Across America Moving And Storage moving ripoff scam set up dishonest Van Nuys California

Across America Moving and Storage
7624 Varna
North Hollywood, Ca. 91605

March 13, 2006


To whom it may concern,

I am writing you today to address some of the concerns that have taken place with my moving experience that was provided by Across America Moving Company.

The process began in mid February with a conversation with one of Across America Moving Company's sales associates Jessica. I felt that Jessica was very informative at the time compared to all of the other associates at other companies. She explained the difference between weighted moves and hourly moves. We estimated my 4 bedroom home at 8,000 10,000 lbs. I had explained to Jessica that I had just moved from Pleasanton, California to Ukiah, California and needed to use a full size Uhaul and 1 smaller Uhaul truck.

Because I was moving a long distance (Ukiah, California Fresno, California) the option provided was by the weight of my items, which worked out to be 0.30 cents per pound. Although this was not the most competitive quote I decided to go with Jessica because I felt more comfortable with her. My wife had been working with someone else that had under bid them by a few cents per pound and after lots of conversations between my wife, Jessica and myself, Jessica decided to match the rate of .25 cents per pound. This total estimate was faxed to me on March 3rd with an estimate of $2,000.00 based on 8,000 pounds. I understand this was per pound!

I had asked during the initial first contact were there any additional charges, such as taxes, mileage, etc. Jessica had responded no! This is all-inclusive!

I was sent a contract that states this offer includes:
Loading, unloading, fuel, transportation, basic insurance 0.60 cents per lbs per article, tax & mileage.

This also states that it does not include:
Packing labor, or packing supplies, such as boxes, mirror cartons, crates, mattress covers or corrugated cartons. We suggest that all mattresses be covered with plastic for protection from dirt or snags.

After reviewing this contract and knowing that I had personally packed all items I had no problem with it with the exception of a 45 inch TV and a 65 inch TV which we immediately inquired about and had received a verbal quote of $50.00 per item. I was pleased!

When the movers arrived they began moving items into the truck and had gone over the written quote which at this point remained the same with the exception of the verbal quote for both TV's.

Half way through the load my wife had called me and mentioned how great of a job they were doing such as packing the furniture in, loading the washer and dryer, etc. As the move went on, being concerned with the items not being able to fit I continued to call knowing that an Enterprise Rental Truck would not be large enough. During my conversation with Jessica she had confirmed that if they needed another truck they would go out and rent one. The concern came from our initial conversation of the move that took place a few months before in which we needed two trucks.

Finally when they had the truck completely loaded with no more room and other items still left they had presented my wife with a bill totaling $7,900 give or take. He said that 8,000 lbs generally only fills half of the truck.

The bill consisted of:

1.Itemized packing and wrapping charges barely ledge able, such as sofas, chairs, washer, dryer, mattress, etc.

2.Estimated weight of $16,000 plus lbs

As mentioned earlier I had discussed the amount of items moved earlier last year which was a 26 foot truck plus some.

The truck driver demanded the 60% due which was originally $1,200.00 but was now asking for $4,800.00 and the rest due in cash at drop off. He had told me that if we did not come up with this money we would have our items auctioned off at an auction and we would never see these things again.

I immediately tried to contact Jessica with no response because the office was closed. After requesting several times for the driver to have somebody in management call me or I was going to notify the authorities I finally received a call from David Owens, Dispatcher/Manager/Owner? Going round and round with David passing blame and denying that all was relayed to us; David had given us two losing options.

1.He will have the movers unload everything now, which will cost $3,900.00 and they will move on, which this amount was due for them to open the locked doors on the truck or

2.He agreed to let us pay the $1,200.00 now and the office will revise the quote Monday. He also agreed to let us change the contract to read that the charges will not exceed $6,000.00

At this point I had notified the authorities, which officer Dan Lockhart had arrived within 30 minutes to my home. He had agreed that this was in wrong doings although it was a legal issue and that he was not able to help us but would be happy to testify. We realized at that point we did not have much choice due to the fact that we did not have the $3,900.00 to pay them because we were only prepared to pay the original 60% due which was $1,200.00.

By this time I am on my way driving from Southern California to Ukiah California to give my wife support with all of the items that they had left behind.

First thing Monday morning I had called Jessica hoping that she would get this all worked out for us? With Jessica not knowing what had happened over the weekend I had reconfirmed with her our original conversation which was about the move that took place earlier last year. (The amount of furniture that I had moved, the estimated weight, etc.) She remembered.

She immediately said I have to call you back. Within 10 15 minutes I received a call from David Owens, the dispatcher now manager/Owner. He had listened to my concerns and how I had felt mislead and scammed. He assured me that there was no scamming going on and he will make things right. He also said that he would have one of his trucks come by and pick up the additional items that were left behind. I felt a little relieved although I was still anxiously awaiting my new adjusted charges.

We had an agreement to have the last items picked up from my home in Ukiah on Friday the 10th of March between 4-6 pm 5 business days later. He said they will call my wife when they arrive. We received no call. We had left a message that evening at the phone number provided on the contract. I continued to call Saturday but only getting the answering service I continuously left messages with the receptionist for David to call me. I had finally told the receptionist that I will be forced to call the authorities again. Within 20-30 minutes I received a phone call from David Owens upset because I was bothering him on his own time. I had asked why they did not show up and he responded with I have to check I will be back with you. David got back to me with no excuse of why they did not call, just a short They will be there today around the same time today. To make a long story short they did not show up again, no call, no show.

It is Monday morning the 13th of March and I had left several messages and had asked for the companies' physical address to go down and make sure they still had our items. Camilian had put me on hold several times asking my full name and then responding that they were not authorized to give out this address.

I recommend that this letter is to be forwarded on to the appropriate person and all of the items below are met.

1.A revised contract with a reasonable amount due less any packing charges.

2.A physical address of your facility so that I may come and view that you still have my items

3.Reimbursement to be taken off of the revised contract for having to pay rents on the items left behind

4.Reimbursement for the Uhaul trailer rented to physically bring the left over items to Fresno

Unless the above things are met I will be pursing legal action along with Channel 7 on your side, filling out the complaint form for the Public Utilities Commission which I have already spoken to a rep and sending a complaint to the better business bureau.


I look forward to your immediate response



DATE: APRIL 15, 2006 - MY ITEMS FINALLY GOT DELIVERED AFTER THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISION RESEARCHED IT. THEY DROPPED MY ITEMS OFF ON THE CURB! 60% OF THE ITEMS WERE BROKEN, SMASHED AND JUST OVER ALL DEMOLISHED! THIS COMPANY SHOULD NOT HAVE LICENSE TO OPERATE IN THE US!

Richard
Sanger, California
U.S.A.

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