American Home Movers - Scammed, Surprise Fees and Bribes Needed
bhdc71
Submitted this review about
American Home Movers
Review made Live: 5/12/2013 4:49:00 PM
Stolen item, surprise fees with movers asking for bribes to overlook surprise fees, deceptive advertising/claims.
According to other moving companies i've used, what American Home Movers did was a "scam".
Things went fairly well during the quote process, however the problems arise during and pickup and dropoff.
Pickup and delivery, despite what American Home Movers tells you, are separate operations/companies.
Pickup showed up about 2 hours early, which was really inconvenient because i was at work. Pickup then tells me that... SURPRISE!! THIS WAS MISQUOTED! Travis, the representative that scheduled the move told me that if the truck was more than 100 feet away from my apartment they would need to charge a "long-carry" fee (understandable). What he failed to mention, or the movers completely lied about, was that they count every floor they go up on an elevator as 75 feet. Going up one floor on an elevator = carrying my items 75 feet.
The movers then told me that they would overlook this added on long-carry fee if i gave them whatever cash i had on me "off-the-record". In otherwords, a bribe/shakedown.
They have you pay in 2 parts, half for pickup, the other half for delivery. They claim to accept credit cards so long as you give them a few days notice. I should mention that from the second the estimate was approved I notified american home movers that I would be paying both parts with a credit card. I paid my initial deposit/pickup fee with a credit card, however after pickup and during transit more shadiness ensued. I called American Home Movers 2 days after pickup (day 2 of a 10 day move) to notify them once more that I would be paying with a card so that theyd have plenty of notice and there wouldn't be any more surprises. The representative then tells me:
"UHHHH, YEAH YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO CALL DISPATCH ABOUT THAT". In otherwords, we got your money, we're done with you, you need to talk to a separate company and work it out with them.
I call dispatch right after but get sent to voicemail. I leave a message notifying them of the payment method and asking for a return phone call. In hindsight, this may have been a mistake because the foreman now knows he's not getting cash and pretends he wasn't notified. I finally get a call on the 9th day telling me they are coming the next day. ONCE AGAIN i tell them that i'm paying with a card and the foreman tells me the following (in broken english):
"Uh NO NO NO NO NO YOU CAN'T PAY WITH CARD ONLY CASH OR MONEY ORDER". Needless to say, since they had all of my stuff, i felt like they had me over a barrell and i had no choice but to give them what they wanted (in otherwords, extortion).
Delivery shows up the next day and my stuff gets delivered. They either lost or stole my dolly/handtruck and laughed about it. They tell me i should never move a dolly or a ladder because they will keep it. They made no effort what so ever to find my item or remedy the situation, they just thought it was funny. The dolly isn't a big deal itself, but its the priniciple and poor service that really bothers me.
