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Couple says they were scammed by movers, has been living without furniture and belongings month

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Posted at 5:12 PM, Jun 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-21 17:44:31-04

AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo was supposed to be a fresh start for Michael Baehr and Daisy Hopper. Shortly after Hopper's mom died of cancer, they packed up and moved across the country from Las Vegas to Buffalo. The couple hired Trinity Moving and Storage to handle their belongings, putting down a deposit.

"They've got the numbers. The paperwork that they sent our way to even start the process all looked legit. The contract seemed right. Everything seemed fair," Baehr said.

The couple's belongings were supposed to be delivered in Buffalo May 10th. Instead, they've been living with blankets for a bed, a card table in the living room and a box as an office desk for more than the past month.

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"I think I'm more angry about being helpless than anything. It's not like I can even go to an office and complain. It's not like I can call a cop or a lawyer," Baehr said.

The couple tells 7 Eyewitness News there were technical issues where Trinity Moving and Storage said their movers, a company called Safe Moving, would be delayed a few days. Safe Moving finally picked up the couple's stuff in Vegas the afternoon of May 10th.

"From there it ended up going to Irvine, California...From Nevada to California when we wanted it to come here to New York," Baehr said.

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The couple said they've been told their belongings are in a storage unit in California, and it will cost them $9,000 to get it to Buffalo which is triple what they were originally charging.

"It's stilling in Irvine, California. We know it's with store America, but that's all we know. We actually called them. They never heard of Safe Moving," Baehr said.

"Honestly, it's a financial issue. We are not financially prepared or able to replace all of our stuff," Hopper said.

If the couple is actually able to find their belongings, they say it will be expensive to get them to their new home.

"Just give me a key and access to the storage unit. When I get that, I will have to fly out to California, rent a truck, and I will drive it back myself," Baehr said.

Even if they pay the money to get their stuff back, hoping to get the key to the storage unit, the couple worries they may not actually find their things.

"We don't have any guarantee that we're going to actually get the key, the access code or the unit number. Nothing either of these companies have done so far has given us any reason to trust them. They've basically just scammed us," Hoppper said.

7 Eyewitnss News reached out to Safe Moving, and they referred me to the broker, Trinity Moving and Storage. Trinity Moving and Storage declined to comment.