I recently took the plunge and moved from Toronto to Miami (Aventura), where I picked up a super bargain in a fabulous condo building overlooking the Turnberry Isle Golf Courses and within walking distance of the famed Aventura Mall.
It took a lot of research during 4 seperate trips back and forth to the area as there are many pitfalls with condo associations in some serious financial trouble due to the non-payment of Maintenance charges and Special Assesments by those in Foreclosure or about to be foreclosed on...
It started out rather shakely as our personal goods, which were part of a consolidated shipment, were turned back at the border, as the moving company had not properly vetted the paperwork of another client on the same truck.
The final result being that the moving company delivered our goods 10 days late, forcing us to stay in a hotel and have breakfast, lunch and dinner in restaurants.
To add insult to injury when they finally did show up, they refused to honour my "Guaranteed Not To Exceed" contract and refused to unload unless we paid an additional $1,000. Pure extortion.
Given that I had to sign the credit card voucher, VISA said to be unable to dispute this blackmail charge. We are in the process of raising some hell about this tactic, which apparently is rather commonplace with non-professional movers. Our options however appear to include notifying the US Department of Transportation, hopefully resulting in their future vans being turned back at the border on a regular basis, as well as Consumer Affairs both in Canada and in Florida, given that it is illegal under the Consumer Protection Act to exceed a moving quote by more than 10%, even if the contract was not a "Guaranteed not to exceed", but one based on actual weight.
Buyer beware. Contact me before you select your movers and I'll keep you updated in a future Blog on further developments.
Meanwhile we love our new home and having the great satisfaction of walking around in shorts and shirt sleeves, while those we left behind in the North East are suffering winter's hardships!
