Am I getting scammed by movers...whats my play? (long w/ cliff notes)

[Mad Steady Eddie]

Allright...I'm moving and posted a question whether or not I should hire movers, or, go with day laborers. Movers won, and I found this place called ALL POINTS MOVING AND VAN LINES...Basically I input my info (name, email, type of move, etc) into a website and it farms out my info for moving companies to call me...Okay, guy calls me, and sends me an email with this quote:

3 movers @ $95 an hour, 4 hr min.

coo', I call him back, we talk business, and he takes a deposit of $200 from my bankcard....this was Monday...Today I get my confirmation email that reads

3 movers $100 per hour and we've already taken a $300 deposit...WTF...Call my bank, and sure enough, they see a debit of $300...I call the company and the rep tells me that she can't explain why the guy took $300 if he told me $200, but that he will be in tomorrow to call then, but, she does have it in her system that the price per hour will be $95...

Okay...so, Im wondering if Im being a huge nit about this? I was going to pay the remaining balance with the same card anyway, so its not THAT big a deal...but it's principle...

That being said, looked up the company on the BBB website, and found this if you don't want to click the link, basically its a long list of complaints about the company.

Okay...so what's my play?

--Call them in the morning and cancel (but if I do so, will I find other movers on time,or possibly run into the same problem?)
--Cancel checking account associated with bankcard?
--Hide under the covers when the ex-cons come to move my stuff?

*cliff notes*

Moving company charged me $100 more for my deposit than stated, and is going to charge me more per hour than quoted. BBB grades this company an F

[Klompy]

check out the company you use before you hire them ftw

[Mad Steady Eddie]

point taken...doesnt help me NOW though

[Badger]

For future reference: Don't use your debit card for this sort of thing. You would have no problems if you had used a credit card. If they required a debit card that should tip you off that this place is shady.

Also, definitely cancel. You don't want these guys moving your stuff. Try to get your money back form the bank, and good luck finding new movers.

[suppasonic]

They seem to be pretty on their game as far as knowing the law goes from reading those reports.

INAL, but I would make sure you write down everything you are moving, perhaps take pictures of inside the van, and before you pay them ask for an itemized bill. Seems like this would cover your bases pretty well.

[Cry Me A River]

Call the movers back. Tell them they ran the wrong charge and you want it reversed and you're no longer doing business with them (if you want, tell them the unexpected charged messed you up for some reason).

If they refuse to reverse the charge, call your bank immediately.

Tell them you authorised a $200 charge not a $300 and since they ran this unauthorised charged you did more research on them and found out they are shady and you want the charge reversed as you will not be doing business with them.

Tell the bank the moving company refused to refund the charge.

Tell the bank you are willing to press criminal charges for the fraudulent charge. The bank may tell you to call the police and get back to them with a case number and other contact info before they will do anything about reversing the charge.

[youtalkfunny]

Get ready for the big mover's scam:

You agree on a price. They come to your house, box up your crap, wrap all your furniture with bubble wrap and blankets, and do a wonderful job loading up their truck with your stuff. In fact, they use an EXTRAVAGANT amount of bubble wrap, cardboard, and blankets. They beam about how safely they are handling your stuff, and seek your approving nod like kids trying to please their parents.

Then, when the truck arrives at the destination to be unloaded, they present you with the bill. They charge you about $1000 more than the original estimate, and present a laundry list of expenses--bubble wrap, cardboard, and use of their blankets.

YOU: Are you crazy? I'm not paying $1000 more than the estimate!

MOVER: Well then, your stuff stays on our truck. We're going home now, and we will charge you for storage, as long as your stuff sits on our truck.

YOU: You can't take my stuff! Unload that damn truck!

MOVER: Read the contract. You don't pay, we hold your stuff. Every chair, every spoon, every towel.

YOU: You're a crook! I'm calling the cops!

MOVER: Go ahead, call 'em. They'll tell you the same thing they tell every other sucker we've swindled: This is a civil matter, and needs to be settled by a judge in court, not a cop on the street.

YOU: Then I'll see you in court!

MOVER: No sweat. I can't lose. Read the contract. And the longer this thing drags out, the more you owe me for storage, and the more you don't get to use your stuff. Or you can just cough up the $1000 now, and put all this behind you.

(I saw 20/20 do a story on this a long time ago. I was shocked and outraged.)

[mosta]

http://www.movingscam.com/

I'm going to rely on this site when I move soon. I'm going full service. I used them for doing a crate move already.

My impression now is that there are like maybe two honest moving companies in the world. Pay whatever a good company asks for. (Almost everyone I know has a horror story.)

Forums on the site above should be able to help you very well.

[gamblore99]

Last time I hired movers they had a 4 hour minimum. My stuff took about 30 minutes (down the street move). They refused to lift any stuff that wasn't mine. I [censored] hate movers.

[B00T]

Movers broke my tv when I moved to a new place. I had no cable so I didn't even know the TV was busted when they left. Cable came the next day and the TV didn't go on. Call the moving company and they said "you signed something when they left that everything was fine, how do we know you didnt bring over a broken TV, but send us the bill for the repair and the manager will take a look at it".

I pay $70 extra to have the TV guys come to my house to get the TV because #1 it was a 36" Wega that weighs over 250lbs that I couldnt carry myself and #2 doesn't even fit in my car if I got someone to help me bring it over. Guy calls when they give the estimate to fix and I mention about the movers. They offer to write me a letter to give to the moving company as proof that the tube broke from being dropped abruptly. Fax the company the bill, dont hear from them for 2 weeks. I call, they say they will get back to me. Rinse and repeat 5 times, and I give up and out $670 on the TV repair.

[censored] movers