Items Stolen, 80% items damaged, stolen money
Lauren
Submitted this review about
New York Local Movers
Review made Live: 6/15/2012 3:43:00 PM
On 4.27.12 I met with Finest Movers in Texas to pick up my belongings. At this point I had signed an estimate with the company for $2088.25 which was calculated by a fully disclosed inventory list. A man named Sean came with 3 workers to pack up my belongings. After 1 hour he ordered pizza to my apt and took an unwarranted 30 min. break. He was extremely rude and loud to his workers causing my building managers to have to come up to complain to him since he was being such a disturbance. After a few hours of work he told me that I was going to have to incur many additional charges because I had way more stuff than the cu.ft estimated on my original statement. I went down to view the van and there was only a small amount of space being taken by my goods. I called the comp. to determine how I could tell the cu.ft and they said it was determined by the driver (there was no way for me to tell). After 5 hours he finished the move and he charged me an additional $1,524.19 although I had NO extra items that were not listed on the original estimate. I paid by credit card. He then told me that I owed him an additional $700 which was to be made out to cash to him. This charge was for a "long-carry"- the distance between my apt and the van. I pulled out my contract and showed him it said the long-carry only cost $75 and he said that that was for each trip. After much debating and my inability to call the moving headquarters (it was after hours), he said he would give me "the best deal" of $550 and that this was his personal commission. I had no choice since I was under contract to be out of my building in the AM to pay him the $550. On 5.8.12 my items were delivered to California by a man named Alex. Once he arrived he told me to come down with a camera because he wanted to openly disclose that the majority of my items were damaged. He said that when he had met Sean in Texas to pick up my goods he noticed that all my goods were packed improperly and that my furniture was not wrapped according to Department of Transportation regulations. Alex asked Sean about the lack of care and Sean said "she is a nice girl, she will not mind." Alex said that he would never work with him again, and that his workers were completely incompetent, so much so that he had to stop them from reloading my goods and had to bring in his own men. Alex said that because my goods were blatantly uncared for, the majority of them were damaged. He also said that Sean went against DOT regulations by not contacting me to tell me my items were damaged. Upon reviewing my goods about 80% of my items were severely damaged ($10,000). I also found 3 items stolen which included a $1,200 HD camera, a $700 professional mixer and an IPod. Furthermore, I had over 6 items completely shattered, and my granite countertop ($1,700), which I specifically paid extra for to be crated, broken in half. When unwrapping the granite, I saw that it was not crated and it was wrapped with the pizza box from which he ordered to my apt. In fact, there was still cheese stuck to the box. When I confronted the company about the blatant negligence, stolen items, and stolen $550 they said that they would help to take care of it. Isaac, a manager at Finest Movers, guaranteed me that Sean was out of line to take $550 and that I did not owe them for a long-carry. He promised to send me a check for $550, which I have never received. I had sent in the insurance claim for the damaged and stolen items which they have never sent to the insurance company. Instead they tried to offer me $800 which I told them would not even cover my stolen goods. Isaac has refused to admit that they are responsible for my stolen goods or for the terrible packing of my goods. He says that I should have told them to wrap everything properly and therefore they are not liable.
