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Sam Penrod Reporting Imagine paying thousands of dollars to a moving company up front, only to have them demand thousands more when they show up at your new home to deliver the furniture. It sounds outrageous, but it may be more common than you think.
The summer is always the big time for the moving season. We met a family today who wants to share their story, in hopes of preventing others from experiencing the nightmare they are going through right now.
Inside a semi-truck is everything the Stanfield's own. Moving from New York City to Park City the movers showed up at their house, but there was a big problem.
Scott Stanfield: "We paid them over $6,000 and they still have our stuff and they want another $4,000."
Four thousand in cash only. So the Stanfields spent the day on the phone with Excel Movers in New York, but they couldn't work anything out, leaving them frustrated and scared.
Nissa Stanfield, Moving Victim: “There are heirlooms that belonged to my mother who died a year ago, and those are things that are memories for me.”
Scott Stanfield: "They don't want to put it in storage, they are taking it away, I guess back to New York or somewhere else. Or they go through our stuff, or take it or sell it or dispose of it or whatever; we hope we can get it back."
As the movers started to leave, we tried to ask them for their side of the story, but they split. However, Art Haddow who operates Premier Movers volunteers for an organization called Move Rescue. He says the Stanfield's moving company seems to be operating illegally.
Art Haddow, Move Rescue: "From what I've seen they are not treating this customer right; the law says they must release the goods with 110 percent of the estimate. They are breaking the law, so in that aspect they are a scam mover. If they are breaking the law, they are not following the rules and regulations set forth by congress."
Haddow says people planning to move should be careful, because he says there are some movers in the business who give the moving industry a bad name.
Art Haddow, Move Rescue: "Do your research, just don't assume because the internet says you are getting a better price that you are going to get a really good deal. Look for the brick and mortar companies that have been around for a long time."
Move Rescue and the Stanfields are going to be back on the phone tomorrow, hoping to work out some kind of a compromise.
