The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is currently investigating a moving company after receiving more than 100 complaints.
Eric Ancheta and his fiancée, Christina, are among the dissatisfied customers of Presidential Moving LLC.
After their cross-country move two months ago, the couple is living a very simple life.
“This is the living room. As you can see, we have absolutely nothing in here,” said Eric Ancheta. “The kitchen is really bare. We did buy a few things essential to have.”
He's calm about it, but this modest lifestyle is not by choice.
“One of the things we did do, because we had to, we went out and bought a blow up mattress,” Ancheta said.
This is how life's been for Ancheta and Grady since December 3rd when Presidential Moving came to pick-up their stuff.
Ancheta hired the company after receiving military orders to relocate from California to the Pentagon. With little time and a budget, he selected the Texas-based company.
“They just kind of sold me on the fact that their price was not the cheapest but kind of the middle range and that they were a carrier company so they didn't contract out the work,” said Ancheta.
Then the red flags started surfacing. The company called asking for more money. On moving day, they came in an Enterprise rental truck, and when their stuff was all packed and loaded, their estimate skyrocketed.
The original estimate went from $2,700 to nearly $7,000.
When Ancheta tried to take it up with the front office, no one would answer or return his calls. The company never showed on the December 22nd delivery date.
Eleven weeks after moving day, Ancheta is at a loss.
“They don't tell us any estimate on when it might arrive, nothing,” said Ancheta.
He's lost his belongings, he's run out of resources, and he has zero answers. And his fiancée, who is traveling around the world on tour with Lady Gaga is beyond infuriated, stressing about their irreplaceable items and upcoming nuptials.
“We are for sure getting married officially in a ceremony March 25th and all of our wedding stuff is on that truck,” said Christina Grady.
Everything, including the ceremony's centerpiece.
“My mother's wedding dress, which I'm wearing,” said Grady.
The dress with the matching hat vanished along with the rest of her belongings.
“It's just been life-changing for the worst,” said Grady.
The couple filed reports with the Better Business Bureau, Attorney General, and police, however, it's the federal government that oversees and regulates interstate moves.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) handles household goods moving complaints and Presidential Moving has more than 130. The FMCSA says the company is under investigation. In the meantime, the company continues to operate nationwide.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has partnered with FMCSA to investigate complaints into the company. According to a Texas DMV spokesperson, the agency began investigating complaints in October 2017. They currently have 136 filed complaints, 89 of which they’ve investigated.
“They can't put a pause on their operation? They can't close them down? At least temporarily, take their license. There should be something done,” said Ancheta.
Desperate and paralyzed, Ancheta and Grady, along with many others are pleading with these movers to simply do what they were paid to do.
“We're literally just begging, just give us our stuff, yah know, so we can get our life back,” said Grady.
The FMCSA said they cannot comment on active investigations and declined our request for an in-person interview to discuss their complaints process.
No one from Presidential Moving LLC could be reached for comment.
If you'd like to learn more about how you can protect your move, click here. The FMCSA has a database that allows consumers to search authorized interstate movers' complaint history.
