EZ Movers E-Z Movers, Incorporated Mover skokie, Illinois

In response to the report posted on this website, the company wrote that the actions of their crew and their company represented "industry standards".  As a part of my assistance to my daughter, I have studied those standards and the rebuttal posted, continues to reflect both inaccuracies and dishonesty.  It even contradicts what EZ Movers told us on the day of the move.  
First, with regard to charging for packing materials, EZ Movers reported to us on the day of the move that the crew should have "asked" us prior to initiating the use of any packing materials whether they wanted their furniture packed or wrapped with EZ Movers packing blankets or they should have been provided with the option of using their own blankets to protect the furniture.  In fact, my daughter had special packing blankets that belonged to a relative for just that purpose, but since EZ movers wrapped her belongings first with their own blankets, she was denied the opportunity of saving that cost.
 Second, her fiance' did sign a piece of paper, after the furniture was wrapped, but did not receive an explanation and was not offered the option, which EZ Movers identified as their practice, to use their own blankets for packing.  

Third, the described payment on delivery noted in the rebuttal was also false and misleading because they started to unload and after several items were taken off of the truck, then the move was stopped to request the inflated payment. There was no explanation as to why, traveling the same distance as my daughter, who had escorted them from my home, to the storage facility, then to her apartment, the moving crew somehow took an extra 45 minutes to an hour to arrive at the destination.  So, she was charged for time that was unaccounted for in the moving process.  Then, she was charged for additional time as they started to unload from the street, then they moved to the back alley and continued to unload, and only after two sessions of unloading did the driver stop the process and request payment.  If their policy was payment upon delivery, why did the crew start to unload not even once , but twice without any request for payment?

 Fourth, when the driver was working with her at the storage facility, at no time did the driver or any of the crew inform her that the charges were going to be increased.  While we were trying to understand what had happened, I specifically asked if my daughter was told that the estimate fees were too low and the costs would be increased to which the driver stated that he would never tell the customer that information. Then I asked to look at the contract and his notes and see if changes in costs were in fact noted in the contract to which the driver announced that it was his contract and that no one, including my daughter, would be allowed to see the contract at any time.  Fifth, at no time did the driver or crew need to be concerned about lack of payment.  In fact I, myself, offered to pay the driver half of his requested fee while my daughter spoke to the office of EZ Movers in an attempt to understand what was happening.  I assured him myself that he would be paid, but in the meantime, I would give him half and in that way additional time would not be wasted standing around; he refused to even consider that as an option. Then while my daughter was on the phone with the office at EZ Movers, the driver abruptly closed the doors of the truck and stated he would leave.  He had actually instructed her to call his office, so he knew she was trying to find resolution, but didn't care and became angry and used taking her belongings as a way to intimidate her.  

She was crying at this point, literally begging someone to explain to her why this move was being changed so significantly from what had been discussed in the estimate.  Then, my other daughter, seeing them threaten to drive away called the police and upon hearing that the police had been called, the office at EZ Movers announced that if the police were called, they would no longer speak to her and hung up on my daughter.  When the police arrived, the driver intially refused to even discuss a form of settlement, then the driver attempted to increased the payment even more than what had been requested.  Then, the driver demanded the double payment, but would only unload the furniture and leave it in the yard, not bring it up to her third floor apartment.  Then, the police talked him into accepting the full amount that had been requested, again double the estimate, but only if we would do the work along with the moving crew.  We agreed to help and we paid the driver the full amount and after the police drove away the driver approached my daughter again and asked for an additional $200.  

At that point another family member steeped between my daughter and the driver and calmly stated that he needed to abide by the agreement made with the police and not try to take any additional money.  Had we not been there, the driver would have tried to take even more money from a young woman who had already been treated so badly.  They brought up most of the furniture, except an armoire, that was heavy, but came up the stairs without any difficulty as to available space in the stairwell.  They did not assemble any of the furniture as promised in the original bid, and they did take the base of their brand new television, which did not require disassembly and was already wrapped by the store in which they bought it, so it could have just been carried into the apartment.  The base was attached when it left our home and the base was removed between our home and the apartment or while it was being held in the truck while they were discussing the issues with the police, as the driver had closed the truck doors and one of the crew members had gone into the truck during the dispute.  At one point the driver became physically intimidating, standing too close to my daughter, so another family member came and stood next to her to ensure that nothing else would happen during this move when she went to inspect the truck after the unloading had been completed.  

EZ Movers conscientiously misrepresented their intentions, denied my daughter the opportunity to use her own packing materials to wrap her furniture, and used intimidation to take additional money from their customer. They blatantly admitted their purposeful action to not inform her of any additional costs for extended time as they delayed their arrival and they staopped unloading mid-stream to demand twice as much money from her and on top of all of that, they did not fulfill all that was promised to put the bed frames together, while expecting her family members to actually do some of the moving and carrying of her belongings as a part of the deal.  To charge double the estimate, not offer to allow her to use her own packing materials, and not keep her informed about the costs of her move, as the estimate was never intended to be a true reflection of the costs involved, they purposely used bait and switch to trick her into believing that they were an affordable company.  Then they attempted to threaten her with the theft of her belongings to take even more money from her.  Finally, after an agreement had been reached with law enforcement, the driver chose to try and take additional dollars from her when the police left the scene.  Nothing about their practices follow industry standards, unless those standards were derived from criminals and thieves.

Silverlp,
 
EZ Movers understands that there was some confusion on the day of your daughters move, all of which could have been avoided by preparation.
 
In order to move with us, our sales staff provided an estimate which was later confirmed by your daughter listing all items to be moved. In the confirmation sent May 8, 2012 and electronically signed May 11, 2012, we disclosed all policies. By signing that confirmation you acknowledged that a couple of weeks before your move you read and understood everything you needed to know. Within that confirmation was a link to information from the ICC called Household Moves in Illinois...
 
Packing materials are used to safely relocate ones goods from pickup to delivery on a moving truck. Perhaps you were in disagreement with packing materials, but I can see that you did discuss the issue prior to loading because you signed an Estimate of Charges agreeing to packing charges. On your Bill of Lading you ended up paying much less in packing charges than anticipated.
 
Our mover had to move his truck to park in a safe place. If he moved his truck from the street to the alley, it was a safer choice and away from traffic. We see that as a safety precaution and a way to avoid being ticketed.
 
If you were to look at the ICC pamphlet and your confirmation, you would see that requiring payment upon delivery prior to unloading of your goods is actually a standard in the industry. You must pay in full at delivery.
 
We were happy to cooperate with law enforcement when they arrived, however we did have the right to store your goods until payment was received. This is a part of the contract between us, that we have ownership of your property or lien rights. You have to pay for labor time. The police requested that we deliver your goods and not unpack or reassemble any furniture according to our foreman to complete the move more quickly.
 
If the foreman refused to move any items, it was to avoid damages to the hallway/doorways/walls, and the furniture. Since you were in disagreement about packing, perhaps these items were not packed in a way that made the foreman comfortable moving the items safely. Perhaps he was not confident that he had enough space in the staircase or hallway to move the armoire.
 
As for a TV stand, we cannot acknowledge this claim. We have no way of truly knowing the situation because of the circumstances surrounding this move. The movers did not pack AND unpack your daughters furniture or boxes because we were not given the opportunity to witness both. Both your daughter the customer, and the moving crew should be able to discuss anything damaged or missing. The crew would not have the opportunity to as you say, stash anything because everything on the truck is checked by our dispatchers and trucks return after each move to prepare for the next move. The dispatchers climb onto the trucks and inspect them. We would have called to let your daughter know that you were missing something if that was the case and if it was a small piece, we would have mailed it to your daughter or re-delivered it.

I am very sorry that you have such ill feelings toward EZ Movers, but again, we tried to prepare your daughter for her move as much as possible by providing as much information as possible.

Sincerely,
Kelly Reed
EZ Movers