ABSOLUTELY AVOID…read more
Kareem--"The Spin Doctor" as another review called him--is a menace. I figured that one bad review was just a result of someone having a bad day. Not sure if Kareem or the customer, but someone. It seemed to be an outlier. Surely with 4+ star rating means I'll get a decent experience.
Kareem was my primary contact and who I arranged the move with. I sent videos ahead of time to show the job to be done. Kareem did not ask questions. I got a quote and decided to see what I can get done on my own with family to save money. Economy sucks, yadda, yadda.
I came back and explained how we did some ourselves and there's less work to do now. I explained what was left. Kareem did not ask questions. I then asked for an hourly rate. I was given one, and we both agreed on the job. I paid the deposit.
A few days later, the movers arrive (Kareem absent), and they were not informed at all of what the job was today. They also kept making comments about me being "on a budget" or something and being shocked when I explained the scope of the move. I felt Kareem fed them some nonsense instead of details about the actual job. The movers were fine, but their leader wasn't.
2 hours into the job, Kareem calls me and accuses me of trying to pull a fast one by going hourly (why offer hourly rates and accept hourly jobs if it's an issue?), misleading him about the job (how??), and saying men could walk off the job with my actions. What did I do? Was it that I sent videos and a description of the move? Was it that I agreed to the rate and crew he presented me? What could I have done worth men driving the crew to walk off the job? The entire call was very aggressive and backhanded. Absolutely asinine. Thankfully, Kareem didn't feed them enough nonsense for them to actually walk off, and so they completed the job... mostly. It was scaled back because Kareem apparently REALLY didn't want it all done. Maybe because he didn't send enough manpower despite knowing the job.
At the end of the move, Kareem told the movers to collect payment. Now, this is completely reasonable. What's not reasonable is me not knowing the exact amount until minutes before yet being expected to have that money exactly on hand, and giving me an invoice from day 1 (updated at the end of move, via email) that has a due date in the future.
I talk to Kareem again, and he says he needs payment immediately. Again, would be fair, if all signs didn't point elsewhere. I said the invoice gives a future date, and he blamed ME for it, saying I should have corrected him and he'd have fixed the invoice. I can't read his mind. I didn't know he made a mistake.
I said I will pay, but I don't have the cash on me at this exact moment, and explain why as described above. He immediately gives me the shake down and jumps to aggression again, accusing me of playing games, etc... He skips actually trying to resolve the issue and instead threatens to call the cops.
I offer to get the money from the bank immediately, but somehow he's still arguing with me about that. Apparently immediate payment isn't even good enough now. And he's going to have the movers follow me to the bank. What is this? Is knowing where I live not good enough that you need to aggressively "escort" me to the bank?
Thankfully, The Spin Doctor backed off when he got his money. The crew themselves were mostly fine (if not a bit slow checking their phones at times--almost assuredly because of Kareem's failures in communication, or worse, Kareem harassing the crew?) and one item being damaged/broken.
Again, avoid at all costs. I hope the men actually doing the work get a better gig because Kareem has no business managing workers or handling customers and his presence alone is good enough to write off the company. His communication skills are beyond abysmal and he went out of his way to insult me. It's a shame he's the owner.
If my things weren't already on their truck by the time he called me the first time, I would've canceled and got someone else.
Avoid yourself the frustration of dealing with The Spin Doctor and look elsewhere.
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EDIT: Got a reply from Kareem. I can't address it all else I hit the character limit but here are the biggest parts:
- Trying to save money is not a "red flag."
- Kareem was shown the job ahead of time, and agreed to take it.
- Yet his crew came unprepared and somehow it's my fault they were undermanned and had no gloves???
- I'm not obligated to tip or cater and I never agreed to (compensate your crew! I already paid!), but maybe I'd have tipped if Kareem didn't harass me, threaten to call the cops, change terms of payment, or the crew didn't break our things.
Remember to listen the bad reviews. It's easy to leave a good review, but when you want to get it over with an forget about it, it's not tempting to take the time to explain your bad experience. If there's a few really bad reviews, chances are, there's a lot of bad experiences.
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