Empire Moving and Storage

They were horrible!! They were very friendly and helpful until they picked up my stuff. Then they wouldn't return phone calls, we never knew where the items were or where the truck was. One phone call they would say it left the warehouse and is on the way and should arrive in a few days, then two days later they would tell us it is still in storage. Once they were ready to deliver my items, they called a few times to reschedule. They finally dropped everything off at 11pm. I didn't dare tell them to come the next day for fear that I wouldn't get my items. They dropped someone else's item at my house and took my stuff to someone else's. They still have not fixed the problem or even called us back. They broke a table and have yet to make good on the claim. Stay as far away from this company as possible.

We originally rec'd a quote from Ann that sounded fantastic and although she seemed a little 'green' she was much more friendly than the vultures that were calling to do our Sacramento CA move to Texas, so we went with her.  After having several questions and updates to our quote Dawn started handling our stuff, which was fine, she seemed more seasoned and professional and it eased my mind a bit about trusting our stuff with strangers cross- country.  When they showed up at the house in Sac,CA, the driver had forgotten the bars for the wardrobe boxes and my husband had to go to home depot with the driver to buy the home depot wardrobe boxes.  We rec'd a discount for that debacle, but it still seemed unprofessional....and I started to worry again how professional these guys were...but we were locked in and had no choice at this point, we needed to get moved and were on a timeline.  The Empire (CA) movers seemed like all was well, got us loaded and out the door.  We told them since we were only moving 3/4 of the stuff out of the house this time, that if all went well on the other end and everything was delivered safely, that they'd earn a 2nd trip for the final load.  They liked the idea.  I asked for a delivery date and was told 7-10 days, but since we were "direct delivery" and wouldn't be going to the warehouse and our stuff was going to try to make a load moving out "today", that we might see it sooner.  No such luck.  After pestering Dawn for our delivery date, I eventually learned that our stuff indeed had gone to a warehouse(but they weren't forthcoming about that) and that they were on a "wait and see" about weather and such, but that they may put our stuff with another Texas load and she would get back with me.  Days later I contacted HER and not the other way around and found out that our stuff would be on a truck and it would finally arrive(sigh of relief).  So 2 weeks after pick-up, and all the correspondence originating by me...phone calls, messages, emails....we finally get our stuff.  Boxes smashed, an $800 Bow-flex dumbell set completely broken when it was dropped and they had hired day labor (we were under the impression that we paid for professional movers...guys that knew how to get stuff in and out of a house/truck)...so we don't know if the help has been background checked or anything...and the door jams into the house now need to be replaced because they're all banged up from hand trucks and our light stone colored couch needs cleaning from being dragged/dropped on the garage floor (or maybe it was the warehouse it was stored in).  When they finally got the couch inside, they broke one of the plantation shutter handles when they ran into it. So when they had trouble getting the treadmill into the house...I just said "forget it".....I didn't want to have to replace yet another piece of exercise equipment and doorway.
We'll see how well they help out with the claim I'm about to process today...apparently Dawn was "sick" the day I called it in.  Everything is now in writing from here on out.

I called Empire about three weeks before the move and spoke with Robert to get a quote. He was very friendly and helpful, and the next day I received a contract via email confirming the move.  Empire has a 3-hour minimum and will drop off boxes prior to the move if you need to rent some.  I had plenty of boxes, but thought it was a wonderful service to offer.  The window for arrival was from 9-10 am so I appreciated that Robert called to give me a more specific time in the morning.  Moving makes me anxious, but as soon as the crew arrived I immediately relaxed.  They were polite and professional, packing the truck like I've never seen and taking excellent care of our belongings.   Everything went smoothly and they finished about an hour earlier than expected.  These guys know what they are doing!