Institute of Jewish Humanities Institute for Jewish Humanities -- Furniture "Donation" Scam Internet, New York

Hi,

I just had an interaction today with your "hired donation movers".  The level of unprofessionalism was so profound that I had to do a google search by phone number of the person who you claim to be an outsourced moving contractor of your organization.  This person hung up on me several times every time that I asked what organization that he was from, as I had contacted several.  He was rude and elusive to say the least.

 I find it hard to believe that you are coincidentally hiring the same type of jerks to do your moving.  I also can't find anything about your non-profit on the web, not even on your website...no "About us" page...nothing.  However, I did find this statement below:

Due to increased gas prices and other moving expenses we are able to accept furniture and other household items only if after they are sold there is enough proceeds to fund our program after all expenses are covered.

There is no fee for pick-up of donated merchandise, however if you have items which we cannot use or value of the merchandise is not sufficient enough to cover moving expenses and you would like those items to be removed you may discuss with operator when you call or with the movers if they can provide fee based furniture removal service.

 For your convenience we are open on Sundays!

                   Call 800 507 GIVE (4483)

                   e-mail: donatemyfurniture@yahoo.com

I don't believe that you are anything related to a charity.  If your movers are not connected to your company, then how come the phone number that you're defending in the original Rip Off Report comment is also the phone number that called me today to schedule an assessment of my items?  I found this page by searching the phone number!

You come to people's homes at a desparate time in their lives (moving) and then you tell them that their products are not marketable and offer to help them out by moving it for a hefty price.  If you want to be movers or resellers, then be that.  Those are honorable professions.  Stop lying to the public and pretending to be a charity.

Similar thing happened to my sister with a twist. She contacted IOJH to pick up furniture and goods. When they show up they say they will only take a couple of things but if she pays them hundreds of dollars they will dispose of the rest for her. She agrees as she is moving and has no choice. As soon as I hear this I figure it's a scam.

Further, in the midst of moving day one of her cats goes missing and was last seen hiding under one of the pieces of furniture taken by these guys. Several of us leave multiple frantic calls to find where goods were taken. I got one voice mail back from one of the movers who leaves no name and no number and says simply cat was not there.

No call EVER comes from anyone from IOJH EVER despite my leaving many frantic and desperate messages throughout the day. These are supposed to be the charity people!!!

They say they are not responsible as the movers are 3rd parties but they ARE responsible as they represent them. I would NEVER recommend doing anything with these people EVER! Better off dealign with Good Will.

At least the cat was indeed found so that part of the story had a happy ending.

To Whom It May Concern

We do not have our own moving facilities so we find different used furniture dealers, movers, etc.. to do the moving arrangements for us. 

Movers  are not part of our organization. They are independent businesses.

 Occasionally we receive complains from our donors.  

We investigate every incident and terminate contracts with movers if they did not comply with our business ethics. When we send movers to pick up furniture we supply our donors with special form to fill out for tax purposes and to explain liability matters. 

It is clearly explained that movers are not part of our organization and that we do not accept liability for their performance.

 We are not movers, not furniture dealers, not a junk removal company therefore we are not supposed to be rated as such. We welcome anyones ratings or reviews if it is about our school, curriculum, teachers. 

We hire movers same way you hire them to move your furniture.

 Does it mean you or your organization has to be rated based on movers performance?

IJH