US Power Moving Cash-only scam operation tries to rip off customers Marlboro New Jersey

I called this moving company because I needed assistance with a move on short notice and they happened to be available.  Unfortunately, a host of problems ensued;

1. The company confirmed they could schedule my move for a Sunday. Once I had planned my move accordingly, they called to tell me they could only schedule my move for Saturday or Monday. Because Monday was not an option since I needed to vacate my apartment, I had to select the Saturday date - even though that meant staying up until 5 o'clock AM Saturday morning to get my packing finished on time.

2. I had trouble giving the company a deposit via paypal.  I was surprised they used paypal to take deposits, since most legitimate companies would accept a credit or debit card over the phone.  Once I made the payment using my bank account, I was told this was insufficient and that they "needed the money right away," so they cancelled the transfer and forced me to resubmit my payment using a credit card for an instant deposit, causing me incur unwanted feeds from paypal.

3. Though my move was schedule for 2pm on Saturday, I received a call at 2:09 asking if my move could be schedule for between 3-4pm. I told them this was impossible, as the move needed to be completed circa 4:30pm in order to arrive at a storage facility where my belongs were to be moved. I needed to arrive at the storage facility before 5:30 in order to secure the unit while the facility's management was on the premises.  Though originally, my spouse and I planned to follow the moving truck in a car and arrive at the facility separately, he was forced to drive ahead in order to secure the storage facility. Because someone needed to stay behind to supervise the move, I had to send my spouse ahead and stay behind with the movers. Alex suggested that I ride in the truck with them in order to facilitate this.  Because this was the only option, I had to ride with the movers in the truck.  Because I had 2.5 hours to kill, I ended up moving %70 of my property outside to the curb to facilitate the loading of the truck.

4. The movers arrived 2 hours and twenty minutes late and were hardly apologetic.

5. Despite communication over the phone and in writing about the nature of my move, which included the transportation of an upright piano, the movers were unclear about the size and scope of my move. I was not told in advance that there would be a separate charge for moving the piano, but they assessed an additional $100 fee to move the piano. They also were unaware that I lived in a two-story town home, even though this was clearly communicated on the phone and in writing.  They wanted to charge an additional fee for this, but I would not allow them to do so.

6. Once the truck was 100% packed and I was about to lock the door to my townhome, I was asked, "Do we need to stop at an ATM on the way?" When I asked why this would be necessary, I was told that they only accept cash payments.  While I explained that this was never communicated to me and that of course I was not carrying an excess of $1,000 cash on my person, we proceeded to argue at length over this matter. Because it was a Saturday afternoon, there was no way I could withdraw that much money from an ATM.  Instead, the movers agreed to accept a combination of cash and a check. The mover had the audacity to admit to me that he prefers cash payments so that he can evade his taxes and pay his immigrant employees under the table.

7. Though I was told there would be enough seating for me and the three movers in the truck - which is why I agreed to ride with them given the unusual circumstances - I was shocked to learn there were only three seats.  One of the movers rode laying behind the seat illegally and unsafely above our heads the entire ride.

8. Several minutes into the ride, they told me then needed to stop for food and that it was an emergency.  He said that they would grab food and eat while driving. Instead, they pulled over and ate at Subway for 20 minutes.  I was told that I was ungrateful for their service when I complained about the break, and they told me that I should be buying their dinner for them. The reason I was concerned about the break was primarily an issue of time - I was worried I would not get to the storage facility since it closed at 10pm and we were still an hour away.

9.  During the hour+ car ride with one mover laying behind us, the driver continued to argue with me and use a theatening tone so that I would pay him in as much cash as possible so he could evade his taxes. He also berated me for not using the storage facility of his choice. When I explained that it was imperative for me to have a climate controlled unit, he told me this was not necessary and that his furniture is nicer than mine and doesn't need to be in climate controlled storage.

10. The driver made several illegal turns - one of which was in front of the Newark police statiom (the audacity!).

11. When we arrived at the facility where my spouse had been waiting for over three hours, the movers gave menacing looks as they demanded cash.  They muttered in Russian, looking ready to drive off with all of my possesions unless I gave them at least $500 in cash upfront. Because we were frustrated and simply wanted these scam artists out of hair, we agreed to pay them partially in cash and a check for the rest of the amount at the end of the evening.

12.  Once the moving was nearing completion, I was given a quote which overestimated the amount of the time of the move. In addition to taking on 20 minutes to the actual move time, the drivers overestimated the time of the drive involved in the overall move by 45 minutes.  Because I was not planning on tipping them and again just wanted these scam artists out of my hair, I agreed to sign the contract and pay them for the rate that they overcharged.

13. I was then bullied for not offering to tip the movers. One of the movers said, "you don't have to tip me, but tip these guys, they worked really hard." I only had $40 left in my wallet after withdrawing the maximum amount I could from an ATM.  Still, this was not good enough for these creeps and they gave me horrible looks as if I had just killed their mothers.

In short - DO NOT use this company. It's telling that the only positive reviews of this company on websites like Yelp are from users that have only written one review on the website. It is likely that they were created by fake profiles in order to make the company look more positive.  My experience was exactly the same as the other person who reported their experience here on RipOffReport.com. These guys should be investigate - not only for tax evasion, but also because some of their employees are likely paid under the table because their citizenship is dubious. Send these guys back to Russia so they can't scam anyone else.