The background: I've moved over 30 times in my life (and I'm not that old), including to Europe and the Middle East. I'm a champion packer, and I've dealt with all kinds of movers in all kinds of circumstances. Zito's was recommended to me when I had to do a local move. I've hired them five times since 2011, both on my own behalf and my mother's.
The good: The moving crews are awesome; I'm going to mention Todd's good humor and professionalism in particular here. In five moves, nothing's ever been broken or lost (including my temper), they've been pretty flexible in terms of availability, and their rates have been reasonable.
The bad: That said, box count has been an issue. When you're booking, they ask you how many boxes you'll have. They charge, I think, $5 per box. And they count. If you go over, you pay more on the day of. So I'd learned to bring 30-50 percent extra cash with me, for extra boxes and for tipping ('cause these guys really do work their @sses off). My last move was to Canada ... but, like, less than 100 miles over the border. They were horrified by the idea and said they wouldn't do that. So I hired them to help me pack -- first time I'd ever done that with them -- and load the van I'd rented to drive myself. I thought the quote just to load the van was a little pricey: $400 for a small one bedroom apartment. But it was a second-story walk up on a busy street in Buffalo, and I needed to get it done. They also charged about $200 for the packing service. Now, again, nothing was broken or missing, so the packers did their jobs. However, I ended up with more boxes than I'd quoted them originally ... but this was because the packers created a lot more boxes than I thought it would take to hold my stuff. So, when the stuff was all loaded into the van, Joe Zito (Todd, wish it had been you instead), told me I owed him $800 -- double the original quote, minus the packing job that created more boxes than was really necessary. I had $600 in my wallet, thinking that would cover it plus a nice tip. I also had Canadian currency which would have more than covered it (and which any local bank will change for free). When I offered him that, he sneered at me like I'd proposed to pay with a live chicken or something. I had to run in the rain three blocks to the nearest ATM while the van blocked a lane of traffic on Delaware. That was enough to end an eight-year relationship with a customer.
The bottom line: If you're a champion packer, too (meaning you keep control of the box count), and you're doing a smallish local move, and you ask for Todd, and you make sure you've got plenty of extra cash on moving day, Zito's is a fine choice. If you need help packing, or appliance hook-ups, or you're going out of town, or to -- gasp! -- a furrin country, look elsewhere. Most of my experience with Zito has been good, and I'm sorry to be giving them only one star. But yeah, that last session with them was pretty unpleasant, and I walked away feeling like I got scr$wed. read more