I hired Gomez Moving in mid-July to move from a 1-bedroom apartment to a 2-bedroom down the street and it was about as bad a moving experience as a person could have. Please read the below carefully before considering using Gomez. I opened a yelp account so I could share in detail everything that went wrong and hopefully save you the grief my wife and I went through:
1. THEY SHOWED UP WITH A TRUCK TOO BIG AND SO WE COULDN'T MOVE THE DAY WE PLANNED
Yes, we had sent them the specs of truck size required by our condo (in a June 28th email when we reserved). No, they didn't pay the least bit of attention to it.
We scheduled our move for Wednesday July 18th. We picked a Wednesday on purpose (and each took 3 precious days of vacation off work) because we wanted a full 5-day weekend to really unpack and get settled and not have to go back to work on Monday living out of boxes. Because they didn't bother to abide by the specs, they got turned away. We spent three hours furiously trying for a workaround and when we finally got a workaround (they could park to the side of the building instead of the loading dock), the movers informed us there wasn't enough time left in the day and we had to reschedule to Friday. Because of an administrative mishap, we burned vacation days for nothing and now we're heading into August and still living out of boxes.
2. THEY BROKE 3 PIECES OF FURNITURE AND A LAMP
Two custom-made bookshelves of my wife did not survive the trip. They became wobbly messes with the backs broken out that became a hazard around our one-year old daughter so we had to throw them out. 1 lamp base broke. And the leg of one dresser (though they were able to re-attach that to functionality if not aesthetic appeal).
3. THEY SCRATCHED THE LIVING HELL OUT OF MY NEW WALL
The walls I had just finished painting in our new apartment took a beating because while moving the sofa in, they couldn't be bothered to take 5 minutes and set up some furniture pads.
4. BUT IT IS NEVER THEIR FAULT (LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY)
I've never seen workers throw so many excuses for everything. "This IKEA Furniture is not made for moving." Thanks, our IKEA furniture made it fine. The two bookshelves you broke were custom-made and cost my wife more than your entire move. They were not from IKEA. "We told you they might not make it." Yes, and I told you that that is what we hired you to do, so please do it carefully. Boxes I can move myself. I hire movers to move furniture and if you knew there was a chance they might break, why didn't you disassemble them before moving? For the same reason you didn't lay furniture pads down when moving my couch: you are rushed, sloppy, and you take shortcuts.
5. THEY TRY TO TALK YOU OUT OF MOVING THINGS SO THEY CAN DO LESS WORK
And I'm ashamed to say, they actually succeeded! To this day, my TV (my frickin' TV!) is still sitting in our old apartment. Why? Because their mover kept selling us on the fact that it wouldn't survive the move. Mind you, it's a simple flat-screen TV. They are professional movers. They needed to move it one block. But he gives us this whole story about how their trucks are usually made of wood, and they had to get a steel one this time (it's a UHaul truck, like millions of people have used to move in the past), and it's really hot in there and it could fry the circuitry. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?! But I was standing there about to have a nervous breakdown from all the stuff they'd already broken, so I let them leave the TV. They are movers! And they couldn't move a 30'' TV!
6. THEY PULL THE WOOL OVER YOUR EYES
When this awful move is finally done and I have to sign that the job was completed, the same guy who can't move a 30" TV launches into another one of his monologues about how he wasn't going to charge me for the materials, and he wasn't going to charge me for the truck, and so here's the hourly rate. Obviously this whole schpeel is so I don't demand a discount for the broken items, but here's the thing: OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CHARGE ME FOR MATERIALS AND THE TRUCK BECAUSE THEY ARE INCLUDED THE PACKAGE I WAS QUOTED ON. Don't lie to me and act like it's some benevolent discount!
Shady, shady guys. Really just awful to work with.
Please save yourself time, grief, and in the long run, money (they might be cheaper upfront, but there is a popular phrase in Spanish that was made for people like Gomez: "Cheap Things are Expensive in the Long Run") and choose literally anybody else on the planet to move with. read more