"Avoid Being Scrammed"

Yeah, I think Florida Southwest Van Lines meant to word that slightly differently. Your best bet: if you ever encounter Tevel Bennoon and one of his crooked companies, tell him to scram.

By the way, watch out for more name changes. The website's main page already uses the subtitle Florida Movers. Watch out as Tevel tries different names out for a test drive, such as Palm Bay Movers, Gainesville Movers, and St. Augustine Movers.

Some less-than-satisfied customers

Here are a few complaints found at Consumer Affairs. Suffice it to say, don't hire this company, unless you want mayhem. William of Gainesville:

The driver and assistant loaded my furniture onto the truck, drove 4 miles and then demanded $180 additional money. The quote was $503 and they wanted $683. I called the office and they said "travel expense". While I went to the bank, they unloaded the furniture and left gouges, marks and smudges all along a twenty-foot entry wall which had just been newly painted by the condominium. I was threatened with "we will drive away with your furniture on the truck" if you do not come back with the additional money.

I have five pieces of furniture which were too heavy for me to lift, moved by them and they damaged my bed frame, desk, couch (which left the gouges and smudges on the wall) and my armoire is unable to open and close. They refuse to answer letters or email and sent me a settlement of $150. Stay away from these thieves. The drivers were trained to take your furniture hostage and demand more money. Once the furniture is on the truck, you are helpless.

 Janet/Eva:

It was a nightmare of an experience. This company was subcontracted by World Wide Van Lines. My mother moved from Florida to Minnesota. Her belongings were picked up by Florida Southwest Van Lines on September 27, 2011. Today is November 8, 2011 still no delivery. Tevel requested 75% of the money to be collected, before delivery could be set up. We paid the $3,083 balance. He Lied.

Eva is 88 years old. This company has taken everything my mother owned. I reported this to BBB. I received no response from the company. I have found information online, about this company, after the fact. If you get your things back, you are lucky. You contact agencies for help, but everyone is afraid of Florida Southwest Van Lines. They are not held accountable for their actions.

As I've read, "If you want a living nightmare, this company is for you". We are trying to replace some of the items, but they have the personal items with sentimental value, that can't be replaced. We have contacted Attorney General, and the Ocala Police, so far no results. You pay to "move" your things.

Instead they take, and hold your things. Don't worry, they will sell them back to you in the end. You have to pay another hefty price to receive you items back.

My Mother lost everything! Her belongings are being held somewhere. Despite the payment we made, Florida Southwest Van Lines/liar Tevel, has taken yet another person's belongings, to eventually auction off. I will continue to file complaints. Next is with DOT and AMSA. 

Barbara:

This company was hired to move my grandmother's things from Florida to Maine. She paid them $2,315.00. She was supposed to receive her things within the week. It has been a month and a half, and this company has not delivered her things. She has called the police and nothing has been done yet about this. She has been promised day after day that her things will arrive. Now, the company won't even speak to me. They keep hanging up on me.

They took everything she has worked her whole life for. She is an 86 year old woman and now has nothing. She doesn't work, so replacing her things won't come easy, not to mention, the sentimental items. This company needs to be stopped. What they are doing can't be legal.

Janet:

Curt ** had made a contract with a woman whom had worked at Southwest Florida Vanlines, Inc., and our original estimate to move one bedroom set, one dresser, and numerous bins and file boxes came to $1,200.00 (twelve-hundred dollars). He was informed that if the weight was a little more than, only then would we be charged of any extra fee. When I spoke with Sharleene **, the woman who Curt had made the contract with, I asked her straight out if there would be any hidden charges or fees, and her exact words were, "Nope, you're all set!". So, the truck showed up on May 31st to pick up our items. When they were through, I was told that they still had to drive back to Ocala and put our things on a smaller truck. When they were in the house, I googled earth to show them where they were to take our things in LaFollette, Tennessee, neither of them took a look at the page.

After loading, they sat in front of the 50-foot trailer we lived in (their truck was 52 feet long, longer than the trailer we lived in). Needless to say, when we arrived in Tennessee, they demanded $1,700.00 (seventeen-hundred dollars in cash) before they could make the delivery. They also told us that they could not get the big semi-truck they brought our items on, up to the house. Curt gave them the cash and they were going to leave, but I phoned the Sheriff's Department. The driver and rider acted very sketchy and after the deputy left, they took our things to Jacksboro, the next city over, and shoved all our items off the truck (damaging a lot of things). There were 3 (three) different contract numbers, the one that I signed was blank, until after they loaded the truck. There were no weight tickets, there was also absolutely nothing in the original contract about this, and the day they picked our items was the day I was informed that Sharleene ** was terminated. She is the one that we struck the deal with and made a contract with. This complaint is just the short of a long line of documentation, photos, and videos that we possess.

We have contacted the D.O.T., as well as several other entities. This is not over. I contacted the Sheriff's Department in Ocala, Florida, and when I spoke with the officer, he told me, "I thought we had taken care of this business, but I guess they are at it again". I certainly hope that anyone who makes plans to move, should make a research on any and all companies they might consider dealing with. This Tevel ** has operated under several different names, the B.B.B. cannot even verify an address for this company. There are so many numerous complaints out there regarding this company, who rip people off!

Beware! The Consumer Affairs told us that we were lucky to have even gotten our items. Do not use this company! They will do to you, what they have done to us!

Jermaine (former employee):

I was hired by this company a couple months ago, but I have worked before that at least 5 years. I noticed all kinds of messed up things about the company, like ripping people off of their money. I actually have seen the owner boost up the price on a elderly woman. The older lady was crying because she couldn't believe how much her bill came out to be. It started at $6,500; then at the delivery it went up $20,000. That's not right to the people that are working in paying the money for a proper move.

This guy that goes by the name of Tevel ** also goes by three other names also, so he's a not a honest person to do business with or work for. I worked a whole month with this company and when it was time for me to get my check, he called the police on me and had a trespassing put on me. Working for this company, I never received. Now I'm been forced to move out my apartment and I'm now living on the streets. That's not right at all. If a man works, he must get paid.

The final complaint is by someone who's already been mentioned here. But, yeah, you get the picture. This is a company not to be trusted.

Keeping you up to date

We don't get to update this blog very often, but not to worry...we have not moved on. Since our last update, it appears that Tevel Bennoon has removed websites for several of his former moving companies. His primary focus for now seems to be Florida Southwest Vanlines (the new website even manages to look slightly less amateurish). Needless to say, Florida Southwest Vanlines has the same type of sordid history as did Apple Movers.

We've also noticed that Tevel Bennoon appears in a number of mugshot websites. Regrettably, none of these sites actually list the charges for each arrest, although I'm sure at least a couple of them have something to do with passing bogus checks and domestic violence.

Finally, we're renaming the blog, to better put a spotlight on Tevel's current con, and since the company that we encountered in 2010 no longer exists.

We'll keep you up to date as time permits. The moving biz in the US is a barely regulated free-for-all. Your only defense is knowledge.