Don't use this moving company under any circumstance. Call Black Tie Moving or literally anyone else. If you've already used Tri-Star, bank disputes, BBB complaints (specifically a complaint, not just a review), & Channel 4 News can be very helpful when dealing with unethical businesses.
Tri-Star gave me a vastly inaccurate estimate despite having all of the information they requested in order to provide an accurate one. This resulted in the amount of time I was billed for being approximately 65% higher than it should have been *per their estimate*. After they finished loading the truck at the home I moved from, the movers, Corey & CJ, announced that they would be taking a lunch break before continuing on to the unload destination. This was the 11th time in my life that I've hired movers, & I've never once had them leave with my property to head to some unknown location for "lunch". When they arrived at the unload destination an hour later, one or both of them smelled strongly of marijuana. They also worked extremely slowly during the unloading process, with 10- to 15-minute gaps of time between when they would leave the apartment & return with more items from the truck. For no apparent reason, they removed the protective moving blankets from a cream colored suede sofa *before* bringing it into the apartment. It was a tight fit to get it through the door (the entire point of taking time I paid for to wrap it to begin with), & they ended up positioning themselves in such a way that one of them was outside pushing on it while the other was inside pulling on it to get it inside. As a result, the sofa was pressed hard & dragged against the door frame, which resulted in a large black grease smear from the hinge as well as white paint transfer from the frame, destroying it cosmetically. Tri-Star had preemptively added a $100 surcharge for fitness equipment the movers ultimately did not move; despite having been assured by the crew leader that the charge would be removed before I paid & that I would not be billed for their lunch break, I was in fact charged for both of these. Other past customers have also complained about being billed for lunch breaks they were told they wouldn't be charged for, so it seems a likely common practice for Tri-Star to tell customers they won't be charged then bill during the lunch break anyway knowing that most customers won't review their final invoice carefully enough to catch the overcharge.
I broached my multiple concerns with Tri-Star Moving manager Austin Pate as soon as possible following the disastrous experience. I pity anyone who has to attempt to glean any comprehensible information from anything this guy says. He is extremely unprofessional & clearly uneducated, unable to write a coherent email or do basic addition. Some highlights from my correspondence with Austin:
1. It's acceptable for the movers to smoke "nicotine" vapes during a move while the customer is being billed $165/hour. He advised me that, since using marijuana during a job would be a fireable offense, it would be "outrageously stupid" for them to do so, therefore they must not have done it. He further stated, "I do know that some of my guys use that delta 8 stuff [...]." I was unfamiliar with "delta 8", but apparently it's some sort of synthetic marijuana. He admitted to having watched truck camera footage from my move & seen the movers using a "nicotine" vape. So apparently, a) again, it's okay for them to spend time vaping while a customer is paying $165/hour, &, b) he can tell from camera footage that their vape(s) contained nicotine, not marijuana.
2. Direct quotes from one of his gem emails, spelling & punctuation errors & all (asterisks added for emphasis): "As far as the couch being unwrapped on the truck instead of inside.. that seemed like a decision the crew leader made at the moment, and not necessarily something I'm going to choose to *scold him for*. He knows it was a *dumb decision* and *probably* won't let it happen again. I worked in the field for 8 year prior to becoming a manager, and I make mistakes still. The *heat* mixed in with *working days straight* can definitely make a man mess up from time to time. This is a very strenuous job, and puts a toll on the mind and body, so *careless mistakes* can and do happen. [...] I will say that in all of my years in this industry, *walking away with just a couch stain seems like a pretty good move*." Beware if you move in the spring, summer, or fall in TN, where the company is located; apparently heat excuses "dumb decisions" & "careless mistakes". If I was fine with having an expensive piece of furniture ruined, I wouldn't have paid people who represented themselves as professionals $165/hour plus travel, equipment, reservation, & other fees, I would have simply asked friends to help me.
There's much more to this dumpster fire story, but the Yelp character limit is forcing me to drastically abbreviate it. See screenshots. read more