Complaint Review: Xtreme Movers

My husband and father in law were planning to move from NY to Utah on Friday Aug. 14th, 2015. They had contacted a rental truck company and had made plans to rent a truck, load our belongings, and drive across the USA in 2-3 days. I was already in UT with our three young children waiting for their arrival. Unfortunately, my husband and father in law were in a severe car accident on Monday Aug. 10, 2015 and were both injured. My husband broke his sternum among other injuries and my father in law broke his shoulder, dislocated his shoulder and broke his wrist. They were admitted to the hospital for several days.

We needed to be out of our rental home by Aug. 15th, and when I received the call about the accident, I went straight to work to look for a company that could give us a fair price, and move all or our belongings, including pack the remaining items such as pictures, mirrors, chairs, etc. I had already boxed 90-95% of our belongings and they were ready to go, and my mother in law said she would fly up there and help pack whatever was left over. She flew up the next day to pack the rest of our items.

When I called Xtreme Movers the next day, Michelle Meyers took my call. I explained to her that my husband and father in law had been in a car accident and could not move anything. That they had planned to rent a truck and drive across the USA. That since they no longer were physically able to do that, I needed to hire a company who could pack all our belongings and do all the work and that they needed to wrap the photos/mirrors etc. One of the first things she said to me was that she would take care of me like family. I believed her and we proceeded to list items to get a quote. We went over the items that need to be moved, plus she assured me of the following things:

-That they would wrap everything that needed to be wrapped and that the price was included in the quote.

-That they would move everything, and we wouldn’t have to lift a finger.

-That EVERYTHING was included in the quote.

-She said again that she would treat us like family.

I was a little concerned about a few larger items we were planning on selling, and that we might not have time to sell them since my husband was in the hospital for a few days and I was not in the same state as him. Michelle assured me that she had put in enough buffer room as to where it wouldn’t be a problem. I trusted her. She is the professional and has done this hundreds of times. She would know how much space I need based on room count of our rental home and the items I had mentioned. She never asked me how many boxes we had. Not once. But assured me that everything was inclusive and that she was “family.” I again explained that my husband could not do anything because of his broken sternum, and that my father in law was not even able to walk. She said she understood.

The quote came in at $1906.25, and I thought that sounded reasonable. Very reasonable, in fact. I booked it and paid the $572.00 deposit.  I called again and wanted to make sure that since there were maybe a few items that I might not be able to sell over Craigslist if the price would change/go up. She assured me everything would be ok, and that she had included some buffer room. That she would take care of everything.

When moving day came, (Aug. 12) the movers showed up. Right away, I receive a call from my husband who is at our old house. He was just released from the hospital and was on heavy pain medications. He says the movers will charge us extra for packaging supplies. I immediately called Michelle, and she said, yes, the packaging supplies will be EXTRA. Plus, labor for packaging will also be EXTRA. I reminded her that she said everything was included, and how I told her my husband has a broken sternum and would not be able to pack anything. I reminded her that I said we had pictures and mirrors that needed packing and that she said it was included in the original quote.

I should have stopped them there and cut my losses, gone to find another moving company. But we were on an extreme time crunch and my husband was still in a lot of pain and his flight was already booked and paid for. Michelle told me that, Yes, everything except the moving supplies and labor to package them. She said I must have misunderstood. (This I have found out is a tactic of theirs, blame the customer for misunderstanding) It is the day before my husband has a ticket to fly out of NY to UT so we are on a tight timeline. I say go ahead and keep loading.

Once the truck has been loaded, my husband calls me distraught and says the final quote is over three times what the original quote was. Granted, we weren’t able to sell as many items as we wanted, but Michelle had assured me that it would be ok. Plus, there weren’t that many extra items. A few mirrors, a dining table, a dresser.

 They say they cannot move unless we pay HALF the deposit up front, which was now around $3,600 and nearly twice as much as the entire original quote. I tell them we don’t have the money, which we didn’t. At this point, I am no longer talking to Michelle. They have made my contact person Doris. When I call Doris she says that she is on her way home and has given me her cell phone and that her boss says she has to figure this out before the end of the day. I tell her we don’t have the money for this move. She calls her boss back a few times and they come back with an adjusted amount so the bill is $6,000 total. She gives us "half off" the moving supplies and a $400 "discount" (totaling $1,200 “discount”) on the move. I tell her we don’t have the money, and she says they can start unloading the truck again, but that there will be a fee for that, too.  She asks me if there is family I can borrow the money from. My injured husband needs to be on the plane the next day, and we need to be out of the place by Saturday.

We agree to pay half, which is around $2,700, and in the meantime we try to find money to pay the rest. Beg and borrow. They close up the truck and start the move.

I want to say that the movers were actually really great during this move. They were professional and quick, friendly, and helpful. There were a few damaged items, such as the way they rolled one of my rugs, it made it so it had indents and folds in the rug and they won’t come out even when I steam it. Plus a few of the glasses were broken. But all in all, the movers did an amazing job. However, one of the mover said the company rarely pays them what they agreed upon.

So here we are, moved to a new city, but with all our money gone. With new rents and bills to pay, it will take us months to catch up. Had we received the true quote up front, we would have tried to sell our furniture or found another moving company. We would NEVER have EVER agreed to hire them. We just didn’t have that kind of money. 

This company takes advantage of people in difficult situations. Plus, when my husband called once, he was becoming upset, and Doris said that the phone call was being recorded. My husband hadn’t even agreed to have the phone call recorded. They do not seem honest nor do they keep to their quotes. When questioned about this, they have no response.

I do believe in paying employees and contractors what they are worth and what I agree to, but I also believe in being fair and not switching and baiting, taking advantage of ones customers. Especially while claiming they will treat us like family, and when they turn around and rob you.

When I ask for a refund, they threaten to send what I "owe" them to collections so it will go on my credit score.

I found MANY others who have been taken advantage of by them, and have messaged back and forth. Moving is stressful enough. Don't hire this dishonest company.

Run away from this company as fast as you can. They are super helpful and kind up front, but will steal from you and keep your belongings hostage if you do not pay the quadruple amount they impose after they have taken your items. They use threat and fear tactics and say they will send your “outstanding balance” to collections.

*Update: I spoke to Tina  (The owner?) and Resha Gonzalez and Nikki Santos and Christine Smith at Xtreme Movers several times. They have said I am ridiculous and that I could have just googled how much space one needs to move a house of my size. I told them I trusted their company, and since they are the professional movers, THEY should have known how much space I needed based on the information I told them. So should I not trust their company? I need to make sure they are doing their job correctly? They blamed me for the wrong quote they gave me. 

** Also, after doing some research, I have discovered that several of their positive 5-star reviews are done by people who work at the business itself.

***I have also spoken to many other customers who have exactly the same experience with this company.

**** The company has threatened several times that if I post negative reviews about my expereince with them, they will send my outstanding bill to collections (which is not a bill but the "discount" of $1,200 they gave me)