When Dan and Michelle Blucher moved from Sterling to Pittsburgh a year ago, they called several moving companies for estimates. The $1,573 quote from Giant Van Lines was "in the ballpark with others," says Dan Blucher. The salesman was friendly and helpful, so Blucher hired the mover, based in Jessup, Md.
Using the square footage of the Bluchers' townhouse plus a list of major items, Giant's salesman calculated a written estimate sight unseen, explaining that boxes of books and clothes "would all be factored into the quote," Blucher says.
But on moving day, after Giant loaded the truck, Blucher says the bill came to almost $6,000. When he complained, the foreman reduced it to $3,984, he says. Blucher wouldn't budge. "They threatened us and said, "We'll just keep your stuff if you don't pay,' " he says. Finally he relented and paid half the total at pickup, as contracted, then tried unsuccessfully for a week to resolve the dispute before delivery. Nobody returned his calls, he says.
To get their belongings delivered, Blucher says he paid the balance with a cashier's check -- then stopped payment on it. Giant sued. The Bluchers countersued, asking to pay what amounts to the original estimate. The court date is Nov. 17.
Attorney Leonard Koenick, spokesman for Giant Van Lines, says the company will respond in court. "I don't think it is a good idea for Giant Van Lines, myself or even Mr. Blucher to litigate through the newspaper," he says.
But these kinds of disputes aren't new to Giant Van Lines. The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, the government agency with authority over interstate movers, has begun an investigation of the company, says Andy Beck, FMCSA director of public and consumer affairs.
"We have 27 complaints against Giant," says Beck, adding that those complaints touched off the investigation because most involve allegations of "hostage goods" -- when movers keep a customer's belongings until full payment is made.
With 1.3 million to 1.5 million moves nationwide each year, the FMCSA gets only 4,000 to 5,000 complaints annually. Most of those that involve hostage-goods situations "are perpetrated by criminals posing as legitimate businesses," he says. "Our intent is to put these criminals out of business."
Beck says the FMCSA and federal and state law enforcement agencies are getting tougher on bad business practices, including moving scams. In March, for instance, a federal dragnet charged 16 moving companies with wire fraud, extortion, mail fraud and other crimes for overcharging and hostage-goods schemes.
Consumers are also taking action themselves against movers they think are unethical. Tim Walker says he was victimized in 2001 by a moving company that inflated his estimate of $1,800 to a charge of $5,200. then held his belongings until he paid. So he founded MovingScam.com, a Web site that has become a critical resource for consumers in search of reliable movers and trying to avoid dishonest ones.
Walker says the Web site has received enough complaints about Giant Van Lines, most of them similar to Blucher's, to land the company on his "blacklist" of 250 moving companies nationwide. The Better Business Bureau has also given Giant an "unsatisfactory record" for unanswered complaints.
"You should definitely be able to assume that an estimate is going to be relatively accurate," says Walker, explaining that a standard moving scam is to give unwitting customers a lowball estimate, charge substantially more on moving day, then refuse to deliver belongings if not paid. "But once your belongings are on the truck, the game is over."
Sometimes, he adds, legitimate moving companies charge more than a nonbinding estimate and find themselves in disputes with off-guard customers. "You fill out the form and the moving company says you've got more stuff than you told us," says Walker, advising consumers to always get an in-home estimate. "That's what their excuse is -- it's all the consumer's fault."
Like the Bluchers, some consumers are taking their moving disputes to court. In an unprecedented lawsuit, Chicago lawyer Angie Chen is suing the nationally known moving company Mayflower under federal RICO racketeering laws. She says Mayflower's moving agent inflated her "guaranteed estimate," then warehoused her belongings for three months after her move from Atlanta to Chicago four years ago.
Chen wants to hold Mayflower accountable for emotional distress and what she says is a pattern of fraud and extortion. "I decided to fight back," says Chen, who faces Mayflower's counterclaim for payment.
Mayflower spokesman Carl Walter contests many of Chen's allegations. Emphasizing that Mayflower is "a legitimate company," he says Chen's case is "nothing more than a misunderstanding with a customer that got blown way out of proportion."
The FMCSA, meanwhile, is trying to educate consumers with moving tips in a new brochure and online (see below). "If consumers learn about the moving process prior to making a move," says Beck, "they really have a greater chance of having a successful move."
More Information
For more information on your rights when moving, visit the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration's Web site at www.fmcsa.dot.gov and click on the "Moving?" section.
To file a complaint against an interstate mover, call the FMCSA's toll-free number: 888-368-7238, or go online at www.1-888-dot-saft.com/.
Visit MovingScam.com (www.movingscam.com) for a "blacklist" of moving companies, plus articles such as "How to Find a Reputable Mover" and "Ten Things Your Moving Company Won't Tell You."
Got questions? A consumer complaint? An unusual e-mail scam in your inbox? E-mail details to oldenburgd@washpost.comor write Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
