Advanced Moving and Storage, Inc.

[EDIT]

In late March, my mother & I hired Advanced Moving and Storage, Inc., based on their ability to accommodate our move from Illinois to Texas at the last minute. Everything was initially done through [NAME EDIT], [NAME EDIT]’s son, and company “relocation specialist.” Upon providing a 25% deposit, we set a date for them to load our household goods on 4/3/17, with the delivery date being set for 4/7 (4/15 being the latest, per the contract).

The moving crew arrived & did their job on 4/3 without incident. [NAME EDIT], the company’s only driver, informed us that he would call on 4/6 to let us know what time he would be arriving on 4/7, since they had another shipment to deliver on the way down in St. Louis. Confident that everything would go as planned, we left on 4/5 in our personal vehicle, and arrived at our empty house in TX on 4/6.

Foreshadowing the horror to come, [NAME EDIT] called on 4/5 and said he needed to run our credit card for the remaining 75% of what was supposed to have been due upon delivery. Not thinking anything of it, we tell him to go for it. On 4/7, we woke up early in anticipation of the truck arriving. After waiting several hours without contact, we called the company & left a message. A couple hours later, [NAME EDIT] called and alleged that the truck broke down in St. Louis, but that it was a “minor issue.”

The aforementioned “minor issue” turned into us waiting almost three weeks to receive our property. There was no apology, no discount or compensation for what we had to buy to sustain us in an empty house, and extremely limited information as to when the truck would ever be repaired. Two weeks into the ordeal, I told [NAME EDIT] that we were going to consult with an attorney, whereupon he ceased all communication with us.

I had to have my father (who lives in Chicago) reach out to him for any information. [NAME EDIT] told my father that he was not going to deliver our property now until he got a cashier’s check or money order, despite that fact that he had already been paid over $4,000 (the full amount for the move). Horrified by this, my father alerted me, upon which I filed a complaint with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration.

They said that [NAME EDIT] was effectively holding our property “hostage” at that point, and would be subjected to a $10,000/day fine for each day he asked for a different form of payment (he said he would “refund” us the amount paid via credit card when he got cash, but due to his rude and shady behavior, we couldn’t trust him).

On 4/24, the truck finally arrived with our belongings. Before offloading the trailer, however, [NAME EDIT] told us that we had to sign a Credit/Debit Card Authorization Form, stipulating that we still owed them over $3,000, and that we had to file all claims directly through them.

We refused to sign, whereupon [NAME EDIT] instructed [NAME EDIT] to leave [EDIT] with our property and to store it somewhere indefinitely until we signed said form. After facing [NAME EDIT]’s extortion, I called the FMCSA, whereby they said to do everything in your power to regain your property, even it meant signing something that we had no legal obligation to sign.

Horrified that we might not ever see our property again, my mother signed the form under duress. Additionally, I called the police so that an officer could make note that we were strong armed into signing a form that we did not legally have to. After all of that, they finally offloaded the trailer, and we once again had our belongings… or most of them, at least.

After spending hours going through the inventory form, we noticed that thousands of dollars in household goods had gone missing [EDIT], including my desktop computer. Moreover, [NAME EDIT] neglected to inventory many items from when they first packed that truck, which I believe was done so that it would be easier for them to [EDIT] things. Having worked in the transportation industry for a while myself, I was also perplexed that the turnaround time for their truck took so long, which gave rise to the following suspicions:

A) The truck never broke down in St. Louis. Instead of driving down to Texas with only a partial load, they decided to go back to Chicago (only 4 hours from St. Louis), and wait until they could fill it with more loads to make it full (intentionally delaying our shipment), or B) the truck did break down, but was repaired much faster than [NAME EDIT] let on so that, once again, it could be filled with more loads, thus delaying our shipment. Considering that I overheard [NAME EDIT]l say that they delivered a load prior to ours in Kansas City, I am inclined to believe that suspicion B is more plausible.

[EDIT] My only hope that as many people as possible read this so that they do not have to endure what we did.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4350

3 man crew showed up 2 hours late, moved like snails.  Said they were out late night before and were tired.  Only took half my belongings - said rest was not on their "list".  Was never told there would be a list even though we had many conversations with the office.  Office girl even admitted she "forgot" to put somethings on the list.  Had to rent a truck and have my children move other things they did not take.  After my daughter posted a negative review owner Jim called and said if she took it down, he would pick up rest in couple days. She did, and of course he kept coming up with excuses and after 2 weeks we knew he never intended to pick anything up. 
 The crew was rude and even called my family "freaks".  I have moved in and out of 9 homes and never experienced anything so horrible.  Would never use these people if they were the last movers on earth.
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Service cost: $1446

Lord, how to make a long story short? I will start by saying there should be a no stars option.  They broke/damaged MANY of our things, including a mirrored closet door, lamps, dresser, dishes, etc. Items like drills went missing altogether tho we watched them being packed.  They denied most of our claims stating they weren't responsible.  They charged us over 1000 more than the estimate and refused to return our things, threatening to drive off unless we paid the added charges which included more labor than what was used and supplies never used.  I reported to Illinois Commerce Commision, the BBB and the Attorney General.  I so wish I had read previous reviews.   The owner is the one that told the workers by phone to collect all additional money as he makes ALL decisions.  They offered me a whopping 60 for hundreds in damaged and missing items.  Did I forget to mention the owner altered the Bill's of Lading? Changing the amounts and hours AFTER I initialed already?   After much back and forth, I realized the owner wasn't the most ethical person and was never going to pay what was just, so I took them to Small Claims court, and I WON MY CASE. When I emailed about paying me the amount the court awarded, the response was to cease and desist (ummm, no, I don't have to) and to say nobody from the company will respond to my calls or emails. It appears I have to go back to court to collect.  All they've responded with is that "an attorney will contact me", but won't provide a name or number, and there is no attorney on record in this case.

Not sure if I mentioned that the ever so classy owner screamed at me in the court hallways causing a sherriff to escort me to my car after the first hearing.  In another sites review,  the owner responded that he regrets doing business with me.  Of course he does.  I refused to let this company take advantage, I followed through on the tedious process of suing them as I told him I would, and most importantly, I WON my case.  I am the one filled with regret for trusting this was a professional company, that they held our items hostage demanding more money and threatening to drive off with our items if we didn't pay, charging us for supplies never used & damaging our things to top it off.  I also regret their refusal to pay the judgement, instead claiming they will appeal and get a new trial, because it just means back to court we go and a lengthier process. I have no doubt this outfit regrets that while I was prepared, they were not, bringing 1 witness to say a confirmation letter with added charges was sent to me, totally untrue by the way, which is why they could not produce it in court.  Instead of providing any kind of letter, they claimed it wasn't on the server anymore because they have delete docs for space reasons.  I believe that was the moment the Judge knew they were not credible. There was NO evidence I was wrong and the owner falsely said he was  involved in our move from the start, yet didn't even know I hired their packing services. Hmmmm.    I was prepared for court.  Armed with proof of every discrepancy, emails, contracts and quotes to prove my case.  It is WHY I WON.  I had the truth on my side and proof to back it up.

So, I guess I'll see em back in court soon.  They could just send me what they owe, but they won't because in my opinion the owner has no ethics, morals or business acumen whatsoever.

In my personal opinion, this company is incredibly unprofessional.  It's been my experience the owner thinks he can do whatever and charge whatever he wants, and will most likely try to do so as he did with me.  Hiring them was the worst decision I ever made, and again based on my personal experience, you will likely end up paying far more than what was quoted as I did.  Save yourself the headache that I've endured for a year before going to court.  Read ALL the reviews, there are many just like mine, and you will see the pattern. You'll be better off going with a well known, trustworthy company that cares about their reputation.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

DO NOT HIRE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!
Arrangements went smoothly to set up the move. Items were stored by them in a "climate controlled" warehouse and then delivered to our home one month later. The move was not handled in a professional manner and items were damaged or lost. Although we had purchased a Full value protection policy, the company refused to honor that commitment claiming damage was pre-existing. No notation of this was made on the loading sheets and we are certain it was not damaged before the move. Our claims were for close to $4,000 and they sent us a check for $23.

We were assured that the driver who loaded our belongings in Bloomingdale would accompany them to our new home. This did not happen, and the driver assigned to deliver was with the company only a couple of weeks. That delivery driver, while capable, was ineffective in managing the crew engaged to offload our belongings.

The crew which Advanced engaged to offload our belongings was from our perspective inept and unprofessional. They were more concerned about getting done than about caring for our belongings. They even marked items as delivered which were not as evidenced by a lost lamp and a box which had to be forwarded to us on a date one month after delivery.

Perhaps most importantly, the driver, acting as the agent, agreed that the two tables which the crew destroyed were irreparable. We took him at his word and disposed of the damaged tables since we had no room to store them in our new location.

We understand that the company believes they were following the letter of the contract; and while the company can hide behind the wording, we do not believe that we were treated fairly in this situation. From our perspective we believe that the actions and communications were unprofessional, unethical, and perhaps even immoral. Because of that we feel that we must let others know of this situation so that they can make informed decisions about entrusting Advanced Moving with their precious belongings.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

I wish I could give negative numbers. My parents and I experience with this company was horrendous!! I communicated with the agent that I was calling on behalf of my parents to book their move, because they were unavailable at a funeral. I asked the booking be placed in their names with their phone numbers. When it came time for the move, I would not be there, a point that I explained to the agent. Anyway, they arrived looking for me saying I had a ton of paperwork to sign, and made it seem like they could not start until I arrived. The way most moving companies work is your price is based on amount of time spent on the full move out and in. When they arrive, the clock starts. We were quoted a 4.5 hour move based on the amount of items we estimated we had. Now, this is where I was wrong. About 25% of the items were going to storage, which is across the street from the move in address. Other companies, in prior moves, had no problem with that because again, you are billed based on time. I was wrong because I didn't mention it because I didn't think it was a big deal to have stuff split between locations because of the proximity. Big mistake. The movers complained, called their dispatch, in turn the dispatch called me saying they will move to one location, because of time constraints and they had another move directly after, also that I had to be there in person to sign papers for the move. I was so pissed that I had to go there, when I clearly stated I could not upon booking, but I accepted that they could not go to two locations..that was on me. Anyway, the guys started the move, and it was contentious. One of the men was drinking on the job and you can smell the liquor on his breathe. We suspected that they were pushing all the buttons on the freight elevator so it takes longer to go up/down (the times my father rode with them, this did not happen, but when we wasn't and inquired what was taking so long, they would reply "all the buttons were pushed" or "the elevator malfunctioned"). They took long breaks between moving. The same drinking guys lied to my father about something my mom and said and when my father asked my mom, she denied having said that, and when he was confronted in front of both of them, he blamed someone else. They also took 1 hour to break down a queen bed and then did not put it back together properly upon completion of the move. It took them 4 hours to move out of the 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment, even with the help of my dad and brother (who came over to help) taking down the other bed and dining room table to move the process along. They took advantage of my parents and the situation, knowing at this point, they had no other options. Clearly they did not have another job to do as the dispatch led me to believe. The job took almost 8 hours, and my parents had to come up with cash to cover the difference. A quote went from about $700 total to $1200. Unbelievable. Had I been able to be there, there is no way in hell things would have went down like they did. We ended up having to move the stuff from the apartment to the storage facility ourselves..not from the final apartment, but from the 1st one, because they did not take everything, because they were taking too long to move. At this point we paid them $1200 to move about 80% of 2bed/2bath worth of stuff for 7 hours.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1200

We were given as estimate of 12800 lbs totalling $5700 (with insurance)to be picked up in Shorewood IL and delivered to Huntsville Alabama between 18-23 Dec 2020. It is now 28 Dec 2020 and we still do not have our furniture, clothes and belongings. We continue to get the run around from customer service. Spoke with Jim the owner who told me the driver quit and there was no driver available to transport our belonging to Huntsville, AL. The owner said he should have a driver hired and ready to deliver 26 Dec. I reached out several times over the weekend to get a status report without successful. Today 28th Dec, I was able to talk to the owner regarding delivery of our shipment. Now he tells me he has a driver for next Sat (Jan 2) for delivery Mon (Jan 4). He didn't seem concerned at all that his company broke the contract for delivery of 18-23 Dec. He refused to talk about compensation, only that he would reimburse us for an air mattress. Not exactly what I had in mind for breaking our contract and delivering weeks late. I normally do my due diligence and research companies thoroughly. It was my mistake to believe Greg Smith the estimator who came to our home was honest. People, please do not hire this company to transport your possessions. You may never see them again. Feel free to call or text me if you would like further details. 815.585.1065.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5700

Absolutely the worst. Don't use them unless you want to learn what extortion really is. The owner is a bully and has a rotten mouth. The sales estimator doesn't know how to estimate a job. We are now working with past customers who have sued them and won and a lawyer. They will have another day in court! DO NOT BE FULLED BY THEIR 5 STAR REVIEWS. THEY WRITE THEM THEMSELVES. AS A JOURNALISM MAJOR AND GRADUATE, I CAN TELL YOU WITH CERTAINTY THAT ONE PERSON IS CRAFTING EACH OF THESE 5 STAR REVIEWS. PLEASE READ ON GOOGLE AND OTHER PLACES LIKE THE BBB TO GET AN ACCURATE READING ON THESE CRIMINALS

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4700

ZERO STARS!!!! *Scroll past the 5 star comments that are more than likely coming from the owner himself*

I find it disgusting that they try to bury actual reviews with fake ones to cover up the fact that the owner Jim runs a scam of a company.

To the staff that knows what is happening behind closed doors. I ask you have integrity and leave the company.

As for the movers or anyone looking to apply or currently work for this company I suggest you RUN the opposite way.

I pray Jim gets a wake up call soon.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000