Destination Movers Moving ripoff artists - they hire ex convicts (I have to say allegedly) Hallandale Florida

Dear folks....

Destination Movers is not so much concerned about moving the customers belongings as they are with ripping them off 4-6 fold. They do everything possible to get away without any responsibility for damages. Heres my story

I was given a quote of $1500 based on the inventory of my modestly furnished apartment. We were promised 3 professional moving men, an 18 wheeler (semi-truck) and the was to be wrapped in blankets. After my wife and I packed all our belongings, we realized we had a few more boxes than we quoted the movers, so I called Destination Movers with good intentions to add a few more boxes to the estimate. This bumped the estimate to $1800. The movers told me to call the day before the move, which I did. I found this odd that I, the customer am chasing my own movers. I was then left on hold forever. At 6pm I was told by an answering service that they make calls until 8 pm. Finally, around 10pm the driver called, he sounded like he was just released from hell and promises to arrive at 9am for pickup. I left my job at 8:30am to meet them and waited over 2 hours for them to arrive. They arrived at 11:20am with a 26 foot truck (instead of the 18 wheeler we were promised). The 26 foot truck was OVER half full with someone elses belongings. Only 2 moving men arrived, and we were promised 3. They had no blankets with them for furniture!!! Its now Friday afternoon, and I am suppose to be starting a new job on Monday. We still needed to get on the road to drive 750 mile to my new job location! My wife and I are very skeptical at this point and didnt want them touching our stuff, but our hands were tied. We went outside to privately discuss the situation but the driver was eavesdropping and interfering in the conversation. Being stuck and desperate, we decided to let them do the job. It took them 2 hours to even start putting boxes in the truck! Because they had no blankets and hardly any room on the truck, I had them take the boxes first. At this point no paperwork was filled out and nothing signed. Some inventory was very crudely listed on the contract and a few stickers were placed on the boxes. They took our boxed things to storage and went to buy blankets to wrap the furniture. They were gone for 5 hours! Came back with ten 4' by 6' blankets that were so thin it made those blue u-haul blankets look luxurious. Apparently the dispatcher Ruben told them NOT to buy the large blankets (as promised) and just MAKE DO with those until the big blankets arrive on another truck tomorrow. They told us if we wanted more blankets, then wed have to buy them!! We were promised (again, ANOTHER promise!) our furniture would be professionally wrapped, per our contract. Having little choice, they began choosing the most vital pieces to wrap since they didnt have enough blankets for everything. Around midnight (they spent 14 hours at the house) I overheard the driver talking with the dispatcher and mentioning 28 cubes. I realized that it meant 2800 cubic feet. My estimate was based on items which was exact was for 800 cubic feet. I quickly did the math in my head and realized they were going to jack the price up to $6500 instead of $1800 as contracted. Thankfully the driver did not have my signature and permission to move yet, (maybe because he was high, the two loaders definitely looked it), so I asked to speak to the dispatcher who told me the $1800 was only an estimate. I told him I knew they were trying to pull a scam said that I would call the police immediately to get our stuff back. Because there was nothing in writing, the dispatcher decided to bargain and asked, What do you want to do? Again, out of desperation I told him Id settle for 1000 cubic feet ($2300). He agreed to a flat rate of $2400, but for some reason the driver wrote down $2500. I wrote, zero balance on delivery on the contract and had the driver sign it. I also gave the driver my credit card and he charged the $2500 paid in full, stating zero balance upon delivery. I was really trying to contain the fiasco. Our plans were to get on the road that day by noon or 1pm because rain was expected on the following day. The two movers were still loading at 1am. At 1:30am, I sent them home. Upon leaving, the driver started going into a diabetic shock. He looked terrible so I told him Id call an ambulance. He panicked and said NO DON'T DO THAT!! His partner told me it's because he has a warrant out for his arrest. This job should have taken them no more than 3.5 hours!! We still had a living room full of furniture they couldnt fit in the truck. Every 5 minutes theyd get a call from one of their girlfriends or one of "4 baby mamas". Literally, every 5 minutes one or the other would halt work and talk on the cell. My wife and two newborn twins had to sleep in the walk in closet on the floor with no air. She was so tired I had a hard time waking her up to ask her something. It really broke my heart and made me extremely sad I felt like all this was my fault and I allowed these lowlifes do this to us. When they were about to leave, I got a bad feeling in my stomach and decided to cancel the job after all. I figured Id have another moving company pick up our belongs at the storage unit and pay Destination Movers whatever I owed them for a few hours work..if you can call it that. At this point, the paperwork was signed. I called dispatcher he told me you gotta give me $1000 in cash, $95/hr to get your stuff back. I dont give a f--k what you do, call the police, its my storage unit that your stuff is in, and since its a civil matter, the police cant do s--t. The next day, I talked to the police and learned that it is in fact a civil matter. My wife and I had to rent a 12x6 u-haul and a dozen blankets to load up the rest of the belongings they had left behind. Its now Saturday and RAINING! The movers said theyd show up at 10am to pick up the rest of our stuff. We knew that wasnt going to happen, by noon there was still no one and they weren't answering their cell phone. Of course, there was no reimbursement from Destination Movers. They stated that I was getting a bargain anyway. U-haul and extra gas cost me another $400.

The day before our stuff was due to arrive, the driver called and demanded a postal money order upon delivery before they will open the truck. If we didnt give them a postal money order they said theyll drive off with our stuff and sell it off at a public auction. Realizing that these were organized crooks, I agreed. When they arrived, none of our furniture was wrapped as per contract. Everything was damaged!! NOTHING came away unscathed. Virtually no damages were noted upon pickup because our stuff is literally either flawless, like new or just purchased. The babies furniture was trashed. The new cribs were gouged, our new dining room set was destroyed. The legs have deep crushed holes in them. The new front-loading washer and dryer pair that we paid $1500 for was dented and scratched beyond repair. The handle on the washer was broken. There was not a single piece of furniture or appliance that was left undamaged, and unfortunately most of the damage was severe. When they opened the truck after getting the cash, it was a horror show. Things looked like they were just thrown in. I remember our dryer was laying on top of the pile on its side about 8 feet in the air, unwrapped etc.... There was much more, too much to mention.

Here is where it gets escalated. During the unloading, I got a strong feeling to call the insurance company, MovingInsurance.com because of the amount of damage. They told me to write down on the Bill of Lading what the damages are and to have the driver sign on the bottom so I can claim with them later. The driver refuses to give me the Bill of Lading and said, just write on the piece of paper what the damages are. Yhe insurance agent told me thats not sufficient and it must be noted on the Bill of Lading. She asked to speak with the driver, they argue intensely for a few minutes. The driver still refuses to sign. She asked for the drivers name and he told her it was Yonathan Morat. The insurance company told me to call the police if they still refuse to sign for damages. Before I hung up, I get a verbal ok from insurance that theyll cover the damages based on the before and after pictures I had taken. I have a picture of every single item that left our apartment on pickup and the condition it was in from all sides. Fortunately we did that. After another round of arguing with the driver and him still refusing to sign, I called 911. The police arrived and oversaw the rest of the unloading. Even with police there, they still refused to sign. The police said they cant make them sign, but their presence was necessary because things may have turned violent considering we were dealing with crooks. They were also able to get the movers license and get real name. Yonathan Morat was not his real name and he gave a fake name to the insurance company. I'm guessing because the police was there, they finally signed for the damages that I filled out on their copy of inventory and mine. Perhaps the dispatcher gave them the go-ahead to sign because they knew there was going to be a detailed police report? A report was filed and I went down to the police station to buy my copy for a $1.50. The report stated that police were called because the movers were refusing to sign for damages, it also stated the drivers real name, Yanathan Reef. We are currently filing a claim for damages with the insurance company.

These are real thieves and they have no problem ripping off families with kids. From my understanding, its the Israeli trash who operate mostly out of Miami. They come here to rip off anyone they can in a hit and run type approach. It doesn't look like they own more than 2 trucks, the rest of the work is contracted out to whatever scumbags they can find. The industry is so loosely regulated that anyone can get a moving license and show up with a Uhaul truck to your house to move your things. When I first called, they told me to check us out at the BBB, but they only have them as a member since March of 2008. Aparently they were finally kicked off BBB under the previous name they had.

Im sharing my story in hopes that others will be more aware. Reputable companies seem higher at first, but in the end theyre much cheaper. Damages will easily be covered also through their supplemental insurance. This move has been a never-ending emotional roller coaster. Please beware of this type thing happening to you.

Peter
Mount Laurel, New Jersey
U.S.A.

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