Let's start with the good, and what earned the one star: they were available at the last minute, and Polo and Alex were both very respectful. The rest of the experience was a disaster. When I reached out to the owner, Alvin, I explained that I was in a jam and needed movers immediately. He assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and had a 3-man crew available with a truck for the next day. We agreed to a price that was fair, packing was done, only loading and unloading was needed. He told me that they had a job earlier in the day, but they would be to me by 6pm.
The next day around 4pm, I texted Alvin to confirm that they would still be there at 6pm. He said yes, that they were finishing up and heading to me shortly. At 6:30, I texted again, asking where they were - he said that they were picking up the truck and would be 40 minutes out. At 7:30pm he finally arrived. A car pulled in behind him with 4 guys. I was only expecting 3 total, not 5, which is great on one hand (quicker), but not what I agreed to (more money in tips).
We showed them exactly how we wanted things loaded, as well as the boxes that were CLEARLY labeled with "fragile" and "do not stack" - most of which were completely disregarded. They began loading the fragile items at the back of the truck but did not consider how to load the larger items. I have an oversized sofa that was a challenge to get out of the space, but was properly shrink wrapped to keep the cushions in place. This became shredded as they clawed at the sofa, pillows pouring out - complete lack of awareness to what they were doing. Many times we asked them NOT to drag the sofa across the hardwood floors and the brick outside - again, completely disregarded.
I have never in my life seen such erratic driving with a moving truck, while we were en route to the storage facility. At one point, Alvin was swerving and shifting lanes so quickly that the truck was swaying. I could only imagine the destruction happening within those aluminum walls.
When we arrived at the storage facility, I explained that I had a second unit on the same floor for any overflow. The guys hurriedly began unloading and packing the unit - again, not considering how to pack it. The unit had to be rearranged several times because they just shoved items in with no plan. I asked that the sofa be brought to the other locker along with some of the more fragile items. They dragged the sofa down the entire hallway - again, asked NOT to do so. When they got the sofa in, I noticed one of the legs was missing (there were 6 before, now only 5). I mentioned this to Alvin immediately, and they began "looking" for it - they seemed to show concern, initially.
When leaving, Alvin made a big display to move the truck and look underneath to see if had rolled under. Still nothing. He told me to please let him know if I found it at the original location, where I was heading back, because he wanted to "make sure {I} had it". About an hour later, Alvin texted to say he'd lost his bank card and was returning to the storage facility to look. I asked him to please look again for the missing sofa leg, as I had just been back to the original location, and looked around the entire building, inside and out, and found nothing. The next morning I returned, in daylight, and still found nothing.
I reached out to Alvin again to let him know it was still missing, when he informed me that "if {he} could find {his} bank card, then {I} could find {my} sofa leg".
This is were it took a very bad turn. For anyone who understands furniture design, or better yet, basic math and physics, if a sofa is designed to have 6 legs, and only 5 are present, the sofa will eventually collapse, rendering it useless.
I called the manufacturer to inquire about ordering a replacement leg, which would be $75. I informed Alvin of this and asked that he reimburse the cost. He then tried to blame me for losing it saying "you probably packed it and forgot you did". The lunacy in that statement is truly absurd as we all (7 people total) saw that the legs were clearly attached to the sofa, until we arrived at the storage facility. I reminded him that he is legally liable for damages, and that the standard rate is $0.60/pound/item damaged. I also clarified that I am not asking for the standard rate (around $90 for the sofa), but just the replacement cost of the leg. He accused me of extorting money, saying he refused to pay for something they "didn't do", and then implied that I had cheated him out of his full rate, which he previously admitted to purposefully inflating! I offered a copy of the invoice and photos; still nothing.
I am furious. This is a routine, industry standard, and Alvin should be ashamed of himself. Apparently, he has a track record of this, after seeing a few other reviews of those who've had their items damaged and then avoided. If you're looking for hasty, careless and dishonest movers, Alvin is your guy. read more
