We got quotes from a couple of moving companies and got a submission from Sal, the owner/manager of Personalized moving. We lived in a 1 bedroom apartment in Staten island and my fiancee OVERESTIMATED our stuff. Sal did NOT ask to come and see the apartment. We also told Sal that we had a storage unit in Jersey City that we need to empty so we asked to make a stop on the way. He said that would be no problem. Sal took all into consideration and said that it would be a 6 hour move including one hour of travel (7 hrs total) for 665.\r
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Then Sal contacts my fiancee and says that he can t move on Friday 3/1 as we had originally planned, but could we move on Saturday 3/2 because he had a conflict . He would give us a 5% discount, as well as free wardrobe boxes and any materials we would need for free (we have this in email proof).\r
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His men arrived promptly at 9am on Sat 3/2, and this is NOT a complaint against them because they were EXCELLENT workers, however they did not have proper equipment which not only slowed them down to a snail s pace, and made our moving time SIGNIFICANTLY longer, but it also severely endangered their health and welfare.\r
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They had NO ramp into the 26 ft truck. So they had to physically lift ALL of the furniture into the truck off of the ground. They had no back braces, so these guys were endangering their health and their lives in some cases lifting all the stuff into the truck. They had no hand trucks, only dollies, so they had to get down the stairs by carrying it.It took 10 times as long as it should have to get things down the steps in Staten Island.The truck was in terrible condition, and the men let us know that it almost did not start when they were leaving Staten Island.\r
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The most awful and deplorable work conditions were exposed when these men moving not only boxes but FURNITURE into our new apartment. Since they did not have a ramp or hand trucks, and there were considerably more stairs at our new apartment, the men had straps and were strapping FURNITURE to their backs and carrying it up the stairs. ONE man was carrying HUGE pieces of furniture up 40 stairs with just straps on their backs. The men were so exhausted and were collapsing on our apartment floor when they got upstairs. Not only was it a sight to watch because of their exhaustion and muscle failure, but our boxes were collapsing under the tightness of the straps. So we don t even know what is broken and what is not in our boxes.\r
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By the time they unloaded everything, the time was 10 and 3/4 hours including travel. This was very different from the 6 hours Sal quoted us.After we realized it would be over $1000, and significantly more than we were quoted (and this does not include tip), I asked Don to call Sal to discuss the over amount.\r
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Sal on the phone was so rude, and so condescending I could not even believe it. He told me many lies. He said he was giving us the 10% and I reminded him that he already owed us 5%, and he said we were getting free materials, and told him he already owed us that too. I told him we would pay what we were quoted and then tip the guys, and he told me don t tip them! . I watched these poor men toil for hours and they had told me they make $11 an hour (Sal lied and told me it was $15) I was NOT about to not tip these guys! The final straw for me was, on the phone he said, Let me speak to your husband because he no longer wanted to deal with me. I said how dare you insinuate that I can t handle this because I m the wife . I take care of the finances and you will talk to me . He was so sexist, and I resent that.\r
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I was told by all of the men that this was not the first time that this had happened. They told me that Sal constantly low balls jobs just to get them and then over charges the customers. The men told me they had been on a job that was supposed to be 3 hours and ended up being 13. I cant believe Sal gets away with this!
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