Complaint Review: Alpha & Omega Moving & Storage

Alpha & Omega storage quoted me a job to move my items from California City, CA to Eagle Point, OR. The binding bid, after a lengthy process of taking inventory of my furniture, for 27 items came in at $2,144.85. I paid a $434.79 deposit on March 18^th, 2014 to guarantee me a spot for April 11^th (a Friday). On April 9^th, a man from Alpha contacted me telling me they had a big problem and would not be able to move me on Friday, the 11^th. Although it was a great disposition, I very graciously allowed them to move the pick-up date to Monday 14^th or Tuesday 15^th, even though my deposit was supposed to hold my spot.

A representative from Alpha was supposed to call me on Friday the 11^th to tell me exactly what date it would be either Monday or Tuesday. They did not call. I called on Sunday to find out what was going on, if the move was Monday and did not receive a call back. I called first thing Monday morning, looking for answers, and rudely was told I would be contacted 24hours in advance, so I replied “so this means my move date is Tuesday” and the man said “I guess”.  On Tuesday the movers arrived 45minutes late. When they showed I walked the manager around and showed him the 27 items I had on my inventory list. Only the items I had quoted were there, no additions. He didn’t at that time say “Oh these are much different than what was quoted, we need to get a new quote”. In fact, quite the opposite, he immediately had his crew begin dismantling, and wrapping items to begin the move.

About 20 minutes into their preparations, the manager and I started reviewing paperwork. At that time, he asked me to initial an area allowing them to charge me for packing supplies. It said in the quote “Quilt/ blanket wrapping of all furniture along with protective padding” is included in the price. I refused to initial that area. That brought up the question about their honestly and made me concerned - sent a red flag in my gut immediately. I started asking questions about how much and what items are they charging extra for and the manager didn’t like that AT ALL. He instantly got a bad attitude and then told me “ we are charging you extra for your oversized items as well”. At my surprise, with how gracious I was to let them reschedule, I told him I needed to speak to his manager, and that all the items I was quoted were exactly what I described.

When I did the quote I described them in detail, some with measurements i.e. Big Leather Couch, 3 seats, 2 really big leather chairs, one large leather ottoman. I described with measurements the size of the living room tables 3 feet wide by three ½ feet tall by 8 feet long. Many of my items were vintage, antiques. In the 1920s furniture was made smaller than it is now. Both of the bedroom sets were from 1920 or before. At this time the manager is making me uncomfortable with mean looks and talking in another language (Israeli I think). I got on the phone with the company, and they said the manager was not available that he was talking to their representative standing outside my door. That when he was done with him, the manager would call me. He didn’t call. I called back twice within 45 minutes looking for a manager, or someone to talk to me.

No one was available. The manager I had been dealing with in person walked over to me and said the manager is not going to call me, that he is relaying the message about the increase in price. I said that is not acceptable and I want to talk to a manager. About 10 minutes later the original rep that did my bid called me, not the manager. He preceded to tell me he was going to charge an extra $3,105 dollars, bringing the new bid to $5,249.85. Oh, but he’ll give me a deal and cut that in half, to only tack on $1,502.50 extra. Oh, and he’ll remove the extra $174 fuel charge that was added in due to the increase in price. I told him I would not allow them to quote me a price and date, not show up on the agreed to date, then try to charge me over 100% of the original bid, then try to tell me they are doing me a favor by giving me a discount on the new bid. I told them to unpack my stuff and that I wanted my deposit back. I told them how unethical they are to give a bid, charge a deposit then hike the bid up over 100% on the day they arrive. They told me they have 43,000 customers, and my opinion doesn’t matter. They said they will NOT give me my deposit back no matter what. I told them I would report them to the BBB, fraud sites and consumer beware sites so others can know what kind of business they run.

My fiancé called and spoke to numerous people at the organization trying to get my deposit back with no avail. He was also lied to and treated badly. You can imagine, the stress of knowing company would show up and move my items to Oregon then having it go completely sideways was immensely difficult to cure. I was forced to move my house that day myself with helpers I found last minute. I was forces to leave my items in a city where I am not residing hundreds of miles from me. On April 15^th, I contacted the fraud department of my bank, who took all the details of my cases against Alpha & Omega Storage. Within one week, they also agreed that Alpha & Omega committed fraudulent, dishonest acts and refunded my deposit money. This company is dishonest, rude, immoral, and is a killer of the American dream, where success depends on the type of service you provide to the consumer. Their last words to me were “You do not matter”. Make my experience matter and don't use this company.