A number of things went wrong with this move; I'll just hit the highlights. I hired Dan's Van Lines (dansvanlines.com) from Lorton/Arlington, VA for an inter-state move. Having moved a few dozen times in my life, I prefer to hire a professionally trained and insured moving company. That was my first mistake. I'd been unemployed a while and was forced to go with one of the lower estimates. Just remember, you get what you pay for (usually less).
What went wrong:
- I opted to buy the $150 insurance that the owner sells, but he charged me $180. Look at the web site. Even today, four months later, it's still advertised for $150. This guy took one look at my furniture, thought I was rich because I had a couple nice things, and overcharged me. In the end, he didn't honor the insurance, but that's another story.
- Movers did not show up as scheduled on either end of the move.
- These guys moved S-L-O-W-L-Y. The owner had been to my apt. to do the estimate and had meticulously counted everything I had; he knew exactly what I had. He also knew that the apt. building allowed me to reserve the loading dock for 3 hours. Well, not only did these guys move slowly, but they were smokers, which slowed them down more. I had specifically asked the owner up front if any of his guys smoked, and he told me no. So, #1 problem was: he lied. You don't want a dishonest mover handling your goods, trust me.
- The owner clearly didn't send enough guys for the move. The move that was scheduled to take three hours took a whopping five and a half hours--never mind how that wrecked my moving plans because I had a 10-hour drive. Worse,and there was no one in charge. I called the owner twice and left voice mail; he *never* returned my call. I tried every number for the company, and there was no one to talk to. Because there was nothing I could do to get these guys to move any faster, I ended up doing a tremendous amount of move work myself (like I didn't have enough work to do cleaning, etc.) .
- Because they were running out of time, they stopped wrapping my furniture. I was shocked. I saw one guy throw two pieces of black furniture into a bin (which was already full of other items) with no blankets, no shrink wrap. One of them (the more expensive cocktail table base) was ruined.
- To top all that off, the same thing happened on the other end (after the movers arrived 45 minutes late with no warning to me and not answering/returning my calls, and driving right past my front door with me waving at them to stop). Once again, the owner did not send enough people to do the move; it took a large chunk of the day, and that was with me helping. (Like I didn't have enough work to do.) What was frustrating was that I specifically called him the day before and asked him how many people he'd hired to deliver. When I told him it wasn't enough, he promised to add one more. But instead, on delivery day, there were even less guys than on the pickup day! He sent 2 guys to move a full 2-bedroom apartment. I've never had a move drag out this long.
- To make matters worse, these guys did not listen. For example, they were supposed to leave two bar stools shrink-wrapped for storage but they unwrapped them and took the wrap with them. I don't know how they managed to do it, but they ruined my bed rails to the point that they were so bent I could not use them. They ruined my favorite dresser by wrapping it in cheaply dyed blue blankets. I've never seen this happen before, but they must've put the dresser down on its TOP in the truck because the top of the dresser (which is a light birch color) was spotted with blue ink that absolutely will not come out. It's in the wood. My gorgeous dresser is ruined. Needless to say, most of the stuff that was damaged consisted of the few expensive items I own, like my new dining room table base, which is now all scarred up and gouged. Another one of my dressers has scratches across the front.
- In the end, Dan wouldn't reimburse me for any of this damage. That's because he never sent me an official insurance policy, so I had no idea that I only had *FIVE DAYS* to file a claim. I've moved over 40 times in my life. Each time I've purchased separate move insurance, I've had 45 days to file a claim. Not so with this guy. Not only will he overcharge you for the insurance, he won't honor it and won't return your calls. Seriously, he didn't return my call for two solid weeks, nor respond to any of my emails about the damage for two whole weeks just after the move.
So, if you want a mover that doesn't have trained professionals and is unresponsive when you need them most, hire DansVanLines. If you want movers whom you can't communicate with in English and who don't understand the concept of a deadline, hire Dan's. If you want to get ripped off on the insurance, hire Dan's. If you don't want your movers to show up on time, hire Dan's.
From now on, I'm going back to good old Mayflower/United. Those guys are pros. read more
