Florida sues Palm Beach County moving companies accused of bait-and-switch scams

WEST PALM BEACH — A network of South Florida moving companies is accused of multiplying prices on the day of customers' scheduled move and holding their belongings for ransom. A lawsuit against the owner claims he defrauded clients across the country out of more than $1 million since 2018.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued Palm Beach County resident Richard Falcone after investigating the complaints of at least 150 jilted customers. They described a pattern of unscrupulous business practices by Falcone's companies: Alliance Moving and Storage, based in Boca Raton; American Wide Relocation Inc. and American Movers and Storage, based in Lake Park; and First Priority Van Lines, based in West Palm Beach.

Each markets itself as an interstate moving company but acts instead as a broker — a sales company that books a person's move and sells the job to an actual moving company, with whom customers have no contact or knowledge of. By using low estimates to entice customers and broken promises to burn them, Moody said Falcone violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

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Several customers accused Falcone of quadrupling the price after their possessions had already been hauled into trucks. Others said movers never arrived to perform the scheduled move, and Falcone subsequently ignored requests to reschedule or be refunded.

Others said Falcone offered a 48-hour cancellation period but would take no calls or emails from customers during that window. Many said they received their goods late. A portion said they never got them at all. A Better Business Bureau Review of Alliance Moving and Storage shows similar complaints.

"The worst moving company ever," one person wrote. "Our price more than quadrupled from the original estimate."

Movers held belongings for cash ransoms, customers say

Falcone has not responded to the allegations in court filings, nor does he have an attorney listed. In 2021, a class-action lawsuit filed in Colorado allowed anyone who hired Alliance Moving and Storage to file a formal complaint. The lawsuit sought to "hold defendants and all those involved accountable for the maximum legal and equitable relief for defrauding the consuming public."

That lawsuit accused Falcone's company, Alliance Moving and Storage, of holding customers' belongings hostage for cash ransoms. Customers said they were not told where their belongings were for several months and eventually informed they had gone missing.

"Alliance then acts as if it is intervening to find the property, but later denies liability," said Colorado attorneys Matthew Osborne and Christopher German. "The property is often damaged or ruined when and if the consumer gets it back."

In July 2023, the court granted a motion for default judgment against Alliance, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs because attorneys for Alliance failed to respond or defend themselves in the case​. Moody's office has also filed a motion asking Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Carolyn Bell to enter a default judgement against all the defendants.

Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Alliance Moving, other Palm Beach County companies sued by Florida for fraud