♪ ♪ David: Tracking moving
company nightmares. Why is it you
estimate low and charge high? Why does that keep
happening over and over? Picking up your stuff... - Okay, something weird is going
on here with our trackers. David: But are they
picking your pockets? - Our stuff kind of went MIA. Our quote increased
more than $20,000. - $20,000! How to fight back
and get your stuff back. - I'm not going to give up. - They shouldn't be doing this. - Makes me cry, because
I feel for these people. David: This is
your Marketplace. ♪ ♪ Marketplace is on the move. Boxes full of what our
movers will expect... All right, here we go. And something they won't. We've got these trackers. Going to turn it on. Put it inside,
hidden, one of our boxes. See what happens. Where will they take it? Will they weigh it? We're tracking these movers
because we're hearing rip-off stories from you. Companies that pitch one
price then inflate once they've got your stuff. - They plan to charge
us $1,500 to move it. But they also say that we
will pay based on how much it weighs. If it weighs less, we
pay less or so they say. As our hidden camera
team watches the movers arrive... GPS: Turn left to
Highway 400 North. David: We're hitting the
road to Owen Sound. Hi Sherri.
I'm David. - Hi, David. David: To hear about
Sherri Watson's mess of a move. She hires Safe Bound moving
to move her four-bedroom house from Brampton to Sudbury,
but that was 7 months ago! - Our stuff kind of went MIA. David: Safe Bound estimates her
move at 6,000 pounds based on what they call an
"industry average". Later, they "invite" her to
fill out a spreadsheet that updates the tally. Without it, they say,
quotes "cannot be guaranteed". - They had sent a thing
which we were unable to open. David: So she
sends her own list. Moving day ends up
stretching over three days. - The first day, they
gave me the option to go to the weigh scale. They said they overloaded the
truck and if they went there they said they would make them
take the stuff off of the truck and throw it out there. David: So she agrees to a new
weight estimate or flat rate. - They said, okay, sign here,
and I thought he had done me a huge favour by knocking it
down so they didn't have to throw out my things. David: By the end, Safe Bound's
weight estimate goes up more than 500% and only she says
when they have all her stuff does the cost jump from the
original estimate of about $2,000 with tax. - Our quote that we had been
estimated increased more than $20,000. - $20,000! They're now demanding
11 times the original quote. What did you think? - I was in disbelief at first. I was convinced
that it was a mistake. Somebody hit the wrong
numbers on the keyboard... - But they had your
stuff at this point? - They had our
stuff at this point. All I got was invoices and a
demand to pay or they were going to destroy my things. I think it's a complete scam. I mean, how you can grossly
underestimate something like that is just beyond me. David: But Safe Bound says
Sherri's agreed to the charges. And she was told the cost would
increase because she had more stuff than they expected. Sherri sees it differently and
refuses to pay, leaving her to live without her stuff
in an RV for months. And this is coming
on top of what? - I was diagnosed... Sorry. I can't even say it. But I do have terminal cancer. David: Sherri believes
they're holding her belongings for ransom. - Our whole lives are in there. There's some very important
paperwork that we need to... To take care of things
that we need to. They stole my summer away
from me that I could have had with my family
while I was healthy. David: That's tough.
That's tough to say out loud. It is.
Very tough. David: Sherri found
her movers online. We are too. Several quotes come in for
our one-bedroom apartment. - Alright, your quotes will be
emailed to you shortly, great. David: Ranging from about
$900 to about $1,400 taxes in. Safe Bound Moving doesn't
bite, but Roadway Moving does. Our digging shows a connection. Both companies have the same
director, and the language on their websites is
nearly identical. David: On our moving day,
Roadway's team of two is courteous and careful. David: They first estimate a
thousand pounds based on what they again call an
"industry standard". When we send our list, that
changes to 3,000, but once everything is loaded out
comes a new contract and a new weight. David: 4,000 pounds? Based on what? David: That's strange. We were told the minimum
charge is 1,000 pounds. David: As they leave, our
undercover producer doesn't know the final cost. Lawyer Rocco Scocco is hearing a
lot about moves these days. - Everyone who comes to me with
this complaint about a moving company, they say, how is
this company able to continue? And I said, it's-- our laws are
not in place to do anything about it, except
through the courts. David: And more
than 30 people who feel ripped off by various
companies have come to him just in the past
year including Sherri. - Their theory is that they got
her to agree to a flat rate. Her stuff's already in the
truck, what is she going to-- expected to do? To tell them to unload the
truck after spending a whole day of lifting? It's a high-pressure situation,
so she-- she was not able to renegotiate. David: Rocco and Sherri will
make that argument in court as they fight to void
the moving contracts. ♪ ♪ In Nova Scotia Ardalan
Garagozli is fighting too over his move with Safe Bound
from Toronto to Halifax. - We had a nice Persian rug.
So had to buy this on Kijiji. Most of the stuff you
see I had to buy on Kijiji, which cost me a lot. David: He and his partner
make the trip but their furniture doesn't. - We didn't know if the
stuff was going to make it. So we would just
hold on to paper cups. They showed up very late, and
then they take their sweet time to move the stuff. Everything you see,
I bought it new. David: He's quoted $483
with tax for 1,000 pounds. Again, they call it the
"industry average" and send an inventory list, too. Their fine print says if
Ardalan doesn't fill it out, it'll be a flat rate but he
says no one explained that to him. - So only once they have your
stuff in the back of the truck, they then have you sign
something that says, what? - It weighs more. David: A flat rate
of 2,950 pounds. - In Toronto I live
in a big condo. And y'know, there's
lot of moving happening. They're very specific
with the timing, like, if you have two hours to move,
you have to finish moving. So I just signed anything,
just to get rid of them. David: That new
contract leads to a new bill. $2,849.30, almost six
times the original estimate! Do you feel like
you've been scammed? - I've been scammed. David: Ardalan doesn't pay
and plans to go to court. He's filing a complaint against
the movers with Ontario's Ministry of Government
and Consumer Services. - I'm not going to give up. It's not just about my stuff. I don't want anybody to
experience what I experienced. I don't want other people
to fall in the same trap. David: And, get this, Ardalan's
invoice isn't from Safe Bound, who he hired. It's Roadway Moving,
the company we've hired. - Hello. voice: Hi, am I speaking
with Amanda? David: So how's our move going? Just hours after pick up,
Roadway calls with a new price. voice: It would
be $3,234.65. David: They now want almost
double their original quote. - This is a lot more
than what I was quoted. David: Pricing based on what
they call a 4,000-pound flat rate. What don't they know? ♪ ♪ We weighed it first! We know it's really a third
of their flat rate claim. We have 1,280 pounds. We could bust them
right here, but we want to see what happens next. - I really need this stuff by
tomorrow if I'm going to send this amount. David: Roadway says if we pay,
they'll stick to the plan for next-day delivery but
when we arrive at the destination in Sudbury... The movers have a
surprise for us. Hello? - Hey, David, it's Caitlyn. They want to reschedule the
move till a week from today. - A week from today? But today's supposed
to be moving day. - They said because they didn't
get the payment right away that they've had to reschedule
and that's the soonest that they can come. ♪ ♪ David: Meanwhile, different
movers are coming to Sherri's rescue. Her lawyer arranged to have
them get her stuff back from Safe Bound's storage facility. What they find on the inside? mover: It's disgusting, dude. [Bleep]-ing rat [...]
everywhere in here. David: Doesn't look
professional at all! mover: I can't even get into
these other bays to see what is what, but they look jammed. David: One of these
movers describes what he sees. - I've been doing this for
20 years, I've never seen anything like it and it was,
you know, quite embarrassing to be part of this
industry, actually. David: After so long, without
so many important things... [beeping] Sherri is hopeful as the
trucks pull in. She's hunting for keepsakes
and her son's adoption papers. - There's two boxes, literally,
that I need to find in this haystack of stuff. David: Sherri
sees damaged items. She's not even sure
everything is here. As the truck empties... - My daughter's jewelry! - Can I ask what it is, Sherri? - It's my daughter's
confirmation jewelry and her baptism jewelry. Um, so... It's very special to me. David: There's no
easy way to put this. Sherri is dying. Before she is gone, she needs
her son's adoption papers. - This is the one box
that I need to find, so... David: And no sign of it.
- No sign of it. So I'm a little disheartened. David: The most
important thing may be lost. ♪ ♪ Our moving truck
is on the move. They seem to be
heading back to Toronto. Back to their warehouse.
Can't explain that. [crashing]
mover: Sorry about that. ♪ ♪ David: This is your Marketplace. ♪ ♪ In the darkness, the
Marketplace team gets an urgent alert. Our moving truck
is on the move. Something weird's going
on here with our trackers. 5:37 AM. Yeah, look at that they're
just a little more than an hour away. So we better get
to the locker now. We catch up with
Roadway Moving in Sudbury. - Oh, they're at Tim Horton's.
Yeah, there they are. We're tracking them to
keep tabs on their ETA. producer: Alright, we're
just right behind it. David: A week after
they picked up our stuff, before almost doubling the
estimated price of the move, and delaying delivery. As the sun rises, we don't
know what they're doing. Okay, so we are
watching the truck. It's sort of directly
below us right now. Either doing another
pick-up or delivery. Two hours later
they hit the road. They've missed the turnoff
for where they're supposed to deliver our stuff to. Instead they seem to be
heading back to Toronto. Can't explain that. We follow for 80
kilometres when they disappear. - Can't quite see them
right at this minute. But where's the last place
you see them there on the map. - It looks like
they're stopped. David: They've pulled
into a hardware store lot. - Looks like they're
headed towards Noelville. David: 45 minutes later
they're on the move again. Pull up to this house in
Noelville, start unloading into the garage. It's not our stuff. They're moving this woman:
Darlene Sherrington. As we watch from a distance, a
big surprise, the police arrive in unmarked vehicles. The movers don't seem to care. What just happened? We catch up with Darlene later. David: That contract changes
her "industry standard" quote for 1,000 pounds to a
flat rate of 4,000! It means they
won't go to a scale. David: More than double
what she's expecting. - Do you think you've
been taken advantage of? Can you afford to be
taken advantage of? - They're older Canadians,
they're on a fixed income. David: Nancy Irvine of the
Canadian Association of Movers worries what
might have happened. - If they didn't have it,
their stuff would be in a dumpster somewhere. Or in some storage unit. David: Neither Roadway, nor
Safe Bound are members of her professional group but
she says she hears about them repeatedly. - How did the
police get involved? - What did the
police say to you? - Hold on, hold on,
are you saying the police believed the movers? Hours after they told us
to expect them they finally arrive at our storage unit. David: They start
unloading the truck. We're here, hidden
cameras rolling... [loud smashing] And seeing
what they've smashed. [crashing] David: I question them
about our secret move. - So in the beginning we get
this quote they say 1,000 pounds, and then they say well
actually you filled out this inventory form, a little more
than 3,000 pounds. Then they come and they say,
oh we'll give you a deal. 4,000 pounds. - That's all part of it. They want to get
you so confused. David: But we're not confused
because we know the exact weight of our move. 1,280 pounds. - It's just ridiculous. And it goes on day after day,
and they're not the only ones. Roadway's not the only one. David: No they aren't. Remember Sherri, who used the
related company Safe Bound? Her bill jumped from
2,000 to more than 20,000. And that's the stuff
from the back yard. David: The movers say Sherri
had more than expected. They claim 36,500
pounds in total. - There's gaming
chairs up there too. David: But what
came out of storage is less than half
that claim, just 16,240. And Sherri says they held her
life hostage for seven months. - It is very tough. You know, they potentially
took away my last summer with my family. There's paperwork in there that
I need, there's things that I'd like to pass onto
my children. You know, that I want to make
sure go to the right places. - Oh my God.
Makes me cry. Because I feel
for these people. - Why is it you
estimate low and charge high? Why does that keep
happening over and over. - Everything, it's on
confirmation emails. And then everything I gave
on statement to you guys. David: Searching for answers
next on your Marketplace. David: This is your Marketplace. ♪ ♪ We've been investigating moving
companies for months. Hearing about low
quotes, then big bills. There's a lot to follow here. How can they even estimate
when they don't see your stuff until moving day? The Canadian Association
of Movers says that should never happen. There should always be
a walkthrough first. Then there's flat rates. We have no idea what
these are based on. But in our experience their
flat rate is way higher than the actual weight. And if you charge by the
pound, with penalties for being overweight why is it they
aren't weighing anything? We're going straight to the
source to get some answers. We're outside Safe Bound
moving's office. Dogan, I'm David from
CBC Marketplace. The company's sole
director isn't getting out of his car. Dogan, we're trying to
figure out why it is that you repeatedly quote low
and then charge high. Many times more than
the original estimate. We've been emailing
Dogan Celik for weeks. He hasn't directly
answered our questions. Instead sending a statement
saying he values his customers and promising a full
review of operations. Celik's name rarely
appears on moving documents. So we turned to his own public
social media postings to learn more about him
and track him down. ♪ ♪ Can you help me
understand this? - I gave you my statement. David: No, we don't have
answers to the questions. - There is no any
further comment-- - Why is it you estimate low
and charge high? Why does that keep
happening over and over? - Everything is on
confirmation emails. And then everything I gave
on statement to you guys. There is no further comment. - But many of your customers
think, you're running a scam. - I gave you guys the statement. So you guys better
check it, read it. - We have read it, but you
haven't answered the questions we've asked. Why do you estimate
low and charge high? No answers to the questions
once again that we asked. A great opportunity for him
to help clarify why this keeps happening but no answers. Not for Ardalan. - I want my stuff
back, yeah, yeah. David: Who still
doesn't have his stuff. Not for Sherri either who was
charged thousands more than the original estimate. She's been too sick since
delivery to keep searching for those adoption papers. What do you do when the truck
pulls up and it doesn't have a name on it and they're demanding
that you sign something? You've suddenly
realized something isn't right. - You're screwed. You know, you can put a halt
on it, and try and find another mover but it's really tough. There's nothing we can do. There really isn't, and
it's so heartbreaking. David: For more on how to avoid
your own moving nightmare, check out our website
cbc.ca/marketplace.
I had a real strange situation happen to me in Massachsettes when moving. I got a quote for $1200. They guys show up and do a decent job. They were 30 minutes late starting and took a 2 hour lunch break, but got it all done.
At the end the guy was like "Now it is time for the bad news." And starts doing a bunch of calculations on a calculator. He said "Total comes out to $2300". I said "My quote is for $1200" and showed him the e-mail. He said "OK well if that is what they said". I wrote the check for $1200 and they left and never cashed the check.
Nothing was stolen, that I noticed, so I don't know what the hell they were doing.
Had something like this happen to me. Moving several states away, my wife insisted we get a moving company. Found one that seemed ok. They called 5 days before the move and doubled the charge. I told them to cancel the contract - there was no way we could afford that. Hard sell, lots of angry yelling, hung up on me twice. The next day they drafted my bank account for the original amount. I repeatedly called, was hung up on, or they wouldn’t answer the phone. I filed a report with BBB, the police and my bank. While my bank was investigating, I got a call from someone claiming to be my bank. I say claiming because they had inaccurate info for me, but knew all about the moving company. They asked for certain personal info that a bank would never ask for over the phone - when I gave slightly wrong info, they did not correct me and proceeded. They were asking my permission to pay the full amount in order to later have the company reimburse me. Seemed super shady so I had my wife contact the bank investigators while I was talking to the people that called. My wife told me the investigators were not trying to contact me and had placed a something like a “freeze request” (can’t remember the term) on the moving company transaction while they were investigating and I should not go into any details. I told the people I was on the line with I would have my lawyer contact the bank. They immediately disconnected.
The bank investigated and refunded me my money.
Shady shit in interstate moving companies.
It gets worse because some of these guys will happily take your belongings to their warehouse and then demand more money.
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4001436
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/01/08/woman-says-moving-company-held-belongings-hostage-until-paid-more/amp/
Even supposedly reputable movers have people working for them that find ways to rip people off. Bumping weights (adding weight to the truck for the second weigh in). Not explaining packing requirements so day of the move they can charge more for packing stuff that isn't ready. Collecting on the full estimate if the weight/time does go under. Estimating/Charging for 5 men when only 4 show up. Using unreal amounts of paper when packing to use more boxes than needed on a pack job. Not explaining potential shuttle charge. Send a whole team of new guys, if/when it takes longer, ask for more money.
I could set up a sting like this so easily. On members of these industry organizations too.
Happened to me. Day of the move from house to house, the boss is on the phone: "my guy underestimated, blah blah, will cost you twice as much.". He didn't know I didn't need to move that day, had 4 weeks between closings. Held my ground and they did the job for the estimate.
If you're in the US, the Federal Department of Transportstion has an entire department/subagency devoted to moving scams and fraud. When a company tried to screw me over (tripled the price after all my stuff was on the truck after rescheduling for 2 days so it was at the last possible minute and I didn't have time to find another mover before we had to leave, also bullied me into a large cash tip for his crew with a very thinly veiled threat, then tried to hold it hostage again at delivery), I filed a complaint online with all my evidence (texts, receipts, bill of lading, etc) and they assigned a badass agent that tore them a new one. All of my stuff showed up at my door within 24 hours of the agent being assigned and calling them on 3 way with me. This was after they told me it would still be 2 weeks before they could get it from storage in the state that I had moved from. I got all my money over the original quote refunded, and they got a referral to a local agent for further investigation.
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move
ETA: also you can double check your movers are legit in advance by looking them up on the site!
If you want motivation to stay in school, work for a moving company. I worked for a moving company for three days while I was in college. They had me report to work at 7am. Wouldn't have anything for me to do until 10am and that's when they would start paying me. Total bullshit.
I'm sure there are some good outfits out there and there are a lot of hard working folks. But some of them are just plain crooks and the work is back breaking.
I know a lot of people aren't comfortable with it, but this is why I just hire labor now on both ends. We packed, rented the van and drove. No way I am going to let them hold my stuff ransom.
I also found the laborers to be an overall more transparent experience. They give you a rate per person/hr , an up charges for the big stuff and if they have a minimum charge.
Hmm, I've only ever paid movers by the hour