Queens Couple Who Relocated From Arizona Still Waiting For Moving Truck Full Of Belongings To Arrive 2 Months Later
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Moving to the Big Apple has turned into a big nightmare for a couple from Arizona.
They loaded all their stuff onto a moving truck back in November, and now, two months later, they're living out of suitcases, uncertain if it will ever arrive.
Working from home out of a lawn chair and sleeping on an air mattress isn't exactly how Amy Newberg and Martine Danel planned to make their 34th Avenue apartment "home."
"I bought the air mattress right before we arrived here, just thinking, oh, in case there's a few days overlap," Newberg told CBS2's Lisa Rozner.
Well, now it's been eight weeks.
"I haven't been able to work in two months because I don't have my instruments. I'm a musician," Danel said.
On Nov. 18, belongings from their Phoenix apartment were packed up by Flash Moving and Storage, Inc., headquartered in Los Angeles.
"They packaged all of our stuff very carefully ... It went smoothly," Newberg said.
Just one week before the big move, Newberg realized she was dealing with two companies, not one.
She initially received an estimate from Allstate Moving and Storage, Inc., based in Delray Beach, Florida, and paid them about $2,500.
She then noticed the contract said Allstate is a "moving coordinator." A moving coordinator that chose Flash, but she only learned it was Flash 24 hours before moving day. Newberg then had to pay them about $1,800.
"That was not apparent to me on the phone," she said. "They had said that typically, the process takes about three to ten business days."
The contract clarified, "The carrier ... has up to 30 business days to deliver the household goods" or else it would owe the customer late fees.
"But they said that it was very rare that that would happen," Newberg said.
Newberg and Danel haven't received any money back and few updates.
They say Flash told them the driver would leave around Thanksgiving and again around New Year's, but the driver wanted to spend time with his family so there would be a delay.
Newberg says they also said, "The truck was having mechanical issues ... They have said that it's in California, but they have not given us a location either."
At the company's Los Angeles address, there is no sign of moving trucks. It's an apartment complex.
No one at Flash returned CBS2's voicemails, text messages or emails.
Newberg says Allstate told her they've also had difficulty reaching Flash.
We called Allstate's customer service department.
"What kind of vetting does your company do?" Rozner asked.
The person said "I'm not really sure" but that he'd been in contact with the couple daily.
"Have you had issues reaching the company before?" Rozner asked.
He said "No" and in part that "the issue ... is Amy and Martine are very unsatisfied, and they don't understand the logistics of their delivery."
"So I think the lack of communication really makes me worried that people are doing this intentionally. I try to have the best of intentions for people and I just feel taken advantage of," Newberg said.
"Just give us our stuff. That's all we want," Danel said.
The couple is not alone. Dan Kershner says a different moving broker hired Flash when he moved from Washington state to Virginia last year.
"And then it took three months," Kershner said. "There's no regulation, in my opinion. It's just completely terrible."
Twenty-seven people have complained to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration about Flash since 2020, but the agency didn't respond to our multiple emails asking if it would take action.
The Better Business Bureau gives Flash an "F" rating and advises customers always ask upfront, is the company a mover or a broker?
"'Cause a broker's gonna take your specs, send it out to all these movers to try to get somebody to accept your move," said Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the BBB of Metropolitan New York. "You wanna get at least three written estimates ... They're gonna offer you insurance by weight, which frankly covers just about nothing. What you wanna go for is the full value insurance, which covers the replacement cost of the item ... If you have anything valuable, um, you know, jewelry, family heirlooms, anything that's really irreplaceable, you don't wanna put that in the truck. You wanna make other arrangements ... If they ask you for things that are unreasonable, like a big upfront deposit, if they ask for it in cash, you don't wanna do that."
For now, Newberg and Danel are living a tentative lifestyle -- cooking with one pan they bought on Black Friday and using a kettle loaned by a coworker, holding out hope their items come soon.
UPDATE (1/14/22): Moving Truck Full Of Queens Couple's Belongings Finally Arrives After 2 Months Of Waiting
Days after we contacted Flash, the company told Newberg the truck left California on Monday and would arrive in four to six days depending on weather.
As for Allstate, the moving broker, we did follow up asking to speak with the owner, but no one got back to us.
Editor's note: This story first appeared on Jan. 13.