From the Start to the Finish of Our Move - Moving Review

I called the company and spoke and email directly with a gentleman/salesman Maxx. he basically told us that they would be the lowest guaranteed and we took him at his word. Through email he promised a number of things that made the deal that much better. When the foreman (not sure if he is affiliated with the company or not...still trying to figure it out) showed up in a Budget rental truck that was smaller than I had discussed with Maxx, I was very skeptical about the movers fitting out load in one truck. The foreman (Bob) after walking around the house came back with a new price that exceeded the estimate given by Maxx (solely based on guesstimate) by over $3000. I negotiated back and forth with the foreman and he kept saying that if he had to return a second time that he would charge me an additional $1000. Thank goodness I had the email conversations with Maxx so I could show him what was and wasn't included in the bid. After going back and forth for 45 minutes with Bob, I asked him to call Maxx on the phone and Maxx did everything in his power to help me out. the price increased by close to $3,000 so if you know the actual weight of your load you may be better prepared than I. (Make sure you have a reputable company come through your house to give you a weight based estimate and show them everything they will be taking with them.) It ended up that they couldn't fit everything in the Budget Rental Truck so they came back the next day to pick up the rest of our stuff. They didn't charge us a thing for the second truck and did a fantastic job wrapping and packing our stuff. Bob is an interesting character and I believe is far to a point. Make sure you get everything in writing/email before you pay the deposit otherwise they amount you agreed to may increase substantially with this moving company.    The Beginning: I felt very satisfied with Maxx and dealing with his secretary (or wife). I think they run the company out of their home as a third party servicer. I don't know this for sure. Any how they were great to work with.    The Day of the Move: the debate over cost with their foreman (Bob) was literally ridiculous and unless you have a steel spin, he will coax you for ever last penny. If on the other hand you keep good records and have them and are willing to fight for what you were promised, they will work with you to make you happy. The foreman and his group arrived at our home around 5PM and literally worked until 1AM to finish the job. Although this shows great drive, it would have been better if they would have arrived earlier so they wouldn't have kept my neighbors up all night. By keeping they up I mean extremely loud speaking on cell phones in the middle of the street, starting and stopping the diesel engine, raising and lowering the tailgate on the Budget Rental Truck, and banging pipes and furniture as the moved everything into the truck and out onto the driveway. My wife and kids spent the better part of the night hiding in the backroom as to not get in their way and were able to sleep after about 11:45PM. The next morning we woke to a battle field of tape, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, water bottles, and cigarette butts in and outside of the house. The arrived for the second load around 10:30AM and were gone by 11:30AM, after asking if we wanted to give them a tip. :P   The Day of the Move in on the Other Side: We were contacted by a company called OCO Transport that Safe Load had contracted with to transport the move to the East coast. They arrived when they said they would, and did a fantastic job moving everything into the house. I was upset at first that Safe Load didn't do the job, but realized that the other company was great and did fantastic.    Furniture Condition: I will continue to update this section until we are fully finished uncovering and documenting the damage that was caused in the move. To start, there was considerable damage to most items wrapped by the Safe Load guys. Huge dents in the washer and dryer, gouges in our headboards, wood benches, seats, bunk beds, and missing nuts and bolts for everything from the entire bunk bed system to tables and chairs. They tied two Adirondacks chairs together with tape and nothing in between and they are trashed. One of the arms on our wood bench was smashed and dangling, a leather footstool has a tear and slice in the top of it, and the bunk bed set is a mess with gouged wood and missing parts. I understand that long haul moving isn't a science and that damage occurs regardless of what a moving company does to stop it...so I WOULD SUGGEST GETTING FULL COVERAGE BECAUSE THE $0.50/LB COVERAGE THAT COMES WITH THE PRICE QUOTED WON"T COME CLOSE TO COVERING THE DAMAGE INCURRED. It needs to be said that this is something I suggest for all moving companies and not just Safe Load. The guys that wrapped our move looked as though they did a bang-up job, no pun intended, wrapping and protecting our items.    More updates to come related to commmunication with the company, damage, and the insurance claim process. 

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