I mentioned how I got scammed by the moving company in my last email, so I feel as a community service I should make a mention of it to protect you from suffering the same ordeal. The above video is what I felt like doing throughout this process, lol! Here is my story:

The first time I moved cross country it was a smooth experience. I got an estimate over the phone, and after pick up the quote matched the estimate. Packages were picked up and delivered on time with no funny business.

I thought that was par for the course. Boy was I wrong!

I had to move cross country once again, and called a company called Divine Moving Group. They gave me an estimate of around $2700. It turns out they subcontracted another company called Direct Movers to do the move. That is when everything turned south.

Two guys came into pack things into the truck. They did a good job of packing everything and putting it into the truck. That was the end of it though. Afterwards, they told me that my quote was $5400. That is double the estimate!

Naturally, I was completely surprised and we had a back and forth argument about the pricing. They said I had way more than I stated, which I find hard to believe. I measured everything and even sent a spreadsheet with all of the boxes dimensions and total volume. They claimed I had over 40% more volume. I tried to contact the original company (Divine Moving Group), but they refused to answer the phone. He called his boss and he was telling him to unpack my stuff from the truck and charge me $1,500 dollars.

You know it is bad when the driver tells you people call the cops on them all the time. After 4 hours, the office calls me and says the best they can do is $3600. I was tired of fighting, so I reluctantly agreed CONTINGENT on this being based on a flat rate so there wouldn’t be any more increases. I was assured by the driver, the boss, and the office.

Next day, I get a call that now the price is $4,100. The boss went on to say that he has the right to dump my stuff off the side of the road and unless I pay him. So he was openly admitting to holding my items hostage. Once again, we had a large dispute, and contacted the office of Divine Moving Group to resolve. They were very unhelpful.

A couple days before the arrival date, I tried to negotiate peacefully and they didn’t care. I spoke with a lawyer and had them send an official letter with intention to file suit. They then dropped the price back to $3600, but they forfeited my deposit of $300.

You would think that would be the end of it, but it was just getting started. When the truck arrived at my new home, the driver was asking for the $4,100 before he would start. Once again, we had to call everyone and finally he came back down to the agreed upon price.

He had 4 workers with him, who he hired from home depot. It turns out they were very upset (and openly vocal about it), as the truck driver offered them $15 an hour and then when they arrived said it was now $11 an hour. So they even scam their contractors!

They did a really poor job of putting stuff away, and told me they weren’t being paid to go upstairs and assemble furniture (which was on the contract). They ended up having a mutiny and left, leaving the truck driver to have to do the work himself and rightly so. In the move, they broke the back of my head board on my bed, damaged my coffee table, and scratched up all my lamps. To top it off, I found roach eggs in my boxes, so I had a pest control company come by to make sure this doesn’t become a problem.

This was an absolute nightmare from start to finish. I wouldn’t wish this horror on my worst enemy. These people should be out of business and behind bars for the scams they are pulling. I did my part and filed complaints with various federal programs, review sites, and what not. Hopefully this serves as a warning to any would be mover in the future.