Americas Choice Moving and Storage

We initially liked the appeal of this company but don't be fooled by the pretty prices and customer service. We were moving for the military and were estimated at 1600 to move cross country but less than 24 hours before our items were delivered we were informed that there was an overload fee costing 1800 and if we did not pay this price our items would not be delivered until it was paid. Unfortunately, needing all of our stuff was a priority(uniforms, computers, etc)so we paid, informing the company that we would be making a formal complaint. They(the manager) said they would keep in touch and have failed to do so. And anytime we try to reach out for our issue we are devoid of any responses. We have filed with the Better Business Bureau and Americas choice has FAILED to respond to the BBB and their multiple efforts to get in contact. All of this is on top of the damaged goods we received at an estimated $500 worth of damages. AVOID this company at all costs. Original Sales rep: Lisa Wagner, Manager: Dave (didnt get last name.).

Service cost: $3600

I was extremely happy with Americas choice services. At the beginning I was quite confused about which mover to use. Then my friend told me about America's choice and insisted me to use them. I called them and talked with their sales rep Lisa. She was very attentive and also answered all my questions. She  gave me an estimate which was very precise. It seemed that they asked for a very reasonable price. So, I booked my move. They did not let me down. The team that was assigned for my move was terrific. They arrived on time and came well prepared for the move. They knew what they were up against and they were ready to manage the odds. I changed some of my requirements at the last minute but those did not hamper the proceedings. They completed the move within the allotted time and delivered my stuffs without any issues. There were no damage, no additional fees and no unexpected delays in the proceedings. Everything went just fine.

Service cost: $5000

 
Where do I begin with this horrible experience we had with America’s Choice Moving & Storage?  So many things went horribly wrong and we were treated so incredibly bad by their “customer service” staff that I feel like bullet points of the incidents best lays it out for future customers.  PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE EVEN THINKING ABOUT UTILIZING THIS COMPANY FOR YOUR MOVING NEEDS, NO MATTER HOW GOOD THAT QUOTE MIGHT BE!
 
 
 
1.      First off, the quote they gave us was just shy of $1500, and even though I gave an accurate inventory of our items ended up being over $2100 on the day they came to pick up the items.  They charge a different, much higher, rate per cubic foot for each cubic foot you go over what they quote you for and they have no reason to quote you accurately as they only benefit from your ignorance to this practice…something you don’t discover until they have already packed ALL of your items on their truck!
 
2.      They gave us a time window that they would be picking up our goods…and changed that time not once but twice and then called that day an hour before they were supposed to be there and moved it back two more hours once again.
 
3.      I was starting a new job on the east coast and so my husband and my 4 month old daughter and I were driving cross-country and were to arrive a week before my new job began.  Due to this, I STRESSED many, many times that we needed our stuff delivered before July 7th and were assured SEVERAL times by the customer service rep that this was definitely possible even in spite of the July 4th holiday.  I even asked the head mover on the day they picked our stuff up  if this was still possible and he confirmed they would definitely “get it as close to the 1st” as possible and stated it shouldn’t be a problem.  WRONG! 
 
 
 
Let me say this – THEY HAVE NO INTENTION OF DELIVERING YOUR ITEMS ANYTIME BEFORE 21 DAYS FROM THE DATE YOU ASK THEM TO DELIVER IT!!  The contract in the fine print even states this and regardless of the reps telling you otherwise to bait you into using their services, this will NOT happen.  Exactly 21 days after July 1st, we got our stuff…this was actually a month from the day they picked up our items!  Besides the few items we managed to cram into our car, our entire bulk of personal belongings were with the movers for a month….this included necessary items needed for a FOUR MONTH OLD, like formula, clothes, diapers!  We had to spend more money out of pocket in order to buy these items while we waited and waited and waited for delivery while sitting on the floor of an empty apartment and sleeping on an air mattress.  Also, I had to begin a new job with only two business outfits since I had not intended on living a whole month without any of my clothes….my husband and I had only packed enough clothes for a week!! 
 
 
 
4.      The “customer service” is nothing more than two women with chips on their shoulder who will either a.) argue with you when you tell them that you need to know where your stuff is and when it might be delivered or b.) keep giving you the runaround about reaching out to “dispatch” and calling you back with an update…and then NEVER calling.  Not once did they call me back…I had to call every day for a week to even find out that the truck had left the warehouse in CA to even begin driving to us in Tennessee!!  When I explained how distraught I was because my daughter was without items she needed, the response I got was excuses about how they had their truck break down and how I needed to “see both sides of this”!! 
 
5.      They will sell your items to another moving company and not tell you!  Yes, apparently once that truck crosses the California state line, they wash their hands of it and can’t give you any updates because they’ve SOLD YOUR GOODS TO SOMEONE ELSE and have no idea where it’s at…nor do they care!  We did not learn this until our items finally arrived and my husband met the movers who were with a different company altogether, were semi-professional and definitely were not treating our items the way they should have been treated for the money we paid.
 
6.      They will try and charge you for things you never agreed to – my husband happened to notice on the final invoice that the movers wanted him to sign when he paid the final amount that it was $50 more than we agreed to and signed on the initial contract.  Luckily, my husband had our copy of the invoice we signed a month ago with the amount we still owed.  The copy that they had with them had our amount scratched out and another total that was $50 higher.
 
7.      If you live in an apartment complex and have flights of stairs, WATCH OUT!  YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR EVERY STEP THEY HAVE TO TAKE AND IF THEY CAN’T GET AN 18 WHEELER ONTO YOUR PROPERTY, THEY’LL CHARGE YOU $259 TO BOOK A UHAUL AND BRING YOUR GOODS IN THAT!  My husband ended up renting a U-Haul which cost $85 and met them at another drop-off location they were at and then had them load the items into that truck and we ended up unloading our items ourselves in order to avoid this ridiculous cost.
 
8.      MANY OF OUR ITEMS WERE DAMAGED, COMPLETELY BROKEN OR WORSE, MISSING!  My husband and I have moved a lot, so we know how to pack boxes to avoid damage or loss and when we saw our boxes on that truck when it arrived, it looked as if they had run over the boxes with the truck several times!  On top of that, one of the movers decided to use a kitchen island we own to stand on top of in order to grab some more boxes!  Are you kidding me?!  And the kicker came today as we were unpacking our items to find out that irreplaceable baseball memorabilia (AUTOGRAPHED!) was missing! I called the company once again and was just given a number to call to file a claim and then hung up on!
 
 
 
This has been the absolute worst experience of our lives with a business and is especially horrifying when you consider that they are being tasked with making sure your personal household items, many which are much cherished and possibly even irreplaceable, travel safely from point A to point B.  Some might say they aren’t just moving items but they are moving people’s lives and cherished memories.  I know I can’t get back that irreplaceable baseball cap signed by players who aren’t even on the team anymore!  We also can’t get back all the time, money and energy wasted waiting for our goods to arrive as promised.  What we can do is warn every mover out there who is even thinking about doing business with this company to think again.  Honestly, they shouldn’t even be allowed to call themselves a business after the experience we had…and we’re not alone, just look at the other reviews out there…something we wished we would have done more carefully before contracting these inept “movers” to handle our most cherished possessions. 
 
 
 
 
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Service cost: $2100

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!! WORST MOVING EXPERIENCE EVER!! I have never been so appalled by a company's service and I've moved over 10 times. I hired America's Choice Moving and Storage (ACMS) from Los Angeles, CA to Dallas, TX.Delivery occurred yesterday by a different moving company than ACMS. When the movers arrived, they were missing three key items in my inventory, including my BIG SCREEN HDTV. To add to the sting, I was charged extra money for it to be specially wrapped and packaged at time of pick-up. I should have been notified immediately that these key items were missing. Showing up to my place without notice they were missing and without them is completely unacceptable. The movers documented that they were not given these 3 items at time of pick-up in Los Angeles. ACMS had no response as to why they weren't in storage and delivered. I was given the run around that maybe they were lost or misplaced because my belongings were in storage. They stated they would try and look for my belongings. Why would movers leave without all my items on the inventory and without explanation as to why they are gone in the first place?! Moreover, paying full costs for an incomplete move is unsatisfactory and unacceptable. After speaking with a rude representative yesterday, she referred me to the Claims Department. I spoke with the Claim Department and was told I cannot make a claim until they have officially stated they lost all the items or they are broken. What I was just told by the representative was wrong. Not surprisingly. This is one of several instances where communication has lacked on ACMS's part. If I didn't call or email them, I would not have been notified of pick-up, delivery, etc. The representative said it wasn't their fault I called them to get the information. She proves my point. I wouldn't have to call and email you if you contacted me like you were supposed to!! No notification of missing items, especially major ones, is just another way ACSM has displayed terrible customer service. No one at ACMS thought at time of pick-up - hey we're missing three major items - maybe we should see why and get information from the customer to look for them or let her know they're broken or lost??!!Anytime I have asked to speak to a head manager or CEO of the company, I'm always told none is available. Not one person is available to speak to me about a mistake on your part?? I highly doubt that. BTW I see the business owner David B only responds to positive Yelp reviews. I highly encourage you David B. to respond to negative views.  An apology for our terrible experiences would also be nice. It would show basic customer service skills on your part. I have yet to ever receive an apology from anyone for any issues I've had. Please also free to contact me as I'm always told you are never there when I call and I would like to rectify this issue immediately.It's interesting to see how many terrible  Yelp reviews they have received the last few months. My pick-up was in March. If the other reviews had been posted before, I would NOT have picked ACMS as my moving company. Every other bad review is similar to my experience as well - under estimated quote, lack of communication, etc.Do yourself a favor and pick another moving company. You wont regret it..like I do now.

Service cost: $3500

Moved with Americas choice about a month ago. I was a bit worried after reading some of the reviews but had trust in Lisa who promised me that my move will go smooth. She explained that they have over 100 jobs a month and sometimes customers are looking for reasons to complain. I work in customer service and know how hard it is to please customers when they really just want to get away with payment.. So I decided to trust my instincts and proceed with booking my move with her.
As she promised, the guys showed up on time, did a great job and my price didn't go higher (I was very detailed with my list of items she asked for).
My things arrived 5 days after move day. Everything was there in the same condition I sent it.
I am super happy with my moving experience with Americas choice and Lisa.
Thank you for not disappointing me!!
We Recommend you guys to everyone!!

Service cost: $4300

STAY AWAY.THIS IS A FRAUD
The move cost 4 times then what the quoted and then what little items we did recieved were all broken and crushed or missing and they tried to give us others peoples stuff. I went to the companies office today in Van Nuys and found it to be an old broken down house by a bounce of Pawn and sex shops. An old mexican man that was there said in perfect english that this was his house, when I showed him the contract from America Choice with his address on it he stopped speaking english and only knew spanish. I called LAPD and they can out and off course both offiers both spoke spanish (very nice) and I found out that this was the father of the guy who ran America Choice moving and his son is currently in jail in Los Angles and that the company is shut down. If you call the phone number on the website the same ladies that do the quotes and lie and hang up with you still answer the phone and will do a quote for you. When I called the phone number and asked the lady for the address of there business she gave me the same address of the house that I was standing in front off, then when I told her that she hung up the phone. This company has an expired DOT number and they have one 26 foot truck and they rent storage units around the Van Nuys area and throw your stuff in them. Please stay away they have a beutiful website and it's a total bait and switch. The ladies who anwser the phones change there names all the time becuase I can tell by the same voices. STAY AWAY I spent 10,000 dollars with this scamming bunch.

Service cost: $10000

Very bad experience with this company. Amy was very nice on the phone during the initial stage of the process. Once the contract was signed, the movers came out, said the original estimate of $1,045.00 would now be $2,430.00. And could be more but we wouldn't know until they delivered the furniture. Asked for delivery date which we provided them to be 2/6/16. They delivered on 2/14/16, five hours later than they told us the night before. This company doesn't communicate, holds you hostage with their demands, and should be avoided at all costs.

Service cost: $2430

Very unprofessional. I had the worst experience with these guys. I honestly can't think of anything else that could have gone wrong that didn't. Everything seemed fine until the day of my move. They said to be ready at 9am and I ended up sitting with my pregnant fiance and my caged cat and dog for TWELVE AND A HALF HOURS. I called my foreman, Eric, every hour looking for updates and he kept telling me "we're leaving right now". Even at 9pm I was told "we're right out front" and I didn't see a soul for 30 minutes. These guys lied to me every step of the way, including a not-so-accurate estimate of my moving costs- which ended up being a third more than what I was quoted. It rained that whole weekend and the moving crew had no tarps to cover my stuff and no shoe protectors to protect my carpet. I begged them to cover the carpet and they used furniture pads on a small area, then proceeded to cover my furniture with the pads they just tracked mud onto.
Then when my stuff arrived 2.5 weeks later every single piece of furniture was damaged and I had 7 missing boxes. Then they tried to send us someone else's stuff, but we made them open the boxes and send us photos to prove it was correct. My office chair is missing a wheel, my nightstand has a gash in the face, my couch's cushions smell like motor oil, my bookshelf has a large chunk taken out of the front, my metal & glass end table was literally SQUASHED, and a few things I was told "just didn't survive the move". A month and a half after my move I finally received the last of my belongings, completely damaged and delivered by a rude truck driver. Cross country moves suck, and these guys did nothing but make it worse. I really can't say it enough..AVOID AMERICA'S CHOICE MOVING.

Service cost: $1250