12 Investigates a common scam called 'hostage freight'.
That's when a moving company quotes you one price but then doubles it after they load your furniture on to the truck.
Bill O'Neil talked with a woman in Winston-Salem who said her furniture's being held hostage right now.
Patricia Powell (pictured, left) has a new apartment, but no furniture.
She recently moved to Winston-Salem from Austin, TX.
Patricia hired a moving company she found in the yellow pages, Triple A Moving Plus.
She said they quoted her the best price, $900. But the price didn't last long.
"They doubled the price on it to $1,999, and did that after they got it on the truck.
But that wasn't the only surprise to come. Desperate to get her furniture, Patricia Powell agreed to pay the inflated price.
When her furniture arrived last Sunday she gave the movers money orders to pay the difference. That's when Patricia got her second surprise.
"He told me I can't take that. I said what do you mean you can't take that. I can't take that it's not a postal money order," Powell said.
The movers left town with Patricia's furniture still on the truck.
12 Investigates has learned through Better Business Bureau reports that her moving company operates under more than a dozen names, and uses more than two dozen phone numbers.
Patricia Powell thought she was contacting a local moving company. The 800 number she called is listed in California, but the company she hired is actually based in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Federal regulators of the moving industry admit their enforcement of these kinds of scams is horrible.
"Unfortunately as important as it is to individuals it falls down on the priority list because of limited resources," David Longo of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said.
The spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's only advice to Patricia is to get a lawyer.
"I worked hard for my furniture. I paid for it. It means a lot to me, plus I have pictures of my mom, and I want all of that back," Powell said.
The company Patricia Powell hired lost its license two years ago. But it hasn't stopped the company from doing business.
