Hilford Moving and Storage- Allied Van Lines

Hilford Moving is incompetent, unscrupulous and frauds. Moving crew showed up without the promised, proper materials. They asked us "to help find a sub-contractor who could perform the work they promised to do with their staff". Their onsite "moving staff" is one FTE, and some day workers who are inexperienced, stand around until told what to do, and do not listen to client's requests for "protecting doorways and furniture". I spoke to Steve Dato, Gloria Criss (Owner), all of whom "apologized" for destroyed furniture, promises made/never kept, mis-representation and fraudulent documentation. Our last remedy is to file legal claims against this company. Steve Dato admitted he had never been trained, and did not know "how this really works". SAVE YOUR MONEY and aggravation - they do not care about your furniture. Lastly - they DELETE ALL NEGATIVE REVIEWS, so be forewarned.

UPDATE! 9/9/2020 BAIT AND SWITCH, MAJOR DECEPTION… It’s 3 months later, and what started out as a nightmare has only gotten worse. Sally from Hilford finally called me AFTER my review hit YELP—what a surprise. She claimed that she “wanted to help” after hearing about the atrociously unprofessional service I received. She sent out her rep April to see if my stainless steel doors could be “fixed with putty” or the “dents knocked out”—um, no. April was in my house fewer than 4 minutes and agreed the damage was irreparable (she DID NOT take pictures of the fridge). Next, Sally offered to buy me a used refrigerator she found on Craigslist—NOT the same brand and who knows how old. She reminded me I “signed for the $0.60/pound insurance” but she “wanted to help me…IF I WOULD TAKE DOWN THE YELP REVIEW.” I turned down that fridge, but found TWO of MY exact model on Craigslist for $500 each. At this point, Sally agreed to pay me $500, but they would be picking up the damaged fridge because they had salvage rights. I agreed. After searching and going to look at several used refrigerators, I was uncomfortable buying one that I did not know the history of—mine was only 5 years old and meticulously taken care of. Therefore, I had to go out and buy a new one, intending to put the $500 towards my $1640 purchase of an equal fridge. I let Sally know, and she agreed (in writing) to bring me a check for $500 check and pick up the fridge the movers damaged on 9/9/2020. When the rep April arrived on 9/9, she took pictures, told me, “We aren’t taking the fridge” and handed me a check for $270—NOT $500. READY FOR THIS? After 7 additional weeks of lying to me, Sally claims the fridge is not the original fridge in my claim (despite my pictures not only from the day of the move, but of the fridge IN MY kitchen—all sent to her, and April NOT taking a single picture at her first visit to my house). It was literally sitting in my dining room for a week after my new one was delivered. The delivery men could have taken this damaged fridge away, but I waiting for Hilford to take it…then she left it for me to dispose of and paid me only the insurance amount DESPITE HER MOVERS NOT BRINGING A REFRIGERATOR DOLLY TO MOVE MY FRIDGE! This company DOES NOT have a stitch of integrity. What could have been a quick response to my claim, an acceptance of responsibility for their movers NOT coming prepared to move items that were ON THEIR QUOTE, has now turned into 3 months of additional stress and heartache. Save yourself a lawsuit and book your move with a different company. POSTED 7/24/2020 PLEASE READ! I needed help to move literally one street over and what I got was a disaster! I received an in-person walk-through quote from Pete that included everything. I planned for 4-5 hours of help, deciding to have the movers do the upstairs and appliances. The "movers" arrived WITHOUT ANY TOOLS to disassemble furniture--which was all listed on the quote--in order to move it down stairs (thank goodness I happen to have an Allen wrench set and a screwdriver!) The "movers" DID NOT WRAP/PROTECT ANY FURNITURE despite my requests to do so. They did not even protect the white wood banisters with blankets. The only thing they wrapped was my daughter's brand new dresser and night stand with MY plastic wrap--which does not protect anything, just keeps drawers closed--and both the dresser and her desk (not wrapped and boxes put on top of it in the truck) were scratched, the leg of the dresser has chunks out of it. They used a dolly on which stacks of fragile boxes were stacked and clunked down the stairs, then COMPLAINED they had to move the up wood stairs in the new house because they couldn't use a dolly. They dragged furniture in the truck instead of lifting it. I even reassembled the beds MYSELF (see Allen wrenches)! They proceeded to tell me it was taking longer because they weren't told about the wood stairs and...the “movers” DID NOT BRING a refrigerator dolly TO MOVE THE FRIDGE! The put it on a regular dolly--NO BLANKET OR PROTECTION from the metal--which scratched the side, then rolled it down the side of my house with the doors facing out and DENTED BOTH DOORS on the gas meter! I was calling Pete the whole time, frantic at the damage and unprofessionalism. When I was upset they ruined my fridge and pointed it out, the "movers" decided to LEAVE MY FRIDGE ON THE BACK PATIO because they were angry at being blamed for the damage. The "movers" blamed Pete for not telling them they had to move a fridge (which was ON THE QUOTE). I told them to leave, at which time they charged me the whole amount for the four hours it took them to move less than half my house around the corner. Pete finally called and was "shocked and sorry" on the day of my move but guess what?! I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM HIM SINCE. I HAVE EMAILED MY CLAIM--WITH FOUR FOLLOW-UP EMAILS--AND NO ONE WILL CALL ME BACK. It's been 6 weeks today and I still have a ruined fridge and no answers.

No suprises from them...that was nice considering our other moving experience was fraught with 'extra' charges. I would use them again in a heartbeat, they were not 'students', they were moving professionals. They wrapped some very delicate statues and china very well. I was worried about the piano, but not need, they apparently move them regulary. I was amazed at how quickly they could box items, a similar box that took me an hour to wrap (and not too well) was finished by one man in less than15 minutes. It was like they had done this 10,000 times and it was part of some muscle memory exercise...very impressive. Our delicate little figurines were double- packed, they wrapped them, put them in a cushioned small box, and next put those small boxes inside a larger cushioned box - a box within a box ! It worked, none of the collectibles were damaged or broken. The same guys who packed our items also moved our items - same team- that was great because i have often heard that you have another bunch of strangers show up to mover the items... my wife was very happy to see the same hard working guys the next day come to move us.

Very well

The packers provided by the driver did a fairly good job of getting things ready to load on the moving van. On moving day, the driver rushed around and hurried everybody along. I was moving from a 4 bedroom home and the weight supposedly was 16,000 pounds. I am a disabled single man who must use a walker. In the spirit of generosity I gave the driver a storage cabinet, one of the loaders a kitchen table set and chairs and the other loader a small freezer with a small amount of frozen food. I pointed out to the loader named James a dish pack that had previously been moved from central California to my Oxnard location. It contained very expensive dinnerware, namely a Rosenthal china set purchased in Germany that was a complete 12 piece setting. It also contained an expensive tea set. James insisted on opening it to "make sure it was packed properly". Once open he removed a piece of the tea set and said: "This is good stuff".James left the job early, apparently as directed. When he left I was in another part of the house. The dish pack was in thegarage where it had remained for 22 years - only now it had "been checked" for proper packaging. I expected James to take the freezer when he left, but nothing else. James and I were the only two people that knew what was in that Mayflower dish pack.Because of my disability it was hard for me to watch everybody doing everything. When I next went to the garage, the freezer was gone and I presumed the dish pack in question had been loaded on the truck/trailer. I am now at my new home and have discovered the box is missing. I have carefully looked at all the packed boxes remaining to be unpacked and it is nowhere to be found. I even checked a storage unit where some of the packed boxes are stored. My dish pack was apparently stolen. Only one person had motive and opportunity and that was James. Apparently more went into his vehicle than the freezer I gave him. I could pass and am willing to take a lie detector test on this subject - is James?I can't believe any professional moving company would treat a disabled man in this manner. Evidently my gifts were not enough.The Mayflower dish pack was too tempting a prize.I would not recommend this company to any one. I am extremely shocked and disappointed in my over all experience with Hilford.

Pete Cresto was friendly, helpful, accommodating (when we changed our date twice!) and professional in helping us plan the move. His movers were prompt, helpful, professional, considerate and made our move amazingly smooth and uneventful - this was a real first! They did not damage any furniture or walls in our new home, and even made sure to put soft pads on the legs of all of our furniture so that our new hardwood floors would not be damaged. The movers were considerate in asking about each and every piece of furniture and box in terms of where it should be placed for our convenience. They even moved our furniture several times for placement without a complaint! These guys were the best we have ever had and made our move easy and painless - a real feat! They were definitely the best movers we have ever used by far!!

Over priced. At this time we have 23 items that have been broken or damaged; cabinets, table tops, candle sticks (cast iron), art work, washer, missing items still. Workers were argumentative. Would never recommend anyone use this company. Very poor customer service. Very disappointed in the quality and performance of this company.