BACKGROUND: This company contracted to move house from Cambridge to Toronto. The owner himself came to our house, inspected all items to move, and gave an estimate of $1355.25 all in. On the day of the move, three workers arrived to take our things. Their stated rate was $129 / hour. They began at 8:45 A.M.
QUESTIONABLE CHARGES BEGIN: Although it only took them two hours (or less) to reach Toronto, we were charged for a 3 1/2 hour driving time. (This is normally a 1 hour drive, and it was not rush hour at either end.)
INCOMPLETE JOB: When they arrived in Toronto, they unloaded only a few items in the new apartment then insisted on full payment before finishing the job. They attempted to put through a $3000 charge on my credit card. Clearly this is vastly higher than our estimate. This was around 6 pm and they had stopped work.
THE EXTORTION BEGINS: The driver "Tim" informed me that 'this charge would not go through, ' and that if I did not pay $2500 on the spot that they would immediately drive back to Cambridge with our belongings, and charge us an extra $1500 the following day to drive back again.
REALITY CHECK: I phoned the credit card company and spoke about my account to an agent who informed me that, contrary to the claims of the movers, there was no problem with charges to my card, and no reason that any payment would not go through. This is all verifiable.
FEIGNING PROBLEMS: The driver continued to insist that the 'charge would not go through.' This seems to be a scam to rack up extra hours and charges for an extra day. I asked to speak to his supervisor or boss, and he told me that he was the supervisor. (I subsequently called their office and discovered that this claim was not true.)
IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR STUFF BACK, YOU'LL PAY WHATEVER WE ASK: Finally they put through a charge for $2500, again far more than the estimate, and forced my husband to authorize it if he wanted his furniture back. We were literally held hostage to their demands. The driver was exceptionally rude and sarcastic to us, and embarrassingly so in front of our new neighbours.
ONCE THEY GOT THEIR MONEY THEY LEFT WITHOUT FINISHING THE JOB: Once that charge had been authorized, the movers again refused to complete the job, on the grounds that they only work certain hours, and again insisted that they were going to drive all our things back to their offices in Cambridge and we would still have to pay the same amount again the following day in order to get our possessions back.
IMAGINE THAT THIS IS YOU: My husband (who suffers from a serious shoulder injury) was left with no choice to unload the rest of the furniture and move it on his own, without a dolly or other resources for which one normally pays a moving company. He was not able to leave things on the sidewalk, and it was too late to call anyone to help. His arms were literally so black and blue with bruising afterwards, it looked like he had been in an accident. He was placed under extreme stress and duress by continuous rude remarks from the driver. If it had not been for the kindness of our new neighbours helping out, we would not have gotten our belongings safely indoors.
DAMAGES TO PROPERTY: There were damages to antique wooden picture frames so deep that they could only have come from being thrown or deliberately mishandled by the movers.
THEY MILKED EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO ADD CHARGES: The itemized receipt shows the move ending at 8:45 P.M. While the movers actually did not work past 6 P.M. When the issue with payment began. I was on the phone with them for over an hour alone.
The 3 1/2 hour travel time is calculated in twice; once in the total hours, and then superadded separately. The travel time was not more than 2 hours.
The charge total was $2229.88. This was $874 more than the estimate prepared on site by the owner of the company, Lee Nelson. (Leland Nelson)
UNLAWFUL EXTRA CHARGES totalled nearly $1000:
A. Driving hours calculated in twice, $451.50
B. Charged for an extra 1 1/2 hours more than it took to drive, $193.50
C. Charged for 2 hours 45 minutes not worked after 6 P.M., $354.75
Total: $999.75
Complaints:
1. Job was not completed, with extremely serious consequences.
2. Unprofessional behaviour, extreme rudeness and sarcasm throughout. Non-existent customer service.
3. Estimate bore no relation to actual charge: was more than 160% of estimate. The actual price should have been under the estimate, i.E. $1000 less than the final total, i.E. $1229, BUT that would be a price paid for completing the job.
4. Overcharged for services not carried out by nearly $1000!!
5. Owner is mysteriously out of the office and continuously unreachable to discuss a partial refund.
After this happened I Googled the company and found other complaints on 'Ripoff report" http://usacomplaints.com/Search/GOOD-OL_-BOYS. Aspx
The credit card company representative told me that their particular strategy smacked of a full knowledge of how to manipulate the system so that the consumer is not able to recuperate their funds.
I immediately contacted the Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint.
The owner of the moving company's response to my complaint was illiterately written and full of false assertions, rambling about a landlord, and other nonsense that had nothing to do with the issues.
I discovered that a colleague of mine had been moved by the same company a year earlier and she noted that similarly they had tried to overcharge her, pulled the same tricks, and that one of the three movers had hardly lifted a finger the whole move.
Don't ever use good ol' boys moving and storage. And warn your friends and colleagues. They are scammers. Ripoff artists.
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