I feel like we got scammed…
I feel like we got scammed… nearly $4,000 to move 3 miles down the road with an extremely inefficient moving process. The in-home estimate was too low by approximately $1,100. There was a major lack of direction and organization on moving day. The company seemed reputable, professional, trustworthy, so we were shocked that we had such a bad experience. Keep in mind that they charge by TIME, so efficiency needs to be top notch, and it wasn’t.
-The movers did not reassemble our furniture because it would take “too much time”
-Kept saying we were eating up too much time and that we would be charged more, so my husband had to help move things and disassemble furniture
-Kept telling us we had too much stuff. Multiple times throughout the day
-Did not handle boxes with care. Went down the ramp with the dolly roughly with "fragile" labeled boxes
-Struggled to box the TV, putting pressure on the screen - it was stressful to watch and I had to walk out. They had the $4000 TV laid down on the ground with the legs still on
-Christian estimated that the move would cost $2600, but it was $3700 at the end of the day. This is a significant jump, especially considering that we had an in-home estimate and we were told that said estimate was an "overestimate"
-The movers were not organized at all- our boxes went into the truck at random. they didn't load by room, so when they got to our new house it was very disorganized. Boxes for 4 different rooms came in on the same dolly. It takes a lot of time having someone move those 4 boxes to 4 different areas of the house vs. if boxes for the same room came in on the same dolly together. When we are being charged for TIME, we expect the process to be organized and as efficient as possible. It feels like things moved very slowly and we had to pay for it.
-The movers came in the house and just dropped boxes and items in random places and didn’t take them where they were labeled to go or where I told them to take them
-Had to keep saying “that goes upstairs” or “that belongs in the office” multiple times, as people would pass by or wait for someone else to do it
-Boxes after being brought into the house were not stacked nicely against the wall- after the movers left, our house was not able to be safely maneuvered through. Dining room chairs left in entryway, boxes laid side by side everywhere. Nursery boxes in the kitchen, bathroom box in kid's closet, etc. Every room had boxes that did not belong there. We had all of our boxes labeled and I was in the living room providing direction the entire time they were unloading.
-The movers were slow. Their pace was not one with urgency. The last time we moved, the crew had our entire 1,900 sq. foot house packed in under 2 hours. This was the same size of house with just a little bit more furniture (sunroom furniture, the grill, etc.) but it took over double the time.
-They lost hardware to one of our queen beds that we know we taped to the boards before moving day
-There was no organization whatsoever- the boxes weren’t numbered. In past moves I've had, every box gets a number sticker and each one is checked off as it comes into the house to make sure everything is accounted for. I have no idea how to know if we got everything.
-They kept saying with some items, like lamps, “we can take it, but these really should be in boxes, but they’re not.” With previous moves, the company has a few boxes on hand to wrap up odds and ends like this (with the ability to charge for it if needed). I expected to be able to put something like lamp shades in an extra box.
After the move, we are genuinely not sure what the difference is between what we paid for with 2 college brothers and renting 2 trucks ourselves and hiring contracted movers by the hour. We definitely have regrets.
I contacted the company about making this right, and they told me it was our fault that the move took so long. We are a family of 4 with two little kids. We hired a professional moving company for a reason. Would never hire this company again.