18 Jan 2022 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
The broker for this move was New City Moving and Storage (“Broker”) (US DOT: 3059125) with the mover Febex Moving and Storage (“Mover”) (US DOT: 3510454). I am filing a complaint against the Broker and Mover for deceiving the customer on the value of services provided, taking advantage of the customer during COVID-19 by grossly overestimating the volume of goods to be carried, and damaging nearly all goods during the move due to unprofessional packing and gross negligence.
The Broker led the customer to believe that its company operated its own fleet of carriers and had leading industry reviews, pointing to THIS website on provided March 5, 2021 - . The customer was assured that the broker only worked with top rated movers which was completely DISINGENOUS (read further and I've attached some pictures of their so called "top rated" Mover's work). The Broker priced two separate moving estimates with the customer providing the volume for the first based on a competing quote from Allied Van Line Services and the other broker generated. Since the Broker did not provide at home consultations to estimate inventory, the customer had to resort to companies that did to build a reference basis (Allied Van Line Services). The customer was willing to pay up to 30% more should the professional movers deem the volume to be more based on the second quote priced by the Broker. However, the Mover at the time of pickup increased the volume by nearly 85%, and would not begin loading equipment prior to agreeing to the gross overcharge. The Mover also mentioned that the Broker always undershoots significantly! The customer was put under significant duress to sign paperwork and threatened that the movers would walkout leaving the customer stranded. The broker at the same time would not acknowledge the revised quote (30% lift) since that wasn’t signed yet it was recorded in their system. The customer looked to protect itself with a higher quote but was left at the mercy of the packers. Moreover, the Mover driver at the time of delivery made it clear that the furniture delivered was closer to the original quote (435 cu.ft). He had also countersigned, attesting on a separate piece of paper the inventory of all the major equipment that was damaged because he was shocked and disappointed on the level of packing that led to nearly all the furniture being damaged.
This move was a full service with packing paid by the customer. The packers from the Mover that came to pack in California were very unprofessional and disgruntled as they hurried out the door to get to another job. Packers were seen dumping the items into boxes without wrapping them carefully. The customer had also requested the Broker to coordinate with the drivers to include wardrobe boxes in the truck, and despite confirming on a phone conversation and in an email, no wardrobe boxes were brought. This created more difficulty during the packing. The packers also left behind other items that the customer needed to pack in their own car such as extra suitcases with clothes, bathroom supplies, small paintings, kitchen rack for food. This all had to be done despite paying for full packing service. When items were finally delivered to the destination in Kentucky, almost every furniture item was damaged. Dining table chairs and office chairs were not wrapped in any blanket or any protective covering. Both the mattresses were also not wrapped (despite customer providing a full queen mattress cover which came back missing), resulting in dirty, damaged mattresses. Dining table glass was shattered (not even unloaded due to safety reasons) wrapped in cardboard only, while the TV had only blankets for protection. The TV was shattered. Legs of many of the furniture items were not wrapped and thus the legs came broken such as couch, bed, dresser etc. Upon opening boxes many of the porcelain and china kitchen items were dumped into the box without any wrap/layering for protection.
The customer was also not provided a copy of the RIGHTS and RESPONSIBILITIES MANUAL yet was put in a situation under duress where he had to sign paperwork acknowledging that he did receive it.
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