On June 21, 2010 we contracted with Direct Focus Transportation, Inc. (Order #: 00709010) in the amount of $6,835.80 to move our Household Goods and vehicle from Lantana, Florida to Glendale, Arizona on July 9th, 2010. We were told the move would be provided by their trucks and their employees. The payment for the deposit in the amount of $ 3,740.00 was processed on June 25, 2010, as the merchant was having trouble processing the American Express charge. We tendered an American Express card and was informed that their payment gateway was down, and that we should use PayPal, and they sent us a PayPal invoice. All invoices and their website (www.directfocustransportation.com) have the 7900 Redfield Road address and DFT’s USDOT and MC number. We attempted to contact Direct Focus on July 1st to let them know that they could move the vehicle earlier than the move date of July 8th. Our phone calls were unanswered. On July 3rd, we became concerned and attempted to physically locate and visit Direct Focus (DFT) at the address on the contract (and the website) of 7900 E. Redfield Road #120, Scottsdale, AZ 85256. We found that the address does not exist.
We then contacted the US Department of Transportation only to find that the U. S.D. O.T. number (USDOT 1427557) and Motor Carrier (MC 514907) Numbers/licenses were revoked in 2006. The number is associated with a “sister company of Direct Focus”, 1st Delivery Arizona, which is also noted on their website..
We left several urgent messages and their employee, Dan, with whom we had contracted for the move, informed us that the owner Eric had been advised of our request for refund and he would do what he could to get a refund of our deposit. We contacted Pay Pal and AmEx (our PayPal account is linked to our American Express credit card). We opened charge disputes with both firms, to get our deposit credited back to our account.
We were told by Dan at DFT that we could not get a refund because any cancellations had to be made within 72 hours of the placement of the deposit, and that we would not be entitled to a refund. DFT did not dispute the fact that the address was ficticious and that the USDOT and MC licenses were revoked.
On July 9th, the move date, DFT did not show up with a truck at our loading point, and when pressed, Dan of DFT said that no truck showed up because we had requested a refund and he had cancelled the move (which he did not respond to the fact that they did not accept cancellations after 72 hours). We contracted for another moving firm, and because of the short notice, the costs were higher to secure another mover.
To this date, we have not received our credit from PayPal or AmEx, nor have we received a refund from from DFT. Anything you can do to assist us in getting our deposit, and preventing others from going through the emotional and financial battle that we have with DFT.
Copies of all contracts and correspondence are available by contacting RK Kliebenstein, at 561 676-6122 x84 or eMail, rk@askrk.com.
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