Dawn Moving Bait and switch with hidden costs and fees for included services charged upon arrival Halethorpe, Maryland
I called Dawn Moving and got a quote to move a one bedroom basement apartment from an employee named Joe. His number is 1-866-374-9753. I was told two people in less than four hours at $70/hour could move do it. So I was assured it could be done in under 4 hours but 4 hours was the minimum. So I estimated $280 for the entire move. I agreed and scheduled them for 9-10am arrival on Dec 29th.
At 9:30a, three men(not the two I expected) showed up and began moving my belongings. They finished packing the truck at 12:30p. They then arrived at my new house at 1:30p (after going to lunch). They took another hour and twenty minutes to unpack leaving at 2:50p. They charged me for 5.5 hours actual time moving and an additional hour of travel time. The 6.5 hours to move me at $70/hour totalled $455. I also had $75 worth of supplies I was unfairly charged for.
I was told on the phone during the quote that the company would provide blankets and wraps for such items like my tv's, monitors, computer, and mattress. I was instead charged for boxes and wrappings for all those items. My total bill went up to $530. (I paid with a VISA charge card.) I was flabbergasted.
The lead mover who worked for Dawn Moving (the other two men appeared to be day laborers even though I was told that all their workers were actual employees) also said that they were almost two hours late for the next move of the day. They were expected to move another customer at 1pm. This only made me question further what took so long if they had been scheduled for only 3.5 - 4 hours for my job. I was unable to reach anyone at Dawn Moving regarding this amount and had to pay the bill before the movers would leave.
The final bill was nearly double what I was quoted. The company did not provide me an accurate quote and they did not provide me with the service I expected. It was almost a bait and switch. Give me a low quote to sign me up then deliberately taking a long time to move my belongings just to increase the cost.
Lori
montgomery village, Maryland
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Dawn Inc Management
Baltimore,Maryland,
U.S.A.
Dawn Moving did not change the contract.
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, January 13, 2009
Ms. Lori was estimated over the phone for 3 hours of labor and 1 hour travel time.
Three workers!!! (not 2) spent 5.5 hours to do this move, cause there were a lot of household goods for 1 bedroom lightly furnished apartment.
We did not charge Ms. Lori for an extra worker. The price for 3 men crew is $80/hour. We went by the contract and charged agreed $70 an hour, which is the rate for 2 men crew. That has turned out to be a bonus for her.
Yes, we has another move to do that afternoon and we wanted to finish Ms. Lori move as quick as possible. Had we use a 2 men crew this move would take longer (7 - 8 hours) to complete.
The final cost for the move was based on actual time worked. Travel time and extra packing materials at the rate contracted by Ms. Lori.