When Shamika Thompson began her move from Maryland to California in July, she filled out a form on the internet that sent her information to various companies. Special Movers, Inc. of North Bergen got in touch with her.
Thompson claims that after they gave her a reasonable estimate of moving costs, it doubled along the way.
Complaints like Thompson’s against the company can be found all over the internet, with some customers charging that the company refused to turn over their goods unless they paid a much higher price than originally agreed upon.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Better Business Bureau, headquartered in Trenton, said last week that his agency had received 24 complaints against Special Movers in 2007 and 2008.
“Some of them have been resolved and some of them are still pending,” said BBB Director of Petitions Dan Crevina.
In fact, the company’s BBB accreditation has been suspended because of these unresolved issues, and the BBB’s Board of Directors will review the matter this coming Tuesday, Sept. 23.
According to Crevina, at Tuesday’s meeting, the company’s membership could be revoked, kept on suspended status, or restored if the complaints have been resolved.
According to the BBB website, most of the complaints were later resolved between the company and the customer, but not all of them.
And various consumer websites on the internet contain rants that customers have written against the company. The federal government has a number of complaints on file about Special Movers as well.
The National Consumer Complaint Database, run by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in Washington D.C, received 17 complaints about Special Movers in 2008, and two in 2007. Nine of those people complained of “hostage” situations, while seven complainants charged that the goods were weighed incorrectly.
Sixteen out of the 17 people claimed inaccurate estimates and final charges.
“A hostage situation is when a motor carrier will not [deliver] the shipment for the agreed-upon price,” said an FMCSA spokesperson recently.
The spokesperson confirmed the information that was on their website, but said she did not have specific information about the company. She said that the agency does not investigate all complaints, but rather will look into certain kinds of violations.
“Unscrupulous interstate moving companies that violate federal consumer protection and safety regulations should be on notice that they will continue to be targeted for investigation and prosecutions by the FMCSA,” said John Hill, administrator for the FMCSA.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) handles motor vehicle issues in the United States. Complaints are filed at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov or by calling 1-888-DOT-SAFT.
Attorney responds
Michael Garcia, Special Movers’ Attorney, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., declined to comment specifically on his client’s business when reached by phone recently. But he said that there are numerous problems with transportation law that cause these types of disagreements to occur.
He said that some of the laws from the old interstate railroad days are now being applied to consumers moving across the country. He said that when the old International Commerce Commission disbanded, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration took over and is understaffed.
He also said that “binding estimates” are not legally contractual, even if only one item is added to the shipment. He said that if a shipment exceeds the rate for price per pound, the shipment could jump thousands of dollars because of the different weight.
They said the price shot up
A former Florham Park, N.J. resident who contacted the Reporter last month, Meredith McDonough, said that Special Movers originally gave her a “binding contract” to move from New Jersey to North Carolina this past August.
She said that Special Movers later demanded a large amount of cash in an hour, claiming that the cubic feet of her belongings doubled from the amount they’d originally cited. She also claimed that the company wouldn’t let another moving company know where her belongings were.
People have posted similar complaints about the company at consumer websites. One, RipoffReport.com, lists complaints from a person in Georgia and two in Pennsylvania.
One of those consumers said the price that the company originally quoted was low, but once the company had the belongings, the estimate rose.
When a reporter went to the company’s offices on Kennedy Blvd. two weeks ago to ask questions for this story, they referred all questions to Garcia, their attorney.
Phone calls to the company’s owner, Rashad Ibrahim, at a number listed on the BBB’s website were also unsuccessful.
Garcia said he could not comment on the specific complaints.
The company is not related to companies with similar names in other towns, including a moving service with a similar name in New York City. When reached by phone and asked if they were related to the North Bergen company, a receptionist at the New York company said emphatically, “No, no, no. We have nothing to do with them. They have a lot of complaints, and it’s confusing [for people.]”
Complaints against Special Movers have even made their way to television. Channel 7 news reporter Tappy Phillips reported last month that a woman moving from Brooklyn to Texas found “Special Movers” on the internet and got a “great” quote of $2,360.
According to the Channel 7 report, “After the truck was loaded, Norma says Special Movers demanded payment in full, which she gave them, but several days later she got a shock. Norma says Special Movers demanded another $5,000 or everything stayed in a warehouse.”
Other complaints
On the Squeakywheel.com, a Web site that allows consumers to complain about companies, there are two complaints listed against Special Movers.
From that Web site, The Hudson Reporter was able to contact Thompson, as well as Eng Lim. Lim is a man who moved from Harlem to Michigan earlier this year. He said that the company’s estimate went from $975 to more than $3,000.
On the site, he wrote, “The representatives are all attentive and nice while making a ‘reasonable’ quote, but their tune changes immediately once your goods are loaded.”
In Lim’s initial “binding contract,” provided to the Reporter, it states that he was going to receive a 58 percent discount on a “moving tariff” of $2,301, bringing his cost to $975. It states that special movers would cover all bridges, tunnels, tolls, packing supplies for one penny.
Lim said that when he originally contacted the company, the foreman noted that Lim did not have many things to move and that the price would not fluctuate.
Lim said that the contracts allegedly later changed without his approval.
He charged that the company’s representatives allegedly screamed at him and threatened that if he didn’t pay within an hour through Western Union, he wouldn’t see his belongings – which were a flat-screen TV, a TV stand, a wardrobe, kitchen goods, and a few boxes.
His attorney was able to get Special Movers to lower the price for some time, and then the price shot up, Lim claims.
Lim said that when his belongings were delivered after paying the higher price, the company refused to give him a receipt. He also said that his television stand was broken.
“Then I realized there was really no point in talking to anyone, because they’re all in [it] together,” said Lim.
Antiquated laws to blame
Garcia said that he has over 200 clients that are both business owners and customers, and while he couldn’t comment on his client’s company specifically, he said that the federal laws are misleading for customers on cross-country moves.
Garcia said that in 2005, the Federal Highway Bill was passed, which eliminated the “110 percent” rule. That rule had made sure that an estimate would not increase more than 10 percent.
Rescuing her belongings
Thompson said that while Special Movers still had her belongings, she decided to go with another company.
She had to drive four hours north to a private storage facility on Tonelle Avenue in North Bergen to retrieve her belongings. She said that when she got there, she received paperwork stating that she owed $1,400 for her belongings being moved there from Maryland, instead of the refund she thought she deserved.
“I got the runaround, so when I called [their office], I got the runaround again,” said Thompson. “It’s the same people. The names just change. At the end of the day, I was told I was not going to receive a refund.”
Thompson said that a Special Movers employee told her they would not refund her the $1,040 she originally put down because they had to pay their movers.
“We are not planning on going to small claims court,” said Thompson. “Honestly, my family and I have been through enough to waste more money on Special Movers.”
Lim said that he was exhausted by what had happened to him and that a lawsuit might be difficult to pursue.
He said that recently he has seen about 10 on-line posts from unsatisfied customers, and that one woman wants to start a petition against Special Movers.
“They have the scam down to an art,” said Lim “It’s very frustrating that they are doing this to other people.”
Comments can be sent to TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.