Complaint Review: Yahoo Moving & Storage - Brooklyn New York

I selected Yahoo Moving & Storage on 6/11/2002 for a simple one day move, including packing services, from Philadelphia to Brooklyn via Moving.com (a reputable referral service). Their salesperson, Jake, took a $200 deposit at the time of the booking (charged to my Visa) in order to reserve the date and time of 6/28/2002 at 9:00AM.

Jake called the day before our move (6/27/2002) to tell us that instead of showing up at 9:00 am, the movers will actually arrive 3 hours late (by noon). My fiance told him that this is unacceptable; he says that he'll call back and never does.

I called Yahoo in the morning on the move day (6/28/2002) at 9:00AM and Jake reiterated that the crew would definitely be there at noon; he claimed that he didn't remember pledging to call us back.

We then received a call at 12:15pm from Jake saying, "sorry, but they'll absolutely, positively be there at 3:00pm." Our doorman building doesn't permit us to move out after 3:00, so I convinced my 76 year old doorman to let us do it. He agreed to stay after his shift is over so that we could do this (he is the only one authorized to run the service elevator, and is also not paid overtime).

I called back Jake and told him that I would insist on tipping my doorman $100 for staying several hours late and expected it to be taken off the bill. He assured me that he'd already discussed it with the manager Sean and that I would receive the discount plus at least an additional 10% off.

At 3:15 PM (6 hours late), the moving van had yet to show up. I called Jake, he told me to wait while he called the driver of our moving van. Jake then told us that he had just spoken to the driver and that he was right in our area. We called every 45 minutes thereafter and were alternately put on perma-hold, told that they "couldn't believe" the driver wasn't there yet, or told "I'll call you right back after I talk to the driver" and not called back. The manager, Sean, was "not available" every time we asked.

Finally, at 7:30PM I left a phone message on their answering machine (they had abandoned answering the phone by this time) alerting that I would report them to Moving.com, the BBB, and/or pursue a case in small claims court if I didn't get some truthful direction as to whether the van was coming.

I redialed immediately, and Sean (the manager) picked up on the first ring! He had been "unavailable" all day, now he answers the phone immediately. He still claims he can move me that day (from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, starting well after dinnertime with nothing packed!), but that the driver is nowhere near our home.

He acknowledges that the van was double booked and that it had left the other job (in the D.C. area, several hours from our home in Philadelphia) at 3:30 or 4:00 to come get us. As of 7:30PM, it was stuck in traffic in Maryland (still hours from our home). I'd spent four hours waiting at the curb with my doorman for the van to come any minute since is was right in [our] area and for a portion of this time it was not even en route!

Sean rebooked us for several days later (7/2/2002) at cost -- for $95 per hour instead of by the pound or cubic foot." When I told him that this was higher than the retail rate we were quoted by most other movers who had quoted by the hour, he dropped it to $80/hour. Note that it is illegal to charge by the hour for an interstate move, and that by making this offer Sean was knowingly breaking the law.

I accepted his offer , not knowing if I could find another mover on such short notice, and was lucky to be able to hire another mover that evening. I fired Yahoo when they were next open for business (9AM, Sunday, June 30). I was told at that time by "Aaron" that my $200 deposit (put on a Visa card) would be refunded and that Sean, the manager, would call me back about paying for out of pocket expenses I incurred due to their deceptions. After 2 additional phone calls, I have yet to be able to speak to Sean (Sean is always busy, and never calls me back) and my $200 deposit has yet to be refunded to my Visa card.

On 7/11/2002, I filed a complaint with Moving.com's mediation service. Their mediator, Rudy, had a single, heated conversation with Sean that day. Sean at first denied taking the deposit, and then admitted that he did but said he would not refund it. He later said that he might, if I could produce evidence that I'd paid it. I submitted my Visa bill to Moving.com's mediator on 7/12/2002. He has yet to obtain a single cent of compensation for me.

The fact that Sean denies taking the deposit tells you plenty about his business practices. He manages the business how can he not know that a deposit is routinely taken from customers? It was charged to a credit card how can he claim not to have a record of it? How can he imagine that I wouldn't dispute the charge? That he engages in a heated discussion with a mediator over this point says a lot.

Sean's refusal to acknowledge that a deposit exists (at least at the beginning of the conversation with Rudy) demonstrates clearly that he continues to this day to act in a dishonorable and dishonest fashion. His own person, Aaron, pledged to return the money. I question whether this is even a simple civil rather than criminal matter at this point.

Neal

Brooklyn, New York

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