Complaint Review: Regal Relocation Services Ltd Regal Moving GV Moving - New York New York

I was a victim of Regal Relocation Services, or RRS, Inc. We contracted these jerks to move our things from Houston, TX to Connecticut in August of 2002. At first things seemed to be OK. I made a 20% deposit of the total I was given ($1180.00) which was about $234.00. The week that the movers were to show up was when it started for us. We had to be out of our apartment by the 27th of September because our lease was up. I told the people at RRS repeatedly that we had to be gone NO LATER THAN September 27th. I thought they were listening. I started getting phone calls from them saying that they would not be at our house until the 28th or maybe even the 30th.

Anyway, the night the truck arrived was a disaster. First the driver couldn't find our house NO MATTER how many times I explained the map to him over the phone. Then when he finally figured out where we were, he almost took out the front gate to the complex with the truck. Once the truck was in the complex he managed to wipe out a very large branch on one of the trees that grew on the property. I go out to greet them and he wants to come see the job ahead, so I brought him into the house. Romi (the driver) looks around, and then tells me that there will be a $200.00 "Long Haul Charge" because of the distance to his truck from our apartment. Now, understand this: He parked directly behind our apartment. The distance wasn't more than 35 feet to the truck and we had a unit on the bottom floor!!! Where does the LONG HAUL part come in??? Now of course he is trying to explain this to me in his foreigner accent and broken English. If I had wised up I would have kicked them out of my house immediately, but that wasn't the case as we had to get out that night. So I let them start the job. It took them FIVE HOURS to move a one bedroom 750 sq. ft. apartment with next to no furniture minus a desk, book case, bed, and ET Center. Everything else was boxed and packed up for them. Romi gets to my TV. Tells me he has to charge me $26.50 for a TV Box. Being that I am not an idiot I said no way. I would find a box to put the TV in. While I am out getting another box he makes a deal with my wife and gets a TV box anyway. The box is too small for the 27" TV so this brain surgeon cuts the box and wraps it around my TV!!! Does anyone see any benefit to this whatsoever?? No padding, no blankets, just a box and tape and a millimeter of clearance between the two!

So we come to the end of the night. Time to pay the first half of the total that we were given. It comes out to $400.00 give or take. He says that we still have to pay him for the $200.00 Long Haul Charge, which would make it $600.00. Again we were ignorant of this companys activities and they already had possession of our things on their truck. Pretty much had to pay up, so I gave the driver $600.00 CASH. I asked that it be recorded on the receipt. He puts down $400.00. When I confronted him about that he stated that I only paid $400 of the total and the $200 fee was extra. (does this sound like he just got a $200.00 tip???) So that pissed me off. We NEVER received a BILL OF LADING, which by LAW they MUST give you BEFORE they start to load the truck! At the time we didnt know this. We asked for a receipt but he refused to give it to us the four times we asked.

They leave, we leave. All seems to be ok despite the problem in Houston. We drive to CT and wait. My father does some research online and found this web page and to his horror, and later, on mine, we find out that this company regularly scams people. I immediately started my research and what I found and what I went through were equally horrible. Romi (the driver) calls me and says that he'll be in CT in about a week and that the total for delivery would be $2750.00!!! Now excuse me, I was quoted $1180.00 for the move. Gave these jerks $600.00 already on top of the $234.00 Deposit. My math says we owe $346.00. Now I have someone who has my entire life on his truck telling me that I have to give them $2750.00 upon arrival.

I notified my lawyer and briefly explained what had happened. He began researching the case. I then wrote to the Attorney's General for New York (where these guys are based out of) New Jersey (where they also have an office) and Connecticut (because we lived here now), and Texas (because we contracted them from Houston). I also contacted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and every media outlet from 60 Minutes to local TV stations in Houston, New York, and Connecticut. I was going to expose these guys when they got here and make sure that they never had a chance. Well to my surprise, the ONLY contact that was helpful was the FMCSA. They quickly educated me on the situation and said that I should call the local police, and that to prevent the truck from leaving with our things to block them in.

I didn't let on that I was upset to anyone at GV as I wanted them to fall into my trap. The only way that they would be leaving would be to release my stuff or leave in a body bag. I was prepared for them. The truck shows up and Romi comes inside. While I am talking to him my family blocks the truck with their cars to prevent him from leaving. He again tells me that he needs to collect $2750 from me in order to begin unloading. I found out from the FMCSA that they, in the event that you do not have the total amount, collect 10% of the total and bill you within 30 days for the rest (this is FEDERAL LAW). Romi wouldn't hear of it. I then proceeded to call the police (big mistake). The cops arrive I explain the situation as best I can under the circumstances (being that we had been in CT for about 2 weeks and only had one change of clothes with us, I was rather frustrated). The cops tell me that this is a federal matter and their hands are tied. Basically they can do nothing. I showed them the research I found out about Regal and the Federal law explaining that they have to unload this truck come hell or high water. Again I am told this is out of their jurisdiction. I called my contact in the FMCSA and explained what was going on at that moment and she asked to speak to the officer. I handed the phone to him and she began to relay that what I was saying was correct and so on. He tells her he can do nothing and that he will have to let the truck go if I don't have their blood money. We even offered to pay them $400.00 just to let us have our clothes. Romi refused. He then lied to the cops and said that there was no way to get in touch with his office after 6:00 p.m.

This sets off my wife who was already frustrated by the situation. End result, the cops let the truck take our property hostage and return to New York with it, much to my surprise and everyone around me.

I called every source possible to raise the money to get our things back and within 12 hours had the $2750.00 (COMPLETE MIRACLE!!). We called back to RRS and said we had the money in cash and could they deliver our stuff. These idiots tell me that there will be an $1135.00 REDELIVERY FEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am seeing red at this point. Plus they charged us an extra $250.00 for a storage fee!!! They told us that we could come and pick up our own stuff from their business and avoid the redelivery fee. So we rented a U-Haul, drove in the rain to Harlem, NY (Never been there a day in my life!) to pick our things up. When I walked in, just by the look on my face alone, they KNEW who I was and knew that any words besides yes sir would end up in a massacre. I made them nervous the whole time we were there. EVERYONE stayed out of my way. We paid them their money and began to unload our things from their truck into ours. After 1 1/2 hours we got it packed up. Drove back to CT and unloaded.

We are currently in the process of suing this company but I wanted you, the reader, to see this account firsthand. Aaron Ben-Shoshan, the owner, is a crook. He hires immigrants who can barely speak English to carry out his dirty work. The movers themselves are liars & crooks. Romi tells me he doesn't make a lot of money, yet when we were picking up our things from NY he pulled up in a 2002 Lincoln Navigator!!! SCUMBAG.

Anyone with information on how to effectively get this company by the balls, I urge you to contact me. I will not rest until I own this company. I will then burn it to the ground and sell all assets and donate it to a charity. This company messed with the wrong person.

So what was the final total? At the end, the total move including their fees and the truck rental and so on came out to: $4121.00 +/- !!!! From the original price of $1180.00.

Scott

Norwalk, Connecticut
U.S.A.

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