Need a mover? Avoid Barrett Moving & Storage, Waukesha!

[flash]

I can empathise with your pain.

My mother in law moved down here to Waukesha from Hancock and used
Bluemound Express (I think) and they showed up with the wrong size truck and it took 2 days instead of one trip!

[Tom Snyder]

I've heard really good things about Mr. Mover. Unfortunately, they were all AFTER we signed our contract with Barrett Moving and Storage.

Too bad Barrett was so concerned about $500 that they were willing to give up the second $2,000 move.

But it's possible that they realized that we could, and probably would request only the two good guys we had, and the two of them would do the same move in about the same time as it took the three of them.  So they figured they'd huff and puff over their $500 and chase us away to avoid being exposed.  

We'll probably rent a truck and move the light stuff oursleves with some friends, but end up using Mr. Mover for the rest.

[bubbaridesfast]

Do not pay a penny more! I more or less work in the trucking industry and this has been a nation-wide problem with household movers packing your stuff and then demanding more money than quoted.

It's called extortion and the industry was investigated about 2 years ago. Report them to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the US Dept. of Transportation and even our illustrious Senators, Contact 6 - everyone. As long as your quote was in writing you even should get the extra they billed over your quote refunded to you.

I can't believe some one is still trying this after the brouha-ha a few years ago.

[Paul S.]

Do not pay a penny more! I more or less work in the trucking industry and this has been a nation-wide problem with household movers packing your stuff and then demanding more money than quoted.

It's called extortion and the industry was investigated about 2 years ago. Report them to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the US Dept. of Transportation and even our illustrious Senators, Contact 6 - everyone. As long as your quote was in writing you even should get the extra they billed over your quote refunded to you.

I can't believe some one is still trying this after the brouha-ha a few years ago.

A crowbar is the extortion remedy! *CRACK!* :rock:

[tazman]

Besides, we don't want our friends thinking that they'd have
 to do work to get fed and quenched. We prefer to just invite folks
 over to RELAX for food and drinks.

I think think we should all get together and help Tom move everything except the antiques.  That way he'll have more money left over to spend on food and drinks for all us friends  Glug2  

[bubbaridesfast]

After considering my last post it occurred to me that you moved within the state of WI so the Feds possibly can't legally intervene fir intrastate trucking but in most cases the state of WI should have laws/regs mirroring the Feds.
The name for this type of trucking is "Household Goods Movers". I seriously would contact the state or Feds or at least let Barrett think you will and seek a refund of the extra check they extorted out of you.

[Joseph S]

Ouch. I used uPack.com and some help from emove.com at one end for about the price of your $1800 quote. This was 1200+ miles. Don't have the antiques and the expensive computer/stereo materials went in the car though.

[LowSignal]

You should have seen the movers on the 20/20 special where they would load all you stuff into the truck and then when they got  to the drop off point, they would tell you the original quote was wrong and that you had to pay twice as much. If you didn't pay they would keep your stuff.

[bubbaridesfast]

You should have seen the movers on the 20/20 special where they would load all you stuff into the truck and then when they got  to the drop off point, they would tell you the original quote was wrong and that you had to pay twice as much. If you didn't pay they would keep your stuff.

That sounds pretty much like what Barrett did here except they did it at origin. The FMCSA's website actually has links to filing complaints regarding this practice.

[jkane]

Bubba,

What kind of homebrew you got?  What is it you ride fast?

(Tom, sorry to hijack this thread.  Bubba tempted me with homebrew!  Glug2 )

[bubbaridesfast]

Don't know why I didn't think of this before: Barrett is the local agent of United Van Lines who should be made aware of how screwed up they are being represented here in SE Wisconsin by Barrett.

[I sometimes ride my cycles fast (Honda 1100 ACE and a 1200 Sportster which is for sale), and I always have all kinds of homebrews. Right now I have Oktoberfest, Nut Brown Ale, Doppelbock, Dunkel Weizen Dopplebock, Belgian Triple, India Pale Ale, Cherry Stout, and clones of Goose Island Honker's Ale and Fuller's Vintage Ale.]

[Mikey]

ProtectYourMove

[Tom Snyder]

Not quite the final chapter... We used Mr. Mover for our move from the apartment to our home. The stuff that took Barrett 8 hours to move to the aprtment took Mr. Mover 3 hours. The stuff that it took Barrett 6 hours to move from our old house to storage took Mr. Mover also took 3 hours.  

Barrett did have a load of basement stuff and appliances that went from our old house to the new one, but that was about 3 hours of their total time. Mr. Mover didin't have to handle that, but based on the previous comparisons, it would have taken them 2.

The bottom line here is that Mr. Mover would have performed the moving services at about 2/3 the rate that Barrett quoted us. Barret actually charge us  2/3 MORE than what they quoted.

Story is not over yet, as Barrett is still ignoring the original quote, reneguing on their negotiated settlement with us (which we paid, but they are now fighting) and insisting that we're just trying to cheat them.

We're fighting them at BBB right now, and will continue to report our problems here...

[Paul S.]

We're fighting them at BBB right now, ..

Baseball Bat Beatdown?  Glug2  :p

[Greg Oman]

Wow!  I must say that I've also always moved myself until the last time, but had a very good experience with Bluemound Express.  We combined 2 houses into 1, but we got a good rate and they completed our local move in 5 hours.

But with all the stories about moving experiences, I dread the day we have to do it again.

Greg O.