We've heard or experienced some horror stories about the following companies. We suggest that you do not use the companies as we have had bad personal experiences.
Note that the nature of this page is personal reviews. We can only review companies that the website owners have personally experienced or have other verifiable proof of the stories. As we have not experienced every company, this is by no means an exhaustive review of all moving companies.
I was disappointed when Isaac's cheated me in a recent cross-country move from Boston to San Francisco because I had actually had a good local move experience with Isaac's a year earlier. I should have done more research: Isaacs has a number of complaints on file with the Better Business Bureau.
Update: Isaac's called me on 1/19/07 asking me to clarify points below. All changes I am making on 1/19/07 are in italics.
Isaac's Relocation should NOT be trusted. USE ANOTHER MOVER!
- My sales person was Ken Holmes. DO NOT TRUST HIM. Here's why:
- I was quoted about $3,400 as an estimate over the phone. Clarification (1/19/07): I had explained to Ken that I had a $5000 budget and so I insisted on having an all-inclusive estimate. He told me about $3,400.
- I added NO SERVICES between when I got my quote and when my stuff was on the truck, but when Florence (the "long distance coordinator") called to give me my final price, it was over $5,900.
- Clarification (1/19/07): On the day that the movers packed my stuff, I was asked to sign an estimate sheet (dated 6/23/06, my move date) that clarified the actual estimate:
- $3564 for the transport
- $258 for insurance
- $1072 for packing
- This was a total shock to me. The form was pre-filled out, meaning that Ken knew that I wanted insurance and packing. Yet over the phone, he told me that the total was "about $3400" and that there was no way I'd come close to my $5,000 budget. But my stuff was all packed on the truck when I signed this form, so I was stuck.
- All of this, in spite of the fact that the estimate should have been EXTREMELY ACCURATE because they had moved all of my stuff, locally, only 10 months earlier!
- The original estimate was understated by 75%. That is, after they took possession of all of my belongings, they practically DOUBLED the price!
- Clarification (1/19/07): Explanation of calculation: $5900/$3400 = 1.735, which I've rounded up to "about 75% increase"
- They NEVER OFFERED a "not to exceed" quote.
- They NEVER provided me with a written estimate, in spite of my request for one. Probably because they knew they were going to cheat me.
- Ken told me that my belongings would arrive in "one week, two at most." Two weeks ended 3 days ago and still, I don't have my belongings.
- Update: I received my belongings on 7/13/06, nearly 3 weeks after they were picked up (and therefore nearly 50% later than the "two weeks at most" that I was promised).
- I called Ken immediately after Florence called with the shocking total cost. It took him over a week to return my call, in spite of the fact that I left a message nearly every day for a week. Of course, BEFORE they took possession of my belongings--when they were in selling mode instead of "holding your belongings hostage" mode, Ken Holmes was very easy to reach.
- I am currently filing a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and will update this site as soon as I have more information, including a case number.
- ISAAC'S HAS MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS REGISTERED WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU in the past 36 months! See for yourself here.
- Isaac's Better Business Bureau rating puts it in the BOTTOM 6% of all movers! Isaac's has TWICE AS MANY formal complaints against it than 94% of movers out there (most of whom have NO COMPLAINTS)! There are PLENTY OF BETTER OPTIONS!
- Clarification (1/19/07): Isaac's has asked me to clarify that they have been in business for 16 years and that it is not fair to compare the sheer number of complaints with other moving companies that have been in business for much less time. Certainly, that is a fair a point and one that I hope is clear when you view the raw data from the Better Business Bureau's website.
- "Customer Service" representative Paula Moyal sounded like she might be helpful on the phone at first. But after promising to "check into it", she didn't call back for nearly a week--until I called her. When I finally reached her, she passed me off to someone else (AGAIN!). I'm sure it's a designed process. First, I called Ken, who "couldn't do anything since my shipment had already been picked up" and so he pushes me to Paula, who tries to ignore me until my stuff arrives (at which point they won't take it off the truck until I sign the credit card slip). Finally, Paula (for no apparent reason) pushed me to Ari Yevsav, who did not answer the phone (conveniently) and never returned my voicemails. Feels like an orchestrated way to push off the customer.
It is unclear if Isaac's CEO Isaac Edry is complicit in these business tactics. I am in the process of writing him a letter to see how he and the company handle it. I will update my information here if/when I hear back. In the meantime, though, I can only assume that the worker bees are following CEO mandates to screw the customer.
- Note (1/19/07): Isaac's called and claims that Mr. Edry never received a letter from me, which would explain why I never heard back.
Note (1/19/07): after many phone calls back and forth, I was given a $600 discount off my total bill (bringing the new total to about $5300).
Note (update 1/19/07): when Isaac's called to discuss this personal review with me, they reminded me that there was damage to my new apartment and property because of their move. They asked me to point out that this claim was handled well. It was--once I got an outside estimate of the damage and filled out the forms, the insurance company sent me a check for the full amount to repair the damage caused by Isaac's movers. I was pleased and impressed.
MovingCost (aka World Moving Services)
This company contracts out the actual moving services and takes no responsibility to what actually happens to your possessions which means when something goes wrong, they are of little help and you have to go through a half dozen people even to get a response. Careful--the salespeople overpromise and are very helpful until you send the check to pre-pay your large deposit.
We have detailed reports from one customer (including phone records and insurance claims) of:
- missed pick-up window (because the mover wasn't there when they said they'd be, the customer had to leave a house key and have the movers pack, unsupervised, because the customer was on a plane--even though World Moving Services had been clearly warned about the inflexibility of missing the pick-up window)
- additional "hidden costs" incurred during pick-up
- missed delivery window--by more than a week (even though the delivery window itself was a week), without compensation for the customer having no clothes, bed, etc. Customer was lied to about forthcoming compensation for poor service
- MovingCost intentionally rerouted the customers cross-country shipment, knowingly causing the missed delivery window without warning the customer; was a cost-cutting move for the company
- damaged property, with damage valued at more than one thousand dollars; insurance claims are in their sixth month of unpleasant negotiations
- rude customer service which, for many days, had no idea where customer's possessions were
Overall, this customer's experience with MovingCost was extremely poor, very inconvenient, and more expensive than originally promised due to hidden charges.
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