I wanted to share some feedback on my move. I wasn't going to post online but now that I have moved…read moreout and assessed the damage, I want to share the experience. I have used movers 5 times and this was by far the worst and most expensive job I've ever had done.
Overall, The team was very kind, respectful and definitely worked diligently. I am just disappointed in a few things and wanted to share.
If I could summarize the experience, the work was done, it just didn't feel like a "professional" job. At this price point, I definitely expected a professional job. A few concerns included:
- The 2nd guy arrived 45mins to an hour late. The lead mover said he was in the truck, but I didn't actually see him until 10:00. It's hard to believe he was there. Essentially, one hour was just 1 mover which obviously slowed things down.
- The second mover was the family member of the lead mover and he asked me to "take care of him" with an additional tip, etc. He was obviously not a professional mover - which is fine under normal circumstances - but again, at this price point and the size of the job, I expect efficiency and professionalism
- I know they had another job after mine that they were late for and didn't expect mine to take as long, but it felt like it was not completed properly. Perhaps if a proper team had arrived, they would have been done on time.
- Some furniture was wrapped completely, some partially and some not at all. When we spoke initially, I asked if everything requested would be wrapped and the owner (and lead mover, Bill) confirmed it would. I also asked the lead when he called the day before if I needed to prep anything. He confirmed they would wrap and cover everything I wanted. When checking in throughout the process, some things were done and some were not. Namely, my upholstered items and my mattresses which were my primary concern. Some things were wrapped after they were placed in the storage and some things were wrapped before they left my apartment. Bill and I spoke about some of this throughout the process. I asked Bill if things like my mattress would be covered after they were loaded in. He said they would. I even asked if I needed to go downstairs to purchase mattress covers and he said no, they would cover them at the end. Perhaps I misunderstood as I went back that evening and most of those things were still left uncovered. This is additionally concerning as my mattresses are now in the same unit as my garage items which would subject them to bugs, etc.
He saw that I was unhappy and apologized while repeatedly telling me throughout the day, that I "have a lot of stuff". I don't want to hear this over and over when I am paying you for a service. He kept saying he's not used to seeing his customers "not smiling and pleased" - and based on the stellar reviews that were online, i'm sure that's true. Unfortunately, this experience missed the mark. We were at the 7.5 hour mark and I was anxious as I had to pickup my daughter. Also, I honestly didn't want to continue spending this hourly rate to have to redo all the wrapping. However, after going back an hour later with a slightly calmer demeanor, I was really dissatisfied and disappointed.
I reached out to the owner and he did send Bill back to fix some things later in the week. I just can't imagine not having enough pride in my work to do it right the first time - and with my directive!
I've attached a few photos throughout the process.
- the "blanket" photos are of my cal king, sleep number mattress that was placed in the unit. The filling is air so it will collapse as shown, however, I had to ask them to move it between things to stand it up so the hoses wouldn't break. Seems that should have been standard. (It was rectified) Also, it's uncovered besides the partial blanket they used to carry it in.
- my sofa and chaise were partially wrapped as you can see. I don't think there is truly any protection from moisture damage or anything
- the truck photo shows my entertainment center fully wrapped and blanketed, while my sofa frame sits on the ground completely exposed.
As I have moved my items out now, I want to provide additional context to the poor job. I had 3 side by side units and asked them to be organized in an efficient manner with garage items in one unit, boxes in one and furnishings in another. They attempted to load everything in the two units in an effort to "save me money on the storage fees". I did not ask for this. This led to way to many heavy things being stacked a top one another and significant breakage and damage. Again, NOT a professional job at all. The company I hired to move my items out even commented on how poorly organized and damaged things were.