First Call Movers Deceptive & Rude Fort Lauderdale Florida

 It is mildly amusing that the word apologize appears in their rebuttal since they are very far from apologetic about their deceptive business practices and thier treatment of customers. And not suprising even in their rebuttal, their "go to" repsonse is "read the contract." This pat reply does not diminish or negate the fact that it is DISHONEST to make promises, to agree to fundamental elements of a contract and to make representations about your services as movers and provide a contract that is fundamentally contrary to all of those promises, key elemenst and representations. This appears to be the modus operendi for this Company; it is abundantly clear from the reviews here and on other sites. They engage in deceptive business practices. Bait and Switch!

Incidentally, transportation was not made available; they never appeared. That is blatently false. Movers never came to my house. Many hours after cancellation occurred and I was told my money would be refunded, a dispatcher called to say they were there. I have no knowledge of such a thing and consider it rather more dishonest conduct by First Movers.

I was told my money would be refunded it has not been.

It appears that consumers are having negative expereiences with this dishonest company daily and they are reporting them not only here but to other appropriate agencies.

Although we apologize to Jennifer it is clear that she, like others who complained, did not read the terms of her estimate agreement which is written in plain language with no small print.  For example, had Jennifer read the agreement she would have been aware that 1) we are a moving broker not a moving company (that disclosure appears in bold print!), and 2) we do not guarantee pick-up dates (because there are certain things beyond our control that can cause delays – weather, breakdowns, etc.).  We apologize for the moving company’s allegedly rude behavior and appreciate the feedback so we can better evaluate the moving companies with which we arrange moves.

We must also point out that Jennifer is incorrect when she alleges that no services were provided.  The services provided by First Call Movers were arranging for the transportation of her items.  Whether she ultimately decided to use that transportation is irrelevant to the issue of whether services were provided by First Call Movers.  The estimate agreement Jennifer signed clearly states that we are a moving broker and “we only arrange for an authorized household goods motor carrier to perform the transportation services.”

The transportation was available to Jennifer consistent with the terms of the estimate agreement but she made the voluntary decision not to use it.  Jennifer’s decision does not change the fact that the agreed-upon arrangement services were provided and the transportation was available.

First Call Movers’ role was to only arrange for an authorized motor carrier to perform the transportation services.  First Call Movers did in fact arrange for the transportation services and in so doing fulfilled its obligations to Jennifer.  The moving company was willing to provide the transportation.  We respectfully request that Jennifer understand that we incur significant expenses related to the arranging of transportation therefore we set a limit on the time frame within which a customer may receive a refund of the deposit.

As a broker, First Call Movers advocates for their consumers and steps in to help resolve disputes between consumers and the moving companies. First Call Movers requires all moving companies servicing their customers to follow all federal regulations and adhere to consumer safeguard policies which exceed the legal regulations. We strive to exceed the customer’s expectations and continually aim to give our clients the highest level of service possible. We stand behind our work and take pride in operating in the most ethical manner.

To see the many positive reviews we have received, please visit our website at http://www.firstcallmovers.com/first-call-movers-reviews/

 As a former employee of First Call I can tell you first hand from my own experience as an employee, they do not care who or how many people they ripoff. It is like a money laundering operation because as fast as it comes in the front door it goes out the back in refunds of deposits "which is really hard to get" most money out the back would be credit card charge backs lost by First Call.

The sales team is trained to lie and they have major support from management to accomplish the deceit. The very first and most significant problem is that in the moving industry they have what is called a industry standard of wts. & measures. The industry norm for long distance transportation of household goods is for it to be priced by wt. and distance or by volume (volume that it will consume in the truck) and distance. Volume is detirmined by an industry standard formula that is : each pound is 7 cubic feet so one book box that has a cubic volume of 1.5 cubic feet would by formula mean the wt is 10.5 lbs, common sense tells you that box filled with books or music cd's is going to be more wt then the same box packed with a small lamp shade yet the volume it takes up on the truck is the same. Now here is the interesting part, the sales team is trained to take inventory and tell the customer they are being charged by the piece , yet when it is entered into the program it charges by wt. and the wt. as it is set up in the computer system at First Call is altered, for example the industry standard for a King Size bed is 70 to 80 cube, which would mean the wt should be priced between 490 lbs and 560 lbs, at first call they will make the wt in the system of a King Bed 315 to 375 lbs.

Why do they have so much trouble getting the customers pick up date serviced on the pick up date? For starters after a year in business they have not only abused the consumers but they have burnt thru many carriers that just do not want to take their loads anymore, the carriers are spending valuable time, labor and fuel to get to the loads that are sometimes 2 and 3 hundred miles away, only to get to the load and find out that the estimate given to the cust. as well as the carrier by First Call is way off, now the carrier tells Mrs. Jones she has 6000lbs not 4200lbs as the estimate shows and the carrier explains that they will need to charge more, because they are not going to haul 6000lbs for the price of 4200lbs. Mrs. Jones refuses to let them load the truck and now the carrier has just spent valubale time and money to get rejected at the load because they will not carry it at the price First call quoted. The carriers have gotten wise to the tactics and dirty selling done at First Call.

I know for a fact that the Federal Motor Carrier as well as the Attorney General and Dept. of Transportation have had numerous complaints regarding this company and again 98%  of the customers say the same thing.....the salesman said it was by the pc. , or how can it be so much more I do not have anything to move that is not on the list. It will take time, however they will get their c*m uppins so to speak. The influx of recent complaints to the BBB, Federal Motor Carrier as well as the Attorney General will eventually close them down, and as I opened this paragraph with "I know for a fact" that is because I in fact have myself reached out to several customers that were getting a raw deal and explained to them what agencies to contact and how to go about finding the proper agencies on line to file complaints. When I say several , I'm talking about 15 to 20 in a two week period.

First Call Movers will eventually be shut down, my only hope is that the top guys responsible for this meyham not only loose the business, but need to be brought up on charges, what they do to people is criminal.