Shipping company fraud...CA vs IA

[maher2229]

How do I sue a moving company in another state? They are holding my things "hostage" until I follow their "rules" and I know what they are doing is not right!
I hired a company to ship my things last October. When they picked my things up (they were in CA and I am in IA) they had my friend who met them at my storage unit sign papers stating it was $900.00 more! I immediately emailed the company after he faxed this to me and after no response for days, emailed again before they were to actually ship my things that I did not want them to until the dispute over the amount was fixed. They did anyway. The company called several days later stating they were on their way. I told them no, I said they were to hold it (contract states they have to hold my things for 30days for free) until we resolved this. They argued and stated too bad, they were on their way and would continue to Iowa. If I did not accept shipment they would store it here and charge me fees.

Here's the deal. They state they put it in storage and have REFUSED to tell me where or give me any info other than it is $145.00 a month. It took them over a month to give me a corrected estimate of my shipping cost of the true $1400.00 instead of what they were trying to bill. They won't give me an actual invoice to prove the amount from the storage company. Please note: There are no units that expensive here. My items were previously in a 10x10 for $110.00 in Orange County, CA, and I have a unit here for other things that is 10x15 for $88.00...AND my items only took up 25% of the unit in CA...so I know they are lying...and I have a firm belief my things were never brought to Iowa in the first place.

Please tell me what to do. I have paid them off for the shipping costs (every ck I specifically stated to apply towards shipping costs, not storage as it was in dispute) ...but have fought for months to get a true amount of the storage. I have many many emails to prove this. I am not at the point where I have to pay these "storage fees" Its their fault they had it in storage. If they had not tried overcharging me and did not ship as I requested, this could have been resolved immediately. IN ADDITION, this is NOT the company I hired. I found out MUCH later they were subcontracted by the company I hired! I did not hire them. I have since researched them and they are not affiliated with, but have an "F" rating w/ the BBB!

I don't know if I should pay the $870 in storage fees or not...plus, after its paid off, I plan on telling them I will be PICKING UP my items (supposedly they are in IOWA, but I know they are lying) as they are also trying to bill me a $450.00 redelivery fee...Please help. They keep threatening to auction my things, but refuse to give me ANY information on the whereabouts and a real invoice for these storage fees...

I don't know what to do??? I would have taken them to small claims a long time ago..but again, I am in Iowa and they are in CA...How do I go about suing them...and is this a lost cause?