Earth Relocation

Earth Relocation is really great and I'll absolutely use them again. I've moved with them twice: once for an international move and once for a local move. Samir is really great at explaining everything and helping prep. He's responsive and ind and easy to work with.

Both times the moving teams were kind, respectful, careful, quick and efficient. For the local move there was a delay in arrival but - given the time and route - I am fairly certain it was truly due to rush hour traffic. Probably for the local move the cost is a little higher than for a typical (non-international) mover, but the level of care and reliability is well worth it to me.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1500

We used Earth Relocation to move from Jersey City to Mumbai, India. Samir, my point of contact, and his colleagues were always accessible when I had questions. They worked with our budget so we weren't slapped with surprises later in the packing stage. The packers and movers were most impressive - they were professional and efficient. When we arrived in India, their Indian counterparts were just as accessible and helpful. Our stuff was off loaded and unpacked smoothly at our new location. Of all our household items, there were only three minor damages that were taken care of by the company. Our shipment took a month longer to arrive but we had accounted for some of that delay because of terrible weather in New York and general hiccups that come with a cross-country move. Overall, Earth Relocation offered a great service. I would use them again, if I had to.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

Our experience with this company was probably the worst anyone can imagine. We moved from Burbank to Pune in March 2018 and met their agent in January 2018. He saw our household stuff and gave us a competitive estimate for our '2 bedroom household stuff with partial packing and door to door delivery within 10-12 weeks via JNPT port'. We ended up going with this company as it was the only company at that point which was ready to pick our stuff up in 2 weeks as we had to take care of rest of the things related to moving. We definitely missed on the due diligence of checking their reviews online and trusted these guys. We ended up paying the following charges:

1. Feb 2, 2018: USD5000 for 400 cubic ft partial packing.
As per our estimate we should have been charged for 300 cubic feet at $3000. Even their quote was mysteriously at the highest rate at 'our' shipment size of 400 cu ft. The rate was lower at 300, and also at 500. We had to pay as they sent us packers in a day and the stuff was palletized quickly. The packers were professionals and very efficient. So far we were okay as we could focus on other moving related items.

2. Mid March and April 2018: we moved to India and were busy with our move.

3. May 2018: By this time we were expecting our stuff to arrive, since 12 weeks had already passed. After following up, we were told that there was a random customs inspection at the Long Beach port and our share of the charges was approx $1500. And at this point we were also told that shipment will arrive at Chennai port instead of JNPT port as there is lot of congestion at JNPT port. We believe that it was just to gain a customer that we were told earlier that our shipment will come at JNPT.

3. June 2018: Almost 5 months later, the shipment finally left from the Long Beach port!

4. July 2018: Our shipment arrives in Chennai and this is where the worst part begins. We needed to send one passport to Chennai port for customs clearance. But we had planned a trip (back) to US for work at around the same time (10-12 weeks right?). Earth relocation's India counterpart agent was very difficult to deal with. He wasn't giving us a clarity about how the customs clearance process would happen. He vaguely mentioned some items (particularly electronics) from the shipment and started telling us how our custom duties would be sky high due to those items. We confirmed from various sources that there are a lot of duty waivers for Indian citizens returning back to India. But he wouldn't budge. We spoke with the US agent to get help, but I guess once they hand off the shipment to India, they are helpless.
We had a drone in our shipment (which they knew about from day 1, and it was banned from being imported in India). They called out the drone a day before our trip back to US and put us in a difficult spot. Finally we ended up paying INR 1,20,000 for the "electronics" (This amount was almost as much as the total valuation of our goods as mentioned on the customs clearance stamp on the passport).
The whole process of dealing with the India agent was a painful experience for me and my husband. We literally started questioning ourselves whether this move was a good decision or not. Nobody should be able to go through such a situation.
We paid that money and got passport back a day before flying as we did not want to deal with this person ever again. We thought that everything is done and we would get our stuff when we come back to India in August after 3 weeks.

5. August 2018: After coming back they asked us for $300 for storing our stuff for 3 weeks (almost same as what customs would charge as demurrage). We paid that money since dealing with this team was draining our energy. Still we did not receive the shipment as planned as they could not find a truck driver, saying nobody is willing to drive to Pune as EX-CM of Tamilnadu had passed away. We had lost our hope and finally after some more painful calls and after paying the moving men we got our shipment on Aug 14th 2018.

It took "6 months and 12 days" and approx $8500 to get our shipment delivered. The only reason I am writing this review is I do not want any other family to suffer like we did, as we know how difficult moving your decade(s) worth of stuff is. Money earned by such dishonest ways is not going to take this company anywhere in the long run and I request these people to do their business the right way. We would have paid the money without any hesitation if they would have been honest and upfront about all these charges from the beginning.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

Entire journey from the first interaction till the final unpacking at my home in Hyderabad was in word 'FABULOUS'. Samir personally took interest and briefed me about the entire process, even showing flexibility in making arrangements to collect additional boxes, after departure of the initial cargo(showed true customer centricity). Maddy the local liaison in India was truly fantastic and kept me in loop about the cargo. finally everything reached my doorsteps without any damages was the icing on the cake. Thanks a lot to the entire team.

Regards

Pankaj Hemnani.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

5 Stars for sure. Moving long distance from NJ to GA. Reached out to earth relocation through a friend's referral. Samir visited and gave us an fair estimation. I had specific timelines for move and Samir made sure that it happens as per my needs. Certain furniture required skilled packing and transportation. He also ensured that certain items were packaged in crates. Great packing. The delivery was spot on. Samir made sure the timeline was met and delivery was done exactly when I wanted. He was always available if I had any questions. I will use them again if I had to relocate. Thanks Samir.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000

I recommend Earth Relocation without reservation. My move was international, I was nervous. Of the 4 companies I spoke with, Kapil was the most reassuring person I spoke with, answered all questions and helped me plan. They packed my things and nothing was broken. Through the entire process they did what they said they would do, exceeded my expectations, the team was always responsive, and, their agent and delivery people in my new country, Greece were equally responsive and professional.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000