This topic was discussed earlier but could not find it. It is story in Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/478955

Movers held furniture for 'ransom,' client says

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR
Chris Brown sits in his Port Credit apartment on Aug. 7, 2008, a month after he hired Dynamic Movers for a job that was supposed to cost less than $500. Instead, he says he paid nearly $2,000. Email story
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When Chris Brown hired Dynamic Movers after reading an ad in a local newspaper he thought he was getting a good deal.

At $65 an hour, the Scarborough-based company offered to move him from his old apartment on Lakeshore Rd. E. in Port Credit to his new one 200 metres away for less than $500. But Brown says that, after the movers had put all his belongings into a truck marked Desi Movers Inc., they threatened to throw it all into a storage locker if he didn't pay $1,497.50 more in "extra fees," such as charges for stairs and heavy items.

At that point, he began to think maybe he wasn't getting such a good deal after all. "All of my worldly possessions were on their truck, right down to my toothbrush," says Brown. "I felt I was being ransomed just to get it all back."

In the end, he says, he paid four times his initial quote.

Brown's not the only one. Nine clients of the same company told similar tales when contacted by the Star. The hard-luck stories illustrate the buyer-beware nature of an industry known for scams, thefts and outright violations of the provincial Consumer Protection Act.

Company owner Arif Adnan Syed wouldn't comment on specific complaints but denied that his movers have ever threatened to place clients' goods in storage if they refused to pay charges not outlined in the contract. "That's illegal, we don't do that," Syed said.

The "ransom" Brown alleges Desi Movers demanded of him falls into a grey zone legally. The wording in the company's contract violates the consumer's rights, according to the provincial consumer rights agency. But police are reluctant to lay charges in such cases because it looks more like a contractual dispute than a criminal offence – at least at first glance.

A Peel police officer Brown summoned decided not to intervene because the mover's contract stated – in small print – that excess charges may apply.

"I thought the presence of the police might encourage them to get on with the show, but instead they charged me extra for the time spent talking to the police," Brown now says. "I was completely rooked."

Following his June 18 "move from hell," the 30-something administrative assistant complained to the Better Business Bureau. That's when he learned that Dynamic Movers has operated under various names – Desi Movers, Dynamic Moving and Dynamite Moving – each under the wing of a company registered to Syed.

According to the bureau, Brown's complaint was the 30th in three years about Syed's operations.

On July 31, Niranjan Kamath booked Desi Movers to move him from Markham to Newmarket for $65 an hour. Kamath says he wound up paying an extra $1,456 to prevent his belongings being locked in a storage closet at his expense.

"It's daylight robbery," Kamath says. "They know they have you because you have to move on that day and they have all your stuff on their truck. There's nothing you can do."

In the cases examined by the Star, the complainants said they dealt with a man named Jason, who gave them a quote over the phone but did not appear on moving day.

Many moving companies will do a no-cost, no-obligation in-house survey of the goods to be moved.

"Quoting without seeing the place?" said an incredulous Cameron Scheel, sales manager with AMJ Campbell, Canada's largest moving company. "That is the most critical part of the entire equation."

When reached by telephone, a man who identified himself as Jason and said he was the manager of Desi, Dynamic and Dynamite Movers, said the company went out of business in late June after receiving too many complaints against its drivers. He said they had given Syed's operation a bad name. When asked to explain how the company had carried out Kamath's move on July 31, he refused to comment.

Ads in community newspapers and on websites for Desi, Dynamic and Dynamite Movers indicate the company is based at six addresses in Toronto and Mississauga and one storage locker in Scarborough. None match the Munham Gate address, near Birchmount and Ellesmere Rds., where the Star met Syed. Trucks on the lot had Desi Movers logos.

Syed declined to explain why his company, which was officially registered as Ontario Inc 1715130 in late 2006, advertises as having been in business since 1996. Other trucks registered to another numbered company owned by "Amit Monwar Hussain Syed" were parked at the same address, bearing the decals of Comfortable Movers and A1 Express Movers.

Arif Syed said the two companies are not related. Police records – the result of a York Region investigation of one client's complaint – show Desi Movers was once located in the same one-room office on Brimley Rd. that was the registered address for Comfortable Movers until a few months ago.

The security guard at that building said he hadn't seen anyone from either company in several months. In their contracts, Desi, Dynamic and Dynamite quote an hourly rate, but stipulate that other charges may apply.

"Driver will collect the full amount of money before unloading. If a client is unable to make full payment, we will store all the goods at our storage and client will be responsible to pay additional cost," the contract reads.

Such stipulations violate Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, according to a spokesperson for the Consumer Protection Branch, a provincial entity.

"It is considered an unfair practice for a person to use his, her, or its custody or control of a consumer's goods to pressure the consumer into renegotiating the terms of a consumer transaction," says the CPB's Jason Wesley. "Consumers should also be aware of the 10 per cent rule (in the act): If an estimate is provided, the final cost cannot exceed the original estimated price by more than 10 per cent."

Police did take action against Desi Movers in one case.

On March 4, Don Klees hired Desi Movers for a four-hour Markham-Stouffville move. He was quoted $60 an hour but says he was told to pay $1,311 or his furniture, clothes and appliances would be locked in storage.

He struck a deal to pay some of the balance and in return the company would keep the leather cushions from his sofa as collateral. The movers then dumped all his belongings onto his lane, leaving the 62-year-old to move his stuff indoors.

Klees contacted York Region police who, according to the police report, spoke "with the owner (Jason Syed). ... Police advised Jason that he did not have the right to keep the complainant's belongings." The Desi driver told Jason he did not know where the cushions were.

Police didn't lay charges, but did issue a summons to Syed for failing to comply with the Consumer Protection Act by charging an amount that exceeded the estimate by more than 10 per cent.

Syed appeared in Newmarket provincial court on June 20, to face non-criminal charges. The presiding judge felt the matter was outside that court's jurisdiction. The attorney-general's office says it should be heard in provincial court.

Klees is again trying to have his case heard.

Protect yourself: Get it in writing

What should be included in a moving contract?

• An estimate (and the date it was determined). By law, the final price cannot be more than 10 per cent above the written estimate.

• Size and value of items.

• Estimated number of boxes to be moved (including cost per hour or flat rate, and payment terms).

• Number of staff and hours needed and size of vehicle.

• Any licences or customs documents required (for instance, at border crossings).

• If goods are to be insured, name of person who holds the policy.

How to protect yourself:

In cases where movers insist on being paid before unloading goods, and where the bill far exceeds the estimate, the ministry advises consumers to:

• First, insist the mover adhere to the agreed contract.

• Tell the movers they are breaking the law if they won't adhere to the contract and, given no choice, say you are paying under protest.

• Contact the ministry's Consumer Services Bureau: 1-800-889-9768 or ontario.ca/consumerprotection.

Source: Consumer Protection Branch

http://www.canadiandesi.com/read.php?TID=21262

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This topic was discussed earlier but could not find it. It is story in Toronto Star

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My sister just got scammed today (Aug 24th) by these A** H****.
First they showed up 2 hours late, they were moving from a apartment to a house. First off they wanted $500 deposit and after they loaded the truck they wanted another $800 which she paid in cash because that's what they wanted. After they arrived they wanted another $800 after aruging for some time…with my sisters two small kids crying . They advised them that they will start throwing our stuff outside if they do not pay then more. She called the local police who did not care about what was happening to them they said it was a private matter plus the movers two of them were drinking outside the house which she told the police department. The local police department was useless. The distance between the moves was 10 minutes… She end up calling the family over to move the stuff since they left everything on the driveway and they refused to take the stuff inside less we paid them more. She and I would never recommend these criminals for moving. She had movers in the past and never paid more then $350 to $450. Her move was in Brampton. We need to do something to get these criminals out of businesses otherwise many people will suffer.

You need one single link -
http://moving.org/

This is American Moving & Storage Association's website, including a mover search feature.

I have posted this link several times before.

Anything else is asking for trouble.

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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."

-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"

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Originally posted by pratickm

You need one single link -
http://moving.org/

This is American Moving & Storage Association's website, including a mover search feature.

I have posted this link several times before.

Anything else is asking for trouble.

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it troubles me to see people get scammed daily for the same reason!!!

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happily holi day!

This desi mover is biggest fraud of toronto and They did all wrong things with us too and in last when my wife was arguing with them the driver twisted her arm and pushed her on the road and run away with the truck. we went to police but they did nothing. There were many independent witnesses and one of them talked to police officer but in last police said that these desi mover did nothing wrong. I am sending you a link of few other people who suffered same way by this desi movers. in the following link just type desi movers in search. please do something about these people. I see their ad everyday with different company names like Ind-Pak movers etc. when you call he would say that he is Jason or Jay. Hunderds of people suffered from this company.
BE CAREFUL AND NEVER SIGN ANY PAPER WITHOUT READING FINE PRINTS.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/avoid-desi-movers-459104/
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