First, I'd like to provide some background information. In 47 years of marriage, my wife and I have moved 9 times. I've used movers 3 times and packed our belongings every time except for our first move. Prior to this current move, we haven't broken or lost as much as a single dish. This time however, I didn't feel that I wanted to move myself again. I did pack all the boxes myself utilizing over 250 yards of foams sheets and bubble wrap, over 50 pounds of newsprint and every available towel, blanket, bedspread and pillow in our household. All boxes were sealed with a minimum of three strips of shipping tape per opening utilizing 3 dozen rolls of packing tape. I don't want to say my experience with the movers was completely negative. The first crew that moved us from our old house did a good job preparing our TV's, grandfather clock and china hutch, probably the most delicate items. They also didn't break any of our china, but that is more attributable to the way it was packed.
Our move entailed multiple steps; loading at our home and unloading at storage lockers at two different locations, then 3 1/2 months later loading from those two storage lockers and then unloading and delivering to our new home. Maybe the extra step of storage caused the additional wear and tear, but I think that professionals movers should be able to handle that.
The problems started early. To begin with, the company's representatives underestimated the size of the load so that one truckload turned into three. One storage unit turned into two. We ended up paying substantially more than the estimates. The total cost of moving and storage exceed the original estimates by 42%. We did choose the basic insurance to hold down expenses, but by doing so expected at least a median level of competency.
The initial load seemed to go well other than the need for an additional load on one of the two trucks. However, several hours were lost in acquiring the additional space for storage and the additional time for loading and unloading due too the inaccurate estimate. Fortunately, I was not charged for all of the wait time.
The final delivery didn't start well. Also, only one of the first crew was present and the rest seemed ill-trained. The first thing that I was told was that the washer was damaged. I began to notice damage to various pieces. Some of the heavier boxes were unloaded and then stacked on boxes marked "Fragile". At least a third of the boxes showed dents or signs of rough handling. On several occasions crew members were corrected by the one experienced mover on how they were trying to move pieces through doorways and up stairs.
Once we began to unpack, we started finding more damage. The washer control knob had been sheared of the front of the washer, breaking the control board. The office furniture had several scratches and dings. Several glasses and small pieces were broken. A panini press had both lid supports broken off. A lamp was broken. All of the box springs and mattress had scrapes and dirt from being dragged across some surface (they were supposed to be covered in storage). A wicker love seat had a gouge in the arm from something being stacked on it. A wicker table had several spots where paint was scraped off. A pelican statue had the base broken off. All of the boxes had been marked but many were located in the wrong rooms. A floor lamp was also missing.
Once we had realized the scope of the problem, we started the process of getting repairs. The washer was out of service for two weeks waiting for a new knob when the appliance parts supplier had said that just replacing the knob would not fix the problem. Once a new board was received, I actually had to find a YouTube video on repairing my washer model to help the repairman install the new board without breaking it.
The furniture repairman fixed the wicker table, cleaned the futon mattress cover, fixed the lamp but determined that the loveseat, and the pelican statue were not repairable.
I provided the owner with copies of the original receipts totaling $851 for these items and the missing lamp. The items weren't new, but quoting the level of insurance as their reason, their settlement was an offer of $110.
I don't want to say that all of the mover's work was sub-par. Some of the packing of the van and handling were done professionally. Adding to the problems, was communication with company management on our claims after the final move. Several text messages , emails and phone calls went unanswered during the entire process. There was enough damage to our possessions and questions raised by the level of professionalism during the move to our new home to state that I would not recommend Miracle Movers/Magic Moves for residential moving. As a result of the total experience, I would not rate them higher than one and a half stars. read more