We hired this father/son team because we were looking for a mover who specialized in moving pianos.
On their first review of the items we had, they gave us an estimate. They indicated that they would have no trouble getting what we had onto their truck. We told them that we would have a number of more boxes, but they were confident.
As the moving date approached, we called them and suggested they come and look at what we had, just so they wouldn't get caught in a bind of having too small of a truck. At that point we were about 99% packed, and were maybe 2 or 3 boxes away from being finished.
Come moving day, all we heard was griping and complaining about how many boxes we had, and how they might not be able to get everything on the truck. I reiterated that that concern was exactly why we wanted them to come back a second time to see what we had to move.
On delivery day, they again griped and complained about the number of boxes, and the weight of the piano (remember; they supposedly specialize in moving pianos).
We have a kitten, who was closed up in our bedroom. There was one item which needed to be placed in the bedroom, and my wife told the father; "Please wait until I can get our cat and put her in the bathroom next door, so she won't run away." Despite her telling him this at least 3 times, he continued to follow her up the stairs with the item in question. The cat did run out, but fortunately went back into the room, where my wife was able to collect her. When she told him, "I told you to wait so that I could collect the cat! There are doors open all through this house, and she could have run out and gotten killed!", he made no response.
When I prepared to pay, the father asked what bank our check was drawn on. We told him, and he asked if their was a branch near by. We told him yes, and that we would be glad to provide driving directions. He expressed concern about the bank being "so far" away. We offered to pay utilizing a different bank, but indicated that we weren't sure if there was enough $ in that account. We then offered to pay by credit card, if it was more convenient for them. He indicated that it would be. I gave him my card & he ran it through his phone. I then looked at my bill, and he had added $40 for us to use our card. I told him that I would not pay forty extra dollars for using my card, especially because I was doing so not for my convenience, but for his. He then did something with his phone, and I wrote him a check.
I contacted our bank, and told them of my concern that they would try to "double dip," taking a payment from our card & cashing the check. The bank dealt with that possibility by drastically reducing our available credit.
Five minutes (or so) later, he called to say that he had miscalculated and had not included their time spent unloading. He informed me that the amount actually owed was $450 more than the amount on the bill. They returned and I wrote a new check for the new amount. To this day, I don't know whether this new amount is accurate, or just an "annoyance" fee.
As for being "piano moving specialists," the front of our piano has at least 20 deep gouges. When I called them the next day to let them know about this, the father responded with "just slap some stain on it, and it'll be fine." Naturally, the contract terms and conditions on the back of the bill make clear that The carrier (namely Smooth Movers) are not liable for any damages to musical instruments.
These 2 are about as far from "Smooth Movers" as you can get. We would strongly recommend that you not hire them. read more