Alliance Express Movers, of L.A. California, through its saleswoman "Sindi Monzon" gave us a "binding estimate" based "on the list you provided to us". In fact, we had emailed photographs of the items to be moved to Alliance and they had conferred and then gave us a weight estimate of 2000 lbs and a price of $1379.00 and a promised delivery "3 to 5 days after pickup". They were as nice and sweet as could be on the phone.....But then it all went bad......
A day after the appointed pickup date of 9/2/11, 3 movers arrived on 9/3/11 in a rented (Penske) truck wearing t-shirts reading "G&G Best Movers". We asked where Alliance was, and they told us that Alliance had "farmed out" the deal to them. We called Alliance and were told by "Velma": "that is ridiculous; We are the same company". That later turned out to be a lie (one of many), but based on that assurance, we let them load the truck. When they finished loading, the foreman informed us that the weight was approximately 5,000--6,000 lbs and the price would possibly be triple if they went to the weigh station, but would "only" double (approx.) if we agreed to the new price then and there. We called the self-styled "dispatcher" Zach (later determined by us to be the owner of G&G) and complained; He told us to go with the foreman's suggestion to avoid any surprises later. Fearing a further ripoff if we in fact stayed with a weigh-in, and having airline tickets to leave in 2 days, we reluctantly agreed, believing (with false hope) we could file a grievance later.
A week later, having heard nothing about our delivery, we called Zach and were told the van was on the way and would be there on Sunday, 9/11, after making a stop in Utah.
On 9/11/11, having heard nothing from the driver, we called again and were told that the truck never left L.A., but had "broken down". Zach called us liars for reminding him that he had said the truck was en route and would be arriving on Sunday 9/11/11. He also berated us for calling him while he was "on vacation with his family" (as if we knew). All the while, we also kept calling our Alliance contacts about the price having doubled, and they kept promising to get back to us about it, which they never did. On the date of delivery, Alliance Express's manager "Tony" admitted (finally and after all the lies!) that Alliance and G&G were not the same company, that Alliance was paid for the referral, and only G&G could adjust our price. They never did, of course. Ultimately, the G&G truck arrived on the evening of 9/14/11 and they unloaded late into the night in a pouring rainstorm (because they had to leave immediately from us for another job in Missouri). Before they began unloading, they insisted on receiving the balance in cash. (I guess stopped payments on checks are a way of life for this company, understandably.) We asked about G&G relationship to Alliance and they confirmed that Alliance had sold them the deal.
This review is just the tip of the iceberg; There wer dozens of unanswered calls and emails unmentioned herein. The entire experience was hellacious and we feel that BOTH companies engaged in deceitful and deceptive business practices, are dishonest and unprofessional, and should be held accountable. Unfortunately, our only recourse, seemingly, is to warn others by posting reviews on the internet. By the way, you may find that G&G has a number of positive reviews...Based on our experiences, our strong belief is that they themselves posted those reviews on the web.
