Total Rip Off! Very deceptive company!
jorge
Submitted this review about
ABS Moving and Storage
Review made Live: 2/16/2011 12:58:00 PM
Though the company has a good marketing speech, their F rating with the Better Business Bureau, and the numerous complaints to the US DOT from past customers speaks for itself. Unfortunately I didn't check this before using them.
I contracted them for a move from Charllote, Nc to Boston, MA. When I first spoke with ABS, they gave me a quote faster than any other company and without even taking a look at my stuff. I figured that since I had given them the exact dimensions of the storage unit where everything was stored at, they were able to give my an accurate estimate. After getting what seemed to be a reasonable quote based on the amount of items I had, I decided to go with them. Everything seemed fine until the day of the pick up.
They totally low balled the original estimate. Once the crew loaded my stuff onto their truck, they told me I had a lot more stuff than was anticipated, so they added an additional 2.5k lbs to the contract almost doubling the original price. It is important to note that DOT regulations require a mover to give you a new estimate prior to taking your stuff if they believe there's extra items, or to honor the original price if they proceed with the loading without a new estimate.
Since I was suspicious of the extra weight, I asked to be present while they weigh my stuff at the destination. I had moved the same items from Miami last year and the weight was just under 3k lbs, so I knew they were totally BSing. They acknowledged my request and confirmed it would be weighed on the day of delivery. However, when it came time for the delivery, they wanted to charge me $150 for reweighing the truck, which is illegal since DOT regulations also state they can't charge for a reweigh.
What's worse, once they are done taking your stuff they have the nerve to request 10-15% tip of the total contract price. Since when do you prepay tip? Tips are based on performance! They claim to put this tip in a pot that gets split among the crew, but in many cases they subcontract the work to other companies, so the actual crew doesn't even see it.
It took 35 days to receive my items, when in the Order for Service it was written that they it would take them 3 to 10 days. A good amount of my stuff had a lot of damage. It doesn't matter if you mark boxes as "fragile" or "this side up", they still handle them recklessly.
Their scheme, in essence, is to give you a low balled non-binding estimate, meaning the charges are based on the actual weight, but then increase the estimated weight once they have your stuff. In addition, they charge the extra weight at a much higher rate than the first estimate. They make no intentions to acutally weigh your items and proceed as if they're dealing with a flat rate contract, regardless if you explicitly ask for a reweigh. They will try to give you questionable weight tickets instead that were done who knows where.
Make sure you visit www.protectyourmove.org prior to making a move with any company to become well informed of your rights. Also visit www.absmovingscam.com for more info on this particular company.
