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Ripped off by movers, recourse?

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All events described below occured in the state of Georgia and I am a resident of Georgia.

I paid a $100 deposit to a moving company to schedule a household move. I gave them my Visa check card number over the phone for the deposit amount and it was deducted from my account two days later. I specifically asked what the cancellation/refund policy was and was told the deposit would allow me to reschedule to any date if needed. I asked if it was refundable and was told YES by their representative. He scheduled the date I requested and told me the movers would arrive between 2 and 3 pm.

At 4:45 on moving day, they hadn't arrived and no one had contacted me to update me or let me know when they would arrive. It was the final day of my lease AND I had boarded my pet for the day to avoid the worry of having her in the house while the movers were there. I had to pick her up before 7 pm or pay another day of boarding fees.

I spent more than two hours on the phone with the most hideously rude people I have ever encountered. At 6pm, I told them it was too late and it would need to be pushed to the next day. They refused and said they were too busy the following day. I then asked for my $100 deposit back and they told me it was non-refundable. I spoke to everyone all the way to the alleged owner of the company and they all refused the refund.

I left at 6:30 to pick up the cat at the vet and went on to my parents house for the night. My neighbors told me the movers showed up around 8:45 that night, almost seven hours later than scheduled. The moving company never apologized or offered any explanation and told me, for the first time, that the 2-3pm was an "estimated" time. They conveniently forgot to mention that when i scheduled the move.

It's only $100, but I would spend another $1000 to get it out of their hands. From a legal perspective, do I have a legitimate complaint? Expecting them to show up or call within a few hours of the time they committed to is reasonable, correct?

The transaction was done over the phone and I did use a Visa check card. Could I have my back charge back the amount?

Thanks for any advice. I have already reported them to the BBB, a major movers organization and numerous consumer websites. I have been careful to make only factual statements that I have documentation to support to all of them.
 


mjmpheonix

Junior Member
confused

I'm slightly confused: though the movers were 5 unbelievable hours late, didn't everything still get moved out? You were'nt charged for another day of holding your cat. You moved out on time for your lease so there were no charges there. Beyond hours wasted waiting, time spent on the phone talking to rude people, and a bad experience with movers, are you really out any money? They still moved everything and you don't mention having to repay the $100, everything ended up moved to the correct location, right?
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I'm going to guess that she didn't use that company, since she is asking for the deposit, which would have gone towards the final bill had she used the company. She can contact her bank and dispute the $100 charge.
 

fattttony

Junior Member
Dispute the CC Charge through your bank. Chargebacks go in the consumers favor a lot more often than they dont. The company may try to go after you for the money afterwards, but good luck on that. If they charge your card again, dispute it again, and change your CC#.

As far as the BBB goes, thats a waste of time. The BBB has no actual say or governing rights over any companies, and owners/management of any unethical companies know this, and laugh at BBB inquiries. Go straight to your states Atty General if you want to make a consumer complaint. Remeber, the BBB, while claiming to be a non-profit, is mainly in the business of selling memberships, hence "member" and "non-member" companies.

Moving companies are notorious for being anywhere from unethical to straight rip-offs, they get complaints levied against them all the time, then shut down and open under a new name. It is always best to spend the extra few dollars, and go with a well known, big name chain type company, or get referrals from friends or neighbors that have recently moved.
 

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