Meron Tiruneh moved from Miami across the country to Sunnyvale, California in February.
But months later, she still didn't have the belongings she entrusted with a South Florida moving company.
When Meron Tiruneh welcomed us into her California apartment in June, it was nearly empty.
"I paid to get robbed," she said. "They came in my house, robbed me and no one can do anything about it."
Meron had hired True Value Movers, Inc. out of Pembroke Park, Florida. Movers loaded her items up on Feb 27, 2018. Her written estimate quoted the move at $1480. She says she paid half up front.
According to the company's binding estimate, "estimated delivery period is up to 30 business days from date indicated as first available for delivery."
She says she notified the company of her exact delivery address in early March, but was not given an exact delivery date.
Local
When the 30-day delivery window came and went, Meron filed complaints with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Florida's Attorney General, and with the Better Business Bureau.
But when she stopped hearing from the moving company she called NBC 6 Responds.
"At some point someone has to be responsible for my entire life is missing," Meron said.
We went to the registered address for True Value Movers, but we found a different moving company at the address. The owner of the company told us the owner of True Value Movers should not be using the address.
The owner of True Value Movers told us by phone the items were in the hands of a third party delivery company in California. That company told us Meron's belongings were in a storage warehouse but couldn't be picked up or delivered without approval from True Value Movers.
After dozens of phone calls from NBC 6 Responds to True Value Movers and the third party company storing the items, Meron got the one phone call she had been awaiting.
"It's all my pictures, my childhood memories, my life," Tiruneh said as she opened the boxes that finally arrived in early July.
The third party delivery company sent her items free of charge.
"I reached out to NBC News and Sasha has been an angel to me," Meron said.
When we first reached out to True Value Movers, the owner admitted he was behind on deliveries but denied any wrongdoing in Tiruneh's case. We reached out to him for a statement after Meron received her items but we have not heard back.
Meron is now passing on a valuable lesson.
"Anyone out there, be careful. Be careful signing up for a moving company," Meron said.
The easiest way to protect your move is to research the company.
You can find out if a moving company is registered and insured on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website.
The company Meron used was registered but as we found out the company was not located at the address it was registered to.
The FMCSA points out if a company's offices or warehouse are non-existent, it may indicate they are a rogue moving company.
