I’m new to reddit but I’d really appreciate some help on this. Also, I already know that choosing the moving company wasn’t a good decision but I want to know how to best get out of the situation.
My sister (22F) needed to move out of an apartment in New Jersey to an apartment in Pennsylvania. She found a brokerage for a moving company who estimated a total cost to move would be a $540 estimate fee, $600 to move out, $600 to move in, insurance for her belongings, and some small fees so that the total would be around $1900. She told the brokerage of all the conditions of the move—a list of her furniture, the number of flights of stairs, the length of the path, etc. The brokerage staff acknowledged the conditions and still continued with the $1900 total estimate.
Day of move, the moving foreman inspects her items and says that her items will use more cubic footage than they thought, and she would be charged for that. They also surprised her with fees for stairs, long distance carry, and packaging materials. She expected to pay $601 in cash that day, but she had to drive to the bank to withdraw $2100 in cash. With five or so hulking men around her, and all of her things loaded into their moving truck, they told her to sign a contract saying she owes them a grand total of $3000+ for move out, move in, transportation, and cubic footage of items (she would pay the remaining money on move-in day).
We have reviewed the contracts for the brokerage and the moving company and have found that the moving company had outlined most of the surprise fees in their contract. Our concrete evidence of wrongdoing is that the foreman charged a $200 “long distance carry” fee, which is required when the distance from door to moving truck is more than 75 feet. The distance was not nearly that far, and the long distance carry fee did not appear on any receipts afterwards, so we believe he just pocketed the $200. We also understand that a cash transaction is harder to trace, but we have atm withdrawal records. Additionally, she was charged for about double the estimated cubic footage of space, which we believe is grossly inflated but we cannot prove that.
After move-out day, many, many phone calls were made. I wasn’t there for every call, so my details are hazy but I can ask for specifics. I do know, however, that the brokerage has been largely uncooperative. Certain customer support members at the brokerage remembers my sister’s file, and they are really really nasty when we ask them for help.
My sister gets 30 days of free storage at their facility, and after that she is charged a (perhaps daily) fee. Her new apartment allows her to move in after 29 days of storage, so we’re on edge about setting up the move in day. She has called the movers a total of six times over the past three days, leaving a message every time, to try to set up a move-in time and they have not returned her calls. Today she called the brokerage to confirm the move-in date, and they said that the first day of the move-in window is tomorrow but may be any time this week. Given that any day later this week would put her over the 30 days of free storage, she was assured that they would waive her storage fees, but they couldn’t provide that in writing. In an attempt to get any documentation I called twice to try to get a recording, and both customer service staff members refused to allow a recording.
My sister also has opened a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and the brokerage is willing to give her a $200 “goodwill discount” if she agrees to drop the complaint. I am hoping to negotiate a refund of the $540 estimate fee, though, because the estimate is supposed to be reasonable, she was perfectly clear about the conditions of her move, and the movers will end up taking around double what she initially agreed to. The estimate was binding, but the paperwork says they can change it if “you order additional services, add additional items to be moved which are not listed on the estimate, or have additional cubic footage to be moved.”
Okay, I think that’s the whole summarized story. Here’s all my questions:
Is it fair of us to ask for a refund of the $540 estimate fee?
Given how nasty the brokerage is, and that they have her new address, should I be worried for her safety? If so, how can I protect her?
We are prepared to move in tomorrow, where we’re supposed to pay the remaining $601. I expect, though, that they’ll charge us more again. What can we do to reduce the financial and/or physical damage?
Also, we plan on contacting the state attorney general for New Jersey and/or Pennsylvania after she is moved in. Is that wise? Are we inviting more trouble from them?
We ideally would like to stop calling them after they set up a move-in date and time. If we do have to call them for anything further, can we record the conversation without their knowledge? I saw that New Jersey is a one-party consent state but that Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state. How should I determine when it’s okay to record?
Lastly, and perhaps most crucially, is there enough here to justify finding a lawyer? Do you think someone would help us pro bono? I am totally inexperienced with this, so what avenues would there be for that?
Please let me know if I can clarify anything. I’m not sure if this post is worth anything but I figured it’d be better to try than to do nothing at all.
I really appreciate any help 🙂
Location: New Jersey and Pennsylvania