17 Sep 2017 · MoveAdvisor
1.0 out of 51.0
Almost a year has passed since my move with Victory Moving and Storage in August/September 2016. I almost decided not to spend my time writing this review, but I'd feel irresponsible not doing so. If at least one person can avoid using them, then I figured I've saved someone thousands of dollars.
In short, Victory Moving (which has gone by Sammy's Moving in the past and may be using another name now because they had to shut down after this incident) is a fraud, particularly if they are working in conjunction with a so-called broker company called National Moving Group. DO NOT be fooled by Victory Moving or National Moving Group; they are professional scammers and work well together. Victory Company's main guy is named DJ and his father is the owner. He might be named Sammy. The National Moving Group guys are Joe, Eric #1, Justin, Eric #2, and Frank. There might have been another Joe.
The biggest outcome of my experience is that I filed a report with the Department of Transportation in August 2016 because Victory Moving held my items hostage at some unknown location in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Although they eventually got my things on the road, I was able to prove that they falsified a weight ticket to try to get paid for moving 11,490 lbs. when my items only weighed about 5,900 lbs. I was told by the DOT investigator that they were fined at the end of the investigation. They didn't pay the fine and had to shut down for non-payment, but they are probably are operating under another name.
So here's what happened, and this is only the worst of it:
National Moving Group did a phone inventory of my goods and estimated my items to be around 5,000 lbs. (Note: phone inventories are a red flag.) Days before my move, they called me to go over the inventory. Lo and behold, they had forgotten to include 50 or so boxes and had to add several hundred more pounds (= more money). Because they rush you through the process at the initial stage, they bank on you not noticing that they "forgot" to list the boxes; you're just looking at all the furniture. By this time, I had already paid a deposit of $1200 and was in a sense committed (Note: having to pay a deposit up front is a red flag.) National Moving required additional money for a higher deposit, which I paid.
Although National Moving claims that they "will be your advocate" throughout the entire process, they are anything but. I called continuously, left several messages, sent numerous emails. They were totally unresponsive and simply ignored my emails. I always got someone different each time I called. My initial broker was conveniently "gone" after I signed the contract and I never spoke with him again. At the end of the process when DOT had fined Victory Moving, some manager at National Moving Group named Frank finally sat up and paid attention. But I still had to fight with him to refund me the amount I had overpaid (Note: they make refunds sound like an easy process when you sign up; it's not.) I ended up having to negotiate the amount I'd accept as a refund just to avoid having to hire a lawyer (Note: he never showed me how he was calculating my refund). When finally I threatened to file a report on them like I did with Victory Moving, they relented and paid the refund. Frank literally said, "Don't file a report on us, okay?" So, these scammers are just as culpable, in my view. But enough of National Moving Group. On to Victory Moving.
DJ is the main guy with Victory Moving. When he came to pick up my things on a Sunday night about 8:00 p.m., over a day after our scheduled appt., he looks around the house and goes, "Wow, you really have a lot of things, more than what it looks like in the contract." I couldn't understand. I told him National Moving Group did a phone inventory not once, but twice. DJ kind of shook his head and suggested National Moving Group didn't know what they were doing. This is part of their psychology game. He even looked at my BBQ grill and said that was definitely a medium grill, not a small grill. So now they've got me freaking out, thinking my things weigh more. All part of the game.
So DJ asked me to sign a new contract that evening with a new estimate of something like 24,000 lbs. 24,000 lbs?!?! I asked. "Oh, don't worry," he said, "we just put the highest amount that the truck can hold, so that in case it's even a pound over your National Moving Group estimate o 8,000 lbs., we don't get fined. We'll get fined if it's a pound over." This is how they get you. I stupidly signed the new contract with them. He said there's no way my things would weigh that much.
At my house, DJ provided me with a CAT Scale ticket showing what my things weighed prior to loading my things. The ticket looked legit (yellow, certified CAT Scale name). It showed that the truck weighed 17,000 lbs. empty. Upon leaving, DJ said he would weigh the truck again in Orlando on the way to Ft. Lauderdale. Although he offered for me to go an inspect the weigh, it was about 10:00 at night and we were leaving the next day. Orlando was about an hour away. I had a two-year old and my parents with me. They know you probably won't go. I didn't.
A few days later, DJ said he had taken off the day before and had *just* finished weighing the truck. He told me that my items weighed 14,000 lbs. "Yes ma'am, I swear on my mother's name." I was shocked. I had moved two years prior and my things had only weighed 4,500 lbs. He asked for more money and sent me a credit card authorization form immediately, saying he couldn't ship my things until I paid more. I said I had to think about this. I asked him for a weight ticket. He never sent it.
That night, I started looking online and learning about moving scams. Instead of paying DJ more money, I filed a report online with the DOT, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. DOT put an investigator on it fairly quickly and sent a letter to Victory saying the case was going to be investigated.
A few days later, DJ texted me and said that there had been "an issue" with my weigh so he graciously agreed to weigh my things again. This time, my things only weighed 11,490 lbs! Again, he demanded more money, and again I demanded to see the weight ticket showing that my things actually weighed this amount.
DJ emailed a weight ticket from an unnamed weigh station in Davie, FL. The ticket looked unofficial and suspicious. I looked online and found only one weigh station in Davie, FL called 595 Truck Stop. I called and spoke with Bradley, the manager of 595 Truck Stop. Bradley confirmed that they were the only weigh station in Davie, FL. I told him what was happening and texted him a picture of the weight ticket that DJ emailed me. Bradley responded that it was not one of their tickets. He sent me one of their weight tickets that looked totally different and more legit. I sent all of this info to the DOT investigator.
When the DOT investigator arrived at Victory Moving in Ft. Lauderdale to meet with DJ and his father, they had already put my items on the road before she could see that they were being held hostage. This is their practice. She called me and had me on speaker with DJ and his father, letting me know that my things were on the road and told me when I could expect to receive them. I let them all know that I wanted to be present for a weigh of the truck as it entered El Paso, and that I wanted to follow the driver back to the same weigh station after my things had been unloaded to see what the truck weighed after unloading. I told them I'd provide the driver with an address of a weigh station near my home, which I did.
The driver arrived, reluctantly weighed the truck before unloading, unloaded my things and demanded money in the most unprofessional way, and then drove back to the weigh station with me and my father in tow.
My items weighed 5,900 pounds. In short, Victory, tried to double my weight and scam me out of about $5,000. The worst part is the fake ticket he made up when I wanted to see proof. It looks like something off one of those old printers we used to own back in the 80's.
As I said before, this was the worst of it. My items came badly damaged, they were all cramped in the truck with other people's things, and I was missing a few lamps. After everything I'd gone through, my damaged items paled in comparison to the fight I had to go through with both Victory Moving and National Moving Group, and I never sought reimbursement for my damaged items. Their just things after all. It was more important to me that I expose Victory for who they are and hopefully help others avoid what I had to go through.
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