Empire Movers

This was the letter I sent them.

I just thought I’d provide some feedback to your company regarding Chris who wrote up my contract with Empire Moving. You can consider this email a formal complaint. On June 10th, I received the estimate below from Chris after speaking with him on the phone. Unfortunately, I trusted him and liked him, and didn’t read the “small print.” If you pull the phone records, you will see he said many times, “This is going to lock in your price, it won’t be any more, this is guaranteed.” Also he told me that we would definitely have our furniture July 7th (after I discussed with him how other movers had told me 2 weeks after that and of course was happy to hear this wonderful news). I should have known he was lying and selling me, just to get me to sign a contract he knew would not be valid when the movers arrived. I had also originally not planned to move a couch…I asked him what the difference in price would be to bring the couch and he said, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll throw that in for the same price, no problem.”. Again, I should have read the contract more carefully, because I can see that it depends on cubic feet. Isn’t it his job to estimate correctly? I told him all the pieces of furniture and how many rooms. He guessed on the number of boxes based on that information. He bragged about how Empire was certified and BBB and had great reviews… how experienced they were and how I’d be happy. He even gave me his personal cell and said, “Call me any time, I can give you updates and let you know exactly what’s happening. I’ll be there every step of the way”. Empire Quality control called a couple of days before the move to check on the inventory. My daughter said they were on the phone less than one minute. At that point she had a much clearer idea of the boxes, etc. and they barely asked any questions just said ok, that’s good, bye. I believe he purposefully deceived me. He underestimated the cubic feet and items so he could get the quote in the right price range. He never mentioned that Empire wasn’t the mover. As a matter of fact, he kept saying “we” will be in Brooklyn and “we” are experts at moving in NY, etc. He knew in advance that when the truck would arrive we would get totally blindsided: that our original estimate of $1902.50 was raised by $1200 for the “extra” couch and boxes he underestimated! Now the total is over $3100 instead of $1900? That’s quite the misrepresentation. The day of the move when I was informed of these increases, I called Chris and he put me on hold for 40 minutes to transfer me to “quality control”. That person told me he would investigate and try to have an answer for me (of course he said with no guarantee). I have not heard from anyone at Empire. And the situation is I am being charged a 60% increase in what I was promised AND will not have our furniture and boxes until God knows when. Now my daughter moves into her empty apartment tomorrow, with none of her belongings. I live over 800 miles away and will likely have to go home before the mover even comes. I was told today it could be 3-10 business days from the 7th. This is a shock to me, since Chris promised me this wasn’t the case and that I could get everything on the 7th. Shame on me for trusting him. But this complaint will NOT end here. I will go to the ends of the earth to warn others about your company. I will not stop until you are no longer selling and scamming people, and I will make sure the public is aware of this kind of deception. I’m not sure who you paid to post these, https://empiremovinggroup.com/reviews/, but obviously you aren’t even movers, so they are totally fake. I want some resolution on this. I think Chris should split the “extra cost” of my move with his paycheck, or Empire as a company should make good on this. I understand I had more on there and didn’t fully read the contract, but I am 100% certain that Chris purposely underestimated this move to get the sale and lied to me so I would trust him. Unfortunately I didn’t read more carefully that you weren’t even the movers. I would like to hear back from anyone telling me the status of this complaint. The movers that have my things have nothing to do with you guys, so I don’t have to worry about my stuff. They actually were capable and reliable, although their hands were tied on all this and I was forced to pay more and accept the terms of a contract I never would have agreed to if I wasn’t deceived. For the $1200 increase, I want Empire to meet me halfway and pay $600 towards this unrealistic quote that was given to me and the mover. That is very fair considering everything that was promised to me was untrue. As far as waiting, I have no choice but to sit by and do nothing. Please respond within 24 hours. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll go to the next phase of the complaint process.

This went unresolved, only had "management" call me, scream at me and call me a liar. Furniture came 5 days later than told.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3100

On April 19th, a crew from Empire Movers, Bronx, New York, moved me from an apartment on the UES to one in lower Manhattan in Peter Cooper Village. The signed agreement stated my current apartment was a 4th floor walkup and my new apartment was in an elevator building. I paid a fee for the apartment being a walk up requiring additional effort by the moving crew. The agreement was that I would pack everything that required boxing. Empire even provided some boxes for clothes hanging in closets as well as mirror boxes.  It was a straight forward move and I had already moved all of the breakables, lamps and smaller items.
The crew was supposed to provide me with a numbered inventory of everything moved. They did not.
As the crew was completing the move out of the walk-up, I was confronted by them and required to pay them additional money for the walk-up issue as well as a tip which I had planned on giving them.  I could not reach Omar Rodruiguez so charged my card on file or they would not have completed the move. They told me if he agreed to it, they would refund the extra $ after the move. Furthermore they requested a significant additional tip than I had been prepared to give (which was already more than normal in understanding the stair issue)
After they moved everything into my new apartment and left, I did an inventory check and found that I was missing an antique lamp table – a precious family heirloom. I immediately notified Empire of the loss. I was going to move the table myself but they insisted on putting it into a moving box (I do not know why they did that) and putting it on the truck. They have never found it.
I have spent hours on the phone or in email with Empire discussing the lost table as well as the overcharge of $90 plus the additional tip that the moving crew demanded.
On May 2 Omar agreed to discuss the refunds with his boss, the owner of the company, as well as the loss of the table. Following that meeting, he said he would refund the over charge amount and that his boss had agreed to pay me what my table is worth if it was not found (I have a confirmation of this agreement in writing from empire).  
After not hearing from them again, and trying to call and email and getting no response, I am posting this on social media. To date, no refund has been made or retribution for my lost table. This company is unreliable, and does not control its crews who appear to steal both money and furniture. They do not stand behind their contracts, verbal or written, and are very difficult to reach with problems or issues like this.
What started out as a relatively uncomplicated move turned into a nightmare.
I have not taken them to court, but am still considering it.
 .

Service cost: $900

If you're thinking of using another mover, stop wasting your time. I want to personally thank Florin and his team (Vlad, Naji and Taaiq) for their help. They treated my home like it was their own. I moved out of mid-town, just off Broadway, so I was worried about all of the street and foot traffic. After packing, they had the truck loaded in an hour. It was amazing. Everything was labeled and neat. They got out to Secaucus and unloaded the truck FAST. I am so happy I chose Empire, and I can tell you this: it would be a mistake to go anywhere else. THANK YOU, FLORIN!!

Service cost: $1000