Update (9/18/18): I'm writing another update because I feel it is fitting given the conversation I had this afternoon with Pete (did not get his position; he reached out to me).
Pete called me this morning to talk about this same Yelp review and express to me that he did not agree with the sentiment behind it and if we could talk about the circumstances, which I was happy to oblige. I explained to him that the fees and costs associated with the move were not what I was disappointed in, but the fact that they weren't expressly presented to me in a clear and concise manner, and that I felt like they were surprises, even if they were routine charges. I also told him that it would have been appreciated to get a call-back when I first reached out, instead of only getting a call and explanation after having written a review here on Yelp. He totally understood and seemed sympathetic towards my experience. Because I also work in customer service, we talked about the situation as a relatable scenario that we've both faced on a business and a customer stand-point, and we eventually took something away from this whole thing. Pete informed me that he agreed with my complaints, especially regarding the ridiculous 3.5 hour billing for moving my bed, dresser, and cat tree into storage, but wished I had gone about it in a different way, and I then told him that unfortunately, the only way to actually discuss the situation seemed to have been to write a review, and we understood each other's perspectives. Ultimately it was a progressive and enlightening conversation and we both got some lessons in the matter, so this is my final review. I let Pete know that we do understand each other, but that I could not in good conscience remove the entire review since it was my personal experience (and this review would not make any sense without prior knowledge), but I was more than happy to make some amendments to my previous reviews. So, here's a break-down:
1 star for the awesome movers who were friendly, careful, and thorough, and for making sure my move was seamless and effortless.
1 star for Pete getting back to me personally so that we could sort through my complaints (which is what I wanted in the first place)
1 star for making as much right as possible given the circumstances
1 star deducted for what I felt like were hidden fees in the first place ("surprise" charges, in my eyes)
1 star deducted for the lack of communication up until my review got put through
To wrap up, I think if I had been given all charges and fees in estimate form so I could better understand the necessary costs up-front, I would have chosen a different company purely based on cost to me and called it good. When I did go in for the initial quote, everyone was extremely nice and they did squeeze my move into a small gap in their schedule, which I very much appreciated; it would have just been a little bit out of my budget given my situation at the time. I guess Graf typically does bigger moves and the small, local move that I had was a bit out of the ordinary (which I did not know until my conversation with Pete). My move itself went superbly, it was just a number of smaller issues that could have been avoided on both sides, and I will take that lesson with me for my next move. read more