10 Oct 2015 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
This company has now changed their name to “Elite moving
services” and. also Meridian moving services. I think you will grasp the reason for the name change by the time you have finished reading this and the supporting documentation. These charges were the result of overcharging me by means of coercion and threatening to hold hostage my furnishings..This company has acted in bad faith from the day they arrived at my home on August 2 to pick up furniture until now; the original estimate was $2620.78 per Robert Stevens, a senior
moving consultant. And it was explained to me the estimate was binding. We had
an accurate inventory, box count and actually removed several items from that list. I gave a very detailed box I called Robert back and explained to him, I was removing a very large triple dresser, a huge matching mirror, a large metal glider, a full size grill, a dresser, and a few chairs.He said “great that will save you money from the original estimate" I had spoken with him directly the day before the movers arrived 3 men, with the
leader being Juan. .As they started hauling stuff out, they broke open a case of tape, and brought in boxes and cardboard for no apparent reason? My son and I were both confused, the three
movers spoke Spanish, and only one spoke broken English. And asked me if I spoke Spanish, ? I replied no.They packed
things that we had no need for with all this additional packing materials, on stuff we had already securely packed and taped. Note, we had done an excellent job having moved a total of 11 times over the years.Our so called moving consultant Robert Stevens told us, they would break down things, like beds, tables, etc. They in fact attempted to charge us to do that. While they were carting things out, we noticed they were putting boxes together, while at the same time
we were doing a final walk through with the new buyers of our home and they were very aware we were distracted. And my son believed they were simply adding empty boxes to the load. Or placing already packed boxes in the boxes they assembled.
After everything was on the truck, the lead man Juan, informed
us there was twice as much stuff as was on the estimate, which we were in total disbelief as my son and I did a box count the night before and there were no 80 boxes, and twice as much goods, when I protested Juan, told my son and I that, “he
could eyeball it and could tell there was twice as much cubic feet as there was on the estimate. No measurement was taken when asked, , the truck was closed,
no weight was given to us, and if we wanted the stuff taken off the truck we were told, “you’ll still have to pay the same amount if now we have to unload it”.
This is a clear definition of what has taken place here.Extortion.Extortion is the crime of obtaining money or
property by threat to a victim's property intimidation,
or false claim of a right. Extortion can take place over the
telephone, via mail, text, email or other computer or wireless communication.If any method of interstate commerce is used in the extortion, it can be a federal crime. -
In my conversation with Robert Stevens I told him clearly I would advise of my final destination, (as on the contract he had put Ft Pierce Florida) which he believed was the warehouse for the Southeast. And it was so clearly noted on my so called binding moving estimate that I the customer would let them know the final destination. The operative words here are, “will
advise is in the contract On or about August the I asked
them to store it for one more month, they had told me it would cost $350.00 As I was working on a rental location close to Atlanta. And I needed them to hold the shipment and he said
they would as I had paid several hundred over the binding estimate..in their New Jersey warehouse I checked with them a few weeks later, and was told again “we are holding it in NJ.” When I called for delivery to Atlanta, some man named "Leo " told me my stuff had been moved to Florida, I asked why on earth would you do that ? He said he had been
given a Florida address and had already attempted delivery?
Being this was a blatant fabrication by him, I asked him to where? He could not tell me he said I I will check and call you back, he never did.I called him 2 days later after calling 2-3
times a day and informed him no one had given him any address anywhere from my household and he was in error. I further explained to him the sales rep Robert
Stevens had been told the day we booked the move we most likely would be in Atlanta and that we were still up in the air, we were told “no problem, we have a warehouses in both Atlanta as well as NJ.so when I want delivery, advise them”.
When I called to speak to the dispatcher to set the delivery address, (Leo) got very angry started swearing and informed me it would now cost an
additional $1700.00 ? I stated that "nowhere in the contract did I give him Florida, or any address to deliver to until this phone call, And there exists no contract of any kind for tho be shipping it all over the place. My only call for delivery was to take it to the Atlanta area where we wanted it.
He started screaming again, and he said "if I didn’t pay it by either cash or credit card, I would never see our chit again" and hung up on me once more.>
This is called coercion, or pretty damned close to it I called back a few days later, and asked if we could use a credit card for this bill which now had tripled ! I was then informed if I used a credit card he was going to add additional another 5% onto the bill as he preferred cash.(no paper trail I am sure)
Adding to the already over charged amount of almost an additional $2900 in addition to the nearly $2900.00 I had already over paid on an estimate of $2600.00.and at the time of pick up told the driver Juan, that was all I was going to pay, and refused to sign the electronic invoice which he then later signed my name and it emailed to me. My research say’s Forgery is the faking of a signature without permission, making a false document or changing an existing document without
authorization. When I addressed it with the salesman Robert, he said “its no big deal, they do it often which enables them to actually transport my goods and not to worry about it, I paid already by check” This is blatant robbery, as attested by the original invoice, the jacked up invoice by Juan, the charge s to haul it from their warehouse in Florida to Woodstock GA. And
never once did I ever get a bill of laden, a letter of explanation, a tear sheet, a weigh or scale slip. Documents forged, coerced and threatened with the disappearance of my property. I have sent both police and FBI 40 complaints for the
very same activities in part and in whole by this company and have attached for them to this series of mails. which is in less than a year an extraordinary number of complaints all
indicating the same modes operand This Company has a track record of these activities, and I have supplied law enforcement with multiple examples of their practices. Most people are simply happy to get their stuff returned, and put this horrible
experience behind them. I on the other hand am not willing to be taken advantage of. The 21 complaints with The
BBB end up getting closed after 90 days automatically, as I was told the usual reason, consumers don’t bother or are too busy to keep the process going. All
the BBB does is note there was a complaint and after 30-90 days close the file,but does note complaints were made and leave out the details.In addition the single government agency Federal Motor carriers Safety Administration Household Goods Program who’s website at a minimum is t difficult to maneuver or make consumers aware that there even is a
place to lodge a complaint, has four complaints this year, most people again just let it slide, I am sure if one was to dig deeper, yet a lot of people simply allow it to happen and don't file a complaint or post it.
And for the record, at no time did I advise them to move my furnishings from NJ to Florida provide
an address, and at no time did I agree to a surcharge, short of being coerced and at no time did I get a tear weight or any kind of accurate
measurement of my goods. No such documents exist, and I never have seen anything from them. And to add to this, when I called them on the 15 of September to provide a delivery address, Leo was about as rude as you could
be, telling me when asked if they were still going to reassemble my furniture, he said “ NO ! we just going to throw it all against the garage “ I called again on the 21 they did have the correct address for delivery,then informed me, we will try and get it to you between the 1 and 5th of October. Which is totally different than what he told me the
week before? So in conclusion, this company or companies in this shell game, has made a practice of scamming people and ripping people off. I have been coerced,threatened, overcharged, a victim of forgery and in essence blackmailed to pay up or else! And I for one have already over paid, and fully expect the Sheriffs department and the FBI
To look at all of this and proceed with a criminal investigation as this is clearly criminal. Please also note I am a senior at age 66 and that brings with it additional issues.
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