Complaint Review: STI Movers (Sasha Transport)

Legalized extortion - avoid at all costs.

I won't go into much detail about the events leading up to my personal belongings being held ransom except to say that most of my dealings were with a "just folks" guy named Tom. At first Tom was very helpful with my cross country move plans. The pick-up date was a little sketchy as I was given a large window but they showed up on time and packing everything went off without too many hitches. My girlfriend and I relocated on the other side of the country and spent a while in hotels until we found a place - as soon as I had an address

I called Tom to set up delivery. He asked if a Semi truck could get in our apartment complex to which I replied "I doubt it, but don't quote me on that as I am not a truck driver and have no experience with transporting goods". He said not to worry about it, that he is going to send a fairly small truck since our belongings all fit on a 20-some footer in the first place. (this is an important detail, as later on STI will deny this conversation ever took place). Delivery date is set for a week later.

The night before delivery I got a call from the driver and he asks me the same thing: Can a semi-truck (18 wheeler) fit in my new home location? I gave him the same response I gave Tom and he pushed me to contact management to ask them about it. Puzzled since I already had this conversation with Tom the week before I gave him the managers number so he could work it out. I didn't hear anything after that.

Next morning I am waiting in my new empty place for our belongings. The driver knocks on my door and says "We have problem". Apparently his 18 wheeler is sitting on a road outside of the complex and he says he can't get in. Still baffled as to why this is happening I called the office but nobody was in yet, and during this time the driver is telling me "You will have to rent a U-Haul so we can move your things from the semi". He also asked me if I knew where the nearest U-Haul is and if I can give him a ride there (!). I told him I was not going to do anything until I hear from the home office.

Finally able to contact Tom, I explained the situation and he said he would look into it and get right back to me. Two hours go by and I have still heard nothing so I call back - and right at that moment I get a knock on my door. It's the driver and his muscle. First thing he does is ask me for my credit card to pay $540 for the U-Haul. I said I was doing no such thing and he bristled a bit, so I called the office again and escalated until I got an explanation - according to STI I had signed a document that stipulates "If STI is not diligent enough to make sure their drivers are aware of where a semi can and cannot go, customer agrees to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a smaller truck rental" (side note: There must be some fine print in there that I have still not found that adds a note about ignoring any instance of STI telling a customer they will not send a semi and send one anyway. To anyone reading this and still considering using these thieves for your move, you have been warned!) The local U-Haul quotes a 26 foot truck for one day as $39.95 + $.69/mile, and STI saw fit to commence extorting $540 from me - for their own screw up. Needless to say I was not happy but what could I do? I was faced with two burly moving guys that had everything we own sitting on a truck and made it perfectly clear that I would not see my things until I forked over the money. With no options left I paid up. After the smoke cleared I sent an email to Tom requesting information but he went silent. So I called and explained my situation, asked where this $540 amount came from and was told to look at my contract. It is there - sort of. One of the pages has a title called "Optional Services" and one of the line items is "Shuttle Service". There is no definition or explanation of this vague term and there is nothing entered in the contract, so BUYER BEWARE. This is a blank check for STI to show up with a ransom note attached to everything you own. It really is an amazingly confusing document and I have no doubt that unsuspecting customers fall right into this murky trap.

Trying to get an explanation from Toms superior was fruitless - when I told him about Tom asking me the semi question a week earlier he denied it even happened and just kept going back to this blank check contract of theirs. When all that failed I just laid it on the line and asked if I could get a break on the cost but he would not hear of it. Didn't matter that I had already given them thousands of dollars for this move. No apology, no accountability. Just "We got your money now, sucks to be you."

If that is not legalized extortion I do not know what is. Better Business Bureau has been contacted and I urge anyone else who has had the misfortune of dealing with these unprincipled charlatans to do the same. I have never in my life experienced such appalling customer service.