Lone Star Moving

Jason of Lees Summit, MO October 15, 2009

Lonestar Moving Services/Relocation Services provided a BINDING ESTIMATE for my interstate move from the Kansas City , Missouri metro area to Seattle, WA. The payment terms were as follows: Payment Terms: Deposit: 100 that is deducted from the total balance. Refundable within 24 hours of reservation. Payment on day of pickup: The customer is responsible for 75% of the total move price. Customer will be paying with Credit card and is aware of the 3.5% administrative fee. Payment on day of delivery: The remaining balance is payable by CASH or POSTAL MONEY ORDER only. All other payment arrangements must be set with the office in advance.

During the moving experience, the driver had an issue with his movers (contractors from GRAEBEL) - it was a dispute over duration and payment for work. The driver was 4 hours late at my house to being loading. His contracted assistance (GRAEBEL Movers) expected to work from 9AM until 6PM. Around 8PM, they began to complain to the driver about how long the truck load would take to complete. They were concerned about timely payment as well. The driver asked me for cash to pay them. Citing my contract terms, I refused to pay cash, as all payment on the day of pickup was contractually agreed as credit card. Regardless of the contract, the driver said that credit card payment would not work - the movers would walk off if they did not receive cash. I told him that he would have to figure it out himself, because I would not pay cash for the pickup.

The driver ended up calling the police to resolve the issue with his movers. After noticing the police at my house, I asked for an explanation. Given that this development with police was the fault of the driver, I called to complain to the dispatch manager. Also, I wanted to be on record with my complaint related to the driver asking for cash in violation of the contract. The dispatch/sales manager, Michael F., told me that because i had expressed concern over the altercation, they (the moving company) were no longer comfortable accepting my contractually agreed upon credit card form of payment and that I would have to pay for all services in cash.

Obviously, I balked at this development and requested a new driver. In order to get a new driver, I was told that I would have to cancel the move and pay to have the load transferred to a new drivers truck. In order to cancel the move and resolve driver issues, I would also have to pay a fee for his time and/or a fee to unload the truck (all in cash). Otherwise they would hold and store my property, and charge me a fee for the storage. This clearly became a case of holding my property hostage at this point.

I called the local police (Lees Summit, MO Police Department) who said that they could do nothing and had no jurisdiction on the matter. After many hours, I agreed under duress to continue with the driver, as the cost of paying for time and labor as nearly the same as the original binding estimate was for 4290 - they estimated that I would have to pay 3950 to unload the truck or change drivers, because the driver owned the truck and would have to unload/reload. I would have to pay that fee to get my belongings back as well. I had several lengthy conversations with the company and they refused to release my property.

During these proceedings I also had issues with several other factors: 1) during the move we noticed that the rear of the truck was not empty, there was a 500 cu ft load. I asked the driver for a weight history. He did not produce the weighing documents until after the police arrived. He had weighed at 6AM, but arrived at my house at 11:45AM. He could not provide any proof establishing where he was during the 5 hour 45 minute interim time period. I complained to the dispatch, and this was another reason for changing the terms and refusing to accept my credit card payment. 2) the company refused to ever produce a copy of their master tariff. 3) the binding estimate was ignored, and they raised the price from 4290 binding estimate to 16,480 on weight.

Following the rule of 7, my 2200 cu ft of cargo should have weighed around 15,400 lbs - instead, they claimed that my cargo weighed over 24000 lbs. Note item 1) there was already a dispute over the trucks weight history and when that cargo was loaded. Now it appeared that we had a legitimate issue with weight. 4) arbitrary breach of contract terms for form of payment, nature of binding estimate, and forced coercion due to holding property hostage.

The only good news is that the movers actually delivered my cargo to my new home in Seattle. The driver was consistently rude and difficult. They would accept cash only and forced us to sign an updated contract (I think this is called a contract of adhesion). Do Not Do Business With This Company! They did break several items and refused to travel to retrieve parts for beds and couches that they lost.

instead of spending 4290, I was forced to pay 12000 cash to receive my property back. The only recourse I have discovered so far is to file a claim with the state attorney general offices - I have now filed claims with the states of Washington and Missouri. Soon I will file with Texas and California as well, as the movers have addresses in each state.

Warren of San Antonio, TX August 30, 2009

On 5/19/09 Abaco Moving and Storage, DBA Lonestar Relocation Services, picked up our household goods under "Binding Estimate." The original contract price was 3350.00. Upon loading our goods the Lonestar Relocation Services driver changed the charges to 6200.00 based on "my experience". However, the loading personnel told us the driver had instructed them to load loosly so it would appear we had more quantity than we actually had. Unloading personnel at the destination also confirmed to us our quantity did not exceed the estimated 1100 cubic feet. Lonestar's inflated charge is fradulant The contract states Lonestar would provide and wrap all furniture in moving blankets. However, they did not provide nearly enough blankets or properly protect our good causing damage to several pieces. A clear breach of contract. Several attempts to file a claim with Lonestar, Abaco and Baruch Edry (Owner) were refussed or ignored, including one from an attorney. Another breach of contract.

Moana of Fond Du Lac, WI February 11, 2009

Moana of Fond Du Lac WI (02/11/09)
My initial contact was super. I was moving from Dallas to Wisconsin. The man who did the estimate was great. The movers were great. I paid them 300 in tips. But, when my stuff got here the trouble began. My box springs looks like it was drug through a sewer (Beautyrest by Simmons), my tuner and dvd player were missing, 3 boxes of stuff never arrived, my armoire was broken a whole piece was missing, my headboard to my bed was missing (cannot replace it as it was a special item that matched my dressers), one dresser was broken and the other had a piece from the bottom broken off but it arrived, some of the boxes had been in water and were deteriorating badly, one of my stereo speakers still does not work, yet, my guitar made it.

I called the manager at Lone Star who never returned my call. Finally I called the gal I had been talking with in the initiation of the move and she said that I would have to document everything and send it to a company in Florida. She did send me the package to fill out, which I did. The move was on May 31 and by June 29 I had mailed the documents to Florida. No response. There was a phone number, which I called and called and called. No answer. I then tried to call the manager at Lone Star and left a few messages. No answer. When I last called the front desk I was told to call Florida, not Lone Star.

Lloyd of Brooklyn, NY March 8, 2008

Lloyd of Brooklyn NY (03/08/08)
This moving company is holding my household goods hostage. I was the victim of a rogue mover who overcharged and then did not act properly. Copies of contracts were not received, and now they are threatening to auction off my goods. I paid off the contract, and then the company lost the cashier's check--although it was later transacted. They are now asking for approximately 1100, and then I don't know if this will be over. BTW, Lonestar formerly went under such names as US-1 Vanlines and Transit USA.

I am out approximately 2300 for the movers contract and over 4000 for my household goods.

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