Metro woman’s stuff returned months after company held it hostage for $14,000

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A metro Atlanta woman credits Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray, with getting her belongings back.

“I have a smile, a big smile and it’s all because of you,” Sandy Springs resident Angela Forte told Gray.

He caught up with her as she was unpacking her things in her apartment. She’s been waiting 10 months to do that.

“It’s a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess,” Forte said.

When Forte reached out to Channel 2 Action News and the volunteer staff at the Consumer Action Center, her apartment was empty.

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For ten months, MMG movers refused to deliver her things and were threatening to auction everything on April 13.

“They’re just holding it hostage. Holding my things hostage,” Forte said on April 5.

The moving company, MMG Movers, demanded more than $14,000 on top of the $5,000 the now-Sandy Springs woman already paid for the contents of a 9′ x 10′ storage unit.

Forte told Gray that she signed a binding estimate for $4,600 with what turned out to be a moving broker who passed the job on to another company.

But when the movers from MMG Moving showed up late the day of the move from California to Atlanta, MMG claims Forte signed a new contract.

She had already paid more than $5,300, but MMG said she agreed in writing to pay another $5,700 on top of that. They were also demanding thousands of dollars more in storage costs.

When we originally reached out for comment, MMG Movers refused to back down.

“100%. We have everything to prove that that’s not the way it went,” Carter told Gray. “She should have never signed and agreed to a price she’s not willing to pay.”

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MMG Moving has a one out of five-star rating with the Better Business Bureau.

After the Channel 2 Action News investigation aired, MMG changed its tune.

MMG agreed to not just return Forte’s things but put in writing that she owes them zero dollars.

“Everything changes. All of a sudden, I don’t owe them anything. They want to sign off everything over to me because they know they were wrong,” Forte said.

Lori Silverman from the Consumer Action Center says to avoid this kind of mess, customers need to research companies thoroughly beforehand using the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website

Silverman says never sign a document with blanks on it.

“You’ve got to read everything in a moving document and the fine print,” Silverman told Gray.

Forte is now finally unpacking her home after a 10-month fight.

“We did it, Justin. And I’m so elated and I’m so grateful to you and WSB-TV, because without you, I don’t think I would get my things,” Forte told Gray.

All movers must be licensed with the Department of Transportation.

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