Mayflower Reviews

The company also incorrectly purchased a reserved parking spot from the city to park a truck at (a truck they were sticking 4 other movers things into without telling me) and did not think to contact the building to find out if it was needed or not, merely purchased it without asking, costing me several hundred dollars. The third party movers were also baffled right beside me at the questionable antics that they needed to make the reservation. My building had a freight entrance that could meet their truck's size requirements.

The delivery caused the largest concern. We had been given a delivery date, then were notified that the driver needed to have a physical done and the delivery would now be days later. How a dispatcher wouldn’t have that information prior to scheduling a driver is beyond me, but that was the least of the delivery issues. The night before the delivery and the morning of, it rained. Unfortunately, all the items being unloaded from the truck were either damp or soaked. Evidently the trailer roof was not sealed and poured water onto our goods. The next problem was the unload crew.

Mayflower uses local contractors to supply unload crews. Unfortunately, the crew that showed up to unload our goods had significant communication barriers. The crew “lead” could not speak the language three of the four other crew spoke and they could not speak his. I could speak the crew lead’s language but not that of the rest of the crew. The driver was also unable to communicate with the crew. This meant that I had to read each box label and lead the crew member to the room it was supposed to go in. As you might guess, I couldn’t keep up with multiple people unloading, and boxes ended up being put wherever the crew decided was “good”. I had to relocate large numbers of boxes after the crew left. The team lead also disappeared for three hours in the middle of unloading - said he "had to go to the bank". The next problem was damage.

As I mentioned, the Mayflower packers only wrapped from the top down on furniture. This allowed the bottom 2-4 inches of any item to remain exposed. That exposure lead to significant nicks and scrapes. Additionally, either due to the packing in the trailer or handling during storage, at least one dresser back had been punctured by something approximately the diameter of a soda can. Offloading took a very unfortunate turn when the crew dropped our piano off the trailer ramp from a height of about 3.5 feet. This broke the soundboard in multiple places, effectively destroying the piano. As the crew was reassembling the dining room table, they lost one of the “feet”. Instead of stopping to look for it, they dragged the table across the floor into position and gouged a 3/8 inch rut into the wood floor. Last came the settlement process for damage.

The settlement process was excruciating in length and results. I can offer some warnings to anyone moving:

• Video items before they are packed. This will enable you to validate damage.

• Read everything before signing. When items are loaded, be aware of the item condition being listed by the company – and if you don’t agree with it, have it changed.

In conclusion, I would like to recommend Mayflower but my experience says that I cannot.

If you thought dealing with Healthcare was bad, hopefully, you don't have a claim and deal with Claims Team 1. When we were going to update our claims, that portion of the website (claims) was out for over 3 weeks. We had someone from corporate call us and apologize and when you tell them of the issues, they tell you they have no control over claims?? Then, Why did they bother to call? An apology doesn't resolve the issue with claims or getting back in a timely matter. All they do is push it to different people (more delay) and take weeks to respond, if at all. Please note, Mayflower is also part of United. I would challenge their CEO, Kevin A. Krakora, to address the inefficiencies in their people, process and technology. I am still waiting 2 weeks now, after I got an initial response that my claim was "almost done", and we will get back to you by the "end of the week" ... yeah, right!

Finally, let me share some things you need to ensure you are ready to move:

1) Driver does inventory, make sure there are pictures and labeled correctly. You may find the driver labels your items with scratches, or some damage , when there is none. The picture validates that!

2) If you ask for climate control for storage, make sure it is spelled out in the invoice as they don't DO THAT. You need to make sure it is ITEMIZED on the invoice.

3) Sometimes the driver will claim they cannot get the Semi-truck in the neighborhood (when they can). Instead, they offload it to smaller (U-Haul) trucks. This additional movement opens you up to damages! Drivers get extra-pay for this!

4) Find out exactly where they are storing your goods. The facility may not be up to standards (dirty, no climate control, etc.).

5) Finally, if you do have to file a claim. Get estimates of fixing (replacing) the items. They will send an inspector our ( 2-3 weeks) and will just offer you a lump sum. Don't take it as you may find, for example, cleaning the upholstery, does not come out! You need full replacement value; but, it would be TOO LATE, because you took their lump sum. Do your due diligence.

6) Stay persistent. They will deny, delay and lie! I cannot tell you how many times I was told, we will call, or get back by the end of the week!

Original Review: We had used Mayflower and United for previous moves with little no incidents. However, this last moved had stains on upholstery, furniture scratches and breaks, dirty beds, poorly packed clothing, etc. Filing a claim has turned out to be a nightmare. They tell not to do anything, while they drag it out and low-ball repairing or fixing anything. What is unfortunate is that we paid extra for FULL-VALUE replacement ( which turned out to be a scam).

One thing we learn was that drivers have a slush fund to gain money for themselves when they claim they cannot get the Semi-Truck into your neighborhood. Instead, they will go to a U-Haul, transfer you items from the Semi to the U-haul ( probably multi-times) and deliver it. This is usually not necessary and it causes potential damage ( more moving) and exhaust the workers. However, the driver gets to get extra pay for this. Shows they don't really care about the contents or you. Mayflower/United should STOP this practice!

The second point, if the salesperson indicates/hints your items will be placed in climate control facilities. Make them prove it. As we discovered, your items are in a warehouse, control by what the OUTSIDE temperature happen to be ( NO Temperature control). If you are able to get a hold of anyone from claims, they will tell you 7 days, etc. only to not get any feedback. You will find that you have to PULL constantly as they share (PUSH) no information. 2 1/2 months later ... we are still pulling. You might as well get ready for arbitration because they aren't going to respond. You actually need a class action lawsuit to clean this mess up. Unfortunately, we have another move ... and we cannot recommend Mayflower/United. If you do use them, hopefully, claims are not needed! Order Number: **.

Our first crew was witnessed by neighbors throwing boxes into the truck, and the destination crew arrived two hours early, unloading all of our belongings onto the front lawn, driveway, and street. They did not properly protect the floors in our new construction home, leaving mud and leaves all over our finished basement floor. Boxes were piled without any order, placed in the wrong rooms, and furniture was not placed properly, leaving a complete mess that took us two weeks to organize. At no point were we offered any help to resolve these issues. The crews falsely documented several items as pre-damaged on the inventory report, rushed us through paperwork without allowing us to read or verify it, frequently complained during the move, and many barely spoke English, making communication extremely difficult.

We initially had Katie ** as our salesperson, who did a great job convincing us we would receive a top-notch experience. Sunny ** seemed genuinely concerned, apologizing and saying it was good that we purchased extra coverage. Valerie initially appeared attentive and acted as if our claim would be resolved satisfactorily. However, Bethany ** from claims proved rude, dismissive, and clearly only cared about protecting the company, not the customer.

Despite purchasing full-value protection coverage for $98,000, and being charged over $20,000 for this hellacious move, our high-value furniture has been compromised, leaving us with serious financial and emotional stress. We now realize we were misled and deceived throughout the entire process. Based on our experience, we strongly advise against using Premier Mayflower Movers.