More Than Double the Estimate
Kenneth Hicks
Submitted this review about
Merit Van Lines
Review made Live: 10/3/2011 8:45:00 AM
Merit Van Lines, Clifton, N.J. is an underhanded company. They give an extremely low estimate, which does include gas, tolls, packing materials, etc. They charge a small 10% fee to seal the deal, followed by 70% upon pickup. Once they have your property inside their truck, the "estimate" goes out the window and the demand is more than double that price. If you don't pay, they threaten to auction your property.
The tactic is so effective because you don't have any time to file a complaint. If you refuse to pay and demand they take the property off the truck, Merit will consider the contract breached and charge $150/hour to unload the truck, based on the time they first arrived.
Mine was supposed to be a small move from NYC to North Carolina. Their price was $500 lower than anyone else, the Better Business Bureau gives a high rating (again, it makes no sense to file with BBB when the deal is already done. BBB can't get your money back.) At $1,059, it was too good to be true XXXof course. Once they had all my property on the truck, they wanted $2,500 and the negotiations started right there. They went down to $2,250, but would not deliver until they received all the money.
More negotiations eventually brought the price down to $2,000. They sent the truck out without notifying me, hoping, I guess, that they would show up before I was able to get the final $300 balance due. If the truck arrived and I didn't have the funds, it would add $400 emergency storage to the price.
It would be best not to use Merit, but if you do: Do not trust Merit Van Lines. Especially do not sign anything before reading it thoroughly. Insist on an estimate based on a visual inspection at least one week before the scheduled pickup date. Insist they keep you informed of how much space is being taken up in the truck at 1/4. 1/2 and 3/4 full. Record every single phone conversation and log when they were made, how long they lasted.
