Allegiance Moving and Storage

We moved to our house on the 13th of September and we got our stuff on the 13th of October. It wasn't Allegiance’s fault but the movers'. Allegiance was always responsive to me. I left a message or two with the movers and they never called me back. Other than that, everyone was professional. The people from New York were different from the people that delivered in Florida. I wish the delivery was quicker but the problem was because of where we moved to. We're at the end of the earth in Key West so I get it. You have to schedule accordingly. Overall, I'm happy because we got everything. There were a couple of little minor things that were broken among our things but nothing was missing. I would recommend Allegiance because they followed up. They asked me about the moving company and I was honest with them.

This was the first move I made in 40 years and the first time I hired a professional moving company. I didn't realize that there were a lot of risks when doing cross country moving. A lot of these companies are great if they have the trucks available, if not, they hang you up. Allegiance saved me from that. They were able to do exactly what they said they were going to do. It was like one-stop shopping, and I couldn't have asked for a smoother, easier situation. It was great, especially when I was up against the wall, and not knowing what to do. They saved my bacon and I was very impressed. I only wish that I would have gone through them first. I would definitely recommend someone going to Allegiance before they go to anybody. Allegiance has the resources to get people hooked up with the right movers.

Trying to contact with the broker was a pain in the neck. He didn't return calls, not very responsive. Then I reached out to Allegiance, Allegiance reached out to him, and the first time, he called back. The second time, he didn't even return their call. When I finally got my stuff on Saturday, they broke a corner off on our driveway of the rental house that we're in, drove up on the grass and made about a 12-inch deep divot, broke our bed, and broke my wife's jewelry box. The movers themselves were pretty good. But their boss, not so much. He was responsive getting back to me as far as the driveway damage and he told me what to do to file a claim for my furniture. He was supposed to text me the information of where I needed to go to file the claim and that still hasn't happened.

We had sets of stairs in our house. On the contract from Allegiance, it said that they didn’t charge for the first set. The second set should have cost me $75. I brought that to the attention of the mover because they charged me an additional $125 per stair so I had to pay 250 bucks extra to them. They took our stuff to a warehouse, offloaded it, and did some other jobs.

When they went back to load it, I was upset when I talked to the gentleman. I told him that he ought to discount us because they hadn't met the contract. He told me that he was going to add an additional $600 onto the cost because they had to load and unload it at the warehouse. I got a deal in that because there were bulky items. I discussed those bulky items with the guy from Allegiance so there was no secret there. There were couple of items that we added to it because they were forgotten. I went from an initial of $2,900, which I thought was low, with the discount I was given, to almost 9 grand. I would not recommend them to anybody. I was very dissatisfied. My wife and I had to stay in a hotel for a while and then we had to buy furniture. We had to spend more money. But then, Allegiance was great.

People need to manage their expectations that they're not going to get an exact date or time for the pickup. Know that there is a two to three day window, and if they can't manage that, then that may not be the best fit for them. But we were flexible. It didn't end up being the first day they quoted but it was the second which was fine. They called about an hour out then they were there. They did a fine job with storage too.

The other loading had taken longer. They just trucked on and did a good job up in Maryland. When they got down here, it was also a late delivery. It took longer to get where they wanted to go, and then deliver it to my daughter. They stayed late and made sure it happened, and we're very appreciative. It was pretty good service. The move was not cheap but we got the most bang for our buck. They were competitive with the other pricing that I had gotten. Moving is a real pain and anything that you can do to relieve any of that pain is very helpful. Allegiance did that for us. I had always planned to go up and get it myself. It just didn't work out with our schedule. So, it made my life a lot easier. They did a heck of a job.

We discussed square footage of the apartment, the number of large furniture items that would be moved, estimated number of boxes we were expecting. I indicated to him that I thought we would have 30-50 boxes, at least. He insisted that based on his experience and based on the size of the apartment that we would probably only have 20 boxes. I disagreed but deferred to his judgement. I asked if there would be an up-charge if we went over the estimated 20 boxes. He indicated that no, I would not be charged extra. I also made it very clear to Brent that this would be a "spit pick-up". In other words, we had belongings at our apartment and at an off-site storage unit.

The estimate from Allegiance (see attached) came in at just over $3400. Allegiance contracted the job to NewStart movers. I was told that the movers would contact me 24-48 hours in advance of the move to give me an estimated arrival. That never happened. On the day of the move, the estimated arrival time kept being pushed out. The driver could not give me an accurate arrival time. According the driver they were diverted to another residence before ours because that client insisted they had to be somewhere for an appointment. Long story short, the movers from NewStart did not arrive until almost 8:00 PM on September 8.

Upon their arrival, I told the movers we needed to hurry because we had to be to the storage unit by 9:30 PM because it closed at 10:00. The two movers from NewStart indicated that they were not aware that we'd scheduled a "split pick-up" and indicated that there would be an up-charge for it. They also indicated that they were not aware that we had large items to move such as a TV, queen size mattress and TV console. I had to pay an additional $860 cash to the movers on September 8 and have paid $370 in storage fees to NewStart.

Due to their late arrival, we could not get to the storage unit. We had to incur additional expense to get the belongings in the storage unit transported from San Francisco to California. Additional expenses included flights to and from Seattle, paying an additional two months storage fees, contracting with Pods to pick up, store and deliver our belongings. See attached receipts.

When I contacted Allegiance to express my frustration and request at least a partial refund, they were completely unsympathetic. They offered no apology and refused to refund any money. Their web page touts a "100% Satisfaction Guarantee". In their email dated August 9 with the subject "Allegiance Moving Reviews" it states: "We take our customer feedback seriously at Allegiance Moving and Storage! It is our top priority to provide quality household and corporate moving services; but we also take the time to make sure our customers are satisfied with our services from start to finish."

In an email dated September 6, 2021 with the subject "Allegiance Customer Verification" it states in part; "Moving forward, the customer service team will be your direct point of contact. Please refer any questions, comments, or concerns directly to us. Our role is to be a liaison between yourself and the moving company to ensure that your move goes as smoothly as possible. We will serve as your advocate." I was not at all satisfied with their service. Customer satisfaction is NOT a priority and Allegiance most definitely did not act as my advocate. As you navigate their website it frequently refers to the great services they provide, all of which is completely false. Allegiance Moving and Storage

I've sent them multiple requests to send me an itemized receipt, detailing what exactly the $1701 paid to them was for. My requests for that receipt have been ignored. See table below for summary of expenses incurred so far and estimated future expenses:

Total $8961**

*I'm now being told by new start that my total due upon delivery will be over $5000. **Allegiance's Total Moving Estimate came in at $3424 which means they underestimated my total expenses by a minimum of $5537. In summary, Allegiance is intentionally misleading potential customers and intentionally providing inaccurate and intentionally low estimates to gain business. Therefore, Allegiance is committing fraud. For most people moving from one state to another or across the country, is a rare occurrence. Consumers need to be confident that moving companies are acting with integrity and serving as consumer advocates. Allegiance is taking advantage of people's vulnerability during an already incredibly stressful time. Thank you for taking the time to review my complaint. Please go to Yelp and read other customer reviews of Allegiance. There is clearly a pattern of deceit and fraudulent business practices.

I liked the guys. They were decent. There were seven of them. I still gave them each a $100 tip ecause they were honest, hardworking guys, and I can appreciate that. But it was a bigger job than they were used to. They were not professional movers in the way they necessarily went about loading things. But they were not professional movers as far as knowing how to move stuff. And for the price, it was ridiculous. I said, "So what did I pay seven grand to you guys for when all you did is show up and take the bid? You didn't actually do the move. I thought I was hiring a top five company to do my move."

I spent more money because I thought a big move, a lot of stuff and the way it was doing it, but that was not the case. Is that the way it is in the industry now? If you hire one of the big companies, they subcontract it out to somebody else? I wish I knew that because I would have just gone with the local company and it would have cost me less. Because $22,000, I realized I'm going across state, but it's only a two-hour drive. And I was told by Allegiance I would have an 18-wheeler. Instead they brought three small trucks. So overall, no, I'm not very happy.