Moving companies and their quotes. If they make you charge more than their original quote?

Question

My sister hired a well known moving company to transport her stuff from Florida to Maryland. A person from the company came to her house and gave her a quote, when they goth there they said "oh no" it will be higher. because the person that gave her the quote looked at her stuff but under estimated. I think in the quote states that they cannot charge higher, only lower. Well my sister, whose husband recently passed, had a lot on her mind and didn't argue and okayed the higher price. She has all of the paperwork. Can she go back, this was 3 weeks ago, and get a refund? are they supposed to stick by their quote? maybe take them to small claims court? has this ever happened to anyone? thank for any advise.

Answer 1

In most cases, a moving company cannot charge more than 110% of the original quote for an interstate move.

This is a VERY common scam. It is SO common that there is a government agency that investigates these cons.

http://www.protectyourmove.gov/consumer/...

If they charged her more than 110% of the quote, she can sue them in small claims court for the extra.

Richard

Answer 2

She approved the increase...not good.  She signed a legal contract.  Try calling the main office and talking to the manager of the facility she shipped her things out of.  No, they can't charge higher, even if underestimated.  I have moved many times, in fact once from Florida to Maryland (shadest moving companies are in Florida).  One time they even had to add another truck, due to their underestimate, but I paid no more for the move.  If she gets no results talking to the company, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau  (bbb.org)  I have always gotten results when they intervened.  Good luck to you and your sister!  

Answer 3

If she approved the new contract, there probably isn't much legal recourse.

However, If they charged her more than the original quoted price for "X" amount of work and the price changed but the work didn't, she might have a case.

Unfortunately, it's not unusual for a moving company to 'underestimate' the amount of stuff you have and to adjust the bill upwards come moving day.  The move is based on weight and space.  If your stuff takes up more space and/or weighs more than they anticipated, then the bill goes up.

Have her write a letter to the company first and ask for a refund of the difference and see what happens with that first.  Then move on to phone calls, and lastly to small claims court if she really wants to do all of that.  If you are talking about a couple hundred bucks on a couple thousand dollar bill, is it really worth the hassle?