On August 1st, my husband and I used Modern Movers to move our belongings from Fort Myers, Florida to Brevard, North Carolina.
The beginning of the move progressed well. On the first day of packing, the one piece that was improperly prepared for transport, was our grandfather clock. The office asked us in advance, if we had a grandfather clock, or other items that needed special attention, at which time we told them we did, in fact, have a grandfather clock. The movers assigned to our job clearly did not know how to secure the clock, and did not disassemble it properly. Eventually they managed to disengage the weights, but the chains were not adequately secured, and fell out during the move.
Finally, the day the furniture was due to arrive, which was August 1st at 8:00 am, we saw a community security truck outside our new house with the moving company's truck driver, evaluating the route. At around 10:00 am the driver returned to our home advising us that the truck was stuck on a hill. At this time we were informed that our furniture would have be off loaded and then reloaded onto one or two smaller trucks. Although Modern Movers conducted an evaluation of our area ahead of time to prevent problems of this nature, they obviously made a serious error.
This miscalculation on Modern Movers' part caused our move to take place over the course of two days instead of one. We tried to contact the office numerous times throughout the first day of the move, but failed to get someone to tell us what was going on. Finally, the truck arrived at 4:00 in the afternoon, 8 hours late, while we waited in an empty house. We were hesitant to leave, even though the office personnel suggested going out for a lunch break. We were worried, however, that we would miss the arrival of our shipment. The next day the remainder of our shipment arrived in the morning, about 10:00 am. The movers were finished around 1:00 pm, rushing to finish the job, assuring us that the company would pay to have the clock reassembled, after realizing they could not do it themselves.
A few days after the move, we called the office numerous times throughout the following two weeks, getting the same answer each time, that they were checking on whether they would fix the clock. Steve Bradley had a cavalier attitude when explaining (on August 14th - two weeks after the move) that we would have to fill out a claim form. He went on to explain that we would only receive .60 cents per pound which of course, would not even pay to have a professional repairman come to our home. On the day of the move, the mover in fact, filled out a form stating that we needed the clock to be repaired.
All in all, this has been a very disappointing and disconcerting experience, especially considering the condescending attitude in dealing with Mr. Bradley. In addition, the offloading and reloading cost us an extra $925 over the original cost. We managed to get down to that cost even though the office personnel originally asked for $1500. At that time our goods were still in the company's possession when asking us for extra money. We felt that they used intimidation tactics to get us to pay the extra fee. Do not use this company, especially if you have any item that has sentimental value.
By the way, our daughter made the same move 6 months earlier with Allied Van Lines and also had to offload and reload with no additional cost. I would strongly advise against using this company. read more