Noah's Ark Moving & Storage

THe worst experience ever.

They had to transfer trucks to travel down to NC. So they took everything off one truck and transported to another truck. Items ended up being broken. We have been unpacking for over a month now since some of the packages weren't labeled properly. The list that the foreman gave me was full of numbers and the description for each item was “box”. We are currently unable to locate our three televisions. They knew we were two women that had to unload these boxes and they still packed the boxes full and when they took them to the house they stacked the boxes to the ceiling. I do not feel that they were worth what we paid for. I have antique items that were broken. The second crew that brought the items to the home and the only one that did the work was the foremen. One of the men was rude and condescending. Another man spent more time in the bathroom than work and then the last guy just sat in the truck. It got to the point where the foreman had no help at all. The foremen in CT was very nice and the foremen in NC worked extremely hard.

A team of 6 movers arrived at about 9:30am.  The supervisor came right in, introduced himself, took a tour of the house with us, went over the agreed upon paperwork.  The quote he had did have a higher amount then I was originally quoted so he said not to worry that he would call and confirm which he did immediately, no problem.  These guys worked so fast and were a great team that worked very well together.  We are currently between homes so our stuff is in their storage facility in the Bronx.  Originally it was supposed to be stored in Westport but they didn't have any room there.  They did not charge us for the extra drive time it would take them to get to the Bronx.  They pulled out of the driveway at 2:30 pm.  All in all it was a very positive experience and I am not nervous about the second half of our move at all.  We actually ended up paying about $300 less than quoted because we had moved some boxes to another storage facility ourselves.

excellently

At the last minute and on a 100 degree day, a team of 3 led by Robert, his first day working for Noah's Ark, moved furniture from one un-airconditioned house to another. They did it with skill and care, and sympathy for my last-minute hysteria. The sales office and dispatcher were gruff and not very confidence inspiring, but the company delivered, and delivered with professionalism.

Very good experience with Noah's Ark. They offered the best price by a good margin, offered excellent/responsive/informative pre-move customer service and sent out a competent and professional moving team. Note that this was not your standard "full move" since they were moving us out of a professionally loaded storage unit (and thus everthing had already been professionally packed/organized), and they were a little late (20 minutes?) arriving at the start. But they worked efficiently, with a positive attitute and finished on time and on budget, so was very pleased!

.The crew was very good, helpful, and nice. They even helped us move certain appliances from the garage. The crew was excellent. If we looked agitated they would re-assure us that they would take care of everything. They were on time. We will use them in the future.

There was much difficulty coordinating the dates of shipping and delivery. Since the Pasadina destination is a second home for me it was necessary for me to secure the services of the building moving coordinator, Rhoda Neal, to meet the truck and be present for delivery. When the delivery person came into the apartment he immediately showed the inventory to my representative and told her that many of the items were missing. He stated that he noted these missing items when the goods were transferred to his van mid-country and the driver of the original truck signed off on the missing items. My representative also signed the inventory form on which the missing items were notated. However, her copy of the signed form somehow "disappeared" from the kitchen counter when the delivery people left the premises (my representative led the way out and they followed behind her).

I called Mr. Jude Angel, the warehouse manager who was overseeing the move, immediately upon learning of the missing items. He informed me that he already knew this. These included several cartons containing several thousand dollars worth of goods, two large glass table tops, a table lamp which had been packed in a "vase" carton, the legs from my sleep sofa, and the huge center unit of my entertainment center. In addition the fabric on the sofa was torn in several places, the dustcover under a chair was in shreds, and the covering on the mattress and boxspring showed signs of serious water damage. Mr. Angel assured me that the insurance would cover this and all I needed to do was submit a letter attesting to the loss and describing each piece, which I did that very day!. Several days later I received a set of forms to complete and was asked to submit receipts or estimates for replacement. Several weeks later, when I called to check on the status of the claim, I was informed by Greta Barnes that the company had sent me a check for $600.00 to cover this loss, estimated at close to $12,000. I informed the bookkeeping department that this was unacceptable--and I never received the check!

After a great deal of back and forth negotiation, Mr. Angel informed me that I had not taken the optional insurance plan and was thus insured for only $.60 per pound of shipment. I informed Mr. Angel that I had never been informed of insurance options and that I had never signed the form, required by law, indicating that I had refused the optional insurance. He claimed that his assistant had discussed this with me, which was untrue, and of course there was no form with my signature on it. When I requested copies of all documents, to which I was entitled, all I received was an unsigned inventory! No Bill of Lading was in existence--another violation of the law.

I tried to deal with the situation through the Better Business Bureau and Representative Peter Gruenthal. Mr. Angel tried to play the "good guy" by first offering me an additional $600 and then a final total of $2,000. At this point I sought the assistance of a transportation attorney, Mr. David Piotrowski, specialist in transportation law..

I worked with Mr. Piotrowski for a year at a cost of more than $1000.00. The people at Noah's Ark, Mr. Angel in particular, established a web of lies and falsified documents and the only thing I was able to collect for was the damaged mattress and box spring. Ironically, their greatest claim was that I failed to report the loss in a timely fashion (UNTRUE!) and the report of the mattress/boxspring damage was made several weeks after the original reports were filed because I first noticed the damage after coming to California several weeks after the initial move.

The law clearly states that I, the consumer, was required to sign a form stating that I accepted the basic insurance ($.60 per pound) and declined the optional replacement value insurance. I was never offered the choice, never shown such a form, and of course did not sign it. The law also states that if this form is not signed then the insurance defaults to full replacement coverage.

My attorney informed me that the company was requiring me to pay for the replacement value insurance before they would reconsider my claim--and I did! They then turned the investigation over to Claims Service International (CSI).

All of a sudden a Bill of Lading appeared along with an unsigned copy of the full inventory without the missing items indicated. On the inventory was written that "the customer was not there to receive the shipment." I was told that the missing items were not reported on the day of delivery--never told this before! When I asked for the name and company of the final delivery person I got no answer (and I made three separate requests for this information!). In the end, the situation was placing great emotional and physical stress on me and literally making me sick. I began to suffer chest pains and dizzyness each time I had to deal with these unscrupulous people. They lied to me, lied to CSI, lied to my attorney, and lied to the US Department of Transportation. They created false documents and most probably destroyed the signed originals (which I know existed at the time of delivery and my representative was willing to sign an affadavit to that effect.! ) On the advice of my attorney I accepted the $2000 payment for the matress and box spring and signed off on it. It was not worth sacrificing my health for these unethical people! My attorney told me that he has dealt with many unethical moving and storage companies and that Noah's Ark was, beyond measure, the worst!

I strongly advise anyone who values their possessions, health, and sanity to steer clear of Noah's Ark Moving and Storage and judging from other reviews I have seen on different web sites I strongly suspect that the rave reviews that appear on Angie's List have been staged!

Great experience. Crew worked hard and non-stop. They didn't play any time game. Just get right to moving and worked till the end. They packed everything nicely as well. Price is very reasonable, not the cheapest quote we got, but definitely reasonable and will use them again.

I spoke to many moving companies- from start to finish Noah's Arc was just exceptional.

I contacted four moving companies and Noah's ark was the best in every aspect. They were very polite, courteous, and well prepared. they did a wonderful job. I highly recommend this company.