BULLS MOVING

Bulls Moving is a “rogue” moving company that attempts to defraud customers by providing on-line estimates without in-person inspection of goods, withholding contracts upon loading, failure to provide bills of lading to customers, as well as not providing inventory of goods at loading – many of their practices are in violation of Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, as well as laws governed by the Federal Trade Commission (more on these actions below). Bulls Moving is one of several companies registered in Illinois under Chicago Top Movers, Inc. and registered to Gagik Hovhanisyan (also, Hovhannisyan), and run by his son, Rafael Ohanesyan (also, Okanesyan). From July 2019 to July 2020, the company has changed their name four times – they have operated as Chicago Top Movers, Bulls Moving, Platinum Moving and Storage, and Allianz Van Lines (inactive). Previously, they also operated under the names A1 Moving and Spark Moving and Storage (dissolved January 2020). Operating authority for several of the ‘companies’ has been involuntarily revoked by the FMCSA. Several recent contracts with the company were entered during a period where the company DID NOT HAVE FEDERAL AUTHORITY TO OPERATE. The websites for these companies are templates created in 2020, and the sites are registered to a company created by Rafael Ohanesyan called SIMPLE SAVE, LLC in Brooklyn, NY. Bulls Moving Information US DOT Licence #: 3312217 Address: 3909 Grove Ave, Gurnee, IL 60031 Owner/Operator: Rafael Ohanesyan Phone #: 616-777-7770 During 2019, Bulls Moving received 3 federal complaints, and in 2020, the number of complaints has climbed to 7. There are two complaints of deceptive business practices, five pickup and delivery complaints, four hostage complaints, and five instances of shipment documents and estimates/charges complaints. Most of the telephone numbers and answering services are rerouted and hidden behind the veil of VOIP service Bandwidth.Com. The company “employees” operate using fake names – sales agents will pass you from one person to another, then they will stop communicating. Their “customer service” department is also fake, and you never know who you’re dealing with. The company’s MO is to show up late to load your furniture, usually in a Penske rental truck, and have you sign their contract. The contract will likely NOT have a revised estimate based on inspection. Instead, they may increase the price of the move on the spot, and charge high prices for boxes/shipping supplies. They may not provide a Bill of Lading OR a signed inventory upon loading, which is in violation of federal FMCSA regulations. They will also leave the Valuation page blank, which upon certain damage to your goods, affects how you can file a claim with the company. In addition, they will leave their portions of the contract unsigned, and attempt to sign them upon delivery…if you get your items. All of the contractual manipulations may add up to contract fraud. Once you turn over your belongings to the company, they will hold them as long as they can. After 30 days, they may attempt to charge warehouse fees. They are very difficult to get in touch with once they pick up your belongings, and will screen your calls or simply not answer. They will promise week after week that they’re working on the delivery, promise loading and delivery dates, and then go silent. They pay their moving foremen around 8% of the total move price, so the “representatives” you’re dealing with are trying to increase the price as much as possible to earn their commission. And the drivers are paid about $150-$250. Upon delivery, they will demand cash and contract signatures before unloading. In many cases, they will open most if not all of the boxes before delivery, untape them, go through belongings (including clothes) and then retape the boxes. Electronics will likely be broken; furniture unusable. The company may hold your furniture hostage, or threaten to reroute the shipment, if you do not agree to their deceptive practices. Their business practices may fall under the legal category of negligence, and in many cases times, gross negligence, which is defined as a “conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or both.” Bulls Moving, and the other associated companies, are committing a crime under Federal Trade Commission 15 U.S. Code § 45 by paying for fake 5-star reviews on Yelp and other moving websites – the company has posted publicly advertising payment for reviews. The FTC has the power to stop and penalize parties “using unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” The company is likely in violation of the Consumer Review Fairness Act by strong-arming customers into not leaving negative reviews. Report any fraudulent activity to the corresponding federal authorities.

I've moved with this company twice. This time I used their storage service which monthly cost is pretty cheap. They took their time to move everything preventing the items to get broken or damaged. The movers were kind and respectful, they packed and wrapped everything. I did not have any damaged items not even the ones that were on storage.

They responded quickly to my call, sent me a quote shortly and explained me the whole process making sure I had no questions. The truck arrived on time and they handled everything like professionals. I wouldn’t have done it better. A pleasure to find people who love their work and company.