Ameli Moving Cited, Fined, and Finally Forced to Pay Judgment

I last posted here on May 19, 2007, almost three months ago. At that time, Ameli Moving had refused to pay me my judgment from February. I posted the story below online in a few places and then sent a link to Ameli so they would see that there are consequences to their atrocious behavior. They were not moved.

Soon after my last posting I called the Small Claims Court to inquire as to how to enforce the judgment. They told me I would have to go to court in Sherman Oaks, where Ameli Moving is headquartered, in order to get the Writ of Execution that I would be able to use to go after their assets. Sherman Oaks is a couple of hours north of here. It appeared as though there was yet another obstacle in the way of my getting paid. The Small Claims Court Advisor did suggest that I dispute the charge with my credit card company. I thought it was probably too late to do so given that I had paid in November and it was then May - over 6 months after they had been paid.

I contacted American Express. They told me that I could dispute the exorbitant charge through them. I initiated the dispute. I also called the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which regulates movers in California.

The woman at the PUC was very helpful. She took down the information I gave her and asked that I send in my judgment. I did so. She told me that she was going to do what she could to get it enforced. Ultimately the PUC wrote a forceful letter to Ameli. Ameli immediately replied stating that American Express had their funds. This was a lie. American Express had paid them following the move in November. I certainly would have heard from them had that not been the case.

But since there was an ongoing dispute with Amex, I agreed to wait until their dispute mechanism had run its course. Five weeks later I received a note from Amex stating that they do not get involved once a judgment has been issued. Apparently the CSR that had taken my initial complaint at Amex did not know their policy.

I called the PUC and let them know. She told me that Ameli was claiming that Amex still had their money and ordered Ameli to pay me $100 for not providing me with the Moving Manual that they are required to give out at all moves. I protested, indicating that Amex never had their money. The woman at the PUC was very nice but she was mixing up dates and I began to think that she might not be as effective as I would have liked.

A few days later, I received a check from the PUC, made out by Ameli, to me, for $100. That was the penalty for omitting the Moving Manual. I called the PUC. They said that since Ameli had not been paid they could do nothing. Once again I was dealing with an Ameli lie. I faxed all the American Express information over to the PUC. However, the documentation I had just showed that I had paid almost $1,500 to American Express and that American Express was not going to assist me with my dispute. The PUC wanted proof that Ameli had actually received the money.

I wrote a letter to them suggesting that the only way to get that established was through American Express. And so the PUC went to American Express.

In the meantime, the PUC did cite and fine Ameli Moving for violations. They would not disclose the amount to me but they did indicate that the fine amount exceeded my judgment. The only details I could find about the citation can be found here.

The PUC contacted me and told me that they were in touch with American Express and would do what they could once American Express established my side of the story. They also told me that Elena clearly was aware of the PUC's limitations in terms of enforcement and that I might have to get the Writ of Execution and enforce it myself. I knew American Express would give them the truth but I wasn't sure that the PUC was going to go any further.

Then, in late July, over 8 months after the move, over 5 months after the small claims court judgment, I received an email from the PUC stating that they had heard from American Express, had been in touch with Ameli, and that a check would be forthcoming. I was elated! Surprised and doubtful... but cautiously optimistic.

I arrived home from a trip at the end of July to discover a check from Ameli Moving in the amount of the judgment.

The ordeal has been time consuming, unpleasant, but educational... not that it was an education that I really wanted. Ameli Moving is an awful company and, thankfully, I will never have to deal with their tactics again. Hopefully by posting this story I will help someone out there to avoid what I had to endure.