Update: 09/10/2024: I see that my review was marked "Not Recommended". I'm extremely disappointed with Yelp. Turned out it is so easy for shady business owners to get rid of unfavorable reviews that I will never be able trust Yelp again. Yelp doesn't provide an option to complain about "Not Recommended" designation or speak with someone. It is not worth my time to fight this.
Original review:
Me and my wife had a misfortune of hiring M&M movers two years ago. They overcharged us three times the agreed amount. When my wife posted a one-star review describing our experience the owner (Massimo Ferrari) harassed her on her cell phone until she deleted the review.
We agreed that after we move out, she'd post her review again to warn others of our experience and of the owner's unacceptable behavior. She posted a new one-star review from a throwaway account recently, which was deleted by Yelp after the owner reported her for using a throwaway account. Turns out it is illegal by Yelp standards to hide one's identity from someone who harasses you before.
I hope it is not illegal by Yelp's standards for a husband to share a joint experience with his wife.
Me and my wife were given an estimate of $800. M&M movers came on time. There were three of them and they started working really slowly. Only one guy was wrapping furniture while others were standing at the truck and looking at their phones. We were not worried because we had very little furniture and the rest of the household was already packed by us. We assumed they just need to waste a couple of hours to meet quota, so we let them slack.
After 6 hours of slacking, they gave us a bill of about $2500. Three times the agreed price. They thought we were rich and wouldn't notice.
$700 were for "packing materials". Most of this sum was for about 15 furniture blankets they used to wrap our furniture. They told us we now own these blankets, but they'd take them off out hands to recycle if we don't need them after the move. We were moving out of one place and into the other with them. This was ridiculous. Even U-Haul rents you the blankets, but M&M movers make you buy them. They did not inform us in advance about having to supply our own blankets.
On top of everything the blankets were old, dirty, torn, and full of holes. The price the listed was more than the new ones on Amazon. It was clear this is a standard scam they run.
My wife wanted to make a scene, but I told her that they have all our stuff in the truck now, and if we make them unhappy who knows what they'd do to it. We paid.
When we arrived at the final destination, we did not let any of the movers out or our sight, and not surprisingly it took them less than an hour to unload and unpack. The house we moved out of had an elevator, the house we moved in did not.
(We recently moved wit other company. It costed us $800. We got about twice more furniture than two years ago...)
We were really upset with experience. When we tried to argue about the price the owner rudely told us on phone something like "you want ME to apologize for blankets they used to protect YOUR furniture!" This was not the point we were arguing, but it was clear complaining would lead nowhere.
Shortly after the move, my wife posted a one-start review on Yelp. The owner contacted her, and a very ugly scene unfolded. My wife told me: "First he [the owner] told me that I'm lying and never used his company. So I told him the names of the movers and little by little I disclosed my identity. He then started texting me on my cell saying that I'm "just someone who hates him and his family personally", that "I'm bashing family business with kids at home," and when "his kids are begging on the street" he hopes I'd "buy them McDonald's. And more like these. He used his kids a lot twisting the conversation into me being a monster who hates hard working people like him and wants his kids suffer. It was scary and disgusting. Even more scary because he knew where I lived. So, I deleted the review."
When my wife told me this, I told her she should have reported this guy. We till have the texts.
In short: He harassed her for complaining that his guys charged us $2500 instead of $800 we were quoted, and run "packing materials" scam on us. All of which (overcharging and packing materials scam) are already mentioned in other reviews on this website.
Why posting now?
Two years after the experience with M&M movers, we could have forgotten the triple charge and moved on. But we cannot forget the crazy behavior and harassment the owner Massimo Ferrari that he subjected my wife to in order to make her delete her negative review. Saying to her things like "When my kids are begging on the street, I hope you'd buy them McDonald's". This is completely nuts.
It pains me to think how many people were also subjected to the same behavior and also deleted their reviews because they were terrified of the guy.
Please be very careful with this company. read more
