Finest Movers, Inc Interstate's Best, SCAM EXTORTION AND HOSTAGE TACTICS Sunny Isles, Florida

This moving company is a scam from the beginning.  Pleasant customer service for a intial quote. I told the rep the approximate amount of items to be moved, a 1 BR studio apt. approximately 50 medium size boxes, a wardrobe of clothing, no furniture, except 2 patio chairs, and 3 end tables, a couple of lamps.

Was quoted 1100.00 for 200sqft. Then I added additional 50sq ft for 1140.00 quote. Set up the pick up date for Dec. 7, 2011. I had recieved one call to confirm. I sent 500.00 per CC to hold, as a down payment and then the rest was due at pick up. I sent the authorization paperwork per fax.

No issues there, so I thought. The driver calls at 7am to say he was in the area, arrived at 8am. Unmarked truck and only had a hispanic man with him to assist with loading, spoke no english. The driver had looked around, asked what I needed boxed up and proceeded to load up, I used approximately 12 boxes for additional items including my art, wardrobe and kitchen items, bubble wrap and tape. 4 hours later the apt was loaded up, the bill of lading charges was 2764.00.

Over double the quoted price! I called Melissa in customer service to complain, she was not at all helpful, found out that my CC was not charged, because she said she could only charge 250.00, which she did not tell me before, she was agreeable to accept the 500.00 that she stated was acceptable. Red Flag no.1 Red flag no.2 no second quote was given after evaluating my apt. prior to loading, which is required. Had I know this, I would have never agreed to have them load me up. Red flag no. 3 No consumer information and rights packet was ever given to me in this transaction.

Melissa stated they would accept a Money order or Cashier's check for 1100.00. Which I did, begrudgingly, since this was nearly the total amount I had been quoted prior to service. The delivery date was set for 10 days out from this date and I accepted it for December 18th.

I flew out to California to my new residence anticipated the delivery, which never happened, I tried calling all weekend, no answer. Monday night, the driver from LA calls to say he would deliver on the 20th by 8pm. They did show up, at 10pm on the 20th, again, unmarked truck, and the drivers had no ID on them.

They refused to accept AMEX, and refused a personal check or company check with driver's license, stating that they should have had the check 10 days ago to allow for clearance. This was not stated to us before. It was too late in the day to go to the bank to obtain a money order or cashiers check.

They refused to deliver the goods, and stated that the household items would be taken to a storage unit, and redelivered at a later date. We asked where the items were going to, and they refused to disclose this information. Red Flag. no. 4. We had contacted them within a few days to inquire of redelivery dates and they had told us that they would charge us 900.00 in addition to our balance of 1664.00

We refused this amount, price gouging, on top of price gouging. At this point we consulted with Protect Your Move and Move Rescue who work with the Federal Motor and Carrier Safety Administration. We filed a complaint with the FMCSA, BBB, and Protect Your Move.

We needed help in getting our items redelivered without being subject to phone calls that threatened to sell our items, that we were running out of time, that we would be subject to more fees. We were able to negotiate on our own to a reduced amount for redelivery of 450.00 and got them to agree to delivery and payment at that time per email.

After the owner was notified, he called and was extremely volatile and hostile to us on the phone. Intimidation tactics of the worst kind! He refused to be negotiated with, and demanded now that we wire 1000.00 to them or we would never see our things again, and we would have to pay the 1664.00 upon delivery.

We continued to file complaints with Consumer Affairs in FL and CA, FBI, and Attorney General. We were prepared to file a police report, due to the fact that they had 1100.00 of our money, and our household items were being held hostage unless we wired them more money. We refused to conduct business with them on the phone, since they were always threatening us.

We were told that if we did not pay 2764.00 by Feb. 7, 2012 we would not see our items, and they would be sold at auction, and we would be sued for the balance. I consulted with the chief of FMCSA for investigative services, and we were able to have them agree to accept payment at delivery, and at a reduced amount by 500.00

Feb. 13 is the redelivery date and we are paying 1864.00.  The total cost of this besides the 7 weeks endured with filing countless complaints, phone calls, and paperwork, was 2964.75 We should not have technically been responsible for more than the 1140.00 that was quoted prior to pick up.

Flag no.5 was that they claimed that they had given me a second quote with the 2764.00 prior to loading up, with my signature on it. This document was fabricated and faxed to the FMCSA as proof. I dont have a copy of this document, and if you look at the signature it was cut and pasted from the Bill of Lading. Forgery is illegal.

This company is not listed on any reputable moving company list or website. Only glowing reviews are posted to their website. I have moved many many times in my lifetime, and this is the only company I have ever experienced such outright scamming from the beginning. BEWARE!