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Crime and JusticeCalifornia2 min read

California couple says mover doubled price mid-move and held belongings after disputed delivery

An Oceanside couple filed police reports after a mover doubled their rate and held belongings on a June route to North Carolina.

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OCEANSIDE, Calif., July 1 (Laguna Beach Daily) — A Southern California couple says a moving company doubled the cost of their interstate move and then kept their belongings after a disputed delivery attempt, leaving them without their possessions and filing police and consumer complaints.

John Nelson said he and his spouse hired a moving broker for a move from Oceanside, in San Diego County, to North Carolina under a contract worth more than $16,000. He said they paid a $7,000 deposit.

Nelson said movers arrived at the home at the end of May and then claimed there were more items than initially assessed, raising the price to $32,000. He said the couple could not agree to the new amount.

Nelson said the company later tried to deliver the shipment on June 3 even though the couple had told movers they would not be at the North Carolina address until June 10. After no one was there to accept the shipment, he said the company charged an additional redelivery fee.

He said video of the truck arriving made him suspect the delivery attempt may have been staged. “I suspect they just drove up with an empty truck to create a façade,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the couple filed police reports in Oceanside and in their destination city in North Carolina, and submitted complaints to the Better Business Bureau. The moving company was not named in the material reviewed, and no response from the company was included.

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Robert Therman

Raised in Bakersfield, California, Robert Therman is the Antelope Valley reporter for Times Media Service, based in Lancaster, California. Therman covers local news in Lancaster, Palmdale and Quartz Hill, including city government, schools, the aerospace industry, public safety, development and community life. Therman holds a master's degree in journalism.

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