Beware Consumers! Used the Advance Group for an office move and was greatly disappointed. They were recommended by an acquaintance, and sorry that we utilized their service. The first visit was perfect in appearance, in hindsight, as the gentleman was well spoken, personable and professional. The follow-up, again in appearance only 20/20 hindsight, was well done.
First, let me tell you that there were only four offices (four desks,3 bookcases, three cabinets, to move, 20 chairs, 20 file cabinets, 6 rolling plastic storage bins, plants and the rest were boxes. I packed all the valuables with bubble wrap, Pedro and his team packed the books and pictures. Needless to say, we were a quick and easy move. Second, I treated the team with drinks, food and snacks to keep the spirits up and they ate well, breakfast (bagels, lox and sandwiches, coffee and juices) and Lunch ( pizza, salad, and sodas). So, we treated them well as we expected them to treat our office contents with respect and care.
October 7, the SAGA begins. The packing was coordinated by Pedro, the day before the move. Under supervision, Pedro directed his team of young men and boys with greater attention than when not supervised. When left without me standing over him, he did not instruct his team but rather led them to do a less than careful job in packing the items. For lack of a better description, let's just say he was a poor excuse for a superior and those that put him in charge have not seen him and should consider putting him under surveillance during his operation. I must commend the three young men that were part of the Thursday team, they were personable, honest and should have been in charge of the move for us. The three Musketeers, as I have come to name them were concerned that the job was not done to the standards that they would have expected from a reputable company.
Day two October 8 was the killer. Not only were we not advised that the original Thursday team were not working with us on this moving day but my Three Musketeers did not do the load and move. Pedro was supervising the throwing (loading) of the contents on the truck and I arrived in the office to find that a new team was tossing the contents into the office as if they were emptying the items into a landfill. A young man was the coordinator, not PEDRO. His mantra for the early am was "can't believe they scheduled us to unload this office until 6 pm, no way", over and over again. Annoying and unprofessional as it was I did not comment. However, as the minutes passed, and the boxes and file cabinets were being brought up, walls being banged, cabinets being dented, huffing and puffing, ranting and raving, I did bring to the young irritated coordinator that it's ok to blow off steam but please do not take it out on the furniture.
He manage to smile and off he went to continue barking orders.
The crazy rantings continues for a couple of hours more and then it was time for the furniture to be brought up the steps as the elevator was too small so up a flight of stairs we go. Now, we all know that is a PAIN!!! (to say the least) but keep in mind, its a contract of work, stairs were included so grunt and move! This is where annoying got to "IF this was your stuff, that YOU paid for with YOUR blood, sweat and tears, YOU would not be slamming it, pounding it nor damaging the walls and fresh paint in the building so calmly, I asked him to please be more careful and he smiled, of course!!!.
The gentleman, who's job it was to put the four desks and bookcases together, could not believe his eyes. He was just as appalled as I was to witness this young careless, senseless, inept man coordinating a move that was beyond his abilities! He said if it was his stuff, he would not be so calm. I said if it were MY personal move, the young man would NOT be still working! However, I did NOT hire them!
The final straws came when -- Thank God there is video and pictures.......
1- The team could not get the 78" wood desk in a stand up position to bring up the steps. Rather than take the top off from legs, the young, impatient inept coordinator thought it was funny to not fully unscrew the top and stepped onto the desk and YANKED the legs off, thus making it impossible to screw the legs back on (as the "toolman" tried to piece the desk together, he said it would never support the desk properly and safely). JOB WELL DONE !!!
2 - The young man decided that since it was not quite done right the first time, he would do it again (he thought it was amusing ) to our conference table, which the toolman said can be resurrected with more screws if we wanted to use it... GENIUS!!!
Here is where insult to injury comes..
We file a claim for the President's desk, the building wall, file cabinets and expected that this company in good faith would reimburse us for the cost of buying him a new desk. The real world doesn't work this way...They want to pay for a lunch! read more
