We got scammed. We could use a little help

Hi folks! Most of you know Drew and me. Long story short. We got scammed by our moving company Gulfstream Van Lines.

Our movers were hired a month ago. A detailed list was given and we were quoted at $3900 for the move from NYC to Las Vegas. I did my research and made sure I asked the right questions. Their reviews on Google seemed solid. I made sure they were not a broker and that they’d be the ones performing the move, which was confirmed. We paid a $2500 deposit to hold the move date.

I had a follow up call last Friday to add and change the inventory. During that call the charges already started changing. I added a few more boxes, but wasn’t allowed to remove anything from the list. The price shot up $2000 more dollars. But we were already out $2500. We paid an additional $600 to hold the move. I spoke with customer service and they told me this was normal and that, honestly, based off of my inventory list, we had plenty of room and we’d be getting a refund. I breathed a sigh of relief.

On Wednesday, yesterday, the movers arrived. They pulled up in a 2000 cubic square foot van. They came upstairs. The lead guy, who was very nice, did his walk through. We were informed at that time that not only did we far exceed our initial quote, they’d probably need another van to move our stuff. We were shocked. He did the math. Wrote out a new “estimated contract”. His first price was $10,000. Our jaws dropped. This was on top of the $3100 we’d already given the company. Which was non refundable. We made calls to the company and were met with the nastiest and rudest “customer service reps” I’ve ever spoken to in my entire life. I sincerely don’t know how they sleep at night.

Our only option was to get our moving boxes onto the truck and see if there was any room left over from our initial estimate for furniture. There wasn’t. The boxes are headed to Vegas. Or so I’ve been told. If I’m honest, I don’t think they’ll make it. We were then charged an additional $3,054 by this company or else they wouldn’t take the items to Vegas. We owe more when they arrive in Vegas. Not only was this company not the company we hired, they were a company hired by GS and we had no chance to do any research on them. The initial deposit we made was apparently only enough to hire them, not even to pay for the move. For those adding along, that’s now $6154 we’ve paid for this move. Well over the initial quote for the whole thing.

Yesterday we put out the call that we had free furniture. Our friends and community rallied. It took all day, but we gave away 95% of our furniture and home goods. Today someone picks up the rest for a neighbor in need. It’s not lost on us that folks needed this stuff.

So, all of that being said, we need help. Not only are we out double what we planned and budgeted for, we will now have to purchase an entire homes worth of furniture. Everything from the mattress to the power strips.

If you’re able to help us out, we’d appreciate it. We are scrambling. Thankfully Drew and I are in good spirits, but yesterday was easily one of the worst days of our lives. We look forward to hosting you all in Vegas and paying you back for your generosity. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want more info. We are also looking for a lawyer that handles cases like this. We will not be bullied by this company.