Chester County Moving and Storage Moving Company Scam Chester Springs Pennsylvania

When planning my move, I received an estimate from several moving companies including from Jessica, office manager from Chester County Moving and Storage.  We had a discussion about me having 2 IKEA beds and an IKEA closet that would require a high level of disassembly and reassembly.  Jessica assured me that their movers are experienced and do that very efficiently all the time.  She said I would have to sign a waiver because that kind of furniture is not intended to be put together more than once, but that it was just a formality because they had only ever had one issue with a piece of furniture not going back together correctly.  After this conversation, Jessica gave me an estimate that it would take 3 hours of work (4 hours total including the mandatory 1 hour of travel time) with 4 movers.  I later found out that this was the lowest time that companies are allowed to quote and that it was likely fraud in order to get my bid. 

The nightmare began when Jessica got the date wrong and began sending me multiple emails and phone calls a month early while I was out of state on vacation, demanding I get signed documents to her that day.  The actual moving day was even worse.  The movers sauntered in an hour late and kept that pace all day.  They were far from experienced and professional.  Sometimes one would be taping something, and the others would stand there watching.  One spent an hour locked in my bathroom without even asking to use it.  They didn't bring anything to drink, so we went to the store and bought drinks for them.  It took 5 hours for 4 men to load up 19 items, and some of the items were a bike, a mirror, etc.  When we got 1.5 miles to the new house, they held my belongings hostage until I agreed to pay over double the estimate I had been given by Jessica (of note, they didn't even transport everything that I had listed so it should have been less).  I showed them a form from Jessica that I had signed stating that the movers must deliver my belongings if I give them the estimate plus 10% (apparently a government policy put in place to protect consumers from this exact situation).  This would have allowed me to sort it out during the next business day, but they refused to honor the agreement.  Since it was the weekend, they told me there was no one for me to call to sort it out until Monday.  I caved to the extortion in order to get my stuff and get them moving (they were still on the clock and wouldn’t unload until I paid).  This time they estimated 7.5 hours total of work (250% the original estimate with more items that got me to choose them) and included charges for supplies (Jessica had told me all supplies were included) for a total of almost $600 over Jessica's estimate. 

After I paid, they put the furniture haphazardly in my house, left garbage all over the place, including in the street, refused to reassemble my furniture and left without completing the job.  They broke the leg off my vanity.  Screws required for reassemble for the furniture were tossed loose on the floor, other hardware just missing.  My jewelry box was left with jewelry tumbling out onto the floor.  They couldn't find the feet to my futon and said I should just check around the old house.  When asked why they weren't putting the furniture back together, they said they were out of time (they once again underestimated with 7.5 hours).  They said I would need to pay them in cash immediately for them to stay to reassemble the furniture (AKA finish the job they were hired to do).  Since I don't carry that kind of cash ($118/hour) and they wouldn't let me run to the ATM or have someone bring it, there was nothing that I could do to prevent them from leaving.  One of the movers spent close to an hour on the clock trying to make me sign forms stating that everything was delivered in good condition, I had received the services I had asked for, and the moving company should not be responsible for the extra time it took (ALL FALSE).  During the time he was harassing me about that, the other three guys were doing nothing.  When I called and emailed the office on Monday to try to sort things out, there was no answer by phone.  I got an email response from Jessica saying that I will not be reimbursed because "You paid for a service that was rendered to you."  When I responded by email to say that I would like to explain what happened, she emailed that the movers had already told her what happened.  When I said that I would like to avoid going to court and planned to write negative reviews online, she said that I was blackmailing her and that they will not communicate with me any more.  SHe did not even acknowledge my report of broken furniture.  Now I have to take them to court to get them to do what's right. 

It is a scam to give a quote for the lowest possible hours allowed (knowing it will take longer) in order to hook business, then once you have the customer's belongings, force the customer to pay over double what you quoted, then once you have the money, leave without finishing the job.  There are laws to protect consumers from this criminal behavior, and I hope Chester Count Moving and Storage will be held responsible for taking advantage of a vulnerable customer.