A woman who alleged a moving company lost or damaged her belongings voluntarily dismissed the complaint.
Plaintiff Solei Dyment filed a motion for voluntary dismissal on Nov. 14 through attorney Mark Goldenberg of Goldenberg Heller & Antognoli PC in Edwardsville.
Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth granted dismissal without prejudice on Nov. 20.
Dyment filed the complaint on April 19 against Cross Country Movers LLC, doing business as Affordable Movers, Ohad Guzi, Giovanni Guzi and Doe Defendants, alleging they violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
Dyment alleged that Affordable Movers represented that it has been granted registration number 1223973 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
However, she alleged that registration number is associated with Four Star Transportation Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. But there is no Four Star Transportation Inc. registered with the North Carolina Department of State. Further, Four Star Transportation Inc.’s authority to transport goods was revoked by the Department of Transportation on Nov. 22, 2017, for failure to pay a fine.
Dymant’s complaint states that she was unable to locate an entity with the legal name of Four Star Transportation Inc. that was active at the time of the alleged incidents.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff began planning for her family to move from Edwardsville to Florida in early 2017. In April 2017, she contacted the defendants to obtain a quote for the cost to move furniture and personal belongings. She allegedly consulted with “Michael,” a senior consultant with Affordable Movers. She was quoted a “binding estimated total cost” of $6,750.
Dymant then hired the defendants to move the belongings to Florida on May 5, 2017. She made an initial down payment of $2,012 on April 17, 2017, the suit states.
After the initial quote and down payment, the plaintiff allegedly sold some of the property, including two four-wheelers.
Michael represented to the plaintiff that she would see the price drop at least $300 because some items were sold, the suit states.
Then on May 5, 2017, the defendants allegedly picked up Dyment’s belongings, which were to be safely stored until the plaintiff’s family could settle into their new home.
However, after loading the plaintiff’s family’s belongings into a truck, the defendants informed Dyment that she would be charged $11,431.84 and demanded partial payment of $5,990.28, the suit states
Because her property was already loaded and the family had to vacate the home by the next day, the plaintiff made the payment, the suit states.
On June 2, 2017, Dyment claimed she requested delivery of her family’s belongings to their Florida home. She was told that delivery would take place within 21 business days.
The defendants made a partial delivery of the plaintiff’s items in mid-June 2017 with a second partial delivery on June 22, 2017. The defendants allegedly demanded payment of $3,429.56 before unloading the belongings.
After the second delivery, Dyment alleged her family had only received about one-third of their belongings.
She claimed she made several complaints. The defendants promised to look into the complaints and get back to her, but failed to do so, the suit states.
A third partial delivery was made on July 15, 2017. However, she claimed several items were still missing, including a cedar chest filled with personal memory items, an antique display chest, collector art pieces and a box containing her son’s personal belongings.
She also alleged several items were damaged, including a gun safe, workout equipment, office furniture, and bedroom furniture, among other things.
“Altogether, defendants charged plaintiff $11,431.84 for the move despite defendants’ promise to complete the move for $6,200, defendant’s delays in delivering plaintiff’s belongings, defendants’ failure to deliver some of plaintiff’s belongings, and the damage caused to some of plaintiff’s belongings by defendants,” the complaint stated.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 18-L-514