Allways Moving and Storage

They would tell me a rough date when they were arriving. A few days before the earliest date I called to get a more precise date instead of the 4-5 day window. They had no idea. I called the day before the earliest date, they said the day after they would be there. I called that same day and they avoided my call. I called the next day, avoided. I called a couple times every day for 5 days until they finally got back to me.
Then they were 7 days later than the latest date they gave to deliver my things. Avoiding my phone calls again.
And of course they manage to damage a handful of things, some irreplaceable or unfixable and costing a couple thousand in damages altogether. Got reimbursed less than a quarter of what it will cost to replace or repair what was damaged.

Their business cares nothing about you, your time or your belongings. Repeat customers is not a clientèle that they make their money from, so it doesn't matter what you think, its likely you won't need a service like that again. So who cares how they treat you, right?

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

Truck came late Took 5 hrs longer that origianlly told us. Didn't receive any paperwork when driver's left our house. Had to call multiple times to finally get copy of our bill emailed. Never recieved a bill of lading. When droping off our belongings, the truck was  5 days late. Boxes labled "Fragile" were smashed and wet. Some items were broken or damaged. Left our bed frame and large mirror on the truck. Called repeadatly and was told every time that we would get the items baqck hoever we never did. Office peole were very rude.  .

Service cost: $29

The sales person (Carine) on the line quoted me pick up and delivery dates and a total amount.  We set up the dates 10 days out so she assured me there would be no problem with either date.  Based on her assurances we got rid of some furniture and applicances with the expectation we would have the replacements on the delivery dates communicated.  Unfortunately they called to reschedule pick up 3 different times and finally arrived to pick up at 8 pm on a Friday night vs. the origianl committed time of Thursday during the day.  Their pick up took 3 hours, so they did not leave the house until Friday at 11 pm.  At that time they demanded a tip and also said that the final payout on delivery was now $290 more than the original price b/c of all the packing materials they had to use.  At no time during any of my conversations with Carine did she say they might decide to use packing materials that would increase the price.  In fact in all of our discussions she said packing materials were included.  The items being moved were big soft pieces of furniture (i.e. couches, chairs, etc.), not dishes or anything that would particularly warrant alot of taping and packing paper.  When I went through the 4 page contract it did state that they had up to 7 days to deliver once they picked up your shipment and any delivery schedule was not a guarantee.  In addition the contract contained a clause that the use of packing materials was at the discretion of the drivers.  My biggest complaint is that the sales person could have been upfront in communicating that the schedule could slip and that also there might be incremental packaging material charges based on the drivers discretion.  At no time were either of those things communicated verbally in my 6 calls with the sales person.  Net, my bad, I need to read the fine print much closer before committing to anything but buyer beware, the sales people are not honest.   .

Service cost: $1160

 
Allways Movers do not tell the truth, do not return phone calls, don’t communicate, make promises they don’t intend to keep,  break/destroy many if your items, lose your boxes and possession, raise their price when they get there, then tell you, you can pay or get someone else….just want you want to her when you have made arrangements and did all your planning depending on their service. !! I would never recommend this company. I rate them an “F”. You can call all you want but they do not care, nor does their 3rd Party Claim Service “MovingClaims.net” The cost of my move was over $3K and the estimated damage was over $3k. However, on my first attempt to file the claim, they offered me $71.00. That’s an insult. I am now filing an appeal.
 
The problems started with the packing of my items with Allways Moving and Storage on 1/2014. First complaint was the cost increasing from the original estimated, due to the salesman not telling me that you needed to provide a lot of extra tape and packing materials, that the movers may require (I had 2 rolls but they required over 12 rolls, telling me they had to wrap everything in tape), then charging me over $100 more. It took them more than 8 hours to load a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom (1000sq ft) trailer and the only things they need to help pack was bed, couch, and some large furniture items. Everything else was packed in boxes ready to go. They were moving everything to their storage facility in Dallas and then moving my stuff to Arizona when I was able to secure a storage facility as I had not purchased a new home at that time.
 
I rented a U-Haul Trailer to move my clothes and things I would need plus all my glass mirrors & glass table tops and some electronics. Boy I am grateful I did.
 
February 16, 2014, the nightmare began…. when they started to unload my possessions. I was devastated by the damage. Even the people hired to unload (by truck driver), were shocked at the condition of my possessions. I have antiques with solid oak legs (most everything I’ve had for 20-30 years and are not replaceable), they were broken completely off. I had plastic storage containers that were crushed, I got one back all taped together to keep if from falling apart. I had chunks missing out of furniture, they lost my antique dresser, gorilla ladder, antique bookcase and several boxes. When you had that many boxes you don’t have a clue what was in them until you start looking for something and you can’t find it. Then they never communicated to me that not all my things were on the delivery truck. Per the driver they tried to fit everything on the truck (‘m pretty sure that was why there was so much damage) but it wouldn’t fit. I had to call them & call them to get the balance of my things which the delivery came about 3 weeks later. Not only that you have to have cash to pay the driver. I had to take off work to get repair estimates, they required you have weighs on everything (how do you weigh something they lost), however, they don’t weigh things before loading.  Their claims company will only accept things by mail, but, they only communicate with you via email.  I got an email with this note:  We will not process and/or accept any supporting docs sent to us via email, fax or on a cd. This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. I was the customer but they treated me like I was the enemy and all I was doing was trying to get my possessions back in the shape they were when I entrusted Allways Moving & Storage with my things. I trusted this company………..
 
They lack basic customer service. They just don’t care once they have your money, because you can’t get your things until you pay them in full.  I don’t know how they stay in business. I couldn’t work for a company that has such morals. This is not just damaging and losing possessions, it damages lives, most people don’t have the money to just go out and replace it, that’s why they move it…..disrespect!!
 .

Service cost: $3355

Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company as they promise you the world.  I was working with the relocation specialist Mike back in May about a move from Missouri to New York for July 19th.  I read the reviews about moving companies and the horror stories people went through.  When I spoke to Mike he was very nice and advised me what the company would do to make the move go smoothly.  I felt confident after the calls that took place and sent in the 10% retainer.  I contacted Allways moving and storage about 4 days before the move since the website was under maintenance since the end of May.  That should have been the first sign to go with a different company.  I called Mike to update my inventory list and found out he left the company.  I spoke to David about my move and he was more then welcome to help me out.  He was great and updated my list with the breakdown of the payments.  David also advised me that we were going to have Allways Moving and Storage trucks pick our stuff up in Missouri and not to worry about anything.  I didn't want my stuff being moved by a company that was contracted out.  He also wanted an alternate move date just in case the trucks couldn't pick up the stuff on the 19th.  I had no problem with that as my Fiancé wanted to pack everything up herself even though that was included in the price so I told him July 20th.  I overnighted a check to my Fiancé to give to the movers for the pick up date that was booked as requested by David.  On July 19th, I called Allways Moving and Storage to find a time frame the movers will be calling to pick up our stuff since we were advised that a 24 hour notice would be given.  Of course David wasn't available and off that day.  I sent him an e-mail to contact me.  Later that night my Fiancé gets a call at about 10pm and it's the truck driver saying they left Texas a little late but will be in Missouri at about 11am to put her stuff on the truck.  Low and behold, she gets a call saying the truck was diverted to Minnesota for a pick up and they didn't know when they would get to her.  I called up Allways Moving and Storage on that Saturday and left a message on the machine for someone to contact me.  I sent David an e-mail about what had happened but he never got back to me either.  I contacted the company on Monday afternoon and spoke to Martin in customer service since David was not around.  Martin told me they might have a truck free on Tuesday July 23rd.  I advised them she was flying out Wednesday morning to come to NY and a truck had to be at the house.  My Fiancé got a call from another truck driver and advised her he will be at the house Tuesday afternoon for the pick up.  When they pulled up it was another moving company called M&M Moving from Hillburn NY.  There were two guys in the truck and starting going to work.  Then another car pulls up with Missouri license plates and starts helping out.  The truck driver asked this person what are they doing as my Fiancé didn't know the guy.  He said he was hired by the trucking company as something was posted on Craigslist.  Thank god the two guys that came didn't let this guy go into the house but he did help by putting things on the truck as my Fiancé watched him like a hawk.  The kids watched the two guys that originally came in the house.  They finally got everything into the truck and the dispatcher (Gail) calls me to say they can't accept the check because they are going straight to NY and it won't be enough time to clear (4 days).  Gail from M&M Moving said they are going to hold my check until they get to NY and if we can pay cash.  I said no problem as they were going to give me my check back.  We had to constantly be in touch with the dispatcher or truck driver as nobody was contacting us regarding our stuff.  We kept getting the run around about the drop off date.  Finally, they told us when and actually showed up on time.  They unloaded everything and was suppose to put things back together since they were professionals.  We come to find out it was 2 other guys and not the original guys who picked up the stuff.  These two guys had no idea of how to put together the beds that were taken apart and put one bed upside down.  The ONLY thing that was a positive in this move is that no furniture was broken.  The cardboard boxes were in decent shape and some plastic bins were broke but no big deal.  Also, when delivered they just threw the boxes and bins all over the place.  I still have not heard from anyone in the company of Allways Moving and Storage to see how the move went since they sub contracted it out to another company.  That is my experience with them so I hope you don't make the same mistake I did. .

Service cost: $3500

I conducted lengthy reviews of moving companies before deciding, based upon online reviews, to select Allways-Moving for my son's move to college halfway across the country.  I purchased an expedited move-in date and had all items picked up 20 days before the move date in order to guarantee the arrival, which had to be between a 2 day window in Massachusetts. I have never, ever in my life been so exasperated and disappointed in a company as Allways-Moving.  Do not use this company!!  Although I purchased for $450 and was promised the 2-day move-in window, the move happened 10 days after the promised date, causing up to $10,000 in extra costs of hotel stays, re-arranged air travel, meals, etc. that the company has not reimbursed and has said they will not help with! I phoned the company almost daily to make sure this move was on-track as there were essential items necessary for my son's academic start to school and his move into a new apartment.  I was told time and time again by Customer Service that everything was on track and would be there on time within the 2 day window.  I called two days before the expected arrival time and was again reassured that everything would be on time.  You can imagine my surprise when I did not hear anything from the moving company on the first day of the window nor on the second.  I phoned on the morning of the 2nd day to see when the items would arrive and was told that all of my things were still in storage in Dallas.  I could hardly believe what I was hearing!  Only when I phoned time and again and threatened legal action did I get a call back saying that a driver had been found and my items would be on a truck for Massachusetts the next day.  I was told only my items would be transported and would be guaranteed a 4-5 day delivery time.  I rescheduled my return trip home as my son had started school and I was the only one to receive the delivery.  I then was put in contact with the very nice driver who was also exasperated as Allways Moving had him to stay in Texas an extended period of time to pick up multiple deliveries that had to first be delivered to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Albany before coming to Boston! The driver then informed me that the earliest he could get to me would be an additional four days past the second expected date.  I then had to re-arrange my return air travel and extend my hotel stay again!  My delivery was finally to be made on a Thursday morning between 8 - 9 am.  I waited all day and into the evening trying to find out between the driver and Allways Moving what had happened.  Finally the driver told me that Allways was refusing to pay his boss, the trucking company, and he could not cross the line from New Jersey into Massachusetts without resolution.  The driver kindly delivered my items in Boston before going to Brooklyn and Albany but the delivery was made at 2:00 am on the Friday morning at my son's apartment building!  Allways offered to take the $450 expedited fee off of the final bill and to pay for the $300 transfer truck but not to pay for any additional expenses incurred by our family due to their internal problems. These two weeks of delay created great unexpected financial and emotional duress during a time which had been precisely planned to be a happy, uneventful start to my son's college career.    .

Service cost: $1200

So to be clear, the people at Allways  were polite and responsive. The problem was that they sub-contracted to a company called Uber-movers and they were a catastrophe. But, ultimately, I have to blame Allways because they are responsible for the partners they chose. The problems began with the pick-up date. We were called and told they would come on a Tuesday between 9-11am.  Thus we arranged our schedules and promptly at around 9:30 we got a phone call telling us that they were not going to come until the next day.  There was no real explanation and there was no apology for the inconvenience. When the movers finally showed up the next day, they came with a requirement for a different payment amount than agreed to on our contract and refused to proceed with the move.  We were eventually able to clarify after signficant back and forth with Allways and Uber.  We were, of course in the right since we had a contract. The movers did an adequate job picking the stuff up but they brought a truck that was too small for the esimated load (which they had made) so needed to make the 90 minute drive to unload and then come back. Having already delayed our plans for a day, we needed to leave and so I had to ask my father to accompany the final part of the move.  Thus, he had to wait until nearly midnight to finish the whole process. Due to the lack of trust based on being given the wrong date and the wrong cost, I insisted to the woman (Manisha) at Uber that the drivers take a picture (knowing they had photo-capable phones) of the final load to ensure that we were charged properly.   She was unhelpful and ludicrously claimed that I was insulting her.  After further insistence she eventually talked to her manager and agreed to my request.  This was uneeded stress to say the least.  We were then given a 14 day window by Uber although we were had a 10 day delivery window in our contract.   Once again, these two companies were not communicating.  In order to move into our new house we needed a parking permit for the truck and required 2-3 days advance notice to ensure this was possible.  Although we requested this several times we were not given it and had to scramble to ask neighbors to move their cars to make room. Once again, a serious lack of professionalism that made me think these guys had never moved a house before. The crew that did the move in did not cause any serious damage, but were in such a hurry that they placed a large number of clearly marked boxes upside down and balanced several items on others in a manner that, when shifted in the process of unpacking caused signficant breakage.  There were several damaged items including the glass in a cabinet, and to some of our plates and glasses. The worst broken item was our slate quoit board which I had just purchased.  They also seem to have taken our hammer and our monkey wrench although this may have been inadvertant.  Was there a major catastrophe?  No.  Could a mild amount more of professionalism have changed this process from one that I consider a real pain to one that I feel was generally worth the money - absolutely.   The shame here is that the problems seem extremely solvable with a little better training, communication and managment.  I find it hard to blame the lower level people here. I think it is a testament to a lacking on the part of the senior management that leads me to recommend you find someone other than Allways.  If I ever move again, I certainly will not be giving them my business.

Service cost: $8000

We checked reviews and after a lot of research, thought we could trust Allways moving and storage.  Boy was I wrong.  The experience has been a nightmare (overcharged $1000, moving came late, 6-7 calls and emails are going unanswered).  I emailed them with a list of all my items, they sent me a guaranteed quote $2400 for a move cross country, in a guaranteed 5 days.  On the day of the move, they show up and based on a quick look, they say it's now going to be, $3400.  We had a few extra boxes, but nothing that would necessitate a 42% increase in price!   When we were negotiating, I told them to give me their best quote since I was collecting competing quotes.  We really feel taken advantage of, a classic bait and switch.  They gave us a quote to win the business (which was actually inline with other quotes) and then jacked up the price when we were at their mercy. They claim we had a couch that was not on the original list, but it clearly was in my email.  Their classifications make it very difficult to see if what they put down matches my original list.  (i.e. my single seat couch gets classifed as overstuffed chair).  After threatening to cancel, they reduced the quote by $200 and said that when it got to the warehouse, they would work w/ me to see if they could bring down the price.  After the pick up, i've called and emailed many times and they have yet to call me back to negotiate further.  They called my dad (who doesn't speak english well) to tell him it should arrive today, 4 days late.  Soo far it's been a horrible experience as nothing that was supposed to be guaranteed has been.  Definitely would not recommend them or use them again.

Service cost: $3400

Decided to go with this company because they had great rating online.  But it was a mistake.  Long story short: 1. Quoted $1500, asked $2120.83 when they showed up.  Actually I had less items than those in the quote because I sold a lot before picking up.  I did have like 3~4 more medium boxes but they were only willing to ADD more boxes to existing quote, while refused to remove those items that were not there anymore.  They caculate price by cubic ft and the 3~4 more boxes use LESS space than those items in quote.  Anyway they did ask for MORE when loaded items use LESS space.  I think unless you can make a 100% accurate inventory list (which is impossible for most people), you will get the quoted price.  2. Planed to move on 07/02 or 07/03 (they asked for a 2-day window).  On 06/29, they called me, asking to move on 06/30.  What the XXX?  I hadn't finished packing everything, and they wanted to do it the next day.  Reason was that the original contractor couldn't make it so they switched to another one.  I told them that I'm upset as I cannot make it either.  They keep saying that 07/02~07/03 were not possible anyway, finally I ended up with 07/01 - I had to change my plan.  3. Before making deposit, they told me that the estimated delivery time is ACCURATE.  They kept saying that they are not like other companies - what delivery day I see on the quote will be the ACCURATE day.  I trusted them, but it was totally lie.  After I made deposit, they started to say that the delivery time is just an estimate as shown on quote.  Yes I did see that, and I understand - but why did YOU told me that you were NOT like other companies and the estimate on your quote is the ACCURATE day?  4. When they delivered my stuff, one desk was damaged, one lamp table was damaged, and one computer screen is missing.  It was not easy to check everything at that time because I was at work and only my wife & two little kids were at home, so my wife signed the delivery paperwork without discovering one damage and the lost computer screen (PS3 3D bundle w/ 3D glasses, $500 value).  I don't know what happened to the computer screen, maybe somebody is playing games on it and having fun now.  5. I'd like to say that the rep (Talya) was nice and helpful.  She did her best to help with my move and I really appreciate that.  I understand that those moving companies are like brokers and they cannot always control everything.  I'm not quite satisfied with the service I got, and I'm really upset about the lies, damages & loss.

Service cost: $2121