At least two Hoboken moving companies are being victimized by a scam that could affect many city residents, according to two local business owners and police reports.
Tommy Morrissey owns Tommy’s Moving, a small, family-run moving company near Sixth and Adams streets that has been in business for the last eight years.
“A client called and said something was wrong and our guys didn’t show up,” Morrissey said in his office last week. “The woman’s voice didn’t sound familiar, and we didn’t have any paperwork for her. She said she called ‘the other number’ on Google.”
After the call, Morrissey did a little research on Google, and found that someone was using his company’s address and name, but provided their own phone number in a Google listing.
“My business thrives on word of mouth,” he said. “If these [alleged impersonators] do something really wrong to somebody, it comes back on Tommy’s Movers. It’s my business, my money.”
Morrissey said the scam has affected his bottom line.
“I was thinking our guys were not doing a good job,” he said. “I would be tearing them a new one because of the drop in business. I know what we make, so when we were 40 percent off of that, I thought it was my guys doing a bad job. But there were no complaints on the phone. If there’s something that goes on during a job, people usually call. Now, people are calling about these other guys.”
Morrissey was able to play back two voicemails for the Reporter last week, left by customers he had never spoken to, expressing their concerns and dissatisfaction.
“It’s a family business,” Morrissey said. “My mom works the desk; me and my brother work the jobs. It’s the way my family earns a living.”
Not just Tommy’s
Doug Ploth is the owner of L & L Moving on Observer Highway, and the same scam has hit his company.
“They’re using our name, our address, but putting their phone number,” Ploth said. “I’ve been getting calls about people not showing up for moves that we hadn’t scheduled, and people were damaging stuff.”
Ploth’s family-run business has been moving Hoboken residents since 1945.
L & L has an AAA rating from the Better Business Bureau. Even though he’s losing money, Ploth said it’s the fact that the scam hurts the customers that annoys him the most.
“It makes it bad for the guys doing good business,” Ploth said. “It’s ripping off the consumer and that’s what really bothers me. We go head over heels to make sure our customers are treated well.”
The ‘sting’
Taking defensive action, Morrissey called up the number on Google listed for Tommy’s Moving to set up an “appointment.” Ploth came to the appointment as well.
“When I called, I said I was from Hoboken, and they asked for my ZIP code,” Morrissey said. “I said what are you talking about, how do you not know the ZIP code, you’re two blocks away.”
When the men showed up for the fake appointment, Morrissey asked the men, who he described as Eastern European, if they were from Tommy’s Moving. Meanwhile, Ploth took photos of the truck that showed up. When he asked one too many questions, the men got back in the truck and drove away.
Next, the two business owners went to the Hoboken Police Department on Oct. 24 to file formal complaints alleging impersonation charges.
Police said last week that the incidents are under investigation.
Part of the scam by the impersonators includes providing an estimate for a low-cost move. But once they move the belongings, they do not release the property until a much higher price is paid, the aggrieved business owners said. They also worry that the scammers are simply stealing property or damaging it.
When the Reporter called the listed phone number for Tommy’s on Google last week and asked to speak with Tommy, the man on the phone said that the number wasn’t for Tommy’s, but they would move the caller anyway. When asked where the business was located, because it said online that it was Tommy’s Moving in Hoboken, the man hung up.
Subsequent attempts to speak to the man were not answered.
Searches for the phone number show no other moving company listed, meaning the phone number on Google was probably not a mistake or a change with another company.
“I’m thinking it will just go away,” Morrissey said. “I got a letter from Google that lets me change the ad. Maybe they’re afraid; because I got a call today saying some movers didn’t show up for a Hoboken move.”
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com