On December 8th 2010 I sent out emails to moving companies to get quotes for a move from Camp Hill, PA 17011 to New York City. My husband, 85 and I, 73, have moved a couple of times in the last few years and gave given away a lot of furniture, clothing, etc... The one thing we had of great value was fine china. 18 place settings of Rosenthal china and 12 place settings of Limoge, with many beautiful serving platters, bowls, coffee and tea pots, gravy boats, etc...

I interviewed several moving companies and the one that came across as the most reassuring was Josh Socher of Moving Direct headquartered in Long Branch, New Jersey. I did notice that he had a FL area code. Socher agreed to send 3 professional packers, special dish packs and proper packing material. On December 8th I gave him my American Express credit card number and allowed him to charge a $300 deposit. against a $1500 total, with full replacement coverage insurance, for a December 28th move. My American Express Statement showed that the $300 deposit was charged by Trans-American Van Lines, not Moving Direct.

December 28th came and the movers never showed up. There had been a snow storm in New York and New Jersey a couple of days before but they didn't even bother to call and say they weren't coming. There was no snow in Camp Hill, PA.

Socher didn't answer my calls. Finally later in the day someone named Brian called from Long Branch, New Jersey to say they still would come. He didn't say what his position was but he was rude and my apprehension grew. No one showed up, which by now didn't surprise me. After a while someone named Miguel called to say they would be in Camp Hill, PA in one hour. He made the same unfortunate impression as Brian so I wasn't surprised when no one showed up.

On December 29th two guys showed up, not three as promised by Socher. They were Miguel and Jay, obviously not experienced packers. Miguel asked me to initial many forms and I never received the promised copies. I didn't see dish packs and saw just one small roll of bubble wrap and some newsprint. No packing peanuts. . I hoped for the best. Every time they carried something out they'd disappear for an inordinate amount of time. Turned out they took frequent "smoking" breaks. These slackers wasted a total of several hours sitting in the truck which said "Budget" on it, obviously a rented truck. I overheard Miguel talking on his cell phone to his boss saying how much "stuff" we had and that they would not be able to do a second job that day. He also said he was using a lot of packing material !!! I kept trying to call Socher but he wouldn't pick up. I had no one to turn to. Our move consisted of

Place settings of Limoge and Rosenthal china

1 double dresser 1 set of wooden wall cabinets 1 tall book shelf 1 tv monitor and stand 1 small mirror-front cabinet 2 bathroom etageres with glass shelves 1 queen-size bed with futon and drawer underneath 1 sleep sofa 1 love seat kitchen utensils, small appliances Books Kitchen ware Three 2-drawer file cabinets Dell PC tower, keyboard, HP printer, Dell monitor, Dell printer Four folding TV tables Six folding side chairs, two floor lamps 20 pre-packed Fedex document boxes l met the two movers in front of the NYC apartment building on the 30th. I was stupid enough to give them $100 each BEFORE they moved in our things. I was getting bad vibes and hoped to convince them to be decent human beings by tipping them before hand. That's when Miguel put me on the phone with his boss who demanded $4000. He said his name was Eli but he had the same "sound" as Brian from the day before. Never heard a last name from asnyone. Miguel said I was way over the limit in pounds and cubic feet and if I didn't give him $4,000 in cash or money order he was taking all with our things. I said fine, take inem, but let me get my husband's medicines out of the truck. By then I had been standing, freezing, in the street for 4 hours.. It was l p.m. They refused to let me get the medicines. That's when the "boss" reduced the price to an extra $2700. They already had $300. I gave in in order to get my husband's medicines. I had to find a Post Office to get money orders. I asked Miguel for copies of whatever it was he made me initial when there was no time to read them and he refused. Then the two men abandoned the sofas in the hall. As if by magic, workers from the building showed up and moved in the sofas and helped us with other items.

When we began unpacking we were shocked at how our Rosenthal and Limoge china had been "packed" by the so-called expert packers. Things were stacked one on top of the other with a piece of paper around it. Many pieces were broken. I have kept them and will photograph everything. In addition to the breakage, fully half the pieces are MISSING from the two sets of valuable china, as well as the glass shelves from two etageres. The Dell printer was damaged and is inoperable; and doors on the on the wall cabinets were broken loose. (I suspect that the missing china will soon be found on E-Bay.) After the move we investigated Trans-American Van Lines and found complaints against them on Ripoff Report.. Further investigation reveals that Moving Direct was not immune from complaints to the NJ Better Business Bureau and that it is not a mover but uses third parties. It appears that the sales agent (Socher) operates out of an apartment In Hallandale, Fl.

I feel a crime (theft), businees fraud and unspeakably cruel treatment of seniors is involved and that we should be compensated for this by refund of the unwarranted overcharge by Moving Direct and Trans-American plus damages for missing items, breakage of dishes and other items as noted above.