Dear Consumerist,
We hired Ultimate Van lines, based in Dallas, TX, in April 2008, to transport our furniture and other household property from Fortville, IN to Lake Forest, CA, with an estimated delivery time of 7-10 days after pickup. Pickup in Fortville, IN occurred on 4/29/08. They have still not delivered our property to us as of 5/24/08.
They have stonewalled us in our attempts to contact them (they did not answer their phone, or return phone or email messages the first week). They have offered multiple excuses as to why our items have not arrived. They will not divulge the location of our property so that we can go reclaim it. They seem to change the rules of our contract every time we call. They are not consistent in how they explain how their company works or why this delay has occurred. They claim not to receive faxes, emails and phone messages from us regarding payment of our final balance. We are concerned that our property has been stolen from us and that we may never see it again.
I have filed cases with the Better Business Bureau of Dallas and the National Consumer Complaint Database. The police in Lake Forest and Orange County do not seem to know who to refer me to. I faxed the FBI on Saturday in the hopes that they might help us. At least the FBI seems willing to review our case.
We have lost thousands of dollars worth of property; besides furniture, appliances, and clothing, we have lost memorabilia and some financial records.
What is more, my children (my daughter: 3 years old, and my son: 7 weeks old) are sleeping on the floor while they wait for their beds to arrive. We purchased cheap air mattresses in Wal-mart’s camping section. My son no longer has a crib, because Ultimate Van Lines never delivered it.
There is evidence that Ultimate Van Lines has perpetrated this scam before on the internet. Unfortunately it was only after we realized there was a problem that we located poor reviews of them online. Customers at ripoffreport.com, my3cents.com, and movingscam.com reported their property being held hostage and cash amounts extorted from them upon delivery.
Please help ensure that Ultimate Van Lines is not free to victimize other customers in the future. We’ve already paid thousands of dollars to relocate to California, and if we hire a lawyer to litigate our case, we will have to pay thousands more. We just want our things back.
I am appalled about all I’ve learned regarding moving companies and their scams since this happened to us. Those who perpetrate these crimes really seem to operate above the law. I’ve heard that the police are powerless to help when movers hold property hostage and extort money from their victims. I want to help put a stop to at least one company making money this way.
- Heather C.
And that’s why you want to check out a moving company’s reputation BEFORE you sign up with them.
How To Avoid Moving Scams
How To Find a Reputable Mover
Things To Know Before You Freight Ship
8 Tips From A Moving Company
Trouble With Your Movers? Call The Department Of Weights And Measures!
But that’s not going to help you out of your current predicament. You want to contact the California Public Utilities Commission, which has jurisdiction over moving companies in California.
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@boones farmer:
Once the value of the property has reached in excess of $X00/$X,000, it becomes a criminal matter.
You report it as theft-by-taking, plain and simple.
And the OP did the right thing in contacting the FBI, as this involves interstate trade.
@Serpephone: It is. My now-ex bf is in the Pompano Beach area and that is his area code.
I hope you had an itemized shipping list…
Taking them to court is an excellent idea, but I would not be surprised if after filing the suit a lot of your goods turn out to be “broken”.
I have to comend the restraint that has been exercised here. After a week I would have done my impression of the lady who showed up at the Comcast office with a hammer…
Well, here’s an opportunity for some brilliant tech guy to make a forture – some type of GPS devices that you can buy or rent to slip into a few random boxes you pack or attach to some expensive equipment in an out-of-the-way place (or internally). That way, you’ll be able to track your stuff by satellite online and know exactly where it is.
GPS usually won’t receive a signal inside a metal shell, be it an airplane, or inside a moving truck.
All I can say, is uhaul for the win. I remember moving as a kid, and my family always did it the Uhaul way with my dad and mom in a truck each.
I agree with what one commenter said up above – there are a *LOT* of resellers/aggregators which makes it hard to know exactly who you’re dealing with when it comes to who has subcontracted who. It’s extremely difficult to figure out who exactly you’re dealing with once the shipment leaves your eyes. Generally speaking you may want to find out who the local/state govt in your area uses for movers – those companies typically do a lot of business for the govt and are held much more accountable.
Missgayle – GPS requires line of sight to the satellite, it won’t work inside a box (and for sure not inside a warehouse).
we finally got our stuff yesterday, 35 days after it left Indiana! everything seems ok. a few glasses broken, our mattress box springs’ plastic corners all shredded…but so far, nothing missing and nothing too terribly damaged.
the guys were friendly and reiterated several times that we didn’t have to give them ANY tip. however they were also clear that they thought one would be nice. the 2 guys w/them that did MOST of the moving seemed to have been hired off the street in the morning, and we were worried the tip was all they’d get, so we did tip $160.
i thought in all fairness i should post here that we got our stuff. its so nice to not be sleeping on the floor anymore! and my son (2 months old) has his bassinet & crib back. thank goodness.
i really think we were treated better than many UVL customers b/c of the exposure we got after posting on the Consumerist. and i want to thank everyone here for their advice & comments. it was all a huge help to us. i wish laws could be changed to protect people from these scams. hopefully someday that will happen!
I recently used Ultimate Van Lines and felt obligated to relay my experiences online so that others are not swindled as I was. Ultimate Van Lines is unprofessional to say the least, CRIMINAL is more accurate. My belongings were jumbled, broken, lost, and stolen. The people that work at the company, mainly Victor and Tina ought to be ashamed for their fraudulent and immoral actions. The drivers and movers that are used by Ultimate Van Lines are also bottom of the barrel human beings and are not to be trusted in any fashion.
DO NOT HIRE ULTIMATE VAN LINES! I say this as a modest citizen who believes in honesty and morals. I do not want to see anyone else scammed, ripped off, and lied to as I was by this horrible so called company. Hopefully, someone with the ability to shut this operation down will soon do so. Until then, do not use this company by any costs or means, no matter how sincere or honest they may sound.
I hired Ultimate Van Lines to move in April & am still Waiting for my things.They have a good sales speech, but are just scam artists, typically the same things I’ve read about online are the same problems I’ve encountered. They have it down to a science. I’ve used a lot of very good movers in the past who were honest, helpful and have gone above & beyond to accommodate their clients, but Ultimate Van Lines are thieves. Do not under any circumstances hire these people.
We saw this post too late. I need to lurk on Consumerist more often. Ultimate Van Lines loaded our things into a van and then altered the bid from $4500 to over $11000. They refused to deliver until we’d paid (by Visa, since our move was expensive enough already — They added 3% for using the card, too) and then what wasn’t stolen was smashed up.
They are definitely scam artists. Matt@ultimatevanlines.com is a good sales guy, but he sells a shady product and then vanishes into the woodwork like the rest of the operation.
I’m reporting Ultimate Van Lines to every agency I can find to hopefully put a stop to this.
I used Ultimate Van Lines to move across country, it seems they pull the same scam on everyone. They are not a moving company, they are scam artists that have it down to a science. It’s a shame that people like them give a bad reputation to the moving industry, I’ve had several good movers in the past–Global, Bekins are all very reputable and trustworthy. Under no conditions hire Ultimate Van Lines, moving is stressful enough, They will give you nothing but grief
Ultimate Van Lines has changed their Company Name to Hurricane Movers. They are located at the same address under different names but the same people are running the Company. The owner is wanted for one of his drivers from the first company he owned T-Boned A DART Bus in Dallas Texas. I can give you his name and previous DOT Numbers.