DENVER -- A Littleton widow thought a moving company would help her out, but instead, she said, they held everything she owns hostage, charging her triple the original estimate for the move.
"I just trusted them too much. I thought they were honest," said Kathy Scott. "I think they just saw a single woman and thought, 'We'll just take advantage.' And they did."
When Kathy Scott became a widow, she said, Colorado became too expensive, and she decided to move closer to family in Goodyear, Arizona. Moving, though, was easier said than done.
"I just feel like I got incredibly ripped off," she said, beginning to cry.
She has all the paperwork in order.
MidAmerican Moving contacted her and gave her an estimate for about $2,200, which sounded like a bargain. MidAmerican contracted the job to AM-Movers, which Scott said loaded everything she owns into a truck. Afterwards, she said they gave a revised estimate of $6,800 -- more than triple the initial price.
She said her things were being held hostage, so she signed.
"I was crying and I said, 'I can't believe you're trying to charge me this much," said Scott. "He said, 'I talked to my boss and this is what we need, and if you don't pay us we'll keep your things in storage.'"
Her daughter, Jessica Scott, saw it all go down.
"Angry, very angry they would take advantage of her that way," said Jessica Scott. "That was their business practice to wait until they had your things until they told you how much it was going to cost."
Neither moving company would comment on camera, but both said Kathy Scott had more items than she had told them and that she signed the revised estimate before the truck was loaded.
"He is absolutely lying," said Jessica Scott. "They did not give us the revised estimate until the truck was loaded and about to drive away."
In general, similar moving scams are so common, the Better Business Bureau warns about price quotes based on weight, also recommending:
- Make sure pick-up and delivery dates are spelled out
- Don't pre-pay or make a large deposit
- If a company won't return your items without more money than you agreed to, contact law enforcement.
For more tips, click here.
Kathy Scott said the three-day delivery she was promised took three weeks instead, and that things were either missing and damaged.
She doesn't want anyone else to go through what she did.
"I just wish I had been better informed," she said.