He Went Over the Inventory Three Times. They Still Doubled the Price.

This account was provided to a consumer advocate by the victim and shared with Trunk with permission. The consumer's name has been changed to protect his privacy.

Marcus R. found Safe Ship Moving Services through a Google search. They appeared as the number one result. At the time, he did not know Safe Ship was a broker with zero trucks and 404 NCCDB complaints. He did not read the reviews.

His girlfriend could not sleep one night and started reading reviews at 2 AM. She woke him up. The horror stories were consistent: price increases on moving day, belongings held hostage, companies that disappeared after collecting payment.

By then, Marcus had already sent a deposit of over $2,100.

The deposit was sent via wire transfer (ACH). Marcus did not realize at the time that Safe Ship requires wire transfers specifically because they are harder to reverse than credit card payments.

He went to his bank. He called other moving companies. They told him the money was gone.

A wire deposit is the moving fraud equivalent of paying in cash. There is no chargeback mechanism. No dispute process. Once the money leaves your account, the only way to recover it is to convince the company to return it voluntarily or to sue. The company knows this. That is why they require it.

After reading the reviews, Marcus called Safe Ship and told them directly: he had read the complaints, he knew about the price inflation pattern, and he did not want it to happen to him.

Safe Ship blamed the complaints on consumers, saying customers lie about their inventory. They said consumers claim to have 15 boxes when they actually have 30.

Marcus was determined to prevent this. He reviewed his inventory with Safe Ship a total of three times. He went item by item, three separate conversations, to ensure complete transparency. He was given an estimate of 600 cubic feet.

Safe Ship assured him there should not be any changes. If any problems arose, they said, call and they would resolve it.

Safe Ship is a broker. It does not own trucks. It dispatched Marcus's move to Petra Pro Movers, a carrier Marcus had never heard of.

The Petra Pro driver got out of the truck, glanced at the apartment without doing a full walkthrough, and announced: the move was not 600 cubic feet. It was 1,200 cubic feet. Double.

The bill increased by thousands of dollars instantly.

Marcus called Safe Ship. They answered, said they would handle it, and disappeared. No callback. No resolution. The broker that collected his deposit and reviewed his inventory three times was now unreachable.

The driver offered to reduce the charge by a few hundred dollars 'to calm him down.' It was the end of the month. Marcus had to vacate. He felt forced to proceed because walking away meant losing the $2,100 deposit he could not recover.

He paid.

Marcus's experience is not unusual. It is the business model.

The broker quotes low to win the booking. The deposit is collected via wire or cash to prevent chargebacks. The inventory is reviewed with the consumer to create a sense of thoroughness and trust. On moving day, a different company arrives. The cubic footage doubles. The broker becomes unreachable. The consumer, facing the loss of their deposit and a lease deadline, pays the inflated price.

This is not an estimate error. Going from 600 cubic feet to 1,200 cubic feet is not a miscalculation. It is a new quote disguised as a measurement.

Petra Pro Movers (DOT 3965858, Lexington KY) has its own complaint history. BBB complaints document the same pattern: a $3,000 quote becoming $6,000, an $8,500 quote becoming $16,000. Consumers have reported 30 boxes lost from a single shipment, a destroyed 75-inch television, and lost containers holding a loved one's ashes, passports, and financial documents. Petra Pro's FMCSA record is currently inactive.

Safe Ship Moving Services (DOT 3475743) has 404 NCCDB complaints, the most of any company in the FMCSA database. Its owner, Roger Vance, told a consumer protection nonprofit in a recorded phone call that he spends 'a million dollars a week on advertising.' That advertising is what put Safe Ship at the top of Marcus's Google search.

Marcus did more due diligence than most consumers. He confronted the broker about the complaints. He reviewed his inventory three times. He asked for assurances.

The one thing that would have changed the outcome: paying the deposit by credit card instead of wire. A credit card chargeback would have given him leverage to dispute the inflated charges and recover the deposit.

If you are booking a move:

1. Never pay a deposit by wire, ACH, Zelle, or cash. Use a credit card. 2. Look up the company on Trunk before booking. Check the complaint count, the complaint trajectory, and whether the company owns trucks. 3. If the company is a broker (zero trucks), ask which carrier will be assigned. Look up the carrier separately. 4. Get a binding estimate in writing. A binding estimate caps the price by federal law. 5. If the price changes on moving day, do not pay the inflated amount. Call FMCSA at 1-888-368-7238.