over again. Good luck to anyone dealing with these horrible people!
Http://phaeton. Servershost.net/~okmoving/index.html
Andrew
findlay, Ohio
U.S.A.
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