Statewide Movers

The second part of the story is that we ended up not moving to Houston and called to have them re-deliver our furnishings back to our home.  We requested that they do it all in one truck this time, and John assured us they would.  We also requested that floor coverings be put down as we had just put in new carpet and I didn't want moving tracks all over it.  I also requested the carpeted stairs be covered.

The movers arrived with the same truck as before which meant two trips again.  They did not bring anything to cover the floors and said they were not told about it.  I covered the stairs myself with unused moving blankets to try to save the carpet. 

Fragile on the side of a box means nothing as heavy book boxes were dropped onto fragile boxes with abandon.  I even yelled at the guy who was wheeling my boxes splitting from the weight to look at what he was doing, but it didn't seem to matter as he didn't speak English.  Rather than ask me where I wanted the boxes to go, the young guy just started dropping them in any room he wanted to get them in the house.

Once again, when they finished I was asked to pay by cash which we refused to do.  We were not told about liability insurance for breakage, which I suppose is in the pamphlet we never recieved, so all we had was a check box that said damages would be paid for at sixty cents a pound.

The damage was incrediblde.  My stainless steel side by side refrigerator was scratched up the lenth of one side.  I lost at least four lamps.  The mirrored back off my dining room hutch was shattered - and it had been moved three other times previously - and was packed by the Statewide Moving crew.  Both bedroom sets had the finished rubbed off.  Dozens of casserolle, dishes, and glasswear were broken.  Our antique rocking chair had the finsh rubbed raw on the back, both ladder back bookcases were scratched and raw from rubbing up against other items.  It was sickening. 

When we subitted the paperwork to collect our sixty cents worth of damages, they refuted our claims stating that the refrigerator was only 150 pounds, and the buffet hutch was only 7 pounds.  They offered us $4.20 for ruining the hutch!  A floor lamp with a irreplaceable broken globe was awarded $1.20.  They gave us $90 for the damages to the refrigerator.  They stated that damage to our bedroom furniture was "Normal wear and tear of a move, minor scratches.  Not covered under the carrier liability insurance."  We have contested their pittance of liability to no avail.  For all the damages we received only $134.40, which doens't cover the cost of one lamp.  We would then not be able to tell others about our experiences.  So it's worth it to us to forgo the insulting reciept of their "liability insurance" so that we can warn others not to use them. 

The total to move out and back in was $2,550.  More than twice the original written "Order for Service" of  $1,074.

Lessons learned:
Require that a representative come to your home to give an estimate.
Require the pamplet required by moving compaines to provide their clients.
Get moving insurance as the moving company will not pay for replacement value.
Require an inventory list.