On 02/18/2010 at 6:18pm EST, I place an order for Binding and submitted a credit card deposit for moving from GA to CA on 03/05/2010. On 03/01/2010, I contacted Ocean Moving and Storage to re-confirm that everything was on-track with my scheduled move date of 03/05/2010=I was unable to reach this organization on 03/01/2010 because their phone was disconnected. Therefore, I felt like I had no choice but to schedule my move with another moving company because I was not certain whether this company was still in business after they took and accepted my deposit.
Next, after I booked my move date with another moving company on 03/02/2010--I re-dialed Ocean Moving and Storage at 866-954-2326; one of the Rep's answered the phone-- I informed her that I wanted to cancel my move date of 03/05/2010--the rep wanted to know why I wanted to cancel--I informed her that on 03/01/2010 I called their phone number (866-956-2326) 15 times and received a disconnection notification on each attempt. The rep informed me that I should have kept trying to reach them. I informed her that it's her organization responsibility to keep a working phone and that I want to cancel and to receive my deposit ($349) back. The rep informed me that they will not be able to give me my deposit back because I didn't give them 72 hr notice before the move date--I informed the rep that I did give ample time--I sent an email cancellation notification on 03/02/2010 at 5:18pm EST. The rep transferred me to the owner=ITAI (owner). The owner immediately became IRATE with me and said that he's not sure that I will get my $$ back and that he will let me know by 11am EST on 03/03/2010. On 03/03/2010 at 10:41am EST, I received a voicemail from Itai (owner)--he informed me that I will not get my deposit back because they were not able to find a replacement for my scheduled move date 03/05/2010.
Lastly, it doesn't matter why this organization's phone was disconnected(moved or just didn't pay the bill) I should not have been punished because their phone was disconnected.
I hope that Ocean Moving and Storage doesn't get away with scamming other consumers out of the hard earned money.
Sal
Miami Beach,#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, June 11, 2012
This customer was got a $500.00 refund , we hall all the proof, call us for a copy. So this is a NON ccomplaint, Money back. No harm No foul. Thanks
Sal.
Sal
Miami Beach,#3UPDATE Employee
Fri, January 07, 2011
We paid this customer 100% of the deposit in full.We have all the paperwork including the credit paid to his credit card account. This is a non issue. We did the Right Thing. Refunded the Customer. Thank you. Sal.
Ocean Moving and Storage
Pembroke Park,#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, June 23, 2010
This customer put three different complaints on this website (look at the name - Brian, and the date - May 7). They are all regarding the same matter. We resolved the matter with him.
There is a big difference between the first customer that filed the original report and the second customer that posted the consumer comments.The first customer did not cancel within the time frame that is required (3 business days prior to her move) for her to get her deposit back. On the other hand, the second customer (Brian) was right and was therefore credited the full deposit amount.
This shows that we are not scammers, we are an honest company. When we are wrong we know to admit it and refund money to our customers. When we are right, and we have the documented proof signed by the customer, we don't process any refunds.
Ocean Moving and Storage
Pembroke Park,#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, June 23, 2010
The above consumer comment came from a customer that has already filed a complaint on this website (report #600963), we have filed a rebuttal to his complaint but since he repeated his complaint we will repeat our rebuttal. We don't want our customers to think that this is a different customer complaining for the same thing. We made a mistake with this one customer and we apologize for that. We refunded him the whole amount to his bank account.
We are not scammers, we are an honest company and we dont want to take money that doesnt belong to us. We want to be fair with our customers but on the other hand we need to get paid for our work.
The reason why we take a deposit is to prevent customers from scheduling a move and canceling last minute. At first, we thought that the customer was playing with his moving date just to avoid a cancellation fee and therefore, his request to receive his deposit was denied.
Since the customer was clearly not satisfied with our decision, we forwarded his case to our customer service department for a deeper investigation. After investigating the case and going through all emails, forms and signed documents, we came to a conclusion that we were wrong and that the customer should be compensated.
On June 15th, 2010 a full refund in the amount of $500.00 was issued to the customer. We received confirmation from the customer that the amount was indeed credited to his account.
Moving is not an easy business; there are plenty of reasons to complain, but as long as a company can admit its mistakes and provides good customer service, these mistakes can be fixed and problems can be solved in a timely manner.
Brian
Atlanta,#6Consumer Comment
Fri, May 07, 2010
See my ripoff report on 05/07/10. Does this company every return the deposit? Do they actually move anyone or do they just rip off people by keeping their dpeosits? This consumer's story and mine are very simlar. There seems to be a pttern here and seems that once they have your money they either move you or keep it. So the deposit is never refundable. Not to mention their deifination of three business days is disputable. When asked for proff the date was agreed aupon I have not been provided such proof. But yet they hold my money. I was even willing to give them $100 for their efforts but they want the whole thing. Just like the consumer in this report, I cancel within the terms of the contract. It does not state that I cannot change the dates at all. I have numerous emails stating my dates were tenantive. They just flat refuse to give your your money back and act as if you ripped them off somehow.
Brian
Atlanta,#7Consumer Comment
Fri, May 07, 2010
I started working with this company back in February for a move across the country from Atlanta to Laguna Niguel Ca. I have a pending job offer contingent up a security clearance. The security clearance can take up to a year but I fully expected it would be done in by around the April or May. I needed to know the costs involved etc..to plan such a large move. I contacted Ocean Moving in Storage for a quote along with several other companies. I sent the inventory list from when I moved to Georgia to them which has not changed at all to get prices. I did some research on the companies and narrowed it down to them based on price and the fact they actually had some reviews etc.. Although I beleve the good reveiws on here are posted from people from within the company.
Ocean Moving and Storage
Pembroke Park,#8REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, March 04, 2010
The customer indeed booked her move with Ocean Moving and Storage on 02/18/2010 to be picked up on 03/05/2010. The customer paid a 15% deposit ($349) to lock her rate and signed an Order for Service to confirm that she had read and understood the terms and conditions of the Order for Service (we have the signed document as proof). On the terms and conditions, we specifically provide the customer with our cancelation policy: "If you cancel your move or if you change your moving date within 3 business days prior to the move (does NOT include the move date) your 15% deposit will not be refundable and will go towards your cancelation fee."
As stated before, the customer was scheduled to move on 03/05/2010. As per our agreement, if the customer cancels 3 business days prior to the move date (on 03/04, on 03/03 or on 03/02) her deposit is not refundable. Since we received her cancelation in writing (we have documented proof) on 03/02/2010, her deposit automatically went towards cancelation fee. The customer even admitted in her own words on the title of the complaint that she had canceled within the 72 hours "I even enter my cancellation request within the necessary 72 hrs."
As for the problem with our phone lines, we moved to a different location and therefore our phones were down for two hours but the customer could have used other means of communication such as email or through our website. We would be more than happy to call her back and explain the situation to her. We were not expected to contact the customer until a day prior to her move to confirm the move with her and therefore, we kept our part of the deal. We reserved a spot for her and she canceled without giving us the option to get other business. We do not have any other complaints against our company and we want to keep it that way. We are honest and upfront with all our customers, but if they don't follow our terms and conditions, by law we have the right to charge them.