Sunshine Van Lines - NJ Doubled the price of my move after the truck was loaded. Strong-armed me into paying an additiona deposit of $1000 Guttenburg, New Jersey

Adam at Sunshine Van Line quoted me a price of $1559 to move my household belongings from a one bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania to Indiana (580 miles).  The movers were scheduled for 7am on Saturday morning, but no one  called me until 9am, saying they would arrive in 15 minutes.  I refused the move at 9:15, because I had stayed up all night packing and I needed to sleep in my own bed. The move was re-scheduled for Monday (today) afternoon between  3:30 and 4:00.  At 6:00pm I received a call from the dispatcher saying the movers would arrive in 1/2 hour.  I waited, this time.  The movers arrived in a large U-Haul truck, and it took 3 hours for them to load the truck.

The man in charge (Roberto) had a crew of two additional movers.  Roberto recommended that I place small boxes into to bigger boxes to save on the number of boxes I had.  However, this also increased the volume of the load, which was estimated at twice the estimated load of 600 cubic feet. To Roberto's credit, he crated all the large dressers, mirrors and antiques, so they would not be damaged by those who would be packing my things into another moving van. (I have moved many times, and no mover has ever done this, and Roberto did it at no extra charge.)  The cubic feet in the truck was would cost me $3500! 

I asked to speak to Roberto's supervisor, and he insisted that the load warrented $3500 for the move.  Because the move had to be postponed, he lowered the price to $3250.  I told him I wanted to discuss this with Adam, who made the original contract.  He told me Adam was not in: it was 9:30 pm.  I said I wanted to wait until the next day, so I could speak to Adam.  He insisted I write a personal check for $1500 and give that to Roberto along with the cashiers check for $1245.  I wrote a check for $1000, which I regret.  I also signed all the paperwork including one docuent which said I had a balance of $1055 to be paid on delivery.

This morning I called the company to speak to Adam.  He was not in, so I left a message for him to phone me.  He did not return my call, so I called back in late afternoon to try to catch him in the office. My call was answered by a manager, who knew nothing about the situation.  When I asked to speak with Adam, she said he no longer worked for Sunshine.  She also said she could do nothing until she received the signed contracts.  She said she would call back tomorrow (Wednesday).

When I suggested that I would cancel the personal check until the cost was worked out, she said they would move my things into a warehouse and would not deliver them until the balance was paid.  I called my attorney, and she cautioned me not to cancel the check, because it would create a delay in delivery and be inconvenient for me. I will never again use a moving company that does not come to my home to prepare a binding estimate and a secured price.

Wednesday:  no call from Sunshine.  When I called them the manager said she still did not have the paperwork, but would likely get it tomorrow, Thursday.  I have the feeling it is going to be a long and ugly conversation, when she finally decides to call me.  Or, maybe she won't call at all....