Victim Location 20747
Total money lost $700
Type of a scam Moving
On May 31, 2017 I went on line inquiring about a moving company. After inputting my information I was contacted by 3 companies. I went with Swift Van Lines LLC because of the price, them showing that they were members with the BBB, what they were offering and they were close to my location. My move date was going to be on June 10th 2017,but was moved to Saturday June 17th because of my closing date being moved back on my house. A deposit of $118.00 was made on my debit card on June 16, 2017. I spoke with Mr. Martinez again and asked if Sunday June 18th would be okay and he agreed to have the truck at my house by 12 noon with 4 movers as agreed in my estimate. The truck showed up at 2 pm with only 3 people. The move went on until 4:30 am when they were about to take the second load to the new house. Mr. Martinez called me and asked if I could give the driver $300 in cash so they could get gas and packing supplies and I told him yes. After talking with the driver he said they would just wait until everything was completed. Being 20 minutes away from the new house Victor, the driver said they’d see me shortly so I went to the new house. After about an hour and a half and not seeing the truck I called Mr. Martinez to alert him and he said he’d call them and call me right back. I waited another 5 hours and didn’t hear anything from them so I went to work, which was Monday June 19, 2017. Mr. Martinez called me at 10:05 am to tell me his people was at my house to deliver my furniture and I needed to have $2898 to get my furniture. I told him this price was not acceptable for me having 3 men after requesting 4 men according to the estimate. He went back and forth with the price and then said he would call the police if I didn’t pay him. I told him to go ahead and call the police because I was on my way home. He called me back again and I told him that the price was too much. He then said I’ll change the rate to $99 and hour for three men. He never did say anything about charging me for 4 men at $118 an hour. He then changed the price to $2400. Before I did get to the house my housemate called me because the police officer wanted to speak with me. He asked when I was getting there and I told him within about 20 minutes. He was explaining that I needed to pay this guy or I could be arrested. All of this without even hearing my side. He then said that he couldn’t stay he’d have to leave, but by the time I got to the house the police was still there. The police told Mr. Martinez that If I didn’t pay him then he would need to file a civil case against me and then they would arrest me. When I was trying to tell the police officer how this man breached the contract he said he didn’t need to hear what I had to say. The officer then asked if we had an agreement in terms of payment and Mr. Martinez said the cost would be $2400. The officer left and Mr. Martinez asked if I could give him the $300 he ask me about the day before and I asked if the guys would start taking my furniture off the truck and he told me yes. I gave him the $300 in cash and he then walked away and said once he had the balance I can get my furniture and then he drove off and so did his truck with my furniture. Mr. Martinez harassed me for 2 days about giving him cash and I told him I would put the balance on my credit card. He kept saying that he didn’t take credit cards but selectively forgot that’s how he took my deposit. He then told me I could write a check, so I wrote out 2 checks one for $2400 and one for $2282 which was minus my deposit of $118. He said that he’d put the money back on my card so I had the one for $2400. He then told me he couldn’t cash the check written in his company’s name and insisted that I put the check in his personal name. I told him I didn’t have another check and we could go to Citi Bank to cash the check. I met him at Citi Bank on which the check was drawn, 5001 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington,DC. The Customer Service Rep told him that he’d have to deposit it into his business account in order to cash it. He went storming out and came back and they told him to go to his own bank and they may cash it since he was the business owner. His bank was Bank of America which was one block away so we went there. They too told hime that it would be a few days to clear. They then told him if I put his name over top of the business name then he could cash the check. I wrote his name over top of the business name and put or Juan Carlos Martinez and they cashed the check for him. Then he told me his guys were at my home delivering the furniture. I called to check and they were in fact at my house. By the time I got to my house they were about half way done as I walked into the house they were just putting things anywhere until I started directing them off the truck. Boxes that were identified to go certain places was totally disregarded. As contracted to disassemble and to reassemble my furniture didn’t happen. The broke pieces of furniture, my computer desk, a flat screen tv, and lamp shades. They stole my 5 gallon water bottle with over $700 of coins that I didn’t ask them to move, and several pieces of brand new kitchen appliances . I’ve called and left messages without any response at all. I did find out that they had also changed their name from Revolution Movers which has awful ratings and they’re on the Ripoff Report website as well. These crooks need to be stopped. The driver’s name is Victor and his number is (202) 423-7127. He offered to come back to my house off the record if I paid him some money outside what the company had already charged me. They didn’t even give me a copy of my service ticket or invoice before running off to another job.