AAA Quality Moving & Storage

The movers showed up with a Budget rental truck (that they don't have their own trucks should have tipped me off that this was amateur hour).  Everything was generally going okay until I realized that the three movers were using enormous amounts of packing materials, for furniture that was ALREADY WRAPPED IN PLASTIC.  I watched with disbelief as one of the young men used an entire roll of packing tape to secure a blanket on a small piece of furniture.  A glass table was wrapped in bubble wrap (@$2.00/foot) (using up tape @ $4.00/roll) and then cardboard boxes (@ $10.00/box) were secured over the bubble wrap with yet more tape.  Needless to say I should have said something, but didn't.  My mistake.



When we arrived at the destination to unload the truck, work crawled to a halt.  I was presented with a bill for $1,200.00 for moving, labor, and material.  This included a ridiculous 5% "fuel surcharge" to somehow pay for fuel for a truck that drove a total of 6 miles from my storage facility to my townhouse.  Mind you- the longer they were on the job, the higher the hourly fees, and thus the more expensive the 5% surcharge.  Meanwhile the truck was shut off the entire time.  Also, I had ALREADY paid an hour of TRAVEL TIME) at $90.00/hour, so there was no argument that the fuel surcharge was to pay for the move to my storage facility or back.  It was pure greed slapping that charge on.



I suspect that the young men who are actually doing the work are instructed to a) use as much packing materials as possible, needed or not, and 2)  Prolong the move as much as possible to increase fees.  When I was presented a bill for 8 hours of labor prior to unloading, we had not yet been at it for 4 hours, which is what my initial estimate was.  The movers would not unload the truck until I agreed to sign the paperwork, including 8 hours of labor. 



I spoke to Preeta, their manager over the phone, and I told her that I was unhappy with the service, unhappy with the clearly inept estimate I had been given, and unhappy about the rapidly escalating costs that were ultimately three times the estimate I was given.  She was generally unhelpful, and deducted about $60.00 from the total cost of the move, providing the plastic wrap that was used on a handful of items for free (mind you the plastic wrap they used could not have been more than $5 or $10).  Even this grudging discount was only given after I informed her that I was going to write a negative review on her company. 



In addition, one of the movers left his phone in the bathroom at the storage facility, after we had left, and we had to go back to pick it up.  I was charged for this time too.



Whatever you do, do not hire this company.  Their "estimates" are pure fiction, designed to get you to hire them and have absolutely no relevance to the actual costs of working with them.  Once they have you at their mercy on the day of the move, when you can't possibly change movers at the last minute, they get you to sign paperwork that authorizes all these additional charges.  Then, they refuse to unload the truck until you agree to pay their exorbitant and absurd fee.  They are counting on you being so tired, stressed, and without any other options, that you go ahead and sign the paperwork and pay the fee just to get them to unload the truck and get back your possessions.  They absolutely do not have your best interests at heart.

This company is a scam.  Up front they were very professional and courteous and provided a legitimate quote via email.  We were out of town and made that clear from the beginning and verified that our credit card could be charged in our absence.  They did not arrive on time, but were in fact 5 1/2 hours later than contracted.  They said payment by credit card was fine and took my credit card number to charged an initial $100 deposit, but then on the day of moving, they said that someone must be present at the drop off location to pay cash or pay in person via credit card.  I specifically told them that we were out of town and depending on friends to be at our house to receive the piano.  There was no way we were going to allow our friends to pay the money when we had agreed that it would all be charged to my credit card.  The lady (Preeta) told me that she would see what she could do and for me to just wait and she would call me back once the movers arrived at my home.  Once they were at my home, she called and said someone at the house must pay for the delivery.  She was so rude on the phone and I could barely speak for her continuing to interrupt me.  They stayed at our house for over an hour, refusing to unload the piano and threatening to take the piano back to the original location.  Finally, after lots of yelling and unprofessional talk, the lady agreed to release the piano IF I texted a photo of the front and back of my credit card and my driver's license.  The whole process with this company was just unbelievable.