Moving Company Scams continued...

It's December, and you start to look into moving companies. You live in Nebraska, and you are moving to Tucson. You do your research diligently, and finally opt to contract with the Planetary Moving Company out of New York. They quote you a complete move for $2,000.00

On January 1, Planetary Moving Company comes to your house. They do a bang-up job of packing your goods and loading them on their truck. You're pleased. On the morning of January 2, you load the kids, and the family Saint Bernard into the car and start your drive to Tucson.

Late on January 4 you arrive at your new, completely empty home in Tucson. Your goods are scheduled to arrive the following day. The family sleeps on the carpeted areas, using the car blankets for warmth, and some rolled up jackets as pillows.

On January 5 you bounce out of bed – or off the floor, ready to accept your goods – and committed to getting the bedrooms and bathrooms ready for use that same day. You shower using the soap from the motel you stopped at on the way to Tucson, and dry off with, well, whatever – and so do the kids. You wait patiently for your goods to arrive, but the day passes and nothing gets there. You call the moving company – and they tell you that they ran into some weather problems and were delayed a day, but they will surely arrive first thing tomorrow morning. You are both relieved, and very irritated, but…

On January 6 you start watching for the moving truck at 6 AM – unable to sleep comfortably on the floor any longer. At about noon, a car pulls up in the driveway and a nice fellow comes to your door. He tells you that the move did not go as they had planned, and they had to pay extra costs for transportation. "How much more" you ask. You are told it will cost an additional $1,200.00 to get your things off loaded. You are now incensed and waving your singed contract around you scream at the nice man that this wasn't covered and so forth. The nice man says he's sorry, hands you a card with a phone number to call when you get the money together, and he leaves. (It's right about now that the kids will ask what's for dinner?) You spend the balance of the afternoon finding the attorney you will go see tomorrow.

The morning of January 7 you go to see an attorney. For a few hundred dollars he jumps into action. On January 10 he calls you and says the papers for court are ready for your review and signature. You put on the clothes you've been wearing (and washing in the sink for days) and head downtown. You sign the papers and the attorney submits them to the courts. The moving company has thirty days to respond to your complaint.

On February 6 your attorney calls you and says that Planetary Moving Company has responded, and so you again go to his office, review papers, and sign the next action. Of course, in the meantime you have no household goods, the kids are going to school in rags, or new clothes which you had to pay for, but did not really need – and all of your things are being kept in storage by Planetary Moving Company. The next legal action allows Planetary Moving Company another 30 days to respond. Your cost of legal fees, including filings, has now reached $1,700.00 - $500.00 more than the extra cost that Planetary Moving Company wanted for your things. You are also burdened with buying new towels, pots, pans, etc. – just so you and the family can make it. Dad has also had to buy some very expensive new clothes to continue going into the office. All this at a time when you knew you'd be addressing new costs anyway.

Okay, enough, you get the idea. As was mentioned earlier – possession is 9/10 of the law. Your case will come to court in a few months, maybe. At that time you may even get your goods back, or at least an order from the court saying you will, but that too can take time. If you want satisfaction for your relevant losses such as all the new things you had to buy to survive, and the attorney – that's another matter.

The lesson here is a simple one: take whatever steps are necessary to avoid this from happening to you. Paying a little more up front is much better than going with a lower price, that ends up ruining your life, the lives of your family members, and your bank account. Oh yes, and Fido won't be happy at all without that chew toy you packed in the garage box! Do your homework, and have a safe, happy move.

Enjoy Tucson!

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