I regret engaging Our Guys Around Town Movers to handle our move from Arlington to Falls Church. Of my 10 moves over the past 22 years, including several international moves, this was the worst and had the highest out-of-pocket cost, due to the following unexpected charges and damage:
1. The charge exceeded their quote by hundreds of dollars: I received an estimate over the phone of between $837 and $1185.75, based on three crew members and one truck at an hourly rate of $139.50. A few hours into the move, the owner, David Underwood, announced, without explanation, that he needed to add an additional worker and truck for an extra charge of $60 per hour. The total charge was $1615.50 -- $778.50 (93%) over the low-end estimate and $429.75 (36%) over the high-end estimate.
2. I was misled concerning their expertise in piano moving and paid for their staff to be trained: Their promotional material lists "piano moving" as one of their services and their Yelp web page says they are "piano moving experts." Yet, after the moving crew had spent a few hours moving other items, they admitted they didn't know how to move my small grand piano and had to call Mr. Underwood, who came and spent time (at my expense) instructing the crew how to disassemble and pack the piano.
3. They seriously damaged a precious family heirloom without adequately compensating me: A 130-year-old portrait of my great-great-grandmother was ripped during the move, because the crew did not pack it properly. Following Mr. Underwood's instructions, I filed a claim for the $1200 repair. He wrote me back and asked, "In the interest for providing good customer service, considering the circumstances and the liability coverage included with the move, what do you think would be a reasonable outcome?" I took this as a good faith offer to settle and suggested we split the difference at $600 each. He responded: "[I]t is clear that we have no contractual liability for the picture claim. However, in the interest of good relations, we are willing to make an exception and provide consideration in the amount of $50."
4. Their insurance did not cover the damage: One of the reasons I chose Our Guys is because their promotional material states that they are "insured." However, the coverage provided free of charge is only $0.60 per pound; the maximum amount of insurance available, at the customer's cost, is only $3.50 per pound and there are limitations on what is covered, including pianos and "improperly packed or unpacked" pictures, paintings, lamps, etc. Even if the painting had not been excluded from coverage, their insurance would not have come close to compensating me for the damage they caused.
All told, including the cost to repair the painting, the move cost me $2765.50 -- more than 2-3 times what it should have.
I tried to resolve this dispute through the Better Business Bureau, as Our Guys is a member. In his letter denying my request, Mr. Underwood blamed me for all of the problems. He claimed that I "under described the full scope of the move" and "omitted important details about the move when questioned." These statements are, of course, not true; in fact, I went out of my way to be sure they understood the amount of furniture they would be dealing with, since I wanted to get an accurate quote. He also stated that there were "several more rooms that were not listed on the order," without identifying what rooms he was referring to. Concerning the painting, Mr. Underwood claimed that an existing hole likely contributed to the damage and that he had advised me that there would be no coverage and pointed out to me that it was "not properly packaged." None of these assertions are true. For example, the hole in the painting is nowhere near and is clearly unrelated to the tears which occurred during the move. He stated that the service contract that was provided me in advance of the move with a confirmation email clearly excludes items such as the painting. In fact, the exclusion for "improperly packed or unpacked pictures, paintings..." is contained in the "Local Moving Invoice Uniform Bill of Lading," which I saw for the first time during the move, not in the service contract they provided beforehand. Most offensive was the following comment: "Clearly, it couldn't have meant that much to him if he hadn't bothered to pack or otherwise provide protection for it." Protecting the painting is exactly what I entrusted Our Guys Around Town Movers with and what they failed to do.
Unfortunately, things can easily go wrong in a move, and in the event that they do, based on my experience, one should expect little, if any, compensation from Our Guys Around Town Movers. In my case, they didn't even honor their estimate. For anyone considering engaging them, I would strongly suggest obtaining a firm quote and having independent insurance coverage. read more