17 Feb 2023 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
I called this company and received quote over the phone and signed and "Estimate." The company "estimates" the amount of cubic feet you will need for your move by asking questions about items in your home. I went from room to room giving exact dimensions, length x width x height, of all my boxes and furniture. American Moving Solutions came up with the number: 410 cubic feet, for about $3300. Great, much cheaper than Uhaul and PODS. Before the move, they check in to see if you have any other items to add on, and also, there seems to be a problem with the dimensions of my sofa, telling me someone didn't record it. I give the exact dimensions again, now my "Estimate" is 900 cubic feet for $7200. I added a few more boxes and they corrected the "mistake" on my sofa, but how did the cubic feet double in size, going from 410 to 900 cubic feet? Through this whole process, I was signing "Estimates" and giving deposit money.
I called before the day of the move, questioning the higher estimate, and was told not to worry, it's hard to know how much cubic feet would actually be needed until the truck was loaded. On the day of the move, the movers showed up, and they are not from American Moving Solutions, they were a local moving company. I was not aware I had been dealing with a middle man/moving broker. Also, the higher estimate for $7200 was not an "estimate" at all, it was a binding contract that I had signed, and I was required to pay that amount. I was led to believe my 2 estimates were actually estimates - they were not. I had signed these documents with the word "ESTIMATE" in the title, but did not read all the fine print. It was a contract. I went back and forth with them on the phone, they kept telling me I signed the agreement, what's the problem? The problem is: I signed up initially for a estimated $3300 move and then signed an estimated $7200 move, thinking the price would be somewhere in the middle, most definitely closer to the $3300 estimate because I only added a few more boxes.
I got scammed, these were not estimates, they were contracts. And it was a bait and switch tactic concerning the amount of cubic space needed, and it happened on the first phone call: I gave dimensions of everything in my home, and they told me it added up to 410 cubic feet, knowing that most people would not question that number because we do not realize what 410 cubic feet looks like in reality. Do you know what 410 cubic feet looks like? Turns out to be about equal to the volume of space in 1/2 of a small bedroom, floor to ceiling. There's no way everything my home could fit into that small space! They knew I needed 900 cubic feet because I gave them exact measurements, but they quoted me 410 cubic feet, knowing that most normal people have no idea what 410 cubic feet looks like.
They lied on purpose, they knew I really needed 900 cubic feet, and I would not have signed up for a $7200 move, but I did sign up thinking it was just an "estimate." I could have got a PODS for $4500. They lowballed the cubic feet by half telling me I only need 410 cubic feet, and gave me an initial lowball estimate of $3200. On a later call, claiming there was a problem with my sofa, and me adding a few more boxes, the second estimate more than doubled in size, which I knew could not be correct, but I thought it was just an estimate, and I was told everything would work out on the day of the move when it was loaded onto the truck.
I could not get my deposits back, and now it was the day of the move, so I ended up paying the $7200. My belongings were not even worth $7200, but the alternative was to stop, lose $2400 in deposits and start the whole moving process over with a different mover. I could have paid for PODS cheaper, I could have done UHaul cheaper, but they got me with the first low-ball quote, and I put down a deposit.
My advice: do the move yourself, rent a truck and drive it yourself. Or, if the cost to move is more than what your furniture is worth, it makes financial sense to throw your stuff in the trash, and use the money these scammers get to buy yourself some new furniture in your new city.
Read more