Real Van Lines

Juan –

Victim Location 16066

Total money lost $271

Type of a scam Moving

On 3/1/19, I needed to hire a moving company to move some furniture from my apartment to two different locations. When searching for moving companies, I filled out a form online that allowed various moving companies to contact me with a “free” estimate. I received a call from someone named “Charlie” who told me he was from Real Deal Van Lines. I asked where they were located. He said they were in Gardner, MA. I asked to see their reviews online and he gave me the website for “Real Deal Van Lines”. Charlie took an itemization of my belongings (furniture only) and put me “on hold” for awhile and came back with an estimate for me for one of the moves. After quoting me $1100 for the first move, he said he needed $110 Deposit (10%) on my credit card to hold the move date of 3/19/19. He also said that the cost of the move might go up if I didn’t book the move right then and there. I asked if I could cancel the move, if my husband didn’t want to use this mover or if I changed my mind, and Charlie said “yes” to that. I also received an estimate for my second move to a different location with different furniture only items for a different date, 4/2/19. Charlie took my credit card deposit (10%) for that move of $161. Charlie then sent me the estimate contracts for both moves via email which needed to be signed electronically, I NEVER signed either of them because I became suspicious when the name of the moving company on the contracts was “Real Van Lines” rather than “Real Deal Van Lines” and their location in Iselin, NJ didn’t match the address I had been given by Charlie over the phone for Gardner, MA. I called Charlie back to cancel both moves and asked for my deposits to be refunded. He said they were closing for the day at 5:00 pm (even though the website for Real Van Lines says they are open until 6 pm M-F). They are also open on Sat. according to their website, but the Sat. 3/2, that I called they were not open. I immediately called my credit card company to attempt to cancel both transactions for my deposits of $110 and $161, which were pending. The credit card company said they were not able to cancel the credit card transactions with Real Van Lines. They told me that I would need to file a dispute which could take several weeks. So I cancelled my credit card. I did file a dispute with the credit card company, also. I sent Real Van Lines two separate emails at the email address provided in their estimate contract on 3/2/19 (the day after I gave them my CC info) expressing my desire to cancel both of the moves in my estimates, which was well within their 48 hour cancellation policy. I also did call numerous times after 3/2/19 to cancel both moves on 3/19 and 4/2. Most often no one answers their phone. When I did get through and asked to speak with the owner “Mark”, he is never there. I asked for a confirmation in writing from the person who answered the phone that my moves for 3/19 and 4/2 had been cancelled, but was told they couldn’t put it in writing. Real Van Lines reassured me on all calls that the moves had been cancelled. They did NOT move any of my belongings on 3/19 or 4/2 because I hired two other legitimate moving companies to move my furniture before those move dates. My credit card company tells me that they denied my dispute for the Deposit of $110 because they had a signed “Bill of Lading” saying my items had been delivered with an illegibly scribbled & forged signature that was supposed to be my signature dated 3/19/19. They also added items to the “Bill of Lading” that were not part of the original estimate. So my estimate increased by another $440 for 10 boxes that were not on the estimate. They forged my signature on several other documents and misspelled my name on all of the signatures which could be read. I could see these documents because my credit card company forwarded their forged documents to me as proof that they had completed a move that was never done.

I am writing this complaint to let others know that Real Van Lines In Iselin, NJ has fraudulent business practices. In fact, they probably aren’t even a legitimate business because they have no valid DOT # that matches their business name. I hope others will not fall victim to their scam, as I did.

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