Moving company scams: What you need to know. (CBC Marketplace)

this is one of the movers that moved me this week on marketplace the Wild Bunch straight-up they lied our chase car has them in sight shady movers are riding roughshod I should I stop downloading holding your stuff for ransom I was at their mercy Oh Rico bashing your things grabbing your cash I got robbed right and broad daily we're tracking them on hidden camera why do you do it we have to stop you have to stop this we are staging a home yeah that'll work but this ain't no Extreme Makeover show these guys helping us set up this house with our props we got cameras up we're gonna put more cameras up we borrowed some furniture to set up this house in East and Toronto I'm gonna have some other people come in and see what happens a maverick company is on the way and we're gonna put him to the test bandit movers are acting like it's the Wild West staging holdups across the land with no sheriff to run him out of town innocent folks are easy pickings I got robbed right and brought daily the worst thing is I called them and had them come to my house and Robin Shaun royal had a dust-up with his movers when moving into his first home now he wants to help you dodged the bullet I don't want to get hit with any hidden charges you know I've got I've heard stories and he's like no that's everything and I'm like okay fantastic I feel like I've been wronged that's how Leah Solomon felt when she moved her business they said no hidden fees and there was a lot of hidden fees both got the same deal an hourly rate plus travel time turns out the movers were bluffing straight-up they lied it's a stick-up and Mia and Shawn end up paying way more than they ever expected stop you know ambushing people with with extra charges it was a nightmare an absolute nightmare the outfit behind this nightmare husky movers that's who we're hiring they're based in Toronto Megan who works for us hooks our move and gets this deal okay and does that include everything okay we're in the game you've got a deal is there a trick up their sleeves to find out we bring in a wise old hand a gently do it Jim carnies company has been in the business for a century welcome to the garage or as I like to call it Mission Control he's also with the Canadian Association of movers come over your seat thank you he's fed up with the likes of companies such as husky movers there are fly-by-night errs out there we're about to find out how husky movers ambush their customers testing yeah can you hear me loud and clear great we wire up Megan our marketplace homeowner she'll were a camera that looks like a button on her shirt John our hidden camera specialist will be the friend our cameras are rolling it's 11 o'clock you're supposed to be here now tom they're coming as the van pulls up it's clear this is not your typical moving company okay there's your white van yep with graffiti on the side right no husky movers logos or husky movers uniforms - coming to the front door meg and they're here hi I'm Megan oh I'm town Stan hi let's go Jessica uh hello our marketplace homeowner explains what needs to go the pictures are staying everything on the wall stays there's more stuff upstairs and some awkward pieces and then there's a bedroom so we think they're ready to start the move and I have an issue when suddenly Sam pulls out a new deal and you won't believe what he hits us with see what happens here it could be one thing John for those kids oh that's a surprise didn't mention anything charge for the stairs is that normal to charge for stairs absolutely not they're getting paid by the hour every home has stairs no kidding Shawn's floored - absolutely bogus man I've never heard of a stair charge despite protesting they put it on his bill absolutely ridiculous back at our move another surprise get a load of this one and any item will uh a 100 pounds would be charged the item over 100 pounds will be charged which again is a complete ripoff they didn't mention any of this stuff on the phone they didn't mention it to Mia either when she called to book her move and husking over said no they don't charge but they charged it alright our contract now has charges we weren't told about and we're stuck with them I just have to have sign this this is one of the movers that moved me recognize him that's Sam one of our movers pine nut on tract under duress um I felt there was a gun to my head refusing to sign means trying to find another mover and fast almost impossible I'm moving day he's asking to sign a contract now looks like that normal no she's seeing this contract for the first time they're asking her to sign it she's only seen it for like 20 seconds like most people on moving day we sign okay we're starting to move now guess again you've got everything I need any budget of $250 oh really there's anything about that either $250 deposit we would never do that on move day we asked for a 10% deposit but that's well in advance of the move taking place jim says there's no rulebook in the moving business of what Huskies doing he says should be outlawed no choice we hand over the deposit and they haven't even touched a piece of furniture yet right when they finally do here comes the mattress with no plastic bags to protect it somehow they're just gonna put it in the truck you know so it's going to get soiled just how careless are they a lotion boy you get the drawers coming well the dresser now they have to get that dresser into the truck no ramp no ramp oh boy oh how come shooters suck now every proper moving truck should have a ramp not much TLC for the armoire either oh my god well I will ago this was a $5,000 antique if I were the customer right now I'd be oh geez look at this having a cardiac it's not even our furniture and I'm worried Mia's heart sure skipped a beat no I just feel scammed when Huskie was done she estimates 3,000 bucks worth of her stuff was damaged how's it looking a lot of heavy stuff so a lot of heavy stuff what does that tell you hi they're just padding the bill that's all that they're doing back at our house Huskies Bill is about to do more damage remember they're charging for stairs but not just here at the new place too oh I don't know how would I know that why can't he just count them up when he gets there our expert thinks he knows why it's the old we've got all your stuff now pay us all your money trick you watch that but should they'll hit her with it at that point and hold her goods for ransom that's what I see transpiring here right now holder goods for ransom really meaning what they meaning they will not unload them until they get paid what they're demanding sounds outrageous right well it happened to me it my stuff would not get off the truck if I didn't pay I felt that my my things my belongings that I paid for it was held hostage in Shawn's case they would release it outside it's like putting a gun to my head husky movers they they were armed and I was unarmed I was at their mercy now we are to Sam's armed with the bill okay here we go sorry it's $200 for heavy items on Google that's $80 for stairs the total is five hundred and seventy dollars and sixty-five cents Wow five hundred and seventy bucks based on their quote Jim says that's more than double what we should be paying and I don't think this is fair this isn't what I was told at all I don't know why don't you follow the company very plain so Megan calls and now I've just got this Bell for almost six hundred dollars with extra charges for stairs and heavy items and I wasn't told about any of this if you say so some break and as Jim suspected we've got to pay now so it should be full unloading so I have to pay the balance before unloading and if we don't pay for stairs and heavy stuff yoga alone another this beef if I don't pay all these charges you're just gonna unload my stuff here yeah like back in the house no okay to have the audacity to even say that you're going to unload someone's goods on their lawn is just incredulous time for step two in our plan Meghan says they'll get their money at the new place the stress that I would be going through right now if I were the customer unbelievable okay they're leaving wait till you see the surprise we have for them okay should I start downloading if you want to loan the furniture on the street you go right ahead when we come back and later why our vets investigation left many of you barking mad shady moving companies are emptying the pockets of Canadians across the country okay they're leaving so now we're tailing one sketchy outfit our chase car has them in sight that's stiffed us and many people with hidden charges behind them okay even threatened to dump our furniture if we don't pay those fees husky movers have been getting away with this stuff but not today so we're gonna have it out with them what will they do when we turn the tables and refuse to pay those extra charges they've insisted on not unloading the furniture until they're paid we're not going to pay the thing we're at our new place there's the truck time to lay out the plan to Megan our undercover customer the sidewalk in front of the house is where you need to do this okay will there be a showdown on the street at a certain point we'll come out with cameras rolling Megan takes a stand I'm not going to pay any more money for these extra charges that I didn't agree to you should have told me earlier Lee it's a standoff Sam's refusing to unload our stuff he gets headquarters back of the line but Husky isn't moving on the bill I don't want to pay these charges time for me to make my move remember we've already paid them 250 bucks we just don't want to pay for the charges they never told us about on the phone but as they've done to so many Husky puts the gun to our head that's right they'll bring our furniture back to the first house and unload it how do they put it back in the house my name is Tom Harrington and I worked for marketplace at CBC okay and we know what you guys are up to and what your company has been up to how can you go into a house on moving day to do this to anybody I don't know if you want to call the company let's put him on speaker what kind of operation is this that you're running this isn't a proper moving company what was explained to the foot on the phone the contract over the phone was $45 an hour plus an hour for travel time everything else is included that's what was said on the phone that's what she agreed to these fellows come in and her a contract which she has 30 seconds to read and can't see everything in the first place then they start saying oh we're going to add for things like stairs yep hung up but the mystery man on the phone is calling the shots they should I start downloading if you want to load the furniture on the street you go right ahead if that's where you think if that's what you think you should do is that what he said to do Ethan he will take the legal actions against him so he's gonna sue her maybe we should sue this customer did and I won and I feel good just like us charaluta t Bakula got stuck with hidden charges this is outrageous I was not expecting these charges the judge agreed saying that sneaking them into a last-minute contract was not fair Carroll sued City Hawks movers and storage guess what sane people behind husky movers sam says he's just following orders even if it means dumping the stuff right in front of our new place he could be dining under the stars tonight at this point if all the dining furniture ends up there they've made good on this threat so that's it you're gonna leave it on the lawn yeah as for seeing them in court not worth our time so we pay the entire bill we'll keep the receipt if we want them to move our stuff inside that'll cost extra enough hang anymore they get the heck out of Dodge but not so fast the showdowns not over we say in four up ahead yep we follow their truck because it's our best lead to the boss we end up on the outskirts of town so there's two big husky mover trucks and discover a Corral of battered trucks our movers leave but we notice the Husky brand we check back in another day they like that Ursa husky movers truck right there and the Husky name on that truck is painted over wonder what else they're covering up time to round up some answers why do you do speed we have to stop you have to stop this and later our marketplace investigation into vet bills continues we're investigating a shady moving company that's more like a moving target husky movers hit us with hidden charges and dumped our furniture we call the owner Harpreet Singh he says they are upfront about the charges but declines to come on camera saying he's in California we're not giving up though we're staking out another moving day no trucks today they must be very busy we hope the trucks will return because when they do there our plan is to deliver our own charges to husky movers for misleading the public with hidden charges threatening to hold furniture hostage and unprofessional service we're waiting for another showdown but it's almost sundown will they be a no-show they are back holy and there's a fancy black sedan we've done our homework it's a company car is the owner inside hey I doing I'm Tom Harrington from market flakes and I'm your with husky movers no you sure you are what are you doing in this parking lot just see it in the chicken you yeah sure no no you're with husky movers what's your name what's your name why he won't give us his name but we give him our charges here's here's I'm gonna give you this is our hey this is our bill these are our charges this is for misleading people missing the public lot with hidden charges what are you sure to read this because this is what you do to Canadians men no no no there it is it off your cameras no answer the question why do you do is to be we have to stop you have to stop this I'll just put this in your windshield he can run but he can't hide later sources tell us that was Harpreet Singh the owner of husky movers we leave another copy of our bill behind to make sure he gets the message but maybe he is already since we started poking around husky movers charges for stairs and heavy items are posted on their website but remember in the Wild West of the moving business it can be a treacherous road to dodge your own moving day nightmare here's our Survival Guide watch out for low prices you can be hit with hidden charges later demand a written estimate and a copy of the contract before you move get proof they've done insurance to protect you and your stuff deposits are usually paid before moving day and do your homework check out reviews online we're back digging into our investigation into what you pay at the vet last week marketplace brought in Marshall a real watchdog to reveal five ways you may be paying too much at the vet by the end Marshall racked up a bill of over $500 in questionable charges and boy did we hear from you in one of our strongest reactions ever people coast-to-coast told us they could relate to being overcharged and our barking mad can't believe the level of discrepancy between pet beds the government must step in and regulate this industry as a veterinarian I found that your program just scratched the surface veterinary medicine today is primarily about making money we sure heard from a lot of vets who disagreed vets didn't go to school for that many years to ripoff clients are owners aware of how often vets actually / costs down to bare minimums and provide services free of charge and our investigation continues across the country you pitched in and shared your own vet bills - and what do they reveal a range of prices for similar procedures across Canada for a wellness exam you're paying between $50 and 81 when it comes to dental cleaning for cats prices ranged from three hundred and forty dollars for Scout to six hundred and fifty-four for dusty as for x-rays Dexter's owners spend a hundred and forty three bucks while deja Vu's x-rays cost two hundred and fifty seven at the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association here's what President Jim Berry had to say there's a lot of different factors that roll into cost so everything from cost of living where you live if you have factors like what equipment is is being used so the different procedures that are being asked for in clients right now basically really expect and rightly so I think have very high quality medicine even so when it comes to saving money at the vet it might pay to shop around and you can check out our cross-country comparison anytime online next week on marketplace oh there's that smell again we're back checking in again casting hotels promises Wow that doesn't look good does it oh okay with your help so we're really really clean I couldn't believe my eyes how dirty hotels cleaned up their act could this be the same stain as last year it's possible how much better the bath man looks clean or worse why hasn't anyone got the message you have to clean the sheets can things get you

Channel: CBC News

Views: 3,741,858

Rating: 4.6989117 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News CBCNews CBC broadcasting media public broadcasting news Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, CBC News.ca, Movin' Day Showdown, Moving Company (Industry), Confidence Artist (Profession), Marketplace (Award-Winning Work), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (TV Network), cbc marketplace, marketplace cbc, marketplace, moving, scams, movers

Id: mPxUV1NoR-o

Length: 22min 28sec (1348 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 10 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/EmptyDelivery]

That was it? They only confronted him with a camera and nothing more happened? He can just continue the same scams the next day with no consequences?

[u/Jaydrizzle]

This was unprofessional they didnt even wrap up their old looking furniture, the company i worked for was expensive charging around 8,000 to move from Tennessee to Rhode island , this is bad for the public image of Indians in western countries with all the phone scams companies and all

[u/Dallaswolf21]

I had something like this happen to me but they would not unload the truck. I called the cops right on the spot and reported them for theft. I showed the cop my contract and he told them unload it and take it back into the house or go to jail. The owner showed up all pissy and I told him to fuck off.