Complaint Review: North Van Lines

On April 3, 2013 I sent a list of items to several moving companies for a move from New Milford, CT to Macon, GA. North Van Lines of Hackensack, NJ had the best rate, so I chose them and had several telephone conversions with their sales rep Vanessa. I told Vanessa I've had experience with movers before, and that I intend to give her a precise list of items and their sizes to avoid any surprises or extra charges. On May 3, 2013 I sent the final detailed list and received a detailed quote. Vanessa was extremely clear and coherent throughout the process, and I was certain we were both on the same page.

Vanessa told me her quote of $1,504 would be only as accurate as the box dimensions I provided. Since several items needed to be packed on site using custom made boxes, the final quote might change. However, I also gave Vanessa exact dimensions for those items, including the sizes of the custom boxes needed. Vanessa told me that custom boxes cost $25 each, and the additional items are charged at $3 per cubic foot. I agreed to that, and expected the final price would be about $186 higher than the quote due to these three custom boxes:

Floor lamp 16" x 16" x 54" high = 8 cubic feet
Mirror and long picture frame 21" x 20" x 59" high = 15 cubic feet
Additional picture frames 29" long x 42" high x 16-20" thick = 14 cubic feet
37 cubic feet total @ $3 = $111
3 boxes at $25 = $75
Total additional expected = $186

After the movers had loaded all of the items into the van, the driver told me he measured the space occupied and that it was 163 cubic feet over the quote rather than only 37 cubic feet! He also charged me for 6 custom boxes even though one of the boxes was included in the original quote. Further, 3 of the boxes were charged at $45 each instead of $25 as Vanessa had told me. Those exact same boxes sell for $7.35 each at Clayton's, a local shipping supply store.

So instead of a final price $186 over the quote = $1,690 the price was now $2,169.16, an increase of $479.16. When I objected, I was told my only recourse was to remove some items from the truck and not include them in the move. Of course that was unacceptable. I was also told the amount must be paid in full at delivery, so I wired the additional amount to Macon, GA.

When I complained to Vanessa, and then her supervisor Menatalla Elbakry, I was told they calculate cubic feet based on length markers inside the truck. This implies that empty space above the items is included. But Vanessa and Menatalla both assured me that empty space in the truck is not charged. Of course, measuring cubic feet based on length and width alone is mathematically impossible!

I was prepared for the final price to be 5 or possibly 10 percent higher than the quote due to various factors. But this was almost 30 percent higher. Menatalla told me that Vanessa is a long-time employee, so there's no excuse for such a large miscalculation. The only reasonable explanation is intentionally low-balling the price to get the job, and mis-quoting the custom box prices, then holding the items hostage until payment in full is made.

But wait, it gets worse. Much worse.

I tried to sue North Van Lines in small claims court, but they are not registered to do business in Connecticut which is illegal. So there was no way to file a suit without driving two hours to New Jersey. Next I filed a complaint with the New Jersey Better Business Bureau, but as expected they were useless. So I went to several "mover review" type web sites and posted a brief version of my experience. A few days later I received a threat by email from North Van Lines manager Menatalla Elbakry demanding that I remove my negative reviews or she will sue me for defamation. I knew I was within my rights to post negative reviews and told her so. We exchanged several more emails, then five minutes after sending my last email I received a barrage of phone calls and emails from other moving companies. Menatalla Elbakry had gone to three different moving quote sites and entered my name, phone number, and email address, and wrote that I want quotes to move a car to California!

All told I logged 34 phone calls and 22 emails over two days. So I filed a harassment complaint with my local police department, and they are working on that now. I'll update this page as my complaint progresses.

It's also worth mentioning that when I visited the various review type web sites, I noticed many favorable reviews that are obviously fake. The New York Attorney General's office recently fined 19 businesses a total of $350,000 for posting phony reviews on Yelp and other online review sites. So I reported North Van Lines to the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut Attorneys General and included links to their fake reviews.