Top-Notch Moving & Junk Removal - $6,500 in Damages, Ghosting, and Identity Fraud…read more
I hired Vidal Jones, owner of "Top-Notch Moving & Junk Removal," and the experience was disastrous. He caused over $6,500 in damages, forged my signature on an insurance release, and submitted a fraudulent cashier's check as proof he paid me (after initially claiming I refused payment).
While positive reviews may appear on other platforms, I believe many are fabricated or written by his acquaintances. Yelp, for instance, hides more reviews than it displays, which is highly unusual. One of the hidden reviews is from the owner himself--using his real name, which I've highlighted in the attached photos.
From start to finish, the service was unacceptable and continues to cause issues, even months later in October:
* The team arrived in a rented U-Haul accompanied by two children as "staff."
* After working for only three hours, Vidal announced a 30-minute break, returning with just one child (the other had to go home to mom).
* They repeatedly dropped large furniture, resulting in significant damage.
* He falsely claimed they had taken measures to protect the TV, which was destroyed (fortunately, we moved the second TV ourselves).
* Metal bedposts were carelessly thrown into a container with framed photos, shattering them. Vidal later blamed me, despite the fact that his team had taken the container without consulting me.
* Despite labeling all items, his team constantly asked for guidance on where to place boxes, adding unnecessary stress.
* The team was slow and inefficient, even leaving large storage containers in the middle of rooms, insisting those areas were "finished."
* After damaging our items, Vidal ghosted me when I tried to follow up on repairs and replacements. I eventually had to involve Thumbtack to intervene.
* When I requested insurance information, Vidal pretended to be someone else ("Sam") over the phone, hung up, and changed his phone number multiple times during our interactions.
* After I spent hours compiling insurance documents (which, frustratingly, reimbursed by weight--so an $800 TV was compensated for just $100), he ghosted me again.
* Months later, he falsely claimed I had refused the insurance payment and provided "proof" in the form of a forged release with my fake signature and a counterfeit cashier's check, which the bank laughed at - it was just a personal check with "cashier's check" photoshopped in.
I have thorough documentation of everything, including a video of Vidal Jones himself promising to repair or reimburse us for the damages. For context, I had a positive moving experience with the same household items a year prior, completed by another moving company, with no issues. Unfortunately, "Top-Notch" did not meet even basic standards, and we ended up moving kitchen and bathroom items ourselves.
Despite this ordeal, I paid Vidal Jones in full (over $1,000) because I was too stressed and eager to have him out of my home. I strongly advise against using "Top-Notch Moving & Junk Removal." If you do, ensure you have a means to recover your payment, as this company has demonstrated untrustworthy and unethical behavior.
Note: Thumbtack has since removed "Top-Notch" from their platform due to violations of their service provider code of conduct.