Kansas Company Faces $119K Civil Penalty in Consumer Protection Case

A now-defunct Wichita, Kansas, moving company has been ordered to pay more than $119,000 in restitution, civil fines, penalties and court costs after the company president ignored a consumer protection lawsuit filed by the Sedgwick County prosecutor.

District Attorney Marc Bennett said the company, Get A Move On, and its president Eric Kimler engaged in deceptive and unconscionable business practices, violating the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

The case was prompted by the complaint of a 70-year-old man who hired the company last year for $6,000 to move the contents of his house from Kansas to Georgia, the Wichita Eagle reported.

In his complaint, the man reported that Get A Move On delivered only part of the load to his new home and that several of the items that were delivered were damaged. Among the missing items was a Rolex watch worth $11,000.

The man, who had bought insurance protection through the company, said he was told he’d have to pay an additional $250 when he sought to file a claim on the insurance for the damaged items.

Bennett said his office’s investigation showed that the company’s authority to transport goods in Kansas had been canceled in 2018 and its authority to transport goods across state lines had been canceled in 2019. Bennett said the company also was advertising an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau, when it actually had an “F” rating.