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About us
Capital City Transfer, Inc. are your Madison movers providing local, long distance and international moving services. Customer satisfaction has always been a priority. We have a reputation for attending to customer's needs, wants and concerns. Our actions have resulted in a strong repeat and referral business. We have been moving precious contents of homes and offices across town and around the world for more than 45 years. We have moved everything from priceless heirlooms to delicate high-tech equipment and irreplaceable objects. This business has always been locally owned in the Madison area. Current owners since 1976. The beliefs today are the same as yesterday: give quality service for a fair price. Our motto today is "If you use us, you'll recommend us."
Business highlights
80 years of experience
Services we offer
Long Distance & International, Moving - Local, Packing & Crating, Residential & Office, Storage
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
4.875 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 87% | ||
| 8% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 3% |
Showing 1-25 of 75 reviews
Joshua B.
Jun 2018
Excellent service from start to finish. Moved within Madison area. Responsive, courteous customer service from the schedulers and the person who came to give us an estimate. The folks who packed our home up and loaded/unloaded were professional, friendly, efficient, and worked hard to get the job done right. They took care to ensure no damage to our walls or floors while moving items. Good value for the price. We also stored our goods overnight at their warehouse at a reasonable price. We have used Capital City Transfer twice now for moves around the Madison area in the past 5 years and have been very pleased with the excellent service they provide. We would not hesitate to recommend this company to our friends and family in the future.
Thomas T.
Jul 2017
The move went well. The 2 people who did the moving were courteous, pleasant, and competent. They did a great job moving the furniture from one apartment to another, both located in West Madison. The 2 people arrived when they said they would, and completed the move efficiently and competently. Nothing was damaged in the move.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review! We hope you enjoy your new home."
Jeff S.
May 2017
One mover was obnoxious about lobbying for big tip. I called the company. They said they will take care of it.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to make a review. We apologize for the crew member who asked for a tip and made him aware that is not acceptable. The customer may choose to give the guys a tip, buy lunch/drinks for them, or do nothing based all on a combination of quality of job & financial availability. Again thank you for promptly bringing this to our attention."
Robert N.
Apr 2017
The whole experience went extremely well. I was very impressed with everyone involved, from LaRae who did the moving estimate, to Keegan, Ty, and Mike who did the loading and unloading. To complicate matters, due to some unexpected closing hiccups, we had to make several changes to our delivery date. Everyone was understanding and worked with us as well as possible. Moving is a stressful, often horrible experience, but this was made a stress-free as it could possibly have been. I am very happy and impressed. Great job!
Kay J.
Mar 2017
Good. They kind of packed "too well". We didn't need the house empty on move day and they packed things like a hoopla hoop.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We know everyone is busy, so we sincerely appreciate all reviews."
Luke J.
Oct 2016
The process was extremely smooth and well planned in advance. They finished in about half the time estimated. Very efficient and professional.
Jill E.
Sep 2016
The move went very well. Care was taken to keep my antique furniture protected. There was no damage to anything. And when I asked for things to be arranged differently, the response was "of course"
Paul L.
Aug 2016
I would be very cautious in hiring this company. They did a horrible job packing our belongs, causing damage. Instead of taking responsibility, they blamed us. In September of 2015 we hired one of your subsidiaries Capital Transfer packed three PODS for us. Before hiring Capital Transfer I asked if the movers were experienced and whether they would take care in packing our belongings. I was concerned because the PODS would be traveling all the way from Wisconsin to Oregon. I was assured they were professional packers. This turned out to NOT be the case. We tipped all three movers (not because they were exceptional, but because it was a very hot day), and we bought them lunch. One mover made a special request for lunch above and beyond what we offered because he didn’t like pizza. We got him what he asked. I gave that same mover a set of gold clubs that I had decided not to pack. Despite the respect we showed the movers, they did not offer respect in return. In addition to having mud tracked onto our carpet, and having movers disappear for smoke breaks behind the truck, we discovered large amounts of damage when we started unpacking our PODs. The items were very poorly packed. The movers who were unpacking us could not believe professionals did the packing job. Some of the issues include items packed where there was metal rubbing against wood, wood rubbing on wood, metal rubbing against metal. Almost every piece of furniture we own has scratch and rub marks on it, except for the pieces we pre-wrapped with blankets and saran wrap. These items were packed this way despite ample amounts of blankets being provided for packing. They simply didn’t use them. Also, there were boxes labeled fragile packed underneath heavy boxes. In one case there was a metal filing cabinet packed on top of a box labeled Fragile. In another case as space heater with pointy metal feet was packed on top of a wooden shelf, obviously causing damage. In another case an original work of art marked fragile was packed with a chair pressing into the canvas. It was obviously destroyed. There is too much damage to list here, suffice it to say the PODs were not packed professionally. I contacted the owner of the company, Tim. I sent him e-mails with all the damage. He took two weeks to respond. I had to call twice to get him to respond to the e-mail. He ended up responding with this e-mail: “Sorry for the delay I had to corner all the guy’s involved in your move and ask them about what happened that day. All three of them have told me the same thing. They were all told by the shipper (you) that the stuff was wrapped and ready to load. Ty was even telling me that the chair in one of the photos was wrapped in plastic by you right in front of the POD and was handed in to him and told where to place it. Matthew and Mike told me that you were telling them how to place the items in the POD’s per your instructions. I was also told you were taking stuff already stacked out and then putting them back in to the POD on your own. I looked at the e-mail from Carley telling you to be sure to have enough pads on hand. I was told there were 12 pads and most were used to protect a motorcycle? Ty remembers you running to get a few more pads at the end of the day but had already loaded before you got back. (Pads left after loading) I am sorry that your goods got damaged, but with the information given there is nothing Capital City can do for you.” We were very surprised by his e-mail. He insisted the damage was my fault. How it could be all my fault after I paid over $1000 for professional movers is hard for me to understand. In our subsequent phone conversation he tried to blame the damage on PODs, even though there were no sign of damage from a PODs incident. The damage was clearly the result of sub-par packing. On the phone he insisted that they would not offer any money for damages because his insurance company would not cover it. He informed me that I signed a document saying damage would be covered up to a certain amount, but that document was nullified because they did not transport the goods. I informed him that all I wanted was a partial refund for the professional service I paid for but did not receive. At one point I told him that we had family heirlooms that were packed he replied, “I wouldn’t have signed that document if you had heirlooms.” Apparently he is aware his movers do a sub-par job and that this document is not sufficient in covering his clients. The notion that I instructed them on how to pack is simply not truthful. Not least because I did go to get more blankets and ran several other errands throughout the day. I wasn’t even there for some of the afternoon. I spent the majority of the day in the house continuing to pack and clean. In addition to being accused of instructing them wrongly I was accused of not instructing them enough. Tim stated, “they were your employees for the day, it was your responsibility to make sure things were being done properly.” This is obviously very disappointing. We paid them to be the professionals. If there were things that were not packed properly they have a professional obligation to inform me of the risks. They didn’t do that once. Regardless, the truth is, there were very few items I was involved in packing. One of the main items was my motorcycle. There was no damage to that. There were a few other items that I had to remove from the back of the POD because the mover packed them before I told them it was ok (I needed them for work). After those items were removed they repacked things. The idea that I instructed them to not use blankets is a total falsehood and makes no sense. Why would I buy over 30 blankets (I have receipts to prove this) and then tell them not to use them? We used three blankets on the motorcycle. I have been very unimpressed with this company. We paid them a large amount of money and treated their workers with respect. In return we reserved a subpar service and nothing but disrespect. In addition, the manager, Larry Crocker, was very disrespectful to me on the phone and in our e-mail correspondence. He eventually hung up on me in our phone conversation.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Capital City Transfer prides itself on the many long term, experienced people that we have working for us. One of the things we continue to do for customers is "help" them when they have opted for competitor's hauling their shipments. When we "helped" you load your pods the feedback from the movers was that most everything was already wrapped in shrink wrap. There were not many blanket pads. Shrink wrap is very think and does not protect furniture when it is up against other furniture. They were instructed to use what was there to pad only the nicer things. Many instructions were given to the men on where to put items and how to load. (You are the customer so if we are told to do something we are going to do it) Many items were taken out/replaced etc. when instructions were given that you did not want that item loaded anymore. This action could disrupt how other items were already loaded. The movers stated that there were not a lot of boxes to work with so the less, heavy fragile boxes had to be loaded on top of each other. The rest of the pads that you did eventually go get were used on the motorcycle. It was said that you drilled holes into the pod to secure the motorcycle with hooks and then padded it. Since the shipment was transported with a competitor we also have no idea or control over how it traveled. Capital City does feel that we completed the job as the customer told us to, therefore there would not be any refund. We are sorry that the end result was not what you had hoped."
Nick S.
Jun 2016
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE DECEIVED AND THEN RECEIVE HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AFTER THE FACT!!!! Everything was fine until delivery. Our items were packed in the truck from our old house on Friday and we were ensured by two separate people that the trucks would be stored in a climate controlled warehouse over the weekend. When our items were unloaded on Monday, several boxes had water damage. Thankfully nothing was damaged, but that's not the point because something could have. We were told by the crew that the seals on the truck door must of been bad and nothing more. No one from the company called to explain what happened. Not our moving consultant (LaRae), the manager (Larry) or the owner. After the move was completed and I finally had a chance to catch my breath, I put two and two together. The trucks were never put in a climate controlled warehouse over the weekend, but left outside during high heat & humidity along with a bad thunderstorm that rolled through Saturday night. When I pushed and called them out on it, I was finally told the truth that the trucks were left outside. Though our moving consultant (LaRae) apologized for the trucks being left outside, we were also told by her that it wasn't a big deal because nothing was damaged. There was ABSOLUTELY no attempt on her part in any way to rectify or even acknowledge the fact that multiple people within the company were not forthcoming in telling us the trucks were mistakenly left outside. We were told the only thing that could be done was to have the manager (Larry) call us to discuss it. However, we were also told at the same time that they are very busy and be "patient" because it will be "a while" before he even calls us. Maybe I should have waited "a while" to pay the bill....!!!
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"This move was very hard to arrange from the beginning. The wife was not at the appointment on time and the salesperson had to start the survey on her own through half of the house with the mother-in-law letting her in. The wife was the main contact person in the beginning to arrange the move. Then the husband came in as the contact later. Husband was not at the original meeting where the original details were discussed. When the husband stepped in, it was arranged for two straight trucks to do the move as the destination did not allow for the larger truck we had planned for. There are no notes that the trucks were supposed to be parked inside our warehouse. (Two trucks would also take up alot of space if parked inside our building- so that would have been addressed if brought up) One of the gals in our office said "somebody" called in one day to ask if our warehouse was climate controlled. We said yes- We are guessing this was the husband, but he did not identify himself or mention that he had a move where he wanted two trucks parked inside the warehouse. As the customer stated, nothing was damaged. We did try to rectify a bad scenario by having all of the men unpack EVERYTHING that had gotten damp on our own dime- at no charge to the customer! We also have a job performance report that the customer filled out giving us excellent marks in all areas. We did apologize to the customer. We are sorry for any miscommunication."
Vikram B.
May 2016
La Rae visited at set appointment to make inventory and give estimate. Movers worked diligently and efficiently to pack on day 1 and move on day 2 and tried their best to keep move under estimate - we did pay a few hundred less than estimated costs
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review. It lets us know if we have again given a customer a quality move. Enjoy your new home!"
MARY C.
May 2016
I started looking for movers in March. The first mover I called asked me to inventory my home listing stuff off over the phone, then estimated it would take two trucks, four people and $4800 to move the belongings in my small (1200 sq ft) 2-bedroom condo. Scratch that one. Then, based on great reviews in Angie's list, I called Capital City. I talked with LaRae, who said their practice is to come to your home to inventory your belongings. She walked through my home with an expert eye, concluding that I needed one truck and two movers. She estimated the cost to be $1500, including $75 for packing my TV, 4% because I planned to use a credit card, $100 for keeping my stuff on a truck over the weekend, and a 10% discount for being a member of Angie's list. Other than the TV, I was paying only for moving; not packing.
The movers arrived exactly on time on April 29. I was completely packed and all boxes were stacked in the garage. The guys arrived exactly on time. We walked through the house so they could see what needed to be moved, when we walked downstairs, they were each carrying something. There were no wasted trips, no standing around. It took only two and half hours, including the round trip from the warehouse to my house and to load the truck; this was 1-1/2 hours less than was estimated.
They were to arrive at my new place in a Milwaukee suburb between 10 and 10:30 on May 2, which they did. Unfortunately, my seller was in a predicament.. His movers were supposed to pack him up and load the truck the day before, but they called and said they could not do it because the previous job took so long. He spent several hours on the phone (on a Sunday) until he finally reached someone in the company. The new plan was for them to arrive at 6:30 in the morning, and be out by 10:00. Instead, they arrived about 7:30. My seller still had tons of stuff for the movers to pack. His movers were astoundingly inefficient (I saw numerous times when one actually watched the other, they took a lot of wasted trips and were not coordinated in their activities), it took them 6 hours to pack the remaining stuff and load the truck--and it only filled half the truck. During that time, the rest of us stood around watching the show. Once the Capital City guys could actually move my stuff in, it took them only an hour and ten minutes to get everything off the truck and into the condo. The fact that my cost exceeded the estimate was due only to my seller's problems; otherwise, it would have come in well under the estimate, because my movers were so efficient.
The lesson is to be efficient yourself and then hire good movers (like Capital City). I don't know how much of my seller's problems were due to his decisions and actions, or due to mover's actions, but it was clear that this was not an organized move and these were not experienced movers. If cost is an issue for you, don't try to skimp on who you hire and be sure to check references and/or Angie's list; experienced professionals will save you money in the end. Be ready when they arrive. I experienced both a good move and a bad one at the same time. Glad mine was the good one. Have your stuff inventoried by the professional mover, not over the phone. Then, after doing the best you can for yourself, hope for the best and stay cool, because you can only control so much.
The movers arrived exactly on time on April 29. I was completely packed and all boxes were stacked in the garage. The guys arrived exactly on time. We walked through the house so they could see what needed to be moved, when we walked downstairs, they were each carrying something. There were no wasted trips, no standing around. It took only two and half hours, including the round trip from the warehouse to my house and to load the truck; this was 1-1/2 hours less than was estimated.
They were to arrive at my new place in a Milwaukee suburb between 10 and 10:30 on May 2, which they did. Unfortunately, my seller was in a predicament.. His movers were supposed to pack him up and load the truck the day before, but they called and said they could not do it because the previous job took so long. He spent several hours on the phone (on a Sunday) until he finally reached someone in the company. The new plan was for them to arrive at 6:30 in the morning, and be out by 10:00. Instead, they arrived about 7:30. My seller still had tons of stuff for the movers to pack. His movers were astoundingly inefficient (I saw numerous times when one actually watched the other, they took a lot of wasted trips and were not coordinated in their activities), it took them 6 hours to pack the remaining stuff and load the truck--and it only filled half the truck. During that time, the rest of us stood around watching the show. Once the Capital City guys could actually move my stuff in, it took them only an hour and ten minutes to get everything off the truck and into the condo. The fact that my cost exceeded the estimate was due only to my seller's problems; otherwise, it would have come in well under the estimate, because my movers were so efficient.
The lesson is to be efficient yourself and then hire good movers (like Capital City). I don't know how much of my seller's problems were due to his decisions and actions, or due to mover's actions, but it was clear that this was not an organized move and these were not experienced movers. If cost is an issue for you, don't try to skimp on who you hire and be sure to check references and/or Angie's list; experienced professionals will save you money in the end. Be ready when they arrive. I experienced both a good move and a bad one at the same time. Glad mine was the good one. Have your stuff inventoried by the professional mover, not over the phone. Then, after doing the best you can for yourself, hope for the best and stay cool, because you can only control so much.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. We do use these reviews to monitor how satisfied our customers are. We truly are sorry that there were problems with the old owners not being out and therefore holding up the delivery of your goods. We are glad to hear the guys provided the type of service you were expecting from us. Enjoy the rest of the year in your new home!"
Joanna P.
Apr 2016
Arrived on time and were extremely fast and efficient. They went so far as to grab our shovel and salt for dealing with weather at the new house. Remembered a majority of our furniture pieces as we walked through the new location in order to discuss layouts. When certain pieces didn't fit, they were more than willing and accommodating to move items to other rooms. Would definitely use again and recommend to others!!!
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review. We cherish all reviews because they let us know how we are doing our job. Enjoy your new home!"
Richard F.
Mar 2016
The estimator was knowledgeable and helpful and called on the moving day to verify that things were going as planned. The 2 movers arrived on time and completed the move in well under the estimated time. They were friendly, hard working, and professional. We will request them on our next move. There were no negatives. The move went very well.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to respond. We appreciate all feedback that we can get to make sure we are meeting or exceeding our customer's expectations."
Jenny M.
Mar 2016
unknown
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We truly appreciate the time taken."
Barbara I.
Feb 2016
unknown
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review. This is one way that we check to make sure we are doing the job expected of us. Enjoy your new home."
Jody S.
Dec 2015
No one would read the tome I could write about how fantastic Capital City Transfer was, so I will just say this: I have moved all over the United States and have moved overseas more than once over the past decades, and BY FAR working with LaRae at Capital City Transfer was the best moving experience I have ever had. Not one breakage, not one lost item, my telephone calls were answered promptly and potential problems solved immediately. In this crazy world where uncaring and greed has run rampant, it is a blessing to have people who actually CARE about others, and show it with their actions. Thank you, LaRae and Capital City Transfer!
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review! We know that everyone has busy lives and reviews are not a high priority so we greatly appreciate you taking the time to put on together for us. We do our best to make all moves as stress free as we can and are glad that we did just that for you. Enjoy the holidays in your new home."
Mary M.
Dec 2015
unknown
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review! We hope your sister enjoys her new home."
Brian F.
Sep 2015
The initial estimate was done very thoroughly - after going back and forth I elected to do all the packing myself and we moved some boxes ourselves to save a little money (with these changes the estimate was ~1600).
The moving crew showed up on time, quickly surveyed the house and started loading the truck. They did a great job of working around the fact we were still packing the last few boxes (they even gave us a few boxes they had on the truck to help). Everything was loaded in about 3-3.5 hours, they then drove to new house and unloaded. Things were put in the final rooms and locations (well, as best as can be expected since I wasn't 100% sure on where we wanted everything).
The crew was very professional and seemed to be having a good time (even though it was 90+ degrees that day). They worked HARD. We have not found any damage on any of the furniture or anything from the boxes - which is amazing (our previous two long-distance moves were not so lucky with furniture scratched, stuff crushed, etc). I would definitely use them again.
The moving crew showed up on time, quickly surveyed the house and started loading the truck. They did a great job of working around the fact we were still packing the last few boxes (they even gave us a few boxes they had on the truck to help). Everything was loaded in about 3-3.5 hours, they then drove to new house and unloaded. Things were put in the final rooms and locations (well, as best as can be expected since I wasn't 100% sure on where we wanted everything).
The crew was very professional and seemed to be having a good time (even though it was 90+ degrees that day). They worked HARD. We have not found any damage on any of the furniture or anything from the boxes - which is amazing (our previous two long-distance moves were not so lucky with furniture scratched, stuff crushed, etc). I would definitely use them again.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review! We always like to hear how jobs went. We also use the feedback in our evaluation of the the crews. We hope you enjoy your new home."
Judy L.
Sep 2015
We were very pleased with the prompt, efficient service provided by Lawrence and Terry. They have a great working relationship and were mentoring a student who was a summer only employee ( nice job of training ). They were respectful of our property and wrapped things carefully. We had no breakage. The move was completed in less time that expected so our final bill was lower than the estimate. My husband and I did the packing and appreciated how easy it was to pick up quality heavy cardboard shipping boxes at the office in Verona. We then returned the boxes when empty so they can be used again and not end up in a land fill somewhere.
Capital City Transfer had been recommended to us by a customer who moved in 2014 and was very satisfied with the service. I was glad to find this company on Angie's List and happy also to use the 10% discount coupon!
Capital City Transfer had been recommended to us by a customer who moved in 2014 and was very satisfied with the service. I was glad to find this company on Angie's List and happy also to use the 10% discount coupon!
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We use these to gauge how our crews are doing - especially on hot days in the middle of summer. Enjoy your new home and thank you for you comments. We will pass them along to your crew!"
Rhonda G.
Jun 2015
unknown
Betsey O.
Jun 2015
They were great.
Wendy S.
Apr 2015
unknown
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review of our services. We did pull the file and the initial estimate was given without set closing times, so it was based on normal business hours. Once the closing times were set and provided to us, we did redo the estimate to reflect such a late start in the day and the anticipation of going past 5pm, normal business hours. Ultimately the crew was able to finish the job faster than we estimated and the total bill was under both estimates given."
Marilyn M.
Mar 2015
unknown
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We will forward your comments on to your crew!"
Sharon S.
Feb 2015
Scheduling was fine and they were very friendly. After the move, I discovered a few dings and careless damage to the furniture, but no major damage. It seems the packing wasn’t perfect.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We will review your comments with your crew and find ways for improvement."
Christopher S.
Feb 2015
The move went extraordinarily well, the team was ontime and very professional. Performed the entire move exactly on time. They provided free boxes for us to use, and even picked them up for us after we unpacked. They were all a pleasure to work with, and would definitely use them again.
Response from Capital City Transfer Inc
"Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. We are glad to hear that we gave you such a great move. We will forward you comments on to the crew from your move. Enjoy your new home!"
Licensing
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FAQ
Capital City Transfer Inc is currently rated 4.8 overall out of 5.
Capital City Transfer Inc accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
Yes, Capital City Transfer Inc offers free project estimates.
No, Capital City Transfer Inc does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, Capital City Transfer Inc does not offer a senior discount.
No, Capital City Transfer Inc does not offer emergency services.
No, Capital City Transfer Inc does not offer warranties.