13 Aug 2021 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
Don’t believe the fake positive reviews – these guys are a scam. Sharon Brooks (sales associate) and Victor Guerra (mover) are fraudulent and willing to break federal law to extort their customers. I’ve already filed a formal complaint with the FMCSA, FTC, and BBB, but I want everyone to know how untrustworthy this company is. On 4/30/21 I signed a binding estimate for $2923; on move day (6/25/21) Victor and his team arrived late without apology, asked me to sign a blank estimate (which I refused), and immediately began loading the truck with our belongings. At no time did Victor conduct a walkthrough with us to go over the inventory, nor did he show us any of the paperwork he was referencing for our move documentation. Per federal law (and Suburban Relocation Systems’ own binding contract which I had signed), a mover may not increase the price of a binding estimate once the truck has been loaded; by law, they must alert the customer to any overages or increases before a single item is touched. Victor never did this. After the truck was fully loaded, he announced we had 113 cubic feet more than our inventory had listed; I know this to be false because I had two competing quotes from other companies which estimated our belongings at a much lower number, and because I myself (in anticipation of this very accusation) had painstakingly measured each and every box and furniture item I own, running the calculation on cubic footage, which confirmed the lower estimates from the other companies.
Victor’s false accusation of more cubic footage resulted in him demanding over $400 more than our binding quote had guaranteed. I pointed out that I had not agreed to this new quote nor had I signed his blank estimate at the start of the move, and that he was breaking federal interstate move laws by upcharging in this manner. He refused to acknowledge my point. In fact, he made two nonsense retorts: the first excuse he made was that he “couldn’t possibly have known” it would be more until the truck was loaded (this is exactly why these laws exist – to avoid extortion in this way); the second excuse he made was that he had, in fact, told us it would be more. I ask you, how could Victor have simultaneously warned us it would be more and also have no way of knowing it would be more? He lies, that’s how. We asked if we could speak to Victor’s supervisor – he refused, then claimed he was the owner of the company, then refused again. We asked if there was a number we could call – he provided only a nameless phone number I could text or call, which of course yielded no results. We tried calling the sales office, the dispatch number, the main phone line – all met with no answers. At one point, Victor called “Mike” (most likely just a buddy of his with no affiliation to the company, posing as the heavy handed boss) and put him on speakerphone so we could hear him say “She pays or we unload everything!” When we tried to speak up for this fake boss to hear us, Victor rapidly and frantically hung up the call.
Because the team had arrived so late in the day (by now it was getting dark and way past business hours), we had no choice but to continue with this company. Victor Guerra extorted us by telling us we could either pay the exorbitant increase or he would unload all of our belongings in the street. We let him know we would be taking legal action against him since he was breaking the law, and he actually bragged about having been successful at this tactic for over 16 years.
The following day, Sharon (from the office) finally returned my call. I calmly explained everything to her, and to my astonishment, she doubled down on the company’s decision to defraud customers. She lied about the facts of the incident (which she was not even present for) and reiterated that the upcharge would stand or we would not receive our belongings. We eventually did receive our belongings, after having paid over 13% more than what we owed. The entire process of dealing with this company was a nightmare. I would pay twice the price to an honest company before I give these slime bags one more penny. They were rude, late, careless, and unethical. If my review here warns just one customer off them, it will have almost been worth it. I hope they are fined and put out of business.
RUN, don't walk, away from this scam of a company.
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