Action 9

Action 9 helps local woman get her furniture back from mover holding it hostage

ORLANDO,Fla. — Action 9 helped a Winter Park woman end a four-week moving nightmare that left her sleeping on the floor.

She refused to pay a bill which was four times the estimate she got from her moving company, so the movers drove off with everything she owned.

“It took a lot to get to this stage?” asked WFTV consumer reporter Todd Ulrich.

“Oh my gosh it's been terrible, but here we are,” said an emotional Kimberly Smith.

Action 9 joined Smith at the storage unit where the moving company stored all her furniture it refused to deliver.

She finally had all her belongings back for the first time in a month.

“Seeing it is great.  It's my stuff,” said Smith.

She contacted Action 9 after Reliable Transportation One moved her from New York to Winter Park.

But at her new apartment, the movers demanded $4,500 cash not the 12-hundred estimate. When Smith protested, they drove away with everything.

“Every day I don't have my stuff, I can't work, it's put me farther and farther behind,” said Smith as she fought back tears.

Todd Ulrich contacted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that oversees interstate moves.

After federal regulators reviewed the company's estimates, and the final bill, the agency took action. It ordered the company to honor the $1,200 estimate and return her belongings or face a possible $10,000 fine.

“They felt there was negligence, and generally they were out of compliance,” said Smith

A week later the mover released the storage unit address and key.

Smith took a huge step toward starting her new life in Winter Park.

“I don't believe I would have gotten here this quickly without your intervention, so I appreciate it,” she said.

The moving company told us it did nothing wrong.

Action 9 has also contacted a local company that wants to offer Kimberly Smith a very low cost move from storage  into her new apartment.

She still lost a lot of money, but could recover some of that thanks to federal moving laws.