MOVING COMPANY MISERY
Unregulated industry spreads woe
Jessica Brutus is living a recurring nightmare, and she can't believe what's happening.
For the past four weeks, she says, she has been held to ransom by a company called Move Me Again Transportation, which has seized her belongings in a disagreement over moving fees, refusing to return them until she pays.
She has very little to wear and had to borrow things such as a mattress and chairs from friends. Her mother, visiting from Florida, became an unwitting victim when her suitcase was seized as well, leaving her with just the clothes on her back on the day of the move. She has now returned to Florida without her suitcase. It's a bizarre case, symptomatic of an unregulated industry in which some unscrupulous companies fleece customers with impunity.
The tactic is simple: a company gives a customer a low, attractive quote, but when the movers show up, they raise the fee dramatically, demand payment or seize the belongings. A victims support group has actually sprung up on Facebook. “I'm completely drained by this experience. I'm very angry, very frustrated and my anxiety level is very high,” says Brutus, a federal public servant. “The mover won't answer his phone, they won't tell me where my belongings are and I really feel like I am being held hostage.”
Three attempts over a week to reach the Toronto-based company for its side of the story failed. A manager who gave her name only as Linda promised to check things out and get back to me, but didn't. Two messages left for her or any other manager went unanswered.
Brutus says it all began late last month when she hired Move Me Again to move from Aylmer to the Plateau area of Gatineau. She says she was initially quoted $500 but told the final price would depend on the weight of her possessions. The truck driver arrived with no scale on the day of the move and estimated the belongings to be between 1,000 and 2,000 lbs.
After loading up, he put the weight at 3,000 lbs. The fee skyrocketed to $1,320 and he demanded full payment on arrival in Plateau, before unloading. He preferred cash so Brutus went to a bank and withdrew her limit of $1,000. She offered to pay the balance by e-transfer, and a manager on-call agreed. Brutus and the mover argued over whether the unloading would begin before or after the e-transfer went through.
By now it was 1 a.m. and the driver said his shift was over and he would be back the next day to unload. He never returned, and throughout the day wouldn't answer his phone. Brutus called Gatineau police, who, she says, told her it was a civil matter.
Eventually, she reached the company's account office, which gave her an invoice of $1,895 to be paid before the return of her belongings. The new fee included a charge for storage.
At her wits' end, Brutus hired Toronto lawyer Rocco Scocco, who has dealt with similar cases. Scocco is taking the company to court.
On its website, the Better Business Bureau, carries an “Alert” about Move Me Again.
“BBB files indicate a pattern of complaints concerning billing increases, delayed deliveries and customer service issues. Consumers have advised our office that the cost of their move increased substantially from initial quotes that led them to enter into contracts,” the consumer agency says.
“When consumers request an explanation or a reduction, they are advised that their items will not be delivered until full payment is remitted.”
The BBB also notes that during an inquiry, its correspondence to a North York address listed by the company was returned and “we were unsuccessful in contacting the company by telephone.”
The Canadian Association of Movers is apparently aware of Move Me Again. “We have dozens and dozens of complaints about this outfit and their shameful business practices,” CAM president Nancy Irvine said in an email.
No one should have to go through what Jessica Brutus is facing, and more troubling is that this is happening time and again to many unsuspecting Canadians. It needs to stop.