Gold Star Moving Co

Description of Work: I hired Gold Star to help me move with the moving date set for 8/31/11. I sent Irina, an officer/manager with the company a detailed furniture list via email (documentation provided upon request), booked an appointment with her, expressed that I only needed the minimum amount of hours that I primarily needed just large furniture items moved. On 8/31/11 There were 2 movers, the “head moving guy” and I walked around my house as he asked me what I needed to have moved and I showed him and told and pointed out to him explicitly that I needed just mainly the heavy furniture items moved. That if there is any room or time I have some large bags/boxes but primarily first and foremost I needed the large furniture Items moved. At that time, I was running behind schedule and did not have a lot of the bags packed as my nephew was helping me throughout that morning. As soon as I told him what I needed and turned my back to finish packing the smaller items, clothing, etc. He and his mover began moving some bags and unpacked odds and ends. They had brought in some “wardrobe boxes” and started packing my sons toys and little unimportant items, etc. I calmly made him aware that again, he can ignore those things for now, just to please focus on the larger items. At this point he got an attitude with me and rolled his eyes and was like “Ok, Ok – that’s fine. But he was clearly not happy with my request. I go into the other rooms trying to pack up things ASAP with my nephew, I come out to the garage about a half hour later and notice that all they have taken are bags had been packed and put near my car in the garage that I had planned on moving myself with my nephew in my Jeep Cherokee and more loose small items, etc. I told him again that could they please just stick to the large furniture items because of time and space on the truck. He assured me that there would be space on the truck for all of the large items and with an attitude told me something like he has a way he was going to stack the items or had to stack them over my couches. I said OK but time was going and I really just need the large furniture items moved which by then they had grabbed a couple of mattresses and part of my bedroom set that was already disassembled and sitting near my front door. Then I went to pack more things with my nephew when I observed the #2 mover trying to carry out more bags and non-essentials and I told him “No – please, put down – I need big things moved only”. I understood that at that point, he did not (the assistant) know any English at all. I thought he could understand a little but he did not understand at all. For the 3rd time, I went to Alex the head mover and with a little force and attitude of my own I said “Look, my husband allowed me to hire you guys as a favor to me! I only needed the large furniture moved and I told you this over and over; but you keep moving little things and at this point, we are going to go over the minimum hours and my husband is angry with me – what’s going on!” He became even more agitated with me too and said “Ok – fine! However you want it!” I told him that the bags and boxes we are going to move ourselves that again, the reason they were hired is for the heavy and large furniture items and that the time is building and building that they need to be only from this point please only focus on large items only! I asked him about the refrigerator, so he came inside and moved it and a few other large items. Then my nephew asked about my recliner chair and mattresses that was left upstairs and Alex told him that there was no more room on the truck! I then went to Alex to make sure I was hearing correctly as at this point, there were T.V.s, mattresses, desks, a bookshelf, our washer and dryer in addition to the rest of my bedroom set, etc. that they still had not bothered to put on the truck! The main items I needed and listed for them to move – they hadn’t touched. I was angry at this point and went back out to Alex and he nonchalantly made me aware that there was no more room on the truck and that was that. I said ok – take off all of those other bags and small items I did not want you to move and repeatedly asked you not to move and the first place and make room for the large items I hired you to move and that I do not want to be charged for extra time for this. He told me he was not going to do that and I will need to call the office. So I called Irina irate and told her everything that was going on and she was sort of apologetic and told me that for this trip, even though the time will more than 3 hours, for the mistake and this trip, the price will stay that the 3 hour minimum charge of $228.00. And then I made mention about the rest of my things, and Irina said sorry if she had known, they would have came with a bigger truck. I then told her that for the items on the furniture list, for the things that I asked them to move again, the truck is big enough for those things but not for all of the things they continuously moved that they were not supposed to. So I said ok, I feel you guys hustled me for extra hours but at this point, you have me over a barrel so after they drop off this load at my new house, that I will call her and we will discuss a fair price to get the rest of my things for a second trip – Irina said ok fine. So when we get to my new house, they began unloading a few things off of the truck but then abruptly stopped and came in the new house and they head mover flung his clipboard at me and said “Pay me now that I owe $228.00 – pay me now please”. I said “Ok, wow! You guys finished unloading everything already?” He said no, but I must pay him now or they will not finish unloading the truck. So I said ok – finish unloading and I will pay you guys the $228.00 no problem. And he said no, that they will not unload or do anything else until I pay the $228.00. So I said “Ok, so you are going to hold my furniture hostage? You guys have not finished the job! Furthermore, you already messed up the move and moved a bunch of things I repeatedly asked you not to and left behind most of the larger items I asked you to move, so you finish unloading and when the job is done, which is normal anyway, I will pay you no problem. He said no. So I broke down in tears and called the Palmdale Police Station, told them what was going on and that they need to come out because this company is holding my furniture hostage. The police came and all of a sudden Alex who had been aggressive, dismissive and rude to me all morning became a meek angel and as the officers asked him to do, he unloaded the truck and I paid him in front of the officers in cash. I asked him if they were going to put the furniture in the rooms where they belong and not just leave everything dumped in the garage and Goldstar said no, that they are not going to move anything in place. The cops said that that was a civil matter I would have to take up in court so that was that. For $228.00 as my video shows, they hardly moved anything and left so much of my large items, the items I asked them to move per my emailed furniture list I sent them 2 days before behind in my old house. I was supposed to be out of my old house by 8/31/11. I was however able to call around and find other movers who moved the rest of my heavy/large furniture items Goldstar Moving left behind for $130.00 on the condition that I rent the moving truck. So I rented a budget truck for $86.34 which totaled $216.34.