Federal Moving Systems reviews and complaints

My wife and I moved from Alpharetta GA to PA, she went to Freedom, PA I went to Limerick, PA. These are at opposite ends of the State. Federal was to deliver my furniture then proceed to Freedom.

They arrived at the Alpharetta GA house in a U-Haul Truck (bad to start with but they already had our certified check). The movers were not professional movers. Federal subbed out the job to a guy named Keith. Keith then subbed it out to what appeared to me to be 2 day laborers. One of which admitted as much.

They where a week late with delivery, they actually went to NY first, unwrapped our furniture and put it in storage completed another job and then went to Freedom. By the time they got to me all my furniture was damaged or filthy dirty.

I have photo's. They got lost ended up in NJ. They arrived and stated they were out of gas, expected a tip and food. They could not explain all the damage except to say the furniture was in storage. They could not get on piece of furniture in the door and damaged the floor trying to do so.

I was so frustrated I told them to keep it and get out. I really don't expect Max, the owner of Federal, to do anything about this because he doesn't care. There are several complaints on this individual and company on the web. To bad I didn't see them before we went with this company. I WANT THE BBB TO MAKE CONSUMERS AWARE OF THIS GARBAGE COMPANY AND TO AVOID IT. I also complaint to the BBB this is it. I have no faith in the BBB either because this company had a B+ rating when we checked it.

After an extensive search for a Moving Company to move my household goods from Atlanta to Miami, I selected Federal Moving because of their B+ Better Business Bureau rating and their 4/16/09 Quote for $1, 157.42; I made a $201.23 down payment. During the quote process, I explained that my apartment was 1200 square feet and gave them an honest rundown of the items to be moved, and also let them know it was on the third floor. They also promised to store my furniture free of charge in Miami, until I was ready to take delivery. The pickup was scheduled 5/6/09. The truck arrived 5/6/09 at 10 am (late) to pick up my furniture. The truck was a rented truck with a magnetic sign attached to the truck - totally unprepared for the move. Since they did not have the necessary supplies (boxes, etc.) to move my household, they had to go to U-Haul to purchase the supplies further delaying the move. I watched them pack my furniture, take inventory and tag my goods. The pickup was completed late in the evening after 7 PM. After they finished packing the truck, the Driver ran my credit card and had me sign the receipt for the quoted amount. The driver instructed me that I must be present at the Miami storage facility to accept my furniture and sign off on the delivery receipt. However, Federal charged my Credit Card $2376.19 due to "overweight", 2.2x the original quote of 1, 157.42. The driver called my cell phone 2 hours after leaving and told me that he was headed to PA since he had to take time off for his girlfriend and that another driver would drive the truck back to Miami. In fact what happened is that they unloaded the furniture in their local storage facility and there were no other drivers available to deliver in Miami. Max, the owner, called to reassure me that my furniture was stored securely in his "personal" storage facility, and that I had nothing to worry about; I was not there to witness the unloading or storage facility security. In July 2009 I called Max to schedule furniture delivery in Miami for August 8-10. My son and his Fiancée drove down from Gainesville to help with the move. The delivery van never arrived, and we never received a call explain why or to reschedule. I called Max and was reassured that they would show. They never did. There were 3 subsequent promises to deliver - every scheduled date was missed. Finally on the fourth attempt, the delivery van arrived. When they delivered, they did not have the original inventory list, so I was unable to verify that all my goods that were picked up in fact were delivered. As I reviewed my delivery, I noticed that my 46" Samsung LN46A550 LCD TV was missing. I paid $1, 917.18 for the TV on 6/16/08. I also noticed significant damage to furniture purchased in May 2008 from Rooms To Go. The damaged furniture is valued at $608 for a total damage/theft claim of $2, 525.18. The damage claim + overcharges are $3, 945.15. I called Federal numerous times and emailed them with receipts and pictures of the damaged furniture. I was promised my Federal's Customer Service (Tim and Jasmine) that Max would make good on the damages. I called Max - he never returned any of my calls. Tim was subsequently let go. I called their customer service again, and spoke to another individual who promised to follow up and call me back. He never did.

I found it hard to understand how this company, rated a B+ with the BBB (which is why I chose them) would overcharge, damage, and steal my belongings to the extent of $4, 000 on a $1, 157 quote. I filed a claim with the BBB. After many months of wrangling back and forth, Max promised to reimburse me $1, 000 for the stolen LCD Flat Panel TV in 5 subsequent payments of $500 per month. HE NEVER DID THAT EITHER! Another promise broken.

I am still paying off the TV and household furnishings that Federal Moving Systems damaged and stole. The PA BBB sent me as letter apprising me of my options...take them to court. That option would require that I travel to PA, file the claim, and perhaps hire an attorney. The costs outweigh the potential outcome.

I would NOT RECOMMEND this moving company to my worst enemy. They stole my brand new LCD TV and damaged brand new furniture. They overcharged me and were late on their delivery. Max the owner refused to return my phone calls and make good on his promises.

I have read about many horror stories about moving companies on the internet, but I never thought I would fall victim to one since all my previous moves with reputable moving companies went flawlessly - they did what they said they would do and charged me according to their quote. This is the first time in many years of moving that I experienced not only financial loss but severe personal anxiety.

In conclusion, Federal Moving Systems cannot be trusted to perform as promised. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Interesting Blog!

http://movingscambusters.blogspot.com/2014/01/things-i-found-without-trying.html

Joshua M. Socher, Jodi Socher and Joey Pino were named in a lawsuit in Florida for using the name Ryder Moving and Storage. Judge Donald Middlebrooks signed an injunction against them on behalf of Ryder Systems Inc. on July 25, 2013. We actually received a bill of lading on Sept 21, 2013, with the name Ryder still being used.

Joshua Socher has Maxx Socher listed as a friend on his Facebook account, so I can only assume they are related. I am working with various law enforcement agencies to shed light on the deceptive business practices and the fraudulent way the Socher family seems to conduct business.

The best thing anyone can do is research the moving company and find out who actually owns it, then run a Google search on the owners to find the real truth on how they do business. You should always be able to find the owner through the State Attorney's office or the local BBB.

You should also run the DOT number through a search and find complaints. When the driver shows up, ask to see his ID before they load the truck and get the names of every person in contact with your belongings. Moving is stressful, but doing these simple little things can give you a ton of information later, when you need to file a police report of lawsuit.

My advice is this, if the owner of any moving company has the name "Socher" involved. RUN AWAY!

I have just had a very similar experience with Maxx Socher. He is currently with All Points Moving and Storage. Once I made a deposit on my move, he would no longer return my calls, nor did he call me when he told me he was going to. I must have left him 7 messages on friday, finally BEGGING him to call me back, and then another message on Saturday. Nada.. Driver was scheduled to pickup on Saturday, but called Friday afternoon saying that it was impossible, and he'd be there first thing in the morning Sunday. He called later to say that he would pick me up between 9 and 11, and he would call me a half hour to an hour before he arrived. I started to call him at 10:45 when I still hadn't heard from him. Got busy signals, or no answer and got a message that his voicemail was full. Then got a call from a different driver saying that he would be able to pick me up that day... other driver had family emergency. .. and it would be best if I paid in cash. I then called and texted Maxx on his cell, saying that I needed him to contact me as I was very uncomfortable with how things were going.. No answer. I wound up calling my credit card co who agreed with me that this sounded fraudulent and refunded my deposit. Driver no 2 showed up a couple of hours later in a Penske Rental truck, although I believe he said he was with Allied Van lines.. I told him I was cancelling. He said I should speak to his supervisor, who turned out to be Driver #1 and tried to convince me that I was making a big mistake by cancelling and that my deposit would not be refunded. I sent them away.. Have not felt this stressed out in a long time.. if ever...

Maxx Socher and Joshua Socher as well as Chris and Robert Michalski are scammers. Federal Moving Systems is a scam company. They probably don't even operate other this company name any more. My dealing with these people are via Zooz Transportation (previously Mainline Moving and Storage). They keep changing company names to avoid the bad reviews.

They're currently being investigated by numerous agencies. Whatever business name they're operating under at this point is a scam. Do not trust these people. We (a bunch of victims of these people) are currently working on a class action lawsuit against the entire group (there's quite a few of them). Also related to this group is Shawn/Leon/Shimon/Tom Sasson (all fake names), Rafhael Sasson, Eric Thomas/Oren Osaden, and numerous others. If you've been scammed by these people, please contact me at eric@mangler.org.

We've tracked this group through various companies in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Las Vegas. Also, Maxx works at Al Hendrickson Toyota in Coconut Creek, FL if anyone wants to pay him a visit. These people are going down.

the gentleman above is Sean Manely. You were set up for a pickup of saturday with a BACKUP date of sunday. WE ARE NOT AT FAULT HERE. I will not allow people to come on and bash our company when we jump through hoops to help out customers such as yourself. I even included packing materials and extra fees in the price. Please stop the slander!
-Maxx Socher
GENERAL MANAGER
Federal Moving Systems Inc.

i have been moved by federal systems in fl by a man named Ken, who promissed me a smooth transaction. i got everything but a smooth transaction. my move date kept gettin pushed back, on the day of the move i couldnt reach anyone at the numbers that was. the next day i was lied to by a man named max socher who claimed 2 be a supervisor who hung up on me twice . i dont recomend them to anyone.

Like the comment below me. Four different times set to pick up. We were told we would be the only customers on the truck. Upon arrival 1/4 of the truck was full. Causing them to Leave behind over $5, 000 worth of my items. For they would not fit on their truck. They Insisted on being paid in cash prior to unloading the truck. Even though contract states I could pay with credit card etc. Moving out of state does not make for easy access to get your hands on that much cash. Called online # for days and got no return phone calls. I also dealt with a Chris Mischkowski to arrange the move. He was sweet as pie. Telling me how they are so much better than all the other moving companies. Once deposit was paid he was no longer available to speak to me. Deposit was told it was not going to be charged to my card it was to hold the availability. They charged that $500. hold fee to my debit card. Many items arrived broken. Moving is very stressful...but they made this move a complete nightmare. I will be filing an official complaint as you all should do. Here is a site to do so Safersys.org. I will also be contacting an attorney to fight this out in court. Don't trust them bringing you to the better Business Bureau reports. Movers are not reported there. They are reported to the web address I gave you above. Shady... # is not even available to call any longer and it has only been two weeks. Awful experience...having all your belongings being held hostage by the movers of this company.

I hired Federal Moving Systems to move my household goods from Michigan to Georgia. On the contract we had my delivery was scheduled between the 13th and 16th of October. I did not receive my items until the 20th. I was told each day that my items would be delivered the next day or the day after. I was given several reasons why my items were delayed, these included additional pick ups and deliveries and taking the truck in for service. I was also in contact with the driver who told me that there was another driver who was taking over for him and would be driving the truck down to Georgia with my stuff, this was not true. The day my items were getting delivered it was the original driver who called me and told me he was back to driving the truck. Every time I spoke with the driver or Chris I was given another excuse why my items were not being delivered when they told me.

Another issue I had was with their billing. When my items were picked up in Michigan my credit card information was taken, I was told that my card would not be charged until I signed the paperwork when I received my items. This was not the case. My credit card was charged on the 15th and my items were not delivered until the 20th. I was very surprised when my card was charged because Chris had asked me if I could pay the driver in cash or with a money order. Chris did tell me that they could reverse the charges on my credit card.

Yeah ok... whatever..Federal Moving System scammed me and stood me up the DAY i was scheduled to move OUT OF STATE..house packed up...i paid my deposit weeeeeeeeeeeks in advance...so im not buying that.. im sure that last comment was fixed! anyway...LET THE RECORD SHOW...FEDERAL MOVING SYSTEMS IN ALLENTOWN, PA did refund my deposit they stole from me after many online complaints..so im grateful for that...last thing i'll say is Buyer Beware!

Hello,

I am a customer of Federal Moving Systems. I was orginally with a different mover, Budget Vanlines, they had me for pick up and called to tell me "they could service my job". I was left with a few days from my move. I frantically called other companies and could not get a mover to pick me up. I then reached Federal Moving Systems, the salesman Rick had contacted the dispatch department to see if he could get a truck to my area, with in 15 minutes he arranged that to be possible. I couldn't believe it, they actually arranged the move me on only 2 days before I needed to be out of my home.

I have to say Federal Moving aren't scammers, they are an excellent company that moved me. I had gotten calls from them 24 hours before the move. During the day of the move they arrived an hour late, but still for me that was on-time. I was so happy that this move was finally over and I could get back to a normal routine. 2 days later their driver called me, informed me that they arrived with in the area and when he be here. The guys unloaded my belongings and moved all of the stuff in the rooms they gotten from orginally in my old home. I was just so happy and relieved that this had finaly ended.

Now I am moving again and searched for a company, so I googled moving companies. I had forgotten about what Federal did for me and when I seen them, I had give them a call, and now I am moving with them all over again. With my career I have to move alot for different projects that come up in my feild. I am an aerospace engineer, and when it comes to various defense contracts, my company will have me all over the country.

-Bill