Congressional Rep never responds

[Anonymous]

My elderly mother had a moving company hold her belongings hostage until she paid 2-3 times the estimate and they won't giver her any info. They are known scam artists. She is not alone in this.

They won't release her belongings but charge crazy fees every day - it's $13,000 now because they don't respond and nobody can help us.

Anyway, I've called Rep Jamie Raskin's office for 5 months to try and get help. I just want a contact at the FMCSA or the DOT who can help.

They ignore calls, online messages on their site, Facebook, emails.

I finally got a response that they can't help (I know this isn't true and I know they didn't read our message)

I really like Rep Raskin and he likely doesn't know how unresponsive and dismissive the staff in his office is. But wow am I pissed off that my rep ignores me.

What would you do? I wouldn't pursue this if I had a lot of other options. I feel like it's our only hope.

[Anonymous]

Not sure I have a solution for you with congressional members but how about reaching out to your local TV stations? I mean let them know about the whole situation as opposed to the fact that Rep. Raskin's office didn't help (although it may come up in a conversation).

[Anonymous]

Would it help to contact a consumer protection agency?

Call the MD Consumer Protection Division Hotline at [phone] Mon. -Fri. 9am - 3pm.

[Anonymous]

I feel horrible for your mother, but what can your member of Congress do in this situation? They don’t have law enforcement capabilities. Have you been contacting their DC office or the district office?

[Anonymous]

This is not something a US Congressman can help with. I would start with at the county level, or state level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not something a US Congressman can help with. I would start with at the county level, or state level.

+1

Your congressional representative is who you call if you have an issue with Social Security, or the VA, or FEMA, or the IRS or something. You should contact the person who runs that consumer protection column in the WaPo, or the BBB, or your state Attorney General or Consumer Protection agency, etc.

[Anonymous]

For those of you saying a congressperson can't help, there actually is federal oversight of interstate moves through the federal motor carrier safety administration.

OP, I would suggest contacting your Senators if the Representative isn't being helpful. Calling the media, state attorney general, and perhaps hiring a lawyer to sue the moving company are all other options that might make sense.

[Anonymous]

you could tweet at pete buttigieg

[Anonymous]

Seems like you should call the police to report fraud, call the card holder service to cancel those charges and then cancel the card, and contact a lawyer who will send a threatening letter to the company to release the belongings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not something a US Congressman can help with. I would start with at the county level, or state level.

OP here.
Representatives can't help directly of course but their job is to connect us with federal and state agencies who can.
Because this was an interstate move, each state throws it to the other state. It needs a federal agency like the FMCSA but they don't track complaints, call back or do much of anything without a little prompting.
That's where Raskin's office could come in.

Be careful if you ever move. There really is little to no oversight. The mover told us he makes $50,000 a DAY alone in Zelle payments. He says he takes credit cards or checks but won't open the truck unless it's cash or Zelle. Them when he demands more than Zelle and Venmo will allow you to pay in a day, he holds the goods and charges thousands in storage fees until you can come up with the cash. But now the bill is double plus storage fees - even for a few hours.

It's been five months and this mover told us he makes so much money that even when he is fined $30,000 a week - it's doesn't matter. He just tacks it on to someone else's bill.

Consumer Protection is generally not helpful unless you are dealing with a business who has one rotten apple or there is a misunderstanding. They have no real enforcement power.

The mover has thousands of bad reviews so that's not going to help.

Yes I should have supervised this but my mom said her buyers wanted to move in early and this was the only mover who could do it on short notice so . . . . here we are.

We did call media and they got close but ultimately didn't run the story. I've gone to 4-6 media outlets (print and TV)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like you should call the police to report fraud, call the card holder service to cancel those charges and then cancel the card, and contact a lawyer who will send a threatening letter to the company to release the belongings.

Op again
He only takes cash and once he has the money, it's gone. We called police and they said they couldn't do anything. They came out and negotiated with the movers but that only helped a little. The mover added the cost back in again after the police were gone.
Movers know nobody is watching. We could sue but he just lies and creates invoices, fake signatures, you name it. He has this down to a science.

He loses his DOT# often but just gets a new one.

[Anonymous]

What moving company is this? I have a move coming up and the last thing I want is to be caught in this sort of nightmare.

So sorry you’re going through this. I hope you find help soon.

[Anonymous]

Generally the Congressional office acts as a liaison between the constituent and the federal department when there is a federal benefit in question (e.g. veterans benefits, Medicare question). This is normally handled by a caseworker in which there are on average 1-3 in a district House office. These folks are incredibly busy especially now with enhanced covid benefits.

However this seems like a criminal matter and they would refer you to law enforcement. This is not their area of expertise. Unfortunately you are the victim of a scam and this is currently a big one all over the country. Insurance can sometimes cover your stolen belongings.

[Anonymous]

Yes, please post the name of the company. What an absolute nightmare. I feel really bad for you and your mom- these people are criminals, and they're operating with impunity. There's gotta be a better way to keep these thieves in check. My brother was recently nearly scammed on a move as well. I say nearly because the idiots tripled the moving estimate not long before the move- they didn't have his possessions as ransom. He was able to book with someone else. Very stressful all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would it help to contact a consumer protection agency?

Call the MD Consumer Protection Division Hotline at [phone] Mon. -Fri. 9am - 3pm.

This is a great suggestion. I would also call the MD Attorney General.

https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/contactus.aspx