Hello I am an middle age asian lady married to a military husband who does his mission .. My grammar in English is not great. Moving forward to a company that took advantage of a woman
Our personal item was in a storage in Erie Penns. It move there from a different moving company from Florida to Erie in Summer in 2009. Keep in mind gas price was over $4.00 back then... It is now in Summer of June 2015 and the price of gas went down. I now live in Georgia, and I needed my item transport from Erie to Georgia. My item was already in a box and was in storage. I thought a simple move to transport. All the company had to do was move my stuff from storage and load into a truck since everything was boxed up already...
When the representative name Napoleon mills supposedly a certified reolcation coordinator.. I told him It was only $1500.00 to move from saint petersburg florida to Erie in 2009 and gas price was high.However, he gave me a military discount of and quoted me $1700.00 .. We put down $700.00 Thinking once our item is transported to Macon Georgia we pay the $1000.00
We felt great about the company until the mover called me up and demand I had more overweight Item.. I told him it only cost me 1500 to move and it came from Florida to Erie.. He said well lady ( very rude) that was 2009..
I told him other shipping company quoted me around 2200 and I only decided to taken your company bc Mr. Mill over a military discount and save us extra few hundred
This transporter demanded another $4000 dollars bc of larger furniture. I said you can leave the couch and the bedroom furniture behind ..
I have not heard back to the company and I email called, They tell me next week next week.. I been waiting almost four weeks to get my item..
my husband and I have been scam.. He is in the military and people who in the military do not use them .. They will know that you are in the military and you will never see your item and then they do not insure your items.
They will say thank you for serving and run away with your stuff.
Lesson learned, even if they send me to a nice website. Make sure that your dealing with a real mover, not a third party agent . This company takes your money call other moving company and the contract is not official.
I am worried I never will see my item. My children pictures when they are young, and personal item when my dad past away in 2005. I will never get those memories back. OTher stuff is material like furniture and bedroom set.. But memories and pictures will a price that can't be put on and will never get those back
First, let's state what they don't want to tell you:Apollo Relocation Services is a moving broker who contracts your move to the highest bidder. They've been incorporated in NY since October of 2014, but use a NJ address. From what I can tell, they're not even incorporated in NJ. However, if you happened to enter your phone number into any of those "get a free moving estimate websites"...they won't tell you this.
But let's back up a bit so I can tell you my story:
I was planning a move on a short time table and out of desparation, I put my information into a couple different "get a quote" websites. Once I was three weeks away from moving I started to panic RIGHT as an Apollo sales person (and assume all the names you're getting are fake) calls me and starts with a spiel. Using high pressure sales tactics, I found myself forking over a deposit before signing a contract after the sales person tells me she has a truck she can "just fit"my stuff on.
Feeling like I'm out of options, I go with this.
I took some time to read over the contract and got a call back from a sales person again who seemed to want to know why I hadn't actually signed yet. She mentioned that every times someone clicks they contract link, they're notified. (In other words, they don't really want you to take your time reading it.)
Now, in retrospect - lets note all the red flags:
-I recieved a phone estimate from a sales person. BIG MISTAKE. Only in person estimates are valid.
-While I can't recall the sales person using the term "full service movers," she certainly implied as much talking about how her "crew" had never lost a box. (They're brokers. They have no crew.)
-They asked for a deposit. No legit mover will ever do this...let alone before you've actually signed a contract. (This is something I didn't realize at the time.)
-They claim that you can get your deposit back within something like 3-5 days, but it's not really the case if your move is within a certain number of days. A legit mover will NOT require a deposit and will give you some time to cancel even if they require a payment right before you move.
Now, I felt a little unsettled so I started doing some research. Most of the reviews I saw were positive, and there seemed to be a lot. And when they called back to do a final "inventory" check I felt like the estimator was listening to me until he asked for a cash deposit.
Suddenly, bells went off in my head. There is no WAY these guys are legit.
I did some quick research and it sunk in that I was dealing with a broker. I looked at their website to grab the DOT number when I noticed this small print:
"Please note that a properly licensed interstate broker, such as Apollo Relocation Services, is not a motor carrier and will not transport an individual shipper's household goods, but will coordinate and arrange for the transportation of household goods by an FMCSA authorized motor carrier, whose charges will be determined by its published tariff. All estimated charges and final actual charges will be based upon the carrier's tariff which is available for inspection from the carrier upon reasonable request."
Now, according to the sales person...they contract and the deposit would both go towards moving. But clearly, it's actually a fee for services. Nowhere is this stated, nor did the sales rep disclose it.
As you'll also note, they add that all estimated chargers are based on the CARRIER'S tariff. When I called back to ask who the carrier would be...I was told they didn't know yet. (And this was about 5 days pre-move).
I took a closer look at the positive reviews and noticed they all followed the same pattern (overly positive, overly cliche, clearly a script, people that had only one other review) and were generally posted in clusters. I also took a good look through the screened Yelp reviews to notice a lot of people mentioning that these guys were scammers. Occasionally the "owner" "Michael Houston" would reply to a review. I took the image and did a google search and noticed it's a stock photo...and that I can't find any information about a "Michael Houston" in the moving industry in the tristate area.
That did it.
I canceled my move and was reminded that my deposit was not refundable. Yep, they got me for the deposit which I may go to small claims to get, though the "incorporated in NY doing business in NJ"makes it tricky. But after reading some filtered yelp reviews, I'l glad they only got me for the deposit.
If you get a call from these people...hang up the phone. They are extremely good at getting your deposit and keeping you on the phone. But look at the BBB reports. Look at the filtered reviews. Listen to me. They prey on people who are looking to move at the last minute. They prey on the elderly. They prey on anyone who hasn't done their research.
Apollo Relocation Services Inc Reviews
Hello I am an middle age asian lady married to a military husband who does his mission .. My grammar in English is not great. Moving forward to a company that took advantage of a woman
Our personal item was in a storage in Erie Penns. It move there from a different moving company from Florida to Erie in Summer in 2009. Keep in mind gas price was over $4.00 back then... It is now in Summer of June 2015 and the price of gas went down. I now live in Georgia, and I needed my item transport from Erie to Georgia. My item was already in a box and was in storage. I thought a simple move to transport. All the company had to do was move my stuff from storage and load into a truck since everything was boxed up already...
When the representative name Napoleon mills supposedly a certified reolcation coordinator.. I told him It was only $1500.00 to move from saint petersburg florida to Erie in 2009 and gas price was high.However, he gave me a military discount of and quoted me $1700.00 .. We put down $700.00 Thinking once our item is transported to Macon Georgia we pay the $1000.00
We felt great about the company until the mover called me up and demand I had more overweight Item.. I told him it only cost me 1500 to move and it came from Florida to Erie.. He said well lady ( very rude) that was 2009..
I told him other shipping company quoted me around 2200 and I only decided to taken your company bc Mr. Mill over a military discount and save us extra few hundred
This transporter demanded another $4000 dollars bc of larger furniture. I said you can leave the couch and the bedroom furniture behind ..
I have not heard back to the company and I email called, They tell me next week next week.. I been waiting almost four weeks to get my item..
my husband and I have been scam.. He is in the military and people who in the military do not use them .. They will know that you are in the military and you will never see your item and then they do not insure your items.
They will say thank you for serving and run away with your stuff.
Lesson learned, even if they send me to a nice website. Make sure that your dealing with a real mover, not a third party agent . This company takes your money call other moving company and the contract is not official.
I am worried I never will see my item. My children pictures when they are young, and personal item when my dad past away in 2005. I will never get those memories back. OTher stuff is material like furniture and bedroom set.. But memories and pictures will a price that can't be put on and will never get those back
First, let's state what they don't want to tell you:Apollo Relocation Services is a moving broker who contracts your move to the highest bidder. They've been incorporated in NY since October of 2014, but use a NJ address. From what I can tell, they're not even incorporated in NJ. However, if you happened to enter your phone number into any of those "get a free moving estimate websites"...they won't tell you this.
But let's back up a bit so I can tell you my story:
I was planning a move on a short time table and out of desparation, I put my information into a couple different "get a quote" websites. Once I was three weeks away from moving I started to panic RIGHT as an Apollo sales person (and assume all the names you're getting are fake) calls me and starts with a spiel. Using high pressure sales tactics, I found myself forking over a deposit before signing a contract after the sales person tells me she has a truck she can "just fit"my stuff on.
Feeling like I'm out of options, I go with this.
I took some time to read over the contract and got a call back from a sales person again who seemed to want to know why I hadn't actually signed yet. She mentioned that every times someone clicks they contract link, they're notified. (In other words, they don't really want you to take your time reading it.)
Now, in retrospect - lets note all the red flags:
-I recieved a phone estimate from a sales person. BIG MISTAKE. Only in person estimates are valid.
-While I can't recall the sales person using the term "full service movers," she certainly implied as much talking about how her "crew" had never lost a box. (They're brokers. They have no crew.)
-They asked for a deposit. No legit mover will ever do this...let alone before you've actually signed a contract. (This is something I didn't realize at the time.)
-They claim that you can get your deposit back within something like 3-5 days, but it's not really the case if your move is within a certain number of days. A legit mover will NOT require a deposit and will give you some time to cancel even if they require a payment right before you move.
Now, I felt a little unsettled so I started doing some research. Most of the reviews I saw were positive, and there seemed to be a lot. And when they called back to do a final "inventory" check I felt like the estimator was listening to me until he asked for a cash deposit.
Suddenly, bells went off in my head. There is no WAY these guys are legit.
I did some quick research and it sunk in that I was dealing with a broker. I looked at their website to grab the DOT number when I noticed this small print:
"Please note that a properly licensed interstate broker, such as Apollo Relocation Services, is not a motor carrier and will not transport an individual shipper's household goods, but will coordinate and arrange for the transportation of household goods by an FMCSA authorized motor carrier, whose charges will be determined by its published tariff. All estimated charges and final actual charges will be based upon the carrier's tariff which is available for inspection from the carrier upon reasonable request."
Now, according to the sales person...they contract and the deposit would both go towards moving. But clearly, it's actually a fee for services. Nowhere is this stated, nor did the sales rep disclose it.
As you'll also note, they add that all estimated chargers are based on the CARRIER'S tariff. When I called back to ask who the carrier would be...I was told they didn't know yet. (And this was about 5 days pre-move).
I took a closer look at the positive reviews and noticed they all followed the same pattern (overly positive, overly cliche, clearly a script, people that had only one other review) and were generally posted in clusters. I also took a good look through the screened Yelp reviews to notice a lot of people mentioning that these guys were scammers. Occasionally the "owner" "Michael Houston" would reply to a review. I took the image and did a google search and noticed it's a stock photo...and that I can't find any information about a "Michael Houston" in the moving industry in the tristate area.
That did it.
I canceled my move and was reminded that my deposit was not refundable. Yep, they got me for the deposit which I may go to small claims to get, though the "incorporated in NY doing business in NJ"makes it tricky. But after reading some filtered yelp reviews, I'l glad they only got me for the deposit.
If you get a call from these people...hang up the phone. They are extremely good at getting your deposit and keeping you on the phone. But look at the BBB reports. Look at the filtered reviews. Listen to me. They prey on people who are looking to move at the last minute. They prey on the elderly. They prey on anyone who hasn't done their research.
I'm begging you - don't hire them.