This was an incredibly stressful moving day because of the classic over-promise and under-deliver, plus some unprofessional and rude behavior. I insisted on an in-person visit for the quote and a "do not exceed" amount for my move. So one of the movers came by, I walked through the entire property saying what would come and what would not, and after almost an hour, he left-- only to call back to say he needed to come back in to take a video. He had taken no photos and no notes.
I called the boss to say I am not confident in the proposal- for a one-day pack and move, and he assured me they could do it and that this was one of their experienced movers.
Moving day-- I had secured street parking with 3 vehicles, the mover in charge walked through and kept scoffing at all the work (for 45 minutes), even though we had packed most the house up as well as moved stuff already. He wanted me to sign something that did not correspond to my confirmation letter, so I showed him what I had in my email. He got upset saying this was not his job, it was his boss's job, he is just a mover and just wants to go home right now. So we said, well you have a job to do, and we can call him so that you can start your job, which is the moving. He stormed away from me, after showing me something for me to sign with a different hourly rate and "NA" written on the "do not exceed".
We had no idea what was happening as the crew started moving all the packing materials out and said they were leaving and could not work-- and that I told them to go home! I tried to clarify, tried to speak to them, they ignored me completely, and so I called the boss. He assured me he could send a different crew, that maybe that guy had a bad night or whatever, that we are all human. I suggested keeping the truck there and the crew and just sending the disgruntled manager away, but they all left as a team, and the one who had done the prior onsite visit told me- "I think you should go with a different company, this is not going to work out" as they left.
We could NOT change moving day- it was now 10:30am after 9am arrival and start time. I stood in the street and waited on another crew. They were nice, they did the hard work, they took a break after 2 hours saying they were almost done...they took a lunch break, we all treated each other as humans and got through the day. I paid them each $100 cash tip and paid my do not exceed to the company. We ended at midnight, and this was after 3 of us spent all day packing with them, seeing it was not going to get done. They argued with me, saying I had told them NOT to move the baby grand piano. Even though it was always in the agreement as an extra $250 and had been accounted for. They scuffed a wall, lost a $400 tv bracket, finished at midnight... but I will not pursue anything as it is too frustrating to deal with this company.
When I called to say maybe we would have to finish tomorrow, since there was a long list of things still to be done at 7pm, the boss said he had sent 5 guys instead of 4 and that I was not being appreciative enough of that. I was being calm and wanting to get the job and my move done-- we had prioritized beds and furniture so we could put kids to bed in the new house! Anyway, worst moving experience (even though we had taken pics, labeled things, packed up), and this was local. read more