Woman moving house surprised by extra $1,280 fee for 'long pushing distance'; company says lorry unable to enter condo女子搬家时被额外收取1280美元费用，理由是“推车距离过长”；搬家公司称货车无法进入公寓。
She expected to pay $228 for moving her furniture and other items to her new house, but ended up paying a total of $1,706.The woman, surnamed Lei, claims she was blindsided by an additional charge of $1,280 for "long pushing distance" when transporting her items from her condominium unit to the lorry parked outside.The 39-year-old told Shin Min Daily News...
She expected to pay $228 for moving her furniture and other items to her new house, but ended up paying a total of $1,706.
The woman, surnamed Lei, claims she was blindsided by an additional charge of $1,280 for "long pushing distance" when transporting her items from her condominium unit to the lorry parked outside.
The 39-year-old told Shin Min Daily News that she was moving from Serangoon to Kovan, and had several large furniture including a sofa, massage chair, TV, TV cabinet and bed frame.
She was apparently quoted a price of $198 for the move and an additional $30 for dismantling furniture.
But on Sept 1, the day of the move, she was informed by the movers that the lorry must be parked outside the condo, and there would be a "long pushing distance" fee.
According to her, the pushing fee was $80 per 60 meters.
Her furniture and other items also could not fit on one trolley, which meant movers had to make two trips between the apartment and the lorry.
Lei said the distance for her old and new apartments was assessed to be 180 meters and 300 meters respectively.
The "long pushing distance" fee hence totalled $1,280.
"When they told me the price, my furniture had already been loaded, so how could I refuse?" she told Shin Min.
The woman said she had to pay the total amount before her items could be brought down from the lorry at her new apartment.
"Later, I asked why the long pushing distance fee wasn't communicated in advance, but they ignored me."
Pushing distance fee may vary for different condominiums
When contacted by the Chinese publication, the operations manager of the moving company, Movexpress, said lorries are not allowed to enter condominiums.
"Customers will typically enquire, or we will ask them to send photos showing the condo environment," said the manager, surnamed Long.
He added that their terms and conditions do state that the quoted price does not include additional fees for services such as long pushing distance and complicated disassembly.
According to him, the customer had liaised for the moving of five to six boxes of items and a few large pieces of furniture.
However, the movers found that there were more than 20 boxes, causing them an extra trip between the apartment and the lorry.
Long said the pushing fee is not charged at a fixed rate: "Different condos have different levels of moving difficulties, and the price will also be different."
He said he had to send two more staff to assist in the move. The operation was estimated to take two hours but eventually took five hours to complete.
"We originally had another job at 11am but we couldn't finish it, so we had to outsource it to another moving company."
lim.kewei@asiaone.com
她原本预计搬家到新家需要支付 228 美元，但最终却支付了 1706 美元。
这位姓雷的女子声称，当她把物品从公寓搬到停在外面的货车上时，被额外收取了 1280 美元的“推车距离过长”费用，这让她感到非常意外。
这位 39 岁的女子告诉《新明日报》，她正从实龙岗搬到高文，并带走了几件大型家具，包括沙发、按摩椅、电视、电视柜和床架。
据称，搬家报价为 198 美元，拆卸家具另需 30 美元。
但在 9 月 1 日搬家当天，搬家公司告知她，货车必须停在公寓外面，并且会收取“长途推车费”。
据她所说，推车费是每 60 米 80 美元。
她的家具和其他物品也无法装进一辆手推车，这意味着搬家工人必须在公寓和卡车之间来回搬运两次。
雷女士表示，她旧公寓和新公寓之间的距离经评估分别为 180 米和 300 米。
因此，“长途推行距离”费用总计为 1280 美元。
“他们告诉我价格的时候，我的家具已经装车了，我怎么能拒绝呢？”她告诉《新明日报》。
该女子表示，她必须先支付全部款项，才能将物品从卡车上搬到她的新公寓。
“后来，我问他们为什么没有提前告知长途推车费用，但他们置之不理。”
不同公寓的推车距离费用可能有所不同。
当中国媒体联系到搬家公司 Movexpress 的运营经理时，该经理表示货车不允许进入公寓。
“客户通常会询问，或者我们会要求他们发送照片，展示公寓的环境，”姓龙的经理说。
他还补充说，他们的条款和条件确实规定，报价不包括长途推运和复杂拆卸等服务的额外费用。
据他所说，客户联系他们是为了搬运五六箱物品和几件大型家具。
然而，搬家工人发现箱子数量超过 20 个，导致他们需要在公寓和货车之间额外往返一趟。
龙先生表示，搬运费并非按固定费率收取：“不同的公寓搬家难度不同，价格也会有所不同。”
他说他不得不派另外两名员工协助搬迁。搬迁行动预计耗时两小时，但最终花了五个小时才完成。
“我们原本上午 11 点还有另一项搬家工作，但我们没能完成，所以不得不外包给另一家搬家公司。”
lim.kewei@asiaone.com