Martins O.
Unsurveyed lowball quote
Unsurveyed lowball quote, then they left me on my own RATING: 1 star I booked an interstate move (Ewing NJ to Atlanta GA) through Northern Relocation, a moving BROKER, in February 2026. Estimate #N7091429. Everything below is taken from their own paperwork, which I still have. THE QUOTE WAS NEVER BASED ON ANYTHING I was quoted $3,500 and told a 750 cubic foot truck would be enough for my household. No inventory assessment was done. No physical survey, no video survey, nothing. They were willing to book my move on a number they had made no attempt to verify. Because the figure seemed implausible, I called back days later and insisted on an actual inventory. Only then did it become 1,000 cubic feet and $4,265. They took a $2,100 non-refundable deposit at that point. Note the sequence: the correction happened because I forced it, not because the broker did any work. If I hadn't pushed, the fiction would have stood until moving day. THE FEE THAT SHOULD HAVE WARNED ME Their estimate itemises a "Binding Estimate Fee" of $1,515. The actual transportation charge was $2,500. So the fee for producing the estimate was 61% of the cost of the move itself, and 36% of my total. I was charged over fifteen hundred dollars for a document they generated without ever looking at my belongings. It gets stranger. Directly under the total, the form states "Estimates are not guaranteed per 49 CFR 375.403(6)." But 49 CFR 375.403 is the regulation governing BINDING estimates, and it says a mover may provide a guaranteed binding estimate that the shipper must pay. The subsection they cite is a narrow exception for when a customer adds goods or services. They have taken a limited exception and printed it as a blanket disclaimer that nothing is guaranteed, while charging me a binding estimate fee. You cannot sell someone a binding estimate and disclaim that it binds you. The form also recites a "Total Tariff" of $7,302 with a 65.76% discount applied. That phantom figure is remarkably close to the $7,500 I was eventually made to pay. And the line reading "Estimated Price determined by load size is $4265.00" is simply false: 1,000 cubic feet at $2.50 is $2,500. The rest is fees. WHAT HAPPENED ON MOVING DAY The carrier they assigned arrived with an 1,850 cubic foot truck and demanded $3,200 more, taking my total to $7,500. Payment was demanded in cash or Zelle. Credit cards were refused. I phoned Northern Relocation's customer service while the crew stood in my house. I was told I was at the mercy of the truck driver and there was nothing they could do. They then blamed me for my own belongings, despite the fact that they had set the cubic footage and had declined to survey anything until I insisted. That is the moment the broker's entire value proposition evaporated. A broker exists to stand between you and the carrier. When the carrier doubled my price, Northern Relocation's contribution was to tell me I was on my own. WHAT I RECEIVED FOR $7,500 A quarter of my household was left behind in New Jersey because of poor loading, with $2,000 demanded to return for it. The delivery truck was the same size or smaller than the pickup truck and arrived with substantial empty space. At delivery the carrier refused to unload anything until the balance was paid in cash, threatening to take my belongings back to New Jersey. Contracted reassembly was barely performed. Numerous items arrived damaged, including an irreplaceable antique table with the carving broken away and a new crystal chandelier destroyed. All photographed. ONE MORE THING TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE ALREADY BOOKED On my estimate, every initials box in the valuation table is blank, and both dollar figures the carrier is supposed to provide so you can compare liability options were left empty. If yours look like that, get it corrected in writing before anyone touches your furniture. The default drops the mover's liability to 60 cents per pound, which values an antique at about thirty dollars. I have filed a formal damage claim and a complaint with the FMCSA National Consumer Complaint Database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov, which regulates interstate movers and brokers. MY ADVICE Understand what a broker is. The people who quote your price will never touch your property, and the carrier who does is not bound by what the broker promised you. The low quote exists to capture your deposit. Your real price gets set later, by a stranger in your driveway, at the point where you have no leverage left. Book directly with a licensed CARRIER. Insist on a binding written estimate following a genuine in-home or video survey. Verify the USDOT number of the company that will actually load your truck. And never use a mover that refuses credit cards.