CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Have you done business with one of the five worst businesses in Charlotte?
Consumer investigator Bill McGinty has the list put out by the Better Business Bureau, and one woman’s cross country move headache from one of these businesses.
Desiree Pieprzyk decided to Get McGinty all the way from San Francisco to help get her stuff delivered.
Pieprzyk told NBC Charlotte her move from North Carolina to San Francisco was a nightmare; busted up boxes, clothing just dumped into wardrobe boxes, and the cost kept going up.
“It was $12,823 what they quoted me, but then when they got there, it was $15,000 and then I had to pay another $1,000 to get my things,” said Pieprzyk.
Pieprzyk is a new mom and said she was busy packing their house and tried to coordinate this move on the fly and save money. She acted quickly and chose Public Moving Services which was based at this apartment complex in south Charlotte.
Last summer, we called and knocked on the door of the address listed on the articles of incorporation for this company. Back then, no answer at any of the addresses listed.
We dug deep into this company and found they operated under several other different names, even moving themselves from Maryland to North Carolina.
By the end of last summer, they had changed their name again to 'Your Moving Company' and listed the same address as the other company, this apartment complex again. When we went by again, a woman opened the door but said she had no connection to the company.
When choosing a mover, there are two types of deals: a binding estimate which holds the price, and just an estimate, which gives the mover a lot of wiggle room to jack up the price.
Tom Bartholomy with the Charlotte Better Business Bureau said, “If they just give you an estimate, legally they can go 10% above that, but we’ve seen some of these characters go much higher than that and hold your goods hostage.”
Which is why Pieprzyk called NBC Charlotte. We eventually got in touch with the company by phone, and they assured us she’d get her stuff out in San Francisco. She did, but she had to pay that extra $1,000 bucks at delivery, or it wasn't coming off the truck.
Pieprzyk added, “More than anything, I just don’t want what happened to me to happen to someone else.”
According to the BBB, the other worst rated businesses in Charlotte in 2017 include the following: