81% Price Gouging at Pickup
I contracted with Real Time Relocation to move my personal belongings from the Phoenix area to Pine Bluff, Arkansas on September 11, 2025. The contract was good for a period of 18 months. The cargo volume of 1200 cubic feet was based off of my storage unit contents 10 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and stacked 6 feet high. This description of the cargo volume was the basis of our agreed moving estimate of $4400. A partial deposit of $500 was paid at that time. This description of cargo was reviewed once again on May 11, 2026 when I paid the remaining $900 of the deposit and scheduled pickup for May 18, 2026. Two pickup locations were recorder and agreed on, along with the delivery location. On the morning of May 18, 2026 a 26 foot cargo truck from NJ Moving arrived to pick up my cargo and fulfill the agreement. The representative started to evaluate the cargo from my residence and indicated that it was nearly half my 1200 cubic feet. At that time I informed the representative that we had a huge problem because this was less than a forth of that in my storage unit. That's when I leaned that they were only measuring the square footage on the floor and multiplying that times the 9 foot ceiling height of the truck. At that point the NJ Moving representative handed me his phone with whom he had been speaking. The manager, Sam, indicated that they needed to rewrite the moving estimate for 2000 cubic feet at $7965, an increase of 81%. I refused and they indicated that I would lose my full $1400 deposit. The conversation and negotiations went on for over three hours and they expanded to include a junior level person at Real Time Relocation and a senior manager, all named Sam. I explained that I couldn't afford their increase and that they had many opportunities to question the shipping volume in the early stages of writing up the agreement. I stated multiply times that my previous experience in moving across the country the mover had utilized the entire height and volume of the cargo trailer/truck. So, I was expecting the same level of expertise in loading the actual 1200 cubic feet of cargo when I made the agreement. I, also, stated that I would not have contracted with them if they would have used their method of load volume calculations in the beginning, since it would have been outside of my budget. They refused to refund my deposit because they said that I refused services. I didn't refuse services, but I refused their rewriting of the contract at an 81% increase. Beware of this price gouging tactic. So far, I've contacted AZDOT, AZDPS, and the Arizona Attorney General's office to file complaints.
