I declined $150 of what I refer to as "hush money" so I could write this review, so obviously I feel it is more important to WARN YOU than for me to get a measly $150 in return for signing an anti-defamation form. I write this to inform other consumers that I do not and would not ever recommend this company. After damaging my furniture, they denied my claim regardless of its validity, regardless of my proof of its validity, and they stated the damage was done prior to their involvement. After having this happen to me personally, I went and read every review I could find about Atlanta Flat Rate Movers (AFRM) and it turns out I am not alone in this, which leads me to believe it is their systematic way of doing business.
I hired AFRM to move us from Cartersville to Smyrna (about 45 miles) on February 22, 2016. During this move, my very nice dining table and 8 chairs, all solid wood, were severely damaged. A few other pieces of furniture were slightly damaged: a press-wood small TV console and a mirror on a stand; also the movers scratched my brand new hardwood flooring in the master bedroom when they sat the Armoire in place. The only piece I truly cared about was the dining table and chairs because 1) they were in mint condition prior to the move, 2) they were the nicest furniture I have ever owned, 3) the dining room is the center point of my new home and therefore the severe damage to this furniture is very visible.
For a bit of background as to how this occurred: for some reason the 3 movers did not wrap the table or any of the 8 chairs with blankets, as they had done for all the other furniture pieces. The table and chairs were the very last thing they loaded onto the truck, items were packed in quite tightly, and for whatever reason (perhaps they were running out of room?), these very expensive, very nice pieces did not get wrapped at all.
The 3 movers and my husband and I, yes 5 of us as witnesses, all noticed one of the huge chunks of wood missing from a chair as soon as they opened up the door to the truck in the driveway of our new home. Before the first item was ever removed from the truck, we all noticed this damage had occurred. A very large clean chunk exactly where it would have rubbed against the door. I immediately asked the driver what we should do, he said he would take pictures and file a claim, and for me not to worry. I took him at his word, again because for all 5 of us there it was clear the damage had just occurred during the move; it didn't ever occur to me they would deny causing the damage. Then, as they unloaded all the chairs and table, it became very clear there was a lot of damage done, not just the missing chunk of wood. This was very upsetting to me. Again the driver reassured me I would be taken care of and not to worry.
It turns out that the amount of damage done to the dining table and chairs would cost near $1,000 to repair. Unfortunately due to my own ignorance (this is the first time I have ever hired so-called professional movers), I did not purchase additional insurance for the move. I thought since I made sure I hired a company that was bonded and insured, I didn't need the additional insurance. So, I went through the AFRM claims process to try and recover the $300 "insurance" that automatically comes with any AFRM move, and they denied the claim entirely. Entirely. They stated the damage appeared old and appeared to be from normal wear and tear. This simply isn't true and it's obvious from looking at the damage that it is fresh, new damage. None of the damage occurred prior to that move. I know this, my husband knows this, and those 3 young men who moved the furniture know this. I also feel anyone examining the furniture would know that the places that were missing chunks of wood revealed very fresh wood wounds which occurred that same day, not previously.
Companies cannot be perfect, nor do I expect them to be. However, I do expect a company to take responsibility when they make a mistake. AFRM caused serious damage to my dining table and chairs. AFRM refused to take responsibility and reimburse me the $300 that I was insured for. They strung me along for 2 months, and in the end they offered me what they called a "customer appreciation refund" of $150 IF I would sign an anti-defamation form. No thanks, AFRM. You can do better than that, you can treat your customers better than that, and I feel everyone has a right to know how you operate. read more