Complaint Review: Empire Moving Services - Pembroke Park Florida

I had a similar experience with Empire in late 2006, moving from Orlando to Raleigh.  They held our entire household hostage for a week, demanding more money than was originally contracted (they wanted several thousand dollars in cash on a Saturday night), then delivered a badly damaged and incomplete load.  Some things were left in Orlando--they'd brought an inadequately-sized truck and when it was full they just drove off.  Other things were missing when they delivered.  It's impossible to know all that's missing in a move when the list of items loaded is an illegible 4th carbon copy filled out by someone who barely speaks English (they claimed to be Israelis).  But we know a lot of what went on the truck never got off it.

Only one of the crew claimed to speak English--mostly I think to "suggest" a "tip" to them would buy a better end result.  By then, everything was on the truck (so we thought), it was evening, and I had to be out of the apartment that day and in Raleigh the next.  I knew what "suggestion" meant and I knew giving them a "tip" might not make any difference, but by then I thought it may have been my only hope of seeing our stuff intact if at all.  So I took the gamble--and lost.

I'd originally contracted to move through what I thought was the United Van Lines, but they were actually a company in California named United Moving and Storage, who farmed out the move to Empire.  I paid them $900 up front (they double-billed me).  After things went wrong, they gave me the run around, then wouldn't answer calls or emails, then apparently vanished from the face of the Earth.

After much back and forth with Henri I knew I'd get no satisfaction, so I complained to every one I could, from this site to the appropriate Federal agencies.  It did no good.  It did unearth a mysterious operator who only gave "Shimon" as his first name (another Israeli connection?)--he claimed to work for United's CEO, cleaning up after the United agent who'd arranged the move, claiming United's CEO knew this agent had been up to no good.  I never found out who he was and of course it made no difference.

People ask why companies like this aren't shut down.  That's how interstate commerce is regulated in the US--badly.  The tangle of state and Federal laws leaves loopholes and cracks and ultimately no one in charge.  There are areas of law where the states should adopt uniform code (unless they want the Federal government to shove it down their throats) and then these companies could be shut down quickly and efficiently.

I hired Empire Moving Services earlier this summer 2008, and they did a terrible job (lost sofa and plenty of damaged furnitures that did arrive). I hired them to move my belongings from Boston to Washington DC. To make a long story short, I made a claim against Empire Moving Services, but later found out that the company had gone out of business and that the owner had fled the country. I am now left without any compensation for my damaged furnitures and lost sofa (btw - how to you misplace a ginormous sofa?). I have contacted the federal Department of Justice to investigate this matter. If there is anyone out there wishing to join this effort, please contact me. (((phone number redacted))). CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Henri, did I read you right, YOU picked up the load and had to divide it into two trucks? Are you admitting to functioning as a full-service mover when you are only licensed as a broker? You cannot legally drive trucks. You cannot carry Household Goods. You cannot pass yourself off as a full-service mover, unless you want a nice $6,000 fine. So I would think carefully about what you are saying here, it can't be taken back. If you want to lie to the public to improve your image a little more, don't do it by admitting to breaking federal laws. Of, course, the only thing that would prove Henri's innocence in all of this is for him to admit that Empire Moving Services of 3050 Country Club Road, with the phone number of 954-983-1137, listed above by the customer who called it to speak to Eric the dispatcher, is really the same company as Empire Moving & Storage of 3109 West Hallendale Beach Blvd, owned by Benny Segal. THEY are a licensed motor carrier, able to pick up Household Goods. Your ad in the Yellow Pages has your company's name with Benny's address and phone number.

After reviewing and investigating this file with the customer we first wanted to clarify that Empire Moving Services never guarantees a specific delivery date but in this case we did give an estimated time of arrival for the 1st or 2nd of february. After picking up the shipment we had to divide the load into to 2 separate trucks because the shipment was larger then estimated. This resulted in delivering the shipment's in two separate dates. After talking with the customer about their issues we decided to send them a compensation check for their inconvenience. Empire has a volume of 150 jobs a month and maintains a reliable name in this industry.