Do Not Reccomend, be warned…read more
I hired this company because of its strong reviews and was willing to pay more for a professional, efficient move. Unfortunately, my experience was the opposite. I paid about $1,650 before tip, roughly $1,800 total, and ended up with damaged furniture, a damaged wall, a broken TV stand, and an excessively long move.
Two of the three movers appeared to speak almost no English, and the third spoke limited English and had to translate for the others. The issue was that the crew could not reliably understand or follow instructions.
Several times I made specific requests and was told "OK, OK," only for the crew to continue doing exactly what I had asked them not to do. At one point I had to repeat myself about five times and finally stop them and insist they change the loading order. It should not require an argument to get movers to follow a clear instruction.
I own expensive Stickley furniture and other high-end pieces and explicitly told the crew that several items needed exceptional care. I repeatedly asked for more padding and blankets because certain pieces were not adequately protected. On at least two occasions I specifically asked for another blanket, and the mover simply repositioned the existing blankets and kept wrapping.
When the furniture was unwrapped, I found scuffs on leather, scratches and chips in wood, marks on my TVs, a broken leg on my nearly new TV stand, and damage to several other pieces.
The problem seemed less like laziness and more like lack of experience, organization, and leadership.
The time reinforces that concern. My previous move involved significantly more belongings, more preparation by the movers, and a destination about 30 minutes farther away. It also used three movers and was completed in about 5.5 hours, including double drive time. Based on that, I expected this smaller move to take about four hours, five at the absolute most. Instead, it took about eight.
Everything except furniture was already packed, I had removed many fragile and awkward items myself, and I had reserved a loading area and dedicated elevator. Even so, individual trips between the apartment and truck were taking roughly 20 minutes despite the distance being only about 32 steps each way.
I expected roughly $800-$1,000 plus tip. Instead, I paid about $1,650 plus tip. In my estimation, I paid at least $650-$800 more because of the crew's inefficiency and lack of experience.
The most unacceptable incident involved damage to my old apartment. Near the end of the load-out, I found a substantial fresh gouge/chip next to an electrical outlet. I immediately brought it to the movers' attention, and they denied causing it.
I had plugged my vacuum into that exact outlet and vacuumed the area no more than ten minutes earlier. The damage was not there then, and it was there after the movers worked there. Damage can happen during a move. What bothered me was being told something that repeatedly that, was plainly not credible.
I contacted the company immediately and sent photos. I had to follow up repeatedly before being told the claims department would contact me. The following business day came and went without contact, leaving me to address the damage with my landlord.
There was also an issue with the drive between locations. Before leaving, the lead mover and I compared Google Maps and both showed about 29 minutes. The truck then took a different route and arrived about 11 minutes later. Because the company charges double drive time, that effectively became about 22 billable minutes @ 200 per hour.
The workers were personable and they did work. My criticism is that the company sent a crew that appeared inadequately trained, inadequately supervised, inefficient, unable to communicate effectively, and unable or unwilling to follow clear instructions regarding expensive property.
I chose this company because its reviews made me believe paying a premium would buy professionalism, efficiency, and care. That is not what I received. I would not use this company again and cannot recommend them
