Many old adages are just as relevant in the modern consumer age.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," for example. The currency may have changed, but the message is just as current.

Mona Northey and Eva Wood regret not heeding that advice when choosing a mover. The two daughters were faced with the task of moving their 88-year-old mother from her home of 54 years, into a retirement residence. Their mother suffers from the early stages of dementia and Wood has power of attorney over her legal affairs.

The possessions to be moved were meagre.

"I tried to get the young men in the family organized, but it was a weekend and we were running out of time," Northey told Action Line. "Eventually, my husband Ed picked up the newspaper and spotted an advertisement for a mover named Pat & Mike."

The family did not obtain a written quote.

The daughters confess the mover verbally told them he would charge $3 a kilometre while travelling to and from his bay to their mother's Hamilton home. In addition, he would charge $65 an hour for his travelling time.

The move itself was rather painless. The distance from the mother's house to the retirement home was only eight kilometres.

But the firm charged a total of $153 in mileage fees. Add on the $65 labour fee plus tax, and these fellows billed the family more than $200 just so they could get to and from work.

In the end, the two-hour move cost $427.18 cash. If they used a credit card, the bill would have been $491.28.

"They had my mother sign a blank Visa bill, then said it would cost $491.28 if we paid by credit card," Northey explained. "So, we went to the bank and made a direct deposit from our account into theirs."

This firm is not a member of the Canadian Association of Movers (CAM). These guys have been around a number of years. The Better Business Bureau of South Central Ontario has given them an unsatisfactory rating for failure to respond to consumer complaints.

We made several attempts to contact the firm's operator, but he was not in a hurry to discuss his invoice with Action Line, though he acknowledged receiving Northey's written complaint.

"It's the end of the month and the middle of a blizzard," he said. "Don't put me in a jackbox."

In a written response to The Spectator dated Dec. 1, Pat Canini of Pat & Mike Sunspaces defends his charges by stating: "We did this all for her for a relatively paltry sum ... and not the $491.28 she claims in her letter."

The Ministry of Government Services, meanwhile, has no active registration for any moving firm named Pat & Mike. The firm has no land telephone, no e-mail address and no published place of business.

The invoice obtained by Action Line shows this family was charged $3 per kilometre for a 19-kilometre trip to the mother's home and a similar amount for a 24-kilometre return trip.

The firm's invoice also includes a $45 fee for tape used to secure some drawers. The family says they were not informed of this fee and did not notice the added cost until after the firm left.

According to BBB files, the firm has postal box addresses in Hamilton and Puslinch and its operator is Pat Canini. A corporate search shows a firm named Pat & Mike Sunspaces is registered to an address at 3068 Hwy. 2, Hamilton, the same address that appears on the invoice presented to Northey's mother.

Action Line attempted to find the firm's Hwy. 2 storage bays. A dispatcher at Abrams Towing Services Ltd. at 3058 Hwy. 2, had never heard of the firm and a check with Hamilton's Planning and Economic Development department confirmed Abrams' site is the last address on the east side of Hwy. 2 before entering Brant County.

The sole proprietor of Pat & Mike Sunspaces according to MGS records is Pasqual Canin. The Visa receipt presented to Northey's mother bears the name Sunspaces Hamilton. The only telephone number for Pat & Mike is cellphone 905-541-2347, the one that appears in their advertisements.

President John Levi of CAM was aware of Pat & Mike.

"We haven't heard about them for a year or so," Levi said, noting it was "unreasonable" for a mover to charge both mileage and labour fees while driving to and from a job. "Actually, I've never heard of it."

CAM's website warns consumers (mover.net) they have a responsibility to protect themselves by obtaining several written quotes from moving firms, detailing all costs involved.

CAM can be reached at 1-866-860-0065. Industry Canada's 'Consumer Checklist for Choosing a Moving Company' is available on its website.

If you have a consumer problem, call 905-526-4665 or e-mail amacrury@thespec.com. Not all calls and letters can be answered.