Oh where to began! Our realtor recommended George the mover to us and so I called a week before our preferred move date and the lady on the phone was pleasant and said that based on the size of our place it would take about 4-5 hours for 2 movers at $90/hour. I thought that seemed reasonable, so I went ahead and scheduled it. I told her over the phone that I planned to box up some things myself but would have the movers box up the rest, like the kitchen, because I didn't want to box it up wrong and have things break. She asked me what the heaviest item was and I told her. That was the extent of our conversation.
So fast forward to moving day, the movers came about 15-20 min late. I will say, that the lady from the office called and told me they would be there in 20 minutes so that was fine with me.
The 2 guys did a walk through of the place when they arrived. While up in the office, I told them I could pack up some more items if they wanted and they said sure....in hindsight that should have tipped me off. I told him that I'd have them box up the kitchen and he agreed. Keep in mind, they saw all the items that weren't boxed up and didn't say anything up front about it.
About 3-4 hours into the move, the guy (Dan) said they'd have to do a second load and I agreed thinking it couldn't take that much longer. So while unpacking the first load at the new house, I offered to go get them lunch and he said they'd stop for 5 min on the way back and get it. This was actually closer to 20-30 min. It was when they came back for the second load and I asked him about packing up the kitchen that he looked at me like I was crazy and said maybe he had a few boxes in the truck. I thought that was odd but followed him and he proceeded to tape up the 2 boxes he had and show me how to box up the kitchen. I asked them if they usually brought boxes and they said only for a 'pack and move'. That's when I realized....almost 6 hours into the move, that they weren't going to pack anything! The second load was already halfway filled up and they were onto the garage, which was completely not packed up, and they were moving item.....by......item which was taking forever! I apologized to them because I had no idea that I was suppose to pack everything! But in hindsight, I was never told that and I even told the lady on the phone that I only had some things boxed up. And, if they had told me when they first arrived, I could have gotten more boxes, called friends, and packed up more stuff while they moved the big furniture items. But no, it was too late for that. The guy told me they left a few misc items upstairs....(I later found out it was WAY more than a few items).
So we get to the house with the second load and I notice one of the guys talking on his phone, moving slowly. I began to unload things myself. (I was doing this move alone because my husband was deployed.)
So 9 hours later and close to $900 dollars later, they finished. And to top it all off, we still had half of our things at the old house because they didn't pack those up!
I had to spend all day Sunday in the rain bringing the rest of the items over!
I expressed to the office when they called for me to pay the money that I felt the communication was sorely lacking and having not moved myself before, I was unaware that I needed to request packing. And that it wasent explained to me over the phone at all. I even told them when I booked that appointment that I DID NOT HAVE EVERYTHING PACKED UP! The woman on the phone gave me a completely insincere apology and was curt and annoyed sounding with me. Ugh. I feel like I was completely taken advantage of because I was by myself. Totally unacceptable and I would not want anyone to go through the same ordeal. It was horrible.
On a follow up note. Our realtor followed up with the company after I told him what happened. He was shocked because he'd been recommending new home owners to this company for years and had never had this happen. The owner apparently was in the hospital and the son took over. This could explain why service was not up to par. Our realtor eventually spoke with the original owner who said he would follow up but never did.... This was over month ago. read more