Golden Hand Moving Company Other driver delivered, why could

On June 16, 2009 I contacted Golden Hand Moving Co to obtain a bid to deliver household goods from my house in Littleton Co to my home in Charlottesville VA. I had used Golden Hand to before and the move was uneventful, but expensive. This project was the same; move household items from Littleton to Charlottesville, just a much smaller job. It was the final items from our house in Littleton that needed to be shipped because the house finally sold.



Janine Knudson at Golden Hand was pleasant and quoted me a rate of approximately $1000 since the load was of minimum weight, about 35 boxes, one table and chairs, and one chest of drawers. I did request that some of the boxes be re-packed.



On June 24, 2009 the moving crew went to the house in Littleton to re-pact and pick up; the packing crew leader called me on my cell phone and said there would be an extra charge for the packing, was that okay. I said yes, but did not ask how much. I was thinking it would be around $200 since it was only a few boxes that needed to be re-done. That was my first stupid move.



I instructed Golden Hand to not ship our items until after the 4th of July and said I would be willing to pay for storage, to please let me know how much that would be.



On Monday, June 29, 2009 I received a phone message from a man at Golden Hand telling me that the items were being shipped and would arrive at my house on July 1 or 2nd. I called back to say that I could not accept the load until after July 4th; I needed some time to make arrangements for storing these items in my garage. The person I spoke to said too bad it's already on the truck. I was not happy about that; but I decided to go with it and get ready.



The truck driver called me from the road on Wednesday July 1st and said he would be at my house in Charlottesville between 7 and 10 a.m. the next day. I asked him if he could come later in the day that I had a 6 a.m. meeting that morning. He got mad and said no I better be there.



It got worse from then on. At around 7 a.m. the following day, Thursday July 2, 2009 the delivery driver called and said he was unable to drive into our neighborhood that the road had too many low hanging trees. I told him that we had 18 wheel delivery trucks in the neighborhood all the time, that that no one had ever complained about this before. I also told him that the previous driver from Golden Hand had no trouble delivering to our house and that I would be happy guide him if he wanted me to. He got very mad and told me that he was not going to come to our house that his truck would be damaged and that if I did not come to his truck and unload the items into my car he would dump them on the side of the road and leave.



I called Janine at Golden Hand and told her what was happening. It was 4.30 a.m. out there and I apologized for waking her up and told her what was going on. She said that is ridiculous and called her boss. Her boss called the driver. The driver called me back and said no way you come to me now or else I dump the load by the road. My husband has a pick up truck so he went with me to get our items. We have more than 50 homes in our neighborhood and people move in and out all the time with large semi trucks.



The other driver came and delivered, why couldn't this guy? We took our truck and then the driver told me that I had to sign a credit card slip or he was taking off. The charges went from $1000 plus or minus $250 to over $2,600. I complained the guy started to swear at me. I called Golden Hand and talked to owner, Ron and reminded him that the other driver had delivered to our house why couldn't this guy finish the move and especially since it was $2,600?



Ron spoke the driver in a foreign language and much shouting took place. The driver hung up on Rod called him bullshit looked at me called me piece of shit and started putting boxes in our pick up truck. I asked for copies of the delivery sheets, the credit card invoices and the inventory and he refused to give them to me. I was forced to sign the invoice that it was delivered but I wouldn't with writing NOT DELIVERED in bold on the sheet.



I called Janine and told her how upset and mad I was after my husband I drove two pick up loads ourselves to our house and unloaded them. She said she was sorry and would make it right with me. I asked her to call me on Monday July 6th and she said she would.



She never called. I emailed her on July 7 and left a phone message. She did call me back and said she would talk to the owner and get back to me. Two days pass, nothing. I called her back on July 9 and she said I had to call the owner myself. I called Ron was told he was too busy to talk to me. I call back that afternoon. I tell him all I want is a reasonable accommodation and an apology. He said he would call me back the next day. I called my credit card company and they refused to allow me to dispute the amount because I had no receipt. I tried to explain that I was refused copies. They said too bad.



On July 10 Janine calls me back and said she can refund $150. I said that was not good enough, I spent $5000 on the first move and another $2600 for this last move and that I expected at least $250. $250 is less than 3% of the total monies I spent with Golden Hand. She said she would have to talk to the owner Ron. I wait another day, nothing. I call Ron, and he says he will look at my file and let me know. Another day no call no nothing.



I had asked for copies of the documents and receipts in an earlier conversation and had never received them. I called Ron one more time and he said he wants to talk about it some more. I said no more talk and I want action and he said forget it. I then told him that I would be following up with an attorney, the BBB, and any online referral source I could find.



This is my complaint and I will continue to pursue it as far as I can.

Fraud

I want to report a moving company called Orbit Van Lines for their illegal practice of sales (Baiting and Switching).



Initial estimate made: Nov 12, 2008 (estimate sent to me in an email. Initial move date was set to be Nov 26, 2008) by Orbit. Down payment was made.

Final estimate made: Nov 25, 2008 (the move date was changed to Nov 27, 2008 without any known reason) by Orbit

Change of rate of cost: Nov 26, 2008 by Golden Hand (subcontracted by Orbit without my knowledge or consent)



The rate promised by Orbit: $.44/lb including fuel and services

The actual rate charged: $.75/lb plus %17 fuel charges (totals up to $.88/lb)



The estimated cost (by Orbit): $1386 for 3192 lbs

The actual total paid: $4780 for 4992 lbs

The cost that should have been charged me: $2168 for 4992 lbs

Total difference between the estimate and actual: $2612



A person from the moving company (Golden Hand moving), who I thought it would be someone FROM Orbit but turned out to be someone subcontracted BY Orbit, called me at the night right before the moving day saying he would charge me $0.75 per pound of household goods plus 17% of total charge for the fuel cost. He basically pushed me to accept his offer; otherwise they wouldnt move our goods. I kept on referring to Orbits estimate, but the person wouldn't even listen to me as he did nothing but kept on repeating his offer. He told me he got a phone call from Orbit, so it was obvious that Golden Hand was subcontracted by Orbit without my knowledge. It was about 7 o'clock at night so there was no way I could reach Orbit to talk about this issue. The moving date was Thanksgiving, so I could not reach Orbit on that day either. Orbit took a huge advantage of this. Since I had to be back to Virginia before Nov 30, I had no choice but to accept his offer. In short, they intentionally put me in a situation where I wont have any options and then switch their offer on me. I should have been informed at least few days before that it would be someone not from Orbit that will be moving our goods so that I had chance to switch the moving company, but I wasnt. Now, when I received Orbit's estimate and decided to accept their offer, it was totally based on Orbits ESTIMATE, not the charge rate offered by the person from Golden Hand.



The estimate Orbit sent me included cubic feet along with pounds and its estimated cost. For the estimated volume of 456 cf OR 3192 lbs, it would cost me $1, 386, but the person from Golden Hand moving told me it was flat WRONG and he wouldnt do the work for that rate. Now, if they would subcontract someone, why would they pick one that wouldn't do the work for the rate that they offered to their customer? This is a flat out Baiting and Switching



Moreover, Orbit did not inform me about extra charges for some services. For example, there was a charge of $200 for the trip charge between Colorado Springs and Denver, which I had no clue why I should be charged since my request was from Colorado Springs to Woodbridge, VA. Also, there were fuel charges, packing and labor which I was not given any information on. I dont understand why I wasnt given all these information at least few days BEFORE the moving day so that I could do some of the stuff on my own rather than paying some one to do for high cost. I found out about all these information right on the moving date, which seemed totally unfair to me.



Lastly, their customer service lacked willingness to communicate with their customer. I have sent several emails and made a few phone calls, but have not been getting any responses what so ever. They may have acknowledged their mischief and thats why they are avoiding me in hope to get away from their responsibilities.



As you can see, the difference between the estimate and actual charge is outrageous. I am now in a huge debt because the actual charge was way over my budget. This is so frustrating that I cannot even sleep at night and cannot concentrate at my work.

Golden Hand Moving And Storage Don't trust what they quote you



Where do I begin with this company, specifically the woman that quotes you over the phone, Janine, and the owner, Roni! First off.....let me say please believe what you read in these reports! I read a couple of them against Golden Hand Moving and still went with them. I figured there would always be bad things here and there about a company. What a fool!!! I should have listened to my gut and never used this company! Please don't make the same mistake I did!



I had been researching which moving company I was going to use, I didn't have much time because we had an unexpected fast sale on our home, but I still wanted a reliable company that was affordable. I sent in my request through Service Magic.com and literally with-in 1 minute I had a call back from the office manager, Janine. She was very helpful and quoted me $129.00 an hour for 1 truck and 4 guys or $149 for 1 truck and 4 guys. I opted for the 2 trucks because per her 'it was only $20 more' so why not. She even gave me her cell phone number if I needed her or had any questions. She was very personable and make me feel very comfortable (in retrospect, I now know why...it's the beginning of their sweet scam, the reeling in process of the victims, so to speak!).



I told her every item I had in the house, as to get an accurate quote. The ONLY thing she told me that I would have to pay extra for was the move of my Piano, so I went ahead and took her bid.



The moving arrived (of course on the last minute of their 2 hours time frame) but none the less they came between the hours they said they would. My spouse was the only one home at the time and was told that they charge for the tape they use. I was a bit annoyed because I was not told this over the phone. He then told me that they were also charging $75 to move each large TV and $20 for the small ones. We had 2 large and 2 small... What??!! I was not told this over the phone. We told them we would move one on our own but did not have room to move the other 3 or the manpower (that is why we hired them after all!!). It just keeps getting better.



(First let me assure you that we would have told them to get the hell out and stop moving our stuff but we already closed the sale on this home and the new owners would be moving their stuff in by 5pm that same day so we had no choice!) Then they need to wrap our glass items in bubble wrap..charged..they need to wrap our mattresses..charged..they used boxes for crap that did not need to be in boxes..yep, charged!! They did tell us that they were going to charge for all but the 3 boxes they stuck into the fees (oh, and by the way, they only used 2 boxes, yet charged for 3! and they are not cheap..17 bucks a box?!!)



Then the owner RONI, shows up to Micro Manage the movers and make sure that he shows me all of the good references he has received, which I thought was a bit outlandish and ignored. Actually, I did notice how quite a few of them were on the same stationary, so these were either fake or he asked for them. They did not seem to be voluntary.



Anyhow, this is getting to be a long story, so let get to the chase, RONI called me and asked if he could come 1 day early and just put it in the garage until the next day when the rest of the stuff came. (I needed to put my stuff in storage for a few days until we got things ready with the new place). I agreed, although it was inconvenient for me to be home that day.



The movers came, dropped off the stuff and assured me that there would be no travel charge since they would be back tomorrow again and this day was not my choice. RONI then calls and asked for payment to the movers. I told him the movers were gone and they would be paid tomorrow once ALL my stuff it there safely, like we AGREED to when he was at my old house! He continued to say �how are my guys going to get paid then? They need to get paid.' What??? that is not my problem..I don't run your accounting department. I sure as hell hope you have more than just my funds to pay our men with!!!!



So, the next day the rest of our stuff shows up with good ol' RONI to 'oversee' everything and give me the bill. I told him to get out of my house while I looked over it with a fine tooth comb because he was already trying to screw over my husband who had not dealt with him. WATCH OUT....He tried to add the travel time into the hours of loading and unloading and then charge me again for travel time. On top of that, he knew d**n well where I was moving too (local move) and then tried to add 2 extra hours of travel time because it took longer to get there than expected...I'm sorry, but that is NOT my problem!



Anyhow, the total hours of labor were 9 (loading and unloading) + 2 hours travel quoted over the phone (to the old house and to the new house) for a total of 11 hours $1,639 + the piano quote of $129 over the phone, so $1768.00. When RONI arrived, it was $3227! What?!! Yes, absolutely ridiculous and just like the ALL THE OTHER RIP OFF REPORTS...they charged for EVERYTHING and it was not cheap! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.



I did get him to remove some of the non-sense charges but that only lowered me a bit, not even close to the quote. I must say that the movers themselves are great and very nice; it is the owner RONI and JANINE in the office that are pulling off this scam.



Don't trust Janine's nice attitude on the phone or RONI's fake initial demeanor, it does not stay that way. TRUST ME and all of us who have taken the time to write these reports!

Horrible Experience - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Golden Hands was hired via a broker to move me from Virginia to Texas. Putting aside the problems I had with the broker (Budget Van Lines - another company to avoid), Golden Hands ended up being a disaster.



First, I was given misleading information about the availability of supplemental insurance, which Golden Hands ultimately refused to sell me, but at a point in time when it was too late for me to find other alternatives (both for insurance and for the move). After refusing to sell me the insurance, the owner spent considerable time trying to convince me that "nobody" buys insurance because it is such a "waste of money."



Of course, it should be no surprise that the move was a disaster. Golden Hands' delivery drivers arrived at my new place without any notice and in an unmarked truck - not the same truck that my property was loaded onto. The driver refused to even open the truck to show me that my property was on board until I paid the balance due - $1090 - in cash. Although I resisted and asked that I pay half now, half after unloading, they refused and I had no choice but to pay them.



As soon as I did, the driver noted that there were "a lot of problems" with my move, and indeed, that was an understatement. As soon as the truck was opened, it was clear that the damage to my property was extensive. My boxes were crushed and gouged - even those marked "fragile." My picture boxes were all gouged, which led to broken glass and ruined art. Many boxes were actually opened. Even worse, nearly every piece of furniture was damaged - much of it beyond repair. Two bookcases were crushed and one had a shelf ripped out; my bedroom set was scratched and gouged, my bike was damaged and cannot be ridden. The worst damage was to my stackable washer and dryer, which is beyond repair - the sides were crushed, the control panel ripped off, and the top wrenched from the base.



It also was quickly apparent that items were missing. The first thing I noticed was that my mattress and box spring was missing. It turns out that the driver delivered them to another customer. The driver claimed that he would go back to get them (although he said that I probably wouldn't want them since they were ripped up), but that he would prefer not to, and would give me $100 not to have to return. I declined. He then started to unwrap the furniture that made it through the move with blankets still intact, but got a phone call and left my apartment. After awhile, I went looking for him, and found him on the phone by his truck. He ended his call and stated that he had to "get on a plane" because his brother has a gambling problem and if the driver did not pay the brother's bookie $2000, "someone was going to get killed." I never saw the driver again.



Before leaving, the driver refused to stick around and conduct an inventory, claiming that he never did an inventory and that customers just signed the forms. I refused to sign the form, not only because I had not inventoried my boxes, but because I knew my mattress/box spring was missing. Since the driver left, I have determined that four boxes and my tool box and tools were not delivered.



After the debaucle of the move, I contacted Golden Hands' owner, Elias Mehri. He has not been helpful and in fact has claimed that I told the driver that he did not have to return with my mattresses. From that, he seems to think that he is absolved of any liability for my lost property. As for the damaged items, he has referred me to his claims department - Anthem Claims Management - which is actually based in Arizona, and which has a history of complaints (see the Better Business Bureau). Those complaints seem well-founded based upon my limited dealings with them. The claims adjustors at Anthem have been rude and hostile, and have told outright lies about how the claims process works (something I have confirmed via discussions with the American Moving and Storage Association - the professional organization overseeing the moving industry). Because of the extent of the loss and damage, and my expectation that the claims process will go very poorly, I am in the process of hiring an attorney to explore my legal options. In fact, I have filed complaints with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the American Moving and Storage Association, both of which suggested that I sue. I have also filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau.



I implore anyone reading this not to use this company. I expect some damage during a move - it's hard to avoid - but I have moved several times in the last ten years and have never seen anything like this. It is almost as if the damage was done willfully. I would never wish this headache on anybody and I am happy to talk to anyone about my experience.