While I acknowledge that many individuals had a good experience with Exela Movers, I was not satisfied with the work from the central office in organizing my move from Massachusetts to New York. Giving two stars ultimately came down to the central office failing to communicate logistics that were necessary with my move when there was ample time to be flexible that caused my move in to be much more difficult and stressful than it needed to be. I gave two stars rather than one star because the movers themselves were outstanding. My issue centers on the central office organization, which is a problem with a moving company because moving is predominantly about logistics. They were also unprofessional when I called them about this issue, claiming that there were factors beyond their control (traffic and not having their moving crews waking up too early), despite them telling me a month prior that I should choose an earlier morning move-in window with them also saying they were familiar with the building I moved into and driving into NYC. They told me a day before moving in they would be arriving later than anticipated, causing me to miss my move-in window, adding stress and complications to my move-in. When I called them about this, they said I needed to be understanding and that there were factors beyond their control, which took place after I additionally provided them with the emails of them telling me to select the earlier window.
Positives:
- The movers who helped with the move were outstanding and very attentive. They cared about their work, took the time to help us settle, and were professional. Items were undamaged on arrival.
- The price was reasonable.
Negatives:
- The original quote that they provided for me was quite a bit below what I actually paid, including accounting for a more complicated move (we had to change our move-in date, which required using their storage). Despite providing them with full information on my apartment and where I was going, including pictures, they originally suggested having 2 movers rather than the 3 they needed. This produced a quote that quite underestimated what I paid.
- A month before the move, I gave the company two move-in windows so I could move into my building (NYC apartments require this). They told me to pick the 8-11 AM move-in window, rather than 2-5 or opting for another day where they could arrive more midday. This was necessary for reserving the elevator. One day before the move in, they said that the window would be 10-2. They arrived on the day of delivery at 11:15, ultimately being ready to move things in at 11:45, which was 45 minutes later than the window I was told to reserve and conflicted with another person who was moving in from 12-3. This slowed down my move and caused a lot of stress.
- They did not further communicate the need to have a parking spot available for them. They mentioned it once and I said the building did not have a spot reserved. They did not suggest I take extra time to hold onto a parking spot on their behalf for street parking, which caused the movers stress when they arrived, which then caused me stress.
- When I called them about the late arrival window, they claimed that they were meeting expectations because they arrived during the window that they provided the day before, which was different from the one that we agreed on a month before. When I told them that this did not work with the building and provided them with the emails that documented them telling me to select the 8-11 window, the office argued with me, saying that there were factors beyond their control (traffic) and they did not want to have their movers waking up too early. I can understand both of these factors. What I do not understand is why they would have originally suggested this time in the first place, if these were issues. As a consequence of this, I had to take nearly a full day off of work rather than 1/2 a day, which negatively affected my transition to a new job as others depend on me as a physician. Their attempt to improve the situation was taking off 1/2 hour of the 3 mover fee, which did not make up for the situation or the lost experience and time of missing more work.
In summary, you may have a good experience with Exela movers, as others have. The movers themselves are great. I personally had an unacceptable experience with them as they provided me with guidance that they decided would not work at the last minute, which did not work with where I was moving in, causing much more stress and difficulty than I was believed I should expect with the company. I will not use the company again and cannot recommend the company from this experience. read more
