It's hard to overstate exactly how much of a terrible experience we've had with Walter Piano Transport. After wildly missing the delivery timeline (although they claim otherwise), I called them to figure out where the ball was dropped. I spoke calmly but directly, and received one of the rudest responses I've ever witnessed. The manager (who would not reveal her name) actually hung up on me in the middle of a question, and when I called back, she hung up on me again. Their quote was lower than most others, but I would strongly encourage those needing piano transport assistance to pay the higher price and go with a different company. read more

Ok, let me start the story They picked up my piano 6/27 in Seattle and it is supposed to be delivered to California. I got informed they said it might take up to 75days for delivery and I need to pay the invoice upon the delivery. But they called on 7/30, and asked to me pay the invoice which is due 7/30. So I thought the piano would be delivered tomorrow 7/31. But until 8/8, today, I did not hear any ETA or any plan at all, so I called the Walter piano, the lady who answered the phone is very rude and is not trying to find any help or answer, kept saying same sentences over and over again. Like we don't know when is going to be delivered. Lol So I just gave up on her and was asking other question, she just hung up on me suddenly. I am 100% sure she knew that I was talking. It was so frustrated and so awful feeling. DO NOT ever use the Walter Piano Mover!!! I would giver them 0 star if I have an option. read more

I wish I read the reviews before hiring this company. They are really pleasant when they're trying to get your business, but after the piano is delivered, their customer service is atrocious. If you decide to hire this company, make sure you ask for a copy of the initial condition report before your piano leaves your home. The actual delivery people are professional, but if there is an issue with your piano, expect to deal with extremely slow and rude customer service. I gave 3 stars because our piano came in one piece. read more

Our experience with Walter Piano Transport was seamless! They moved my grandmother's piano from Arizona to Oregon. The timing was just as described. I'm sorry to see some negative reviews here, but my review is 100% positive! read more

The owner got in touch with me both in response to an email and my review. She apologized for the issues mentioned did refund the cost of moving the piano. I do not know yet if this will be enough to cover the cost of repairing the damage caused during the move and subsequent attempted repair. read more

I moved my Steinway model L and a piano bench from Northern California to Boston in August, 2021. The initial time quote that I received from Walter's was that it would take from 4-6 weeks after pickup and I thought that if I sent my piano out at the beginning of August, at the latest I would have it by mid September which was decent timing considering I wouldn't have been able to get into my new place until late August. Pick up went smoothly, (was initially picked up by Encore Piano movers to go to their Stockton warehouse for pick up by Walters), and in the whirlwind of my cross-country move, I didn't feel the need to follow up with Walter's until I was in Boston, at my new place, and the first week of September passed. I emailed the lady (Heather) that was initially in contact with me asking about the whereabouts of my piano, and all she could say was "once it's in the truck, we do not know the exact location." I assumed this meant that my piano was literally on a truck being driven across the country at this point so I didn't feel the need to investigate further. Another week passed, I decided to email her again to see if it has reached the piano warehouse in Massachusetts. She now said that due to extremely high volumes of orders coming out of the area, things are taking longer than normal for pianos and that she would let me know if there is room in the truck for my piano. At this point (I was also in contact with Encore piano moving), I found out that my piano, after it's initial pickup, has been sitting at the Stockton piano warehouse for an entire month. It was not on a truck at all! I emailed Heather again, saying that I understand about the high volume, but it has been a month, you said that there is a truck going out to Stockton every week, I find it hard to believe that none of those trucks do not have any room for my piano. I asked if there was someone I could call to make sure my piano would get loaded in and to please double check that my piano's info has been processed (I feared that maybe the order fell through the cracks). At this point, she has put in a request to get my piano picked up as soon as possible, and a week later, my piano was in Indiana and shortly after, I received a call from a local piano mover and my beautiful piano was delivered to my new place. Condition of the piano seemed pretty good, there was a bit of sawdust that came out (probably from being tilted on its side and what not), but no extra scratches or damage. There was one random ball point pen that got under my piano strings (from a motel in Indiana) that I had to get out but no harm done. Just a bit random. I had a piano technician come look at it a few weeks later and he said it seemed to be in good shape! Overall in the end, everything worked out. However, I hate to think what would of happened if I hadn't hounded down Heather-- would my piano still be in Stockton?! The communication absolutely could be much better, and their price point (although not the cheapest, it was definitely still one of the more affordable ones) sometimes it's hard to avoid them. Would I use them again? Maybe. read more

Do NOT use this company. They damaged my piano in 2021 and refuse to honor their own agreement on their website to repair any damage they cause. I paid over $1,500 to have my 1938 Steinway moved from New Mexico to Washington. During the move, they cracked my fallboard and now deny any responsibility for it. They refuse to repair it or properly compensate me to repair the crack on my own. In addition, their customer service is incredibly poor: they act like an insolent child. What's more, I have been trying to resolve this since 2021! Unacceptable. This is an extremely unscrupulous and unprofessional company. read more

Walter Piano Transport - Movers Near Me - Elkhart, Indiana

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How I wish I had read the reviews before hiring this company. I hired them on recommendation of a local piano store, in the midst of a family emergency that required a quick and unexpected move to another state. The price to move the piano was over $2,000. It seemed high, but the piano is not only very valuable, but also has a lot of sentimental significance to the family. They assured me that this was their specialty, that the piano would be well cared for in a climate controlled facility. I used pods for the rest of the things, and them for the piano. The bottom line is that I paid a large sum, but the moving happened at the pace convenient for them; communication was difficult, and the piano arrived damaged, which has not yet been addressed. I hired them in early August. The piano was picked up some 3 weeks later, at which time I paid them the full amount. From there on they had the money, and they had my piano. I was notified that it reached their warehouse in Elkhart in early September, and was assured that we would be receiving it "soon" because it was relatively near Chicago. One month after that I received notification that the piano would be leaving the warehouse soon, and was finally delivered in mid October, with about a day's notice. During those months I contacted them numerous times to check on it, and when I had questions I was sternly referred back to their website for information. The piano arrived damaged and this has not been addressed. Had I to do this over again, I would have hired a regular moving company for all of my things, including the piano, as I had done in prior moves. Ultimately, it would have cost about the same, maybe a little more (a piano added on to a large moving load would not have added that much), and would have saved me the aggravation. I trusted them to move a precious piece of family history, they took their time, and they damaged it. read more

I contracted with Walter to move my piano from Il to UT in June 2022. I paid for the entire job up front, and the contract included coverage for damage, of course. The contract reads, "The Instrument is inspected at pickup and if damage is determined to have occurred during transport, Walter Piano Transport will be responsible for such issues. Insurance is included: $1,000,000 cargo insurance, liability and worker's comp." On delivery we noted that the piano lid was newly cracked entirely through, because the piano was not adequately supported on its case, so the lid was side loaded. This was pointed out to me by the delivery person. My earlier photos and the shipper's inspection paperwork showed that the lid was completely undamaged in that area prior to shipment. When I reported the cracked lid, Walter denied the claim, and said, "The reported damage (split down the lid and separation of the keybed) were due to age and fragility of the instrument, not mishandling or mistreatment during the move." Their contract does NOT exclude age or any other factors, and the pickup report did not note an "fragility" or other such excuses. The move was otherwise just fine, but this irresponsibility is most disappointing. I regret using Walter, and cannot recommend them. read more

I had a terrible experience using Walter Piano Transport. The main issues I experienced are that 1) they were slow and unable to provide realistic estimates on delivery time 2) local movers and handoff of contract and instrument has little process around it which led to the loss of my $500 Jansen artist bench 3) they are uncommunicative, sometimes not responding to emails or taking weeks to respond, and rarely sign their emails to indicate who you are talking to. As for the bench, an error in paperwork at the pickup end led to it getting lost. The local movers took the bench but marked that they did not take it on the paperwork. Walter Piano Transport was unable to do anything to reconcile that this was different than what they had originally invoiced me for and refused responsibility. Their claims department had this to say: "We have completed the investigation on our piano bench. All of the paperwork we received from pickup (pickup receipt, cab report, etc.) and the notes for our routing all show no bench at pickup. We show a spider dolly delivered with your piano, but no bench. Attached below is the original copy of the pickup report that you are presenting, where it is clearly marked "no" for the bench. Not only that but our cabinet report has no mention of the bench, and our truck/ warehouse inventory shows "no bench" as well. We will not be responsible for a bench that was never in our possession. There will be no further investigation." To me this shows the lack of value that Walter Piano Transport places in the end-to-end customer experience. They don't take responsibility for issues with the movers that they choose to hire, and they do not have any kind of process in place to ensure that local movers are picking up and documenting what was originally invoiced. These problems could easily be solved by communicating clearly with the customer on what is being picked up and requiring local movers to checklist against that and take photo documentation of items taken into possession. Even if they gave the customer a checklist for validating what local movers are doing so that we could do this ourselves, that would be an improvement. read more

I really REALLY wanted to be happy with this piano move. This was my first piano purchase in my adult life and it's a Steinway Model L (5'10.5" full size grand piano). But the experience needed so much more to justify a good review. In fact, I'm really hoping they fix the issues that were wrong going forward. The one good thing I'll say is that the piano arrived in good condition with no issues. But here's what needs fixing: 1. Call me. Email me. Text me. Blow up my freaking phone with updates on my piano. I'm paying you just a couple bucks under $1000 to deliver my baby from Ohio to San Francisco. For $1000, I'd be texting and emailing updates on the daily. Honestly, I think that had I not called them, I would have never known when the piano was leaving their warehouse. It definitely felt like I was "pestering" them, which I hated feeling like since, again, I paid $1000. Communication is really important here. 2. When you quote me 5 weeks for the piano delivery, don't take 7.5 weeks to get to me. That's a 30% difference in time. That's really bad. Also, when I called to get updates on the piano delivery, I would get a different answer every time. I called around the second week in June and was told it would be shipped out around the end of the week. I called the end of that week, and they said it was being shipped out on the following Monday. I called on Tuesday morning after that and they said it actually didn't go out on Monday and that it would be going out on Tuesday instead. Then I spoke to them again to get an update on when it would be delivered to the local delivery company (Who were AWESOME btw) and when giving me the estimate, said it was shipped out on the Monday (not the Tuesday). So, communication, again. And I think that's what it comes down to. When you're paying a K for a delivery service (I wonder if Amazon will do free delivery of Steinways in the future), you just want to be able to track it and have it arrive on time and in the condition it was when you bought it. So thanks for getting the piano to me in excellent condition, but honestly, that's the bare minimum. read more

This company doesn't respond to any inquiries. I've requested multiple updates from them, they ghosted me for a week. They don't know who is doing what or where anything is. The rep helping me Briana Reitz doesn't respond, and the "manager", Ariel Askren, has no answers for anything. I would highly recommend you do not use this service. Very unprofessional. If they were doing what they were supposed to, they wouldn't need to dodge emails or call requests. read more

I extend my gratitude to Walter Piano transport for handling a very difficult move. They were *not* the cheapest option, but indeed came recommended by Bösendorfer, and the questions they asked made me trust them to handle a move into a top floor Chicago 4-flat condo. I am not giving 5 stars for one specific reason - the lack of communication through the process. This move happened over about 4 months, and I had to be the one contact them to get updates - every single time. I wish they had been more proactive about contacting me regularly with status updates on a move that was several thousand dollars total. Now that said, at the end of the day, I paid a very reasonable fee, though it took ~ 2 months, at the end of it, I had my beautiful piano picked up ~2000 miles away, and delivered PERFECTLY into an extremely difficult top floor no elevator dense urban living situation in the middle of Chicago. I had just moved out a smaller piano and the previous movers had damaged it: congratulations to Walter for handling this successfully. read more

We hired Walter Piano Transport for moving a baby grand from Minnesota to California. Overall experience was great with them. The email communication was smooth, and questions were answered quickly. Walter Piano Transport uses local piano mover for the pickup and delivery at both locations. The pickup and delivery were on time and movers acted professionally. The only reason I didn't rate 5 is that you don't know when the piano will be picked up from the local piano storage. Probably they were waiting for long distance track. It took about 40 days for the piano being picked up by long haul truck. From there it took 30 days for delivery. It took about 70 days from pickup to delivery. If you don't need to be in hurry, I highly recommend Walter Piano Transport. read more

I had an absolutely fantastic experience with Walter Piano. They moved my mid-size upright piano from Indianapolis, IN to Austin, TX. They quoted me far below other piano movers, and they also moved it faster. From pick-up at a house in Indiana to drop-off at my house in TX was two weeks exactly. Thank you for such an easy and smooth move! I am so happy to have the piano here. read more

I was a driver for these people. Do not drive for them. After realizing the wasn't going to work out for me and informed them of this. I recieved my last check and it didn't add up to what work I did. Called the owner and she told me she took $800 of my pay for not giving a notice which I did and still have record of it on my phone. And would not send me a detailed breakdown of my pay with check stub. They are not the honest and family oriented people they would like you to believe they are. Drivers.....you've been warned!! read more

I got my piano last Thursday is perfect condition!! I am so happy with Walter Piano Transport! They definitely took care of me through the whole process and their price was very reasonable. The piano went from the Bay Area to the greater Dallas area. It had to be stored for a while during which time my husband and I had to buy a house and all this took a while. It was kept perfectly safe in their storage in Indiana and really, I am so glad that at least this part of our move went so well. No complaints :D read more

I hired Walters to transport a 128 year old piano from Michigan to Maryland. The website did not disclose that two third party companies would be handling the pickup and delivery - only the warehouse to warehouse move was done by Walters. The piano was not wrapped or padded in any way upon pickup. It arrived with visible impact damage on the lower left side, various abrasions on the keyboard and side, and with the rear right wheel missing. I reported the damage immediately, as per their policy. Other than a fruitless search for the wheel which apparently took place, the company did nothing. They made no attempt at making the damage right in any way. I'm left with a damaged, immobile piano. read more

Walter Piano Transport moved my baby grand and bench from Massachusetts to Florida. They managed to lose my piano bench. My piano was delivered to my home without the bench. I had to e- mail them several times about this. They didn't respond so I had to keep e-mailing them. Finally they responded stating that there was no bench on their paperwork, therefore, they wouldn't replace or reimburse me for it. Now, they required full payment before delivery. So, I got screwed. I contacted the Better Business Bureau already. I'm without a bench. Will probably have to purchase a new one and they got the full payment regardless. Do no use a dishonest organization such as this one ever. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! They moved my piano from Denver to Cincinnati and lost a piece of one of the legs along the way. They spent weeks "looking for it" and now say it was missing when they picked it up in Denver. This is an heirloom piano and when I asked for the help locating it Hope "the owner" said she would not share her inventory list of the piano upon pick up with me and would not replace the piece and hung up on me. I promise you, you will be let down using Walter Piano. read more

My piano drop-off was delayed by an extra week (August-November move) because they lost the glass casters that go under my piano legs AND the bolts for the legs. Thankfully, Seale Keyworks (TN) bought new bolts to cover for Walter losing them. The first time I called they didn't even know where my piano was (it had been picked up a couple of weeks prior). After each time frame they gave had passed, I had to call to check on my piano because there was no word. Terrible service. read more

They moved my piano across country and damaged it along the way. After three months of haggling, no progress has been made toward repairing the damage. Walter Piano Transport claims that there is no way they could have damaged the parts of the piano which were damaged. It is quite clear to me how they were damaged after watching them unload it. They are cheap, which is a plus, but they are not customer friendly after they have your money, and they don't live up to their word. read more

My husband and I called many times while my piano was still on the way and you didn't treat us good at all. My brand new Steinway O was moved from Sherman Clay, Santa Clara California to Steinway Hall Dallas Texas before it was delivered to my home in Dallas. In the end, Sherman Clay and Steinway Hall split the cost of fixing all the chipped off parts and cuts which took over 7 months after all. I would love to know the name of the driver and at least an apology of some sort from owner. read more

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We used Walter Piano Transport to move our concert grand piano from Tampa to Las Vegas. I picked Walter because they were highly recommended on Piano message boards, and by various piano stores. This is a BIG piano, and extremely heavy. Communication was constant through the process via email (which helped ease our stress somewhat) and our family heirloom arrived in original condition. Keep in mind, especially for deliveries of any kind, people tend to complain loudly, while nobody offers praise for simply getting the job done. This is not to take away from the validity of their complaints, or how they were handled. However I found that when researching piano moving companies, that they almost universally received poor reviews. I find it difficult to believe they are all sub par. Rather, that we become upset when our emotionally connected material objects are damaged and vent wherever we can. read more

My piano was moved cross-country (MD to CA) by Walter Piano Transport. They clearly state in their policy document that they strive to meet a delivery window of 30-45 days from pick-up. Even though this is not a guarantee, it seemed to me that they would try to meet such a goal. It seemed reasonable, and I had no reason to doubt them. Long story short, my piano finally arrived on Day 68, no fault of my own: I paid the invoice in full well ahead of delivery and received the piano as soon as the movers were able to bring it. My complaints: 1) The 30-45 day delivery was not close to being met, and no explanation has been provided, despite several requests. 2) They did not provide revisions to the delivery window. As a result, I was never sure when to expect it. Instead, they provided me with positive-sounding progress updates which led me to believe it would arrive sooner than it would. I could never get a delivery window estimate out of them. 3) It seems they ignore customers when a complaint or problem arises. They have ignored each of my requests for an explanation or reason for the delay. It's as if they only hear what they want to hear, and whatever they don't like to hear, they hope it will eventually go away. read more

I used Walter Piano transport to move my Knabe from Seattle to Houston; there are pretty much just two companies that specialize in long-distance piano transport, and Walter was by far the cheaper of the two. And the move went perfectly - I was able to meet the local partner companies for both the pick-up and the drop-off, and both were very careful and professional. The piano arrived with no damage that wasn't already there; and the delivery timeline was in-line with what I had been told to expect. As I mentioned earlier, Walter uses local companies for the pick-up and drop-off; I looked into the local companies they used for the drop-off, and both are very well-reviewed as well. read more

I work at Family Piano Co in Waukegan, IL and we frequently use Walter Piano Transport. They are very professional, and easy to work with. We've never had any damage on any of the hundred+ pianos we've transported with them. For many routes, they're also the most affordable. Great bunch of people. read more

There is no finer and more careful movers in the piano industry. "As good as it can possibly get" is the only description of their service. They have moved hundreds of pianos for me, I should know. Roger Shaffer Roger's Piano Exclusive Authorized dealer for Fazioli, Schimmel, Baldwin, Schulze Pollman. read more

Our Steinway Model M had a smooth move from Minneapolis to Seattle. I highly recommended Walter Piano Transport.

I give Walter Piano one star only because I cannot give them a negative 10 stars. DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE TO TRANSPORT YOUR PIANO if you care about it at all. I had my piano moved from NC to Texas by these people. A local firm picked it up from my home and stored it briefly in their air-conditioned showroom for pickup by Walter. Walter Piano kept it for over 6 weeks and delivered it to a local piano dealer here in Texas who delivered it to my air-conditioned apartment in 2 days. I called a highly recommended piano tuner to come tune the piano and fix the damper. He discovered mold all over the inside of my piano. He told me that it would have taken over a month for that much mold to grow inside the piano. When it left my house in NC, there was no mold whatsoever inside it. Walter Piano claims there is "no way" that it got the mold while in their care. He did not assure me, however, that the piano was kept in a climate-controlled environment the whole time while they had it. He was belligerent and defensive and totally uninterested in satisfying me, their customer. It cost me $1250 to transport this piano, money I consider wasted. I will have to consult a lawyer. Learn from my experience: DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE!!! read more

My company uses Walters for most of our out of state piano deliveries. They reply immediately when we request a quote and are always professional, reliable and easy to work with. Their rates are usually lower than any other national piano mover. Their communication with us and the customer is excellent. read more

We recently hired Walter Piano Transport to move an antique Knabe upright from Charlottesville VA to our son in Portland OR. It is a wonderful old piano which has been in my family since 1900 when my great-grandfather bought it. Needless to say, it means a great deal to me, but down-sizing necessitated its being moved. When it was delivered to my son's home on September 26, the rear casters were damaged beyond repair and it now has to be supported in the back with 2X4's. The next day I emailed the company to report the damage and express my distress that it had been damaged. I expected at least an explanation and an apology from the company but I have heard nothing. I certainly assumed that a company specializing in piano and organ moving would have been more careful. read more

I recently had a piano moved from Minnesota to California by Walter Piano Transport. They came to pick up the piano when they said they would, and delivered it as promised. I was very pleased with their communucations with me and my piano arrived undamaged. I was happy with the whole transaction. read more

My experience moving a family heirloom baby grand from Kansas to California with Walter Piano Transport was excellent. Having never moved a piano cross country before, I was a bit nervous about it, but they dealt with my short pick-up window (3 days notice) around the New Years holiday, worked with excellent local piano movers on either end, and my piano got to me quickly and without a scratch. They came highly recommended to me by a local piano retailer in San Diego, and I am so glad I took his advice. I would not hesitate to use them again. read more

Walter Piano just finished moving a family heirloom piano from New Jersey to California and it was a positive experience from start to finish. Ariel gave me the best price of the companies that I talked to and gave me an accurate timeline as to when it would be picked and delivered. Their local affiliated movers showed up on time at both ends of the move and were courteous and careful with the piano. Ariel kept me apprised of the status at each step of the move and the piano arrived today undamaged. read more

I had a Knabe piano and Lyon and Healy harp moved from Chicago, IL to Colorado. The instruments were well cared for and arrived in great condition. The contacts I had with the movers involved were professional and caring. The price was reasonable. It was difficult to find a caring mover for these instruments which needed to be temperature controlled and Walter Piano totally understood the issues and agreed to include the harp. I would strongly recommend this company. read more

Do not be fooled into thinking that "family run" implies either a focus on customer service or honoring their word. We entered a contract with Walter Piano Transport over five months ago and damage repair was finally scheduled this week. Once the check was cashed there seemed to be little motivation to actually deliver the piano. We received emails (in response to my inquiries) on 12/29, 1/12, and 1/21 saying the delivery would be the following week. It was delivered on 2/2. Same story for damage repair - several emails responses stating that the repair tech would contact us in the next day or two. We received that call after two months. Last week I called to speak with the owner twice. No one bothered to return my calls. read more

They also damaged my piano. They took the pins out of an antique piano and supposedly found them and then sent them in an envelope only to have them fall out of the envelope instead of taping them to another paper. They haven't resolved the issue and I have looked for pins for the hinges at several stores only to be told that they don't exsist anymore. Not very customer friendly at all and not the cheapest either. read more