My parents, who are 78 and 76 years old, hired Patton's to move a five bedroom house from Warrenton to their new house in Front Royal, 38 miles away. The original non-binding estimate was $7430. The final price that my father paid them was $24,436. First he had to pay $15,000, which was required of him at the old house on-the-spot, before the trucks would move. Then Patton's refused to unload two of the three trucks at their new house until they paid thousands of dollars more. The extra payment demanded for the release of the second truck was $3,000. My father paid it and got it the following day. The demand for the third truck was $6400. My father was out of money to pay that, so after later signing a promissory note, the third truck was released on May 8, eight days after the move. All of this included an extra $3650 for storage fees and an extra $1300 for loading goods back into the truck for final delivery.
Their bed was in one of the trucks that Patton's wouldn't release, so they spent their first night in their new house trying to sleep on chairs.
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Below are more details, some of which is opinion.
To put it concisely, it was a nightmare for them for this to be done to them, and I was concerned about them having a heart attack, and I did what I could, but my father didn't want me to call the company or even the police, because he was afraid they would retaliate, and maybe demand $8,000 for each of the last two trucks. So that communicates some of the feeling of the situation. I called the Sheriff anyway, and called a lawyer, and was told that it came down to a property dispute, and contract law, and since there was no binding contract, they could do nothing.
But I learned that there is an agency that deals with moves and protecting citizens--The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In one of their documents: "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move (2013 Update)" it says
"Under a non-binding estimate, the mover cannot require you to pay more than 110 percent of the original estimate at the time of delivery...The mover will bill you for any remaining charges after 30 days from delivery...If your mover does not relinquish possession, the mover is holding your shipment hostage in violation of Federal law" (FMCSA doc, p 5-6.)
And it says, "If your mover refuses to deliver your shipment unless you pay an amount the mover is not entitled to charge - contact FMCSA immediately at (888) 368-7238" (p 20).
I called the number and they couldn't do anything, and nothing was illegal, because no state line was crossed. Which seems ridiculous. Are the laws there to protect state lines, or to protect people? But that's what it is.
My conclusion and opinion is that the movers made a big, although honest, mistake on the estimate and it should have been about twice the original. And the original estimate depended on my parents packing basically everything, and my guess is they probably only packed a quarter of it all, and should have asked for more in the quote. Patton's charged about $6700 for packing. Seems very high to me, but, fine. Up to that point there were just mistakes and high costs. Nothing was personal to that point. But the other things made it personal, and made it reflect personally on the people involved.
As far as the quote's accuracy, Patton's told me that during the visit for the estimate, my father told them the stuff in the garage (which was completely full) wasn't going. But what he said was the cabinets on one of the walls would not be going; only the stuff in them. On the quote it says "Nothing being moved on right wall of garage." So the quote reflected a slight miscommunication about that wall, but it also proved that the man never said "don't move the garage."
I was also told that what happened later wasn't that Patton's wouldn't release the trucks without more payment, it was that my parents said they didn't want the second two trucks unloaded yet. So I asked for comment from my parents and they told me it was ridiculous and that they said nothing of the kind.
If we had legal standing to sue, we would, and for accountability, not from revenge or hatred. And if Patton's ever apologized and admitted any wrong to my parents, I might even take all reviews down, even after the stress and lost sleep and the bitter taste this has left with all of us, and the $24k bill on a $7k estimate and the thousands of dollars I gave my parents to help pay for this. But there has been nothing but refusal to take any accountability by them.
And, I don't like to say this, but I feel it's my duty to my family: I think the people at Patton's have no honor. They blamed someone else for their mistakes. And they did so mercilessly.
"But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed" Isa 53. read more