Another tale of "I should've checked Yelp first!" (seriously, this could be a theme for a whole series of Yelp commericals).
When I moved from NC to CA, I shipped some of my stuff in 1 of those shipping/storage cubes you see around. The cube was delivered to our home last Friday. Due to my bad back & the bf's bad knees, we decided to hire movers to unpack the cube.
Saturday a.m., I scanned Craigslist & saw an ad from Dimension. I spoke with a "Melissa Martinez", very pleasant. I described our logistics (shipping cube needing to be emptied, 1 flight of stairs from garage into house). She stated their company had a 2-hr minimum. We had another cube delivered a few months ago & unpacked by movers, so I knew it would only take a couple hrs. She quoted an estimate for 2 hrs, at $65/hr for 2 workers, total: $130. Set up a time for that afternoon.
Melissa asked for my credit card to hold the res & said I could pay the movers by card or cash. Said I'd pay cash; she assured me my card would not be charged, just a temp hold.
2 guys arrived with a HUGE moving truck. Strange, I told Melissa it was just a cube on our curb, & we just needed it unpacked & brought in. Parking on our street is limited, so there was the fiasco of parking this (UNNECESSARY) gigantic truck & blocking traffic as they did so. Maybe they had a big job after this? Maybe a miscommunication & they thought we were moving to another house? Hmm.
I explained what we needed & went out to unlock the cube. Took a few secs of fidgeting to open the padlock. When it didn't pop open right away, the driver asked if he could do it. His tone wasn't chivalrous; it was a snarky, smirky, superior, lightly-laughing-at-the-silly-little-woman tone. Hmm.
Driver hands me clipboard & mentions there's a 4-hr min. Me: "no, I was told the minimum was 2 hrs." He looks at me like he's never heard of such a thing, & repeats, 4-hr min. I hand him back the clipboard & say, "this is shady." Driver: "who told you a 2-hr minimum?" Me: "a woman at your company" (didn't have her name in front of me), & I head inside to call. He makes a remark about it being more than a 2-hr job. Me: "we had a cube unpacked a few months ago; it only took 2 hrs." He looks at me like I was a small child who'd just fibbed, says, "but not that much stuff." Me: "actually, it was about the same amount of stuff." Driver: "but it was all big furniture, right? Not smaller boxes & stuff." Me: "it was a mix of both, pretty much like this one." (WTF?! Was he there?)
I call reservation #, get voicemail, leave message. I go back out, driver is (supposedly) on phone with his manager. He hangs up & says, "no, my manager says, there is no 2-hr minimum; it's 4 hrs. What did they say when you called?" I said I'd got voicemail, he smirked & started talking with his co-worker in another language. He then said, "I can call my manager back & have him talk to you." Me: "how would I know it's really your manager? If he really is, he has my number. Have him call me."
Driver then presents this idea: for 2-hr price, they'll unpack cube & put everything in the garage. Seriously?? Why would I pay them to do the EASY part? Getting stuff UPSTAIRS was the whole point of hiring movers.
Me: "sorry, I'm not signing this. I don't want your service; this is not what I was told when I booked you, & I don't agree with it. Have a good day."
A man who says he is their manager calls my cell after they drive off. I tell him about the 2-hr vs. 4-hr debate, & he says that it's definitely a 4-hr min. He apologizes I was ever told 2 hours. I explain the issue of shadiness & also the attitude of his driver. He reassures me again that my card will not be charged. I reassure him that if it is, the charge will be disputed.
I looked up reviews, read about the person whose card had unrelated fraudulent charges right after using Dimension, & immediately called Visa. Dimension had reserved $350 on my card. It should've been for $130, the amount of my estimate! I alerted Visa to the situation & the other reviews of this company scamming people, & had the card canceled. Visa explained that this charge could still go through, since it was reserved before I canceled the card.
Sure enough, this morning Dimension charged my card $350. Despite this being a MUCH higher charge than I was ever quoted; despite the manager's assurance it would not be charged at all. And despite the fact that I DID NOT SIGN anything & sent them on their way before they did ANY work.
Calls to Dimension today have been useless. No manager to talk to, nobody knows anything, & 2 employees confirmed the 2-hr (not 4!!) minimum policy. I called # of the manager who called me Sat.; it turned out to be the driver who was here. Hmm.
I've disputed the charge, Visa is investigating further. I'm reporting Dimension to the BBB & any other consumer fraud protection agency I can find. AVOID AT ALL COST! THIEVES!!!
