TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Clearwater-based Spartan Van Lines claims it is losing business after a national company started using its name and ripping off customers across the country.
“Business has definitely declined, especially over the past year, and a lot of it is, I assume, over trust,” said owner Josh Hall.
Hall started his own moving company five years ago and does only Florida moves. He’s not even licensed to move outside of Florida.
But lately, the phones are ringing with upset customers from all over the nation. Problem is, they have the wrong Spartan Van Lines.
Another company, based in Pennsylvania, started using the name about a year ago. That company is officially called Moving Solutions, but it has a website and Facebook under Spartan.
“Customers see reviews that customers received their items burned in Arizona, or the they’re still waiting on their items in New Jersey,” Hall said.
Angry customers who can’t get through to the Pennsylvania company end up finding the number for Spartan in Clearwater.
Hall said he’s tried to get Yelp to remove false reviews that are mean for the other company, but nothing has happened.
He’s even called the other Spartan.
“They hung up on us,” Hall said.
The Pennsylvania company has 28 complaints registered with the federal government this year, and 30 complaints last year.
Hall decided he’d Better Call Behnken to warn consumers and to help clear his company’s name.
If things don’t improve soon, he said, he’s considering a company name change.
“It’s affecting employees, it’s affect movers, it affects our entire family. We’re just a small local moving company out of Florida and we’re getting annihilated by a company.”