
Scott of Stratford, CT on Sept. 7, 2011
Satisfaction Rating1/5
Where to start? When booking the appointment through their sales agent, Tom, I was quoted an estimate of $95 per hour for 10 hours. That is a total of $950. I was also told that I could pay by credit card. Then after they arrived, I indicated that we would be paying by credit card. The mover said they will only accept cash. I argued and called the company, at which point talked to Gregory, the manager who was rude and said cash only and hung up the phone.
We packed the house ourselves and used bubble wrap for the dishes, etc. The movers insisted on wrapping all of my furniture in cellophane and lots of tape. I explained that this was not needed and they clearly said, "we have to by law". I left a few minutes before the movers, and it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to drive from Stratford, CT to Dorchester, MA. It took the movers 4 hours and 45 minutes traveling the same route. When I questioned this, they said, "Who cares? Don't worry so much about it".
One of the movers brings me the paperwork to sign and pay, and the moving cost went from $950 to $1485! I reviewed the order and they were charging me $64 for the tape, $80 for the cellophane and $75 for the boxes in which I clearly said that they were all unnecessary! On a side note, I was charged for these boxes that they kept. I told the mover that I refused to pay the $285 in "packing" costs, at which point he said that I have no choice "Deal with it", the mover said (Yes, those are his exact words). He said that he was keeping the rest of the furniture on the truck until I paid. At this point, I still had a couch and a 50" flat screen TV on the truck. We ended up going back to an ATM and paying, figuring we would call the company Monday morning to rectify the issue. He reduced it to $200 after an argument.
We then paid for the move and gave the movers a $90 tip. Considering the move was 48% over the estimate, we thought this was fair. The mover then became belligerent and demanded more money for a tip. When we explained that we simply couldn't he said we would not receive the rest of our furniture without a better tip. Of course, I got upset and threw him out of my house, considering tips are never a requirement! I went downstairs to talk with the two other movers with this gentleman and said just take what's left off the truck and leave it on the sidewalk. I'll bring the rest in. The mover that I initially threw out of my house started yelling and swearing, demanding $50 before anything was released.
My husband saw how upset I was so he went to deal with the movers. He ended up giving them all the cash we had left in our wallets just to end the ordeal, which was an additional $30.00. They ended up bringing the TV up into the apartment, but dropped my couch in the driveway and drove off. To boot, as I was unpacking, I realized that I was missing an entire set of dishes and numerous teacups. I called the company this morning and again talked with Gregory, who again was extremely rude. I first talked about the movers behavior and he seemed unmoved by their behavior. He actually said, "What would you like me to do?" I then said that we were missing items and he said, "Can you prove it?"
After unpacking and also going back to the house in Connecticut, I am missing half an entire set of antique dishes.