Beginning: All seem professional, their representative (a lady) came to my home in Arkansas to assess all the furniture and amount of items. She saw all my big/heavy hardwood furniture, wall mirrors/paintings, a wall of books, special care items such as a 150lbs statue, an antique wooden trunk, etc. She assured me, "No problem." She spent an extensive amount of time on explaining how they do not move thru a third party truck company in between en route. Hence, the guys I see in AR shall be the same ones in FL. That part was true. "No worries, we even handle the move for the governor, you are in good hands."
To this day, the only "emotional" remark I would make is, "I guess since I am not the governor, I got a very different service/experience." Since it was not my first long distance move, after researching, I was well aware I can only choose the most suitable to my best knowledge. In addition, I saw them move others at the apartment complex I lived at. I decided to enlist their service. Their quote was not the cheapest I got, they asked for about 8700.
She offered me a discount on getting packing materials, after looking at her list, I declined. I realized, it was not a lot cheaper, also, the same "medium box" is smaller than a standard medium I get from Walmart/Home Depot/Amazon. I also declined her offer on packing service. I know how to pack correctly and make the moving process easier with labeling and such. For example, taking into consideration of the movers, I never packed any of my books into one huge box, they were either in a small size box or I split the remaining 40% of the box space with towels and blankets, etc.
The Day of the Move: There was no trouble with the actual moving date, on the contrary, I was behind schedule with packing, miscellaneous items in my kitchen were not in boxes. I reached out to her and asked if the arrival time can be pushed back for about 2 hours. She said it cannot be done, fair enough. She told me, "They can start moving all the things in the other areas while you finish the items in the kitchen." Again, fair enough, so I agreed.
Upon arrival. A Pensake truck and two guys. It is indeed "Two Men and A Truck". Although I was starting to worry, I had no choice and couldn't question them at that point. My concern was, "How will the two of you, move my furniture and my boxes from here to downstairs without breaking your back?" My suggestion for anyone, make sure you ask for more than 2 movers if you believe you have a lot of heavy items and valuables the way I did. I did not ask only because I assumed she was at my place and it was a professional common sense for a moving company to know it would not be a 2-men job.
Since the two men already knew I need time to finish with the kitchen. They informed me, "Our company rule is, we start with a section at a time, you can pack while we do so, but once we finish with for example, the bedroom, you cannot add another item in the bedroom, we will move it. Today, we will make your kitchen and dining room area the last two sections. If you still have things you cannot finish packing by the time we move these two sections, these items will not be moved." I agreed, again, I was the one behind schedule, I found it very fair.
Quickly, I continued with my packing and stayed out of their way. Then, I noticed, to my horror, they did not lift anything at all, such as obvious hardwood pieces, boxes carefully labeled with "this side up" or "fragile". It did not matter, they were stacked however they could fit on a handheld trolley. All my items are loaded onto a trolley, boxes or furniture, did not matter. Then I watched them in disbelief, for my things "bounced their way each step of the way down to the ground level" by one guy. That was how my dryer, washer, 7 feet long sideboard, boxes of wine glasses, etc. made their way to the truck downstairs.... I have moved many times, I never saw a moving company being this disrespectful to someone's belongings.
Anyone can tell, those two men were exhausted for it was a minimally 3 men job. They had to take many breaks. One of them even threw up. It was 80+ degrees in AR. Five hours later, they were still loading the truck and that was when they told me, my 6 feet wall mirrors will not make it to the truck.... Well, the lady who came to assess did a list on the manifest, my understanding, all items on the list have to make it. That was why I used a moving company and did not rent a Pensake truck myself, right? I couldn't move these items on my own.
When I contacted the lady, she said, "Well, you got in their way to start with, you were the one who did not finish with your packing, we are not responsible for what would not fit onto the truck for you went beyond the space. By the way, they are behind schedule at this point already because of you." I was in the middle of a cross-state move, I was left in limbo. I was not even interested in whose blame it should be. I only wanted solutions to get my move complete at that point. None was offered, blame was offered.
The Aftermath of the Actual Move Day: This was not the end. I scrambled to find a small rental truck or big SUV myself while they load the remaining boxes onto the truck. After they left, when I walked into my bedroom (the section that was loaded before the kitchen and dining room), a heavy 2 feet tall armory (40lb) and about 5 packing bags of clothing (2 feet long 1 foot tall) were left in the room. In addition, I found that the 150lb statue, wrapped in packing blanket by them, was tugged away under the countertop of the kitchen island.... I did not put it there, it was in my living room, the first section that was being loaded.
That was when I had no choice but to call the same lady again. Now, the huge wall mirrors and a 150lb statue that weighs more than me by 30% is beyond my ability to handle.... Since she offered again nothing but blame, I spoke with her manager. In tears, I asked for a solution for I couldn't get a rental car on a Sat and I must arrive in FL by the time this truck arrives. I asked him "Your rep did not have the right to be this rude and blame the customers, I was cordial all along, further, she came, assessed my belongings, I told her I have a lot of items, why didn't you guys get me a bigger truck, I was willing to pay more if needed." He said, "We only operate with boxtruck. We do not have any bigger size, your only option was to hire two trucks." Hmn.... no, she never told me this.
After I explained to him I cannot move the statue myself, and unlike the mirrors, I cannot discard it for it has sentimental value to me, he said, "Okay, I will send a few guys over tomorrow to get the remaining items and then put them in our storage and when we get a work order to Florida, and if I could, I will piggyback your items to you." There was no mentioning "not with additional charge", there was no mentioning "when". My guts told me, this did not smell right. So I declined his "offer".
Arrival Day: If the lady was accurate the accusation of why it took their two guys more than 5 hours to load the truck because of my "getting in the way", the unloading will be a good proof of truth. One flight of stairs instead of two, plus, I was helping them myself by bringing items I can lift into the space. It still took them many breaks, it still took them 5+ hours.
Result: I honestly did not want to pay them the remaining balance in full for the nightmare they gave me. But I am a firm believer of doing my part. Karma. So I did. I even tipped the movers. They gave me a sad story of if I refused to pay, they would have to sit there and such and such and they only got paid for a measly 100+ a day, etc. etc. I was so exhausted, I drove nonstop for 16 hours to catch up to them in Florida. Leaving my leftover items behind in AR. I only wanted anything associating with this company to be out of my sight and space.
Final Condition of My Belongings: From the bouncing down and up the stairs, all my valuable wooden furniture either was 1. chipped, 2. cabinet doors that wouldn't close, 3. wooden trunk lid totally broken off. And 5% of fragile items were broken (to be honest, had I not packed these with experience, I would not be surprise over 50% would have been broken).
In hindsight, I 1. Did not demand more than Two Men, 2. Fell for the "we moved for the governor" talk, false sense of assurance, 3. Did not ask about size of truck option ahead of time. Two Men And a Truck was not even the cheapest quote I had, I chose them simply because I saw them moved others at where I lived and I heard of them. From my understanding later on, they were decent enough back then, but by the time I employed their service, their management was different... Now that I also read the complaints they have in recent months at the Better Business Bureau, I wish I saw those back then.
Conclusion:
1. Their service is obviously inconsistent;
2. They are also not the cheapest;
3. They are not responsible;
4. They do not have professional nor respectful customer service, nor do they have a well trained crew to offer 'reaction solution' to help customers, both are very important factors when we move, especially in a long distance move;
5. If you are moving locally, and your move does not involve flight of stairs or heavy/valuable items, and you are willing to take the chance, maybe, you can have a normal moving experience;
5. I will never recommend this company to anyone.
