Textbook Bait And Switch
TL;DR get labor-only movers and a U-haul if you see this in time. After calling around to a few different moving companies and getting outrageously expensive (to me, at least) quotes, I found Amerisafe. I spoke to one of their salesmen who was professional and helpful. What stuck with me was how he said, "I'm sure you want this to be the last call you have to make, so I'll see how close we can get to the price you're looking for." I told him my budget, and he worked with me until we came to a number that sounded reasonable--i.e., giving a discount for having my own TV box and mattress bag, and another discount for being flexible on the exact date, etc. It seemed like a very thorough, informative call. I looked over the quote sheet, which reflected the number he told me. And then I made a mistake: I paid a 33% deposit before looking up the reviews online, something I make a point to never do. I'm not sure what it was about this time--this sales guy was good, that's all I can say. He told me as long as there wasn't a grand piano or something like that I hadn't mentioned, everything would go smoothly. I got off the call feeling like a weight had been lifted off. Fast forward to yesterday, 2 days before the move. I got a call from "Quality Assurance" and was asked to go over my items again. I quickly realized the original sales guy had not included an exhaustive list of my things in my quote, and by the end of that call the price had nearly doubled. For reference, we added my bed frame, a couple of living room chairs, and a cat tree. Boom, price doubled. I told the guy the new price completely changed things for me, and that honestly I felt like I'd been scammed, since the deposit was also non-refundable. He said he understood and he would talk to his managers. I did see they had taken a little bit off of the updated quote as a "manager's discount," but my trust in the company was gone. What was stopping them from just adding another $1000 if none of these quotes were binding? That was when I started looking around online and realized Amerisafe is famous for holding people's things hostage, jacking prices way up at the last second (when it's "too late" to hire other movers), and adding on surprise fees. My favorite is the Facebook group specifically for people who have been scammed by this company. So I had to choose: walk away and lose my 33% deposit, or stick with them, pay WAY more, and hope they don't continue to add on crazy amounts of money. The latter felt too risky to me, so I went with the former. They did agree to refund me a small portion of my deposit...in exchange for agreeing in writing not to sue. That's a good sign, right?