Axis Van Lines

Everything was great when we booked the move. Charles in sales was very responsive and walked us through the process. The moving van showed up at our home on time to pick up our belongings on time and packed them with care. We felt really good about our decision.

The problems began when we called Axis a few weeks later to get our items moving, as we had them place in storage temporarily while we found a home. I called the mover directly (Best Price Movers out of Chicago) and reached Mary. I gave her the move-in date and she said it would be up to 10 business days from the time we move in. Fine. I called her a few days later and she told us there was no truck and to call a few days later. I continually called her every few days but noticed each time it went to voicemail. It got so bad trying to reach Best Price that I called everyone at Axis looking for an answer. Nobody there was helpful in connecting me to Best Price. I asked my fiance to call right after I did and because his number was from a Chicago area code, she answered the call right away. So the mover responsible for our items was screening my calls. Wonderful. She sent an email to he and I that our truck would arrive in the next week. It was just outside the 14 day window but we were willing to overlook that to get our things.

I received a call on moving day from Moving Systems with a Las Vegas area code (?). It was the driver delivering our items. He informed us there was a 5-8pm delivery window which was fine. We called around 7:45pm as they still had not showed up. They told us they were still in another state doing a move. Fast forward, they arrived at 11:44pm on Friday night. The one lead mover was unapologetic and extremely rude to us right from the get go. When we asked to see inside the van to ensure our belongings were accounted for, he refused and said that we had to pay him the remainder of the deposit and then they would unload our items. We questioned this immediately but he was adamant that he would leave with our stuff if we didn't pay him the remainder of the money. Because we were paying him in cash, we asked if he would come inside our apartment lobby to keep it discreet. He laughed in our face and rolled his eyes at this request. The mover was extremely unclear about what to do about missing and damaged items. I asked him repeatedly what to do about missing boxes and he insisted I write it on a copy of the invoice. He then kept the invoice so I have no record of anything missing. There was no form to inventory this which is extremely shady and unprofessional. They were clearly tired and did not care at all about our stuff, or our apartment. There are scuff marks all over the floors and walls from their entrance and exit. Not a great start, but it gets worse.

Looking at our items from the outside once the movers left - all of the boxes but two were completely ripped open and exposed the insides. They looked totally beat up. I am not sure what happened, but we were missing 6 large moving boxes as we bought all uniform ones just for the move. We started to think that they went missing. However, we quickly figured out that those 6 boxes broke open in transit and the movers just haphazardly threw random parts and pieces into new boxes without packaging them appropriately (ie, bubble wrap, cloth, etc) or labeling the boxes. It took us forever to catalog what was missing.

Now, onto the stuff inside the boxes. I'll briefly mention that many items are missing, damaged or destroyed. However, that is not the worst of it. Items that were in those ripped open boxes somehow got wet somehow and subsequently, everything in them smelled like mildew. Many boxes had tree leaves and vegetation in them. Electronics were thrown into these boxes and were destroyed because they got wet. So many of our precious glass items were shattered due to being thrown in new boxes without care. Also notably, my front bike tire is bent to the point where it is parallel to the handlebars.

Worst of all: Our stuff was either stored in a warehouse with, or rode out to our new home with, a smoker's belongings. Every single thing we unpacked from the boxes smelled like smoke. We were up until 5am that night breaking down boxes to go to the recycling bin, and putting clothes in trash bags, just to avoid our place smelling like smoke. We spent the entire weekend laundering every piece of clothing we have. The smell permeated through our apartment for days and it sickens me at how much we had to throw away.

Bottom line: There are a lot of good reviews on this company, and I agree they are truthful. It is all about the mover that Axis hires. The one they hired for us was a bad apple and it ruined our moving experience. It was so bad that we have vowed to never use a moving service ever again.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3890

Overall, would not advise using this company. Took them 31 business days since pick-up to deliver my belongings. This company brokers all their work, they make-up their policies as they go, do not take responsibility of the mistakes their dispatch companies make, and are generally unresponsive. They originally said delivery would be between 7-21 business days since pick-up. When they missed that deadline, they backtracked and said they had 7-21 business days since the earliest delivery date, which does not make sense because i set the delivery date for “immediate” delivery. One star because the team that picked up and dropped off my belongings did a good job.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5200

I would highly recommend Axis for anyone seeking a moving company to service their moving needs. I utilized the company to help with my relocation out of state. I also needed to employ their storage services because of the complexity of my move. The estimator Neil was excellent. Very professional, personable and went the extra mile to help customize my needs. The packers & movers were very accommodating, efficient & genuinely cared about me as a customer. Giving a 5 star rating isn't sufficient to fully express my gratitude & satisfaction with the services they provided me.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5999