Allstate Relocation Systems

I'm definitely walking the fence on this one. They certainly were eager to get started ahead of schedule, which warped MY schedule. But I can live with that. And they appeared to know their job of loading pretty well. Although, I questioned placing and very weak container under two heavy boxes on the dolly, and I felt like they were offended that I mentioned it. I also wasn't keen on seeing my 170-year old antique treadle sewing machine cabinet turned upside down while wrapping it. I was quickly reassured of their expertise and told not to worry. I've been a military dependent my whole life (73 years), so I'm no stranger to the surprises you can find at the end of a move. I'm withholding any criticisms/compliments for after I see the end result. However, what I AM unhappy about is the paperwork. From beginning to end, I think that's a disaster. The biggest problem is that All State USA is a sub-contractor of sorts. A broker, Excalibur Moving Group, secured my contract, and then passed it on to All State. Somewhere in the transfer a few numbers seem to have changed. Also, during the execution of the several pages of forms my driver presented to me to sign, he seemed almost as clueless as I was. I had to write three different checks for 3 different amounts -- none of which matched the numbers I agreed on when I signed my contract with Excalibur. Calls were made to a "boss" who sounded aggressively adamant, but was still charging me for things (i.e., "Fuel Surcharge") that my Excalibur agreement INCLUDED in their "Total Moving Estimate". The loading of my small shipment took barely 1.5 hours. For the NEXT 1.5 hours the truck, with my belongings loaded and locked in, sat in my driveway while the paperwork driver made multiple forays to my door to tell me "a mistake was made". The bottom line was that they wanted me to pay $800 at pickup, instead of the $442.50 I was instructed to pay by Excalibur. I ended up giving him a check for $621.50 just to get rid of him so I could eat breakfast -- at 11:30. I'll be making some phone calls tomorrow (Monday), and I hope the explanations are digestible, or I'll have to continue this evaluation after my delivery. In the meantime, if you're contracted to All State, make sure the driver brings your little "rights and responsibilities" booklet in with the paperwork, and make him sit there while you read it -- BEFORE you sign anything. And then read what's on those pages. You may be paying for something twice.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1305