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Review 11/8/2010
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To put it mildly, the company low-balled us. Our final estimate prior to purchasing their services was $1870.54 (1436.54 basic estimate, $434.00 for packing). Communication was reasonable until around 8/3/10. I had made an initial deposit of $250 by debit card, and on 8/2 when the movers arrived to my former address, I payed another $1400 by check. On the morning of 8/3 I received a call from the driver saying that the cost of the move had essentially shot up to $11,051.34. The alleged reason for this increase was that we supposedly had 14,000 pounds worth of belongings on the moving truck. Given that we never had the chance to see the actual records from the weigh-in, we have no way of knowing the accuracy of that total. Those who had known our family for years agree that there is no way our tiny house could have held enough items to justify that weight. After all, we are a small family with relatively minimal possessions - a large proportion of which had been sold, given away, or thrown away prior to the move itself.
Suffice it to say, there was no way that we would have had that kind of money on us. The driver offered to knock about $1000 off because he "liked us" which seemed very suspicious. So I then tried to contact Laura Joseph (my original contact person, whose title is 'Senior Advisor') and ended up getting someone claiming to be her supervisor, David Temple. We discussed the discrepancy between the original estimate and the then-current bill. Mr. Temple initially offered to knock about $1000 off (similar to what the driver was offering). After mentioning that I was tempted to contact my local DA and the nearest FBI office, the price of the move suddenly went down to a flat rate of $7000. That seemed very odd. However, under the circumstances, we tried to raise the money to pay the bill - luckily we had a set of relatives willing to loan the amount needed. Once all was said and done on 8/4, we had spent $250 on a deposit, and $7000 in cash to the driver (the $1400 check that I had given the driver on 8/2 was supposed to be voided, we were told). One other odd thing - the direct line to my initial contact person, Laura Joseph, was disconnected or out of service by the afternoon of 8/3. I honestly don't know the significance of that, but just thought it was worth noting.
When I asked why no one from the company ever bothered to have a representative come on site to my original address to do a proper inventory, I was told by David Temple that our location was too remote. The inventory that was done during the move by the driver ("Ben") was, to say the least, a joke. After promising to have all items appropriately labeled with descriptions as to their condition, our inventory list was, extremely incomplete. A few items were listed, and then the driver simply appeared to give up.
As for the quality of the move itself? The company promised professional packers. We got day laborers, who may or may not have had any prior moving experience. The packers did a rather poor job of boxing our belongings. Many of our items were never properly boxed up. I was somewhat amazed that our worst loss was a computer printer (broken en route to our destination on the moving truck) and a handful of broken dishes. I was equally amazed that nothing appeared to be stolen, given the rather shady nature of the move.
Something else I should mention: the driver, whom I only knew as "Ben", never did sign his full name on any of the documents we received from him. I find that very odd. Is the company using undocumented workers? Does the driver have some sort of criminal history that would prevent him from crossing state lines? "Ben" certainly had a noticeable accent and appeared to be of either Israeli or perhaps Lebanese descent. Perhaps his work visa had expired? Perhaps he is not licensed to drive a truck? There's no way of knowing, but again something just seemed very suspicious.
Equally suspicious was an incident that occurred a few days after the transaction was completed. When we received our last bank statement from our former bank, it appeared that someone from the company (probably the driver, "Ben") did attempt to cash that $1400 check mentioned earlier. Fortunately, the bank declined that attempt. Keep in mind that this occurred AFTER our account with this company was settled, and keep in mind that the check was supposed to have been voided.
At this point, we are unsure as to whether this company is simply incompetent beyond belief or if the company is little more than a criminal enterprise masquerading as a legitimate business. Regardless, we would strongly advise those considering moving to use another company.
Please note that Omni Van Lines is now going by the name Apple Movers and lists addresses in Encino and in Dunellon Florida. On the central Florida BBB website, this company has an F rating.
http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/business-reviews/moving-services-labor-and-materials/apple-movers-in-dunnellon-fl-141611204
Also if you look at the company's DoT complaint history, it is rather bad given the company's small size.
http://ai.volpe.dot.gov/hhg/SearchDetails.asp?ads=&id=30744591&id2=29497474&f=CNS%3D1%26CN%3D%26search%3D1%26DOT%3D1918708%26MC%3D%26Submit%3DSearch
The company has gone through many name changes over the past several years:
http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/business-reviews/movers/florida-southwest-van-lines-in-ocala-fl-142351455
Avoid this business like the plague.
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