RipOffReports has two claims—one of which was also sent to us by a reader—about Champions Movers and/or A.S.A.P. Relocations of San Jose, California. Or Fremont, California. That’s part of the problem—they seem to be intentionally using a mixture of names and addresses to help hide from what’s shaping up to be a terrible reputation.

One complaint claims that in June they bumped their quote from $1,070 to $2,460 after they’d loaded up her furniture and boxes, and threatened damage to her belongings if she didn’t pay up and sign a new contract on the spot. She paid and signed, but immediately put a stop payment on the check, and she hasn’t seen her furniture since.

She also says she went to their office at 453 Queens Lane to negotiate a fairer payment, only to discover that there wasn’t any office there. After more research online she discovered many customers claiming that Champions Movers is also known as A.S.A.P. Relocations with the same address, and that the Better Business Bureau of San Jose has 88 complaints on file against A.S.A.P. and is on the blacklist at MovingScam.com.

The Champions Movers of the second complaint, on the other hand, lists an entirely different address in Fremont, and has “only” 4 BBB complaints against it and a different owner’s name. Where the two stories intersect is that both customers claim that they were also given a third address, 2295 Ringwood Avenue, which is also registered to an A.S.A.P. Relocations but doesn’t have any BBB complaints on file. In other words, if you think you’re being a savvy consumer by researching either company on the BBB site, there’s a good chance nothing will turn up unless you happen to search for the right name/address combo.

The reader who wrote to us has a list of legitimate complaints:

• they approximately tripled the amount they quoted to him
• although they promised a same-day move, they showed up so late in the evening that the move lasted until after midnight, at which point police were called by a disturbed neighbor and they had to postpone the move until the following afternoon;
• they damaged several items of furniture as well as the interior of the new home

To top things off, when he complained to the Better Business Bureau, they offered him coupons to a restaurant as compensation instead of a refund. (Click the third “More” link in the complaint report to read a detailed response by the company.)

So anyway: it’s clear that a moving company that’s shady can and will take a lot of extra measures to disguise its past and throw off potential customers who are trying to research them online. If you’re looking for a moving company, don’t just check your local BBB site. Look on MovingScam.com and RipOffReport, and check out their offices in person before agreeing to anything. You might also want to Google the company’s address and the name of the owner to see if anything comes up.

Thomas’ blog, with photos of the damage and a full story [TheCynicalUniverse] (thanks to Thomas!)

RELATED
Thomas’ complaint against Champions [RipOffReport]
Holly’s complaint against Champions [RipOffReport]
Black List entry for A.S.A.P. Relocations in San Jose [MovingScam.com]
Customer reviews of Champions [Yelp]
Customer reviews of A.S.A.P. Relocations [Yelp]
(Photo: Getty)

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