Released: May 10, 2008

Moving: Beware of ‘furniture ransom’

Source: Kristina Shevery, New York Times (Free Registration)

Leah Moore and her husband, Colby Nichols, assumed they would be in their new Chicago home in time for dinner. Why would they think otherwise? All their belongings were in boxes, they had little furniture and they were moving only a few miles away.

They were wrong. When the movers arrived, they spent the morning packing and unpacking the truck. Then, they took four hours to get to the new house. When they finally did arrive, they refused to unload the truck unless they were paid $1,300 in cash — $800 more than the original quote.

The couple refused to pay more than $500 and called the owner of the moving company for help. He told them to pay or risk losing their things. Afraid the cost would go up even more if they waited, they agreed to pay. Early the next morning, with broken glass picture frames, smashed wedding china, scraped walls and broken molding, the move was over.

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