Golan's Moving & Storage

Our stuff was delivered yesterday, even earlier than the original schedule. No items were missing and everything was intact without even a single scratch. Both pick up and delivery teams were very polite, professional and cooperating. I have to thank you and rave about the move! Never in my life have I worked with such a wonderful crew. Oscar and his team were amazing. They were positive, kind, fast, careful and patient (as we weren’t always as organized as we wished).  We all gave them a standing ovation at the end of the move. Truly, moving can be hellish and they made it a pleasure. We will never forget them!  We have been extremely satisfied with Golan’s service and wanted to thank you and your colleagues.  We would also like to thank you personally for accommodating all our needs and requirements. Your excellent customer service was the reason we chose Golan’s over other companies.    I will be recommending you to all of my friends and business associates. If you ever need a testimonial or reference, do not hesitate to let me know. Thank you again – a million times thanks!

Service cost: $6875

  IF YOU VALUE YOUR POSSESSIONS OR YOUR PEACE OF MIND, DO NOT USE GOLAN’S.  They moved our sizeable household from IL to CA in the summer of 2012.  Virtually all of our wood and glass furniture was severely damaged en route, including antiques and family heirlooms.  The Golan guys who unloaded the van said it was too crowded with other families’ belongings.  Filing a claim required getting repair estimates, locating receipts, taking photos of the damages, etc.  We were referred to a third party claims processor who ignored us for months.  After many calls to them, we received an offer that was pathetically insufficient (per the estimates that Golan’s insisted we obtain) to fix the 17 items harmed.  In fact, the amount offered was surprisingly close to the amount that we had paid for extra “insurance” on our belongings, which turned out to be just another fee.  We then had no choice but to take the matter to arbitration, which took countless more hours of effort and many more months.  In early December, 2013, we finally received an arbitration award in the maximum amount that could be given under the circumstances.  It took Golan’s 3 more months to pay us – a total of more than 20 months since the day we moved.   At every step along the way, Golan’s and its claim processor delayed(sometimes past the time frames allowed by federal regulations) and came up with specious, preposterous reasons for failing to accept our claims.  We have never dealt with any service provider that had so little regard for its customers.  Their price was not bad, but we would have paid a great deal more to avoid seeing our beautiful things ruined and having to spend close to two years fighting to assert our rights.   .

Service cost: $14

I was very hesitate to move with Golan's moving but at the end I was very happy that they move my house.  We had a tricky situation between selling our home and buying a new house at the same day.  Golan’s moving did a great job coordinating the pickup and the delivery and we couldn’t be happier when we finally settled in our new home.  The crew was working fast and very professional.  These guys are hardworking and know what they are doing and we appreciate their work and how careful they load and unload our heavy furniture.  We are very pleased with Golan’s moving services.  .

Service cost: $1750

We moved from CA to TX last weekend and they are currently holding our items hostage for an exorbitant amount more than they quoted us when making a contract to love our items. We now have to pursue claims and a possible small claims suit with the real possibility that we may not see our valuables, memories and baby things. I am currently 6 months pregnant and my other kids now have nothing. We are devastated. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM! PPROTECT YOUR ASSETS AND YOUR FAMILY!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

We used Golan for a long distance move. I would not recommend.

When we called, no one was ever willing to ever tell us were our boxes were. The specialists never called back when they said they would. We were never able to get a hold of the correct person and talked down to for asking simple questions and verifying information. Was hung up on twice for simply asking to verify my address and for information on the move. It seemed like they forgot about us and our stuff was not shipped until the day they assured us it would arrive by.

Somehow the wrong address ended up on our documentation. We changed it with the movers. We also called and made FOUR more attempts to change it and received a promise that it was changed. However I got called by the driver with the wrong address ON THE DAY of delivery. The driver then talked down to me about the overall feasibility of the move because of the size of his truck (which we had already checked but he would not believe me). The driver also demanded a cashiers check, for a price we had never got any information on previously, and getting cash was unfeasible within 12 hours, on a Sunday afternoon. It was completely unpleasant from start to finish.

Ultimately several things were broken and one piece was lost.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3500

This was the worst move I ever had. I have moved 7 time in the past 10 years and this was the worst move every. I used them over 10 years ago and had a good experience, must have changed management since that time. Golan's did not send out an agent to give an estimate, though I requested someone come to my house and see what I had. This is a standard practice in the moving industry. I took it upon myself to send photos of all of my belongings as I know I have a lot of stuff. I told them my last move required 2 large trucks. They sent one truck. The morning of the move I took the lead crewman through the entire house to see all of my belonging, then he wrote up an estimate, which included an estimated timeframe for the move, which I signed. A couple hours into the move the lead crew man started asking me if I wanted more movers sent out so the move would take less time. I declined as I knew the move would take most of the day and more movers would cost more money. I was then harassed for the next few hours as the lead guy repeatedly asked/demanded me to agree to have more movers. When we got to my new house, in the same city, the crew complained that it was 4 stories, though that was made clear from the time I set up the move. The lead crew person then stated he needed to make a new estimate, which he proceeded to write up, now showing the move would cost $1,000.00 more and take hours longer to finish. When I questioned doing a second estimate in the middle of the move, something I had never experienced before the lead guy began to raise his voice, argue and tried to physically intimidate me. I called a family member and had them listen to the conversation to be a witness. The Golan's mover demanded I sign the new estimate and if I did not sign it the crew would leave and I would have to contact the main office when it opened the next day to arrange for my move to be completed. It was the end of the month and I had to be out of my rental. I asked to speak to a manager and I was put on the phone with a "dispatcher" who said they would not complete the move if I did not sign the new estimate that was $1,000 more than the original estimate. Meanwhile the rest of the moving crew complained to each other and said some very disrespectful things about me in Spanish which I am sure they did not think I understood thought I am fluent in Spanish. It took 2 trips in the largest truck to move everything. They finished my move, I paid the total price presented to me because I am a honest person and planned to contact management the next day thinking my issues would be adequately addressed. I could not wait for the moving crew to leave my house. I even tipped them though I really didn't want to and didn't think most of them deserved it. I called and spoke to a female manager the next day and basically she described how her crew complained about the move, that I had more belongings than they anticipated, there were too many stairs and I would not let them bring more crew men. The manager basically did not take responsibility for how poorly the move had been managed or the unprofessional behavior of her movers. Golan did not send someone to my home before the move to view my belongings and provide a professional estimate, including the price, number of crew members and number of trucks. I moved the exact same belongings with other companies who handled the move in a more professional manner. I could understand if the lead crew member did not follow company protocol and management acknowledged his inappropriate behavior and took responsibility for the actions of their employee and tried to make up for the mistakes, however that is not what happened. Golan's management did not take responsibility for their unprofessional practices or the poor behavior of their employees. They basically blamed me for having too many belongings and moving into a house that was too big, ridiculous. I will never use Golan's again and I don't recommend anyone use this company. They do not use practices that are standard in their industry to ensure a reasonable and relatively stress free move and they do not care that their employees engage in disrespectful and intimidating behavior.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

I cannot be emphatic enough in urging you NOT to use this company. The move was absolutely traumatic. I have moved a dozen times and NEVER had such an awful experience. They did an in-home estimate and then got our things on the truck, had my husband sign the "binding" contract and called us a week later from the road demanding almost $2000 because they said we were over the weight they estimated. Yes, they held our items hostage. I called to speak with several people, including the cokpany owner. He yelled at me and told me if I wanted to see my things agin, I would pay. Furthermore, theyv tried to insist that we pay in CASH so that we couldn't dispute the charges. Finally, my husband said, "Fine. keep it! We will NOT give you an additional $2000 in cash to get our things back." They relented about that but still demanded the credit card fee, which I DID dispute. When the crew then arrived, they began to insist again on cash payment before unloading the truck. I had to actually call the Dekalb County Police Department to get them to unload the truck! Clearly in the wrong and being instructed by the police that they couldn't force us to give them cash for OUR belongings when we hada signed contract indicating that they'd already been paid in full PLUS almost double, the crew guys decided they would unload the truck despite their boss's long-distance instructions. Then, they apologized to us and said how much they hated working for this company. The guy who was the helper (not the driver) was near tears and kept swearing (in Spanish) about how he was going to quit and wouldn't keep doing this to people.

We disputed the charges and Golan's took forever to respond. Then they sent a doctored invoice to Discover cards. We began to pursue this through the Illinois Attorney General but finally just gave up--even though the AG's office was very supportive--because it was such a time sink and we were moving to start new jobs and spending so much time on this nonsense. These folks DO NOT deserve to stay in business.

The exact date of drop-off may be slightly off as it's been awhile but they were definitely late. My in-laws were visiting and so apalled that THEY wrote letters to the AG and DOT. They even spoke with the drivers about their moral responsibilitties. That's how bad it was.
BUYER BEWARE!!There are too many decent companies out there to deal with these crooks!

Service cost: $4900

A previously contracted unreliable moving company failed to deliver any moving services leaving us in the lurch. With a lease expiration looming we needed to find another moving company fast. Luckily Golan's Moving and Storage was able to accomodate us. Golan's estimator was able to visit the home the next morning and provide a very accurate estimate. After scrambling to schedule a few competing estimates we were able to quickly negotiate a fair price and a next day pickup from Golan's. The movers showed up right on time and were efficent, friendly, and professional. Unloading and delivery went equally smoothly again efficent and professional. Golan's completed our move in record time less than 5 days from first contact with the company to completed cross country delivery. All goods arrived in excellent condition. I complement Golan's on their excellent service.

Service cost: $5263

Hi,   If you can bear through this long story, I would appreciate it. I think it's worth investigating and exposing these crooks..    I used Golan's Moving and Storage to move from Chicago to the suburbs. The move took longer than originally quoted, they didn't use the tape and packing materials I asked them to, they damaged lamps and furniture, and last but not least, THEY STOLE FROM ME!!    My iPad and printer were stolen by one of their illegal workers. I had overwhelming proof that it was indeed one of their employees and they said they were not responsible for the iPad. the printer was returned to me due to what they called a "miscommunication". I was told to file a police report for the stolen iPad so I did. Bottom line there is that the police have better things to do than worry about a stolen iPad, so the iPad was never seen again.    Regarding the broken lamps and damaged furniture; I was told to go through their claims process.. This was quite possibly the most aggrevating part of the whole ordeal. The claim took over 4 months before I could even get someone on the phone to explain what the status was. I must have made over 25 calls to their "3rd party claim proccessing company". The first time I called I was given the name of the woman who was working on the "claim" and was told she was not in the office. I thought to myself, ok, she is not available today so I will try again soon. The messed up part is the next 24 times I called this so called woman was either not in the office or unavailable. I was getting nowhere with this so I decided to try calling the skokie office to speak with the branch manager. The manager at the skokie office is a woman by the name of Julie Gold. When I tried to explain the situation to her and stated I wanted my money back for the move, she just laughed and said, "that's never going to happen" and then hung up on me. I couldn't even believe how disrespectful and unprofessional she was.    At this point I was furious. I started to research what legal recourse I had and needless to say I wasn't pleased with what I was finding. At the very most, I could take them to small claims court. In small claims court, even if a judgement is passed there is still no gaurantee they will pay up. I didn't have the time or money to take them to court so I was forced to sit for almost 6 MONTHS while my "claim" was being "processed". The total amount of the stolen iPad and damaged belongings I totaled up came out to be well over $1000 (almost as much as I paid for the move itself). But when I finally got something back from the "CLAIMS PROCESSING CENTER (somewhere in New Jersey)" they offered me less than $200 for all the trouble I had gone through. Obviously, Golan's and this "CLAIMS PROCESSING CENTER" are working together.    My last resort was filing a claim with the BBB (better business bureau) but it was useless as there is no one actually mediating any disputes. It's all automated.    HERE IS THE BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU WANT TO BE LIED TO, HAVE YOUR BELONGINGS DAMAGED AND HAVE THEM STEAL YOUR EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS AND NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF IT, THEN USE THIS COMPANY!! THEY ARE CROOKS AND THIEVES AND ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED!! THIS WAS ONE OF THE WORST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE. AND I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW NOT TO USE GOLAN'S MOVING AND STORAGE FOR ANY REASON. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU OR ANY OF YOUR THINGS. THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY!!    I will be sure to post this review on other sites so people are aware of these cowards and frauds. I'm sure someone from Golan's will post something below my review saying something to the effect of: "We are sorry this happened", or "We would never do something like this to a customer".. Any attempt on their part to try and refute anything I've written here or to try and make themselves look better will just be further proof of their unprofessionalism, disrespectfulness and proof they just don't care. The fact of the matter is, these people are just criminals with a business license and unfortunately, are protected by the transportation industry which is hardly regulated and works in favor of companies like Golan's. The people responsible for Golan's Moving and Storage are:    Owner: Naftali Garber Managing Director: Julie Gold   Oh, and on another note, after doing my research I found I wasn't the first person they did this to. They should be held responsible for their actions but unfortunately we live in a cynical world which favors big business over the little guy.

Service cost: $750

Would you like to add more headache to your move?
Do you want to pay WAY more than the estimate?
Do you want to experience what it is it like to be manipulated?
Do you like stress?
IF you've answered YES to all above CHOOSE Golan's!!

1. You will likely be manipulated first by getting a GREAT quote. You will probably think "hey, this guy sounds pretty down to earth, price is good, let'g go w/ this guy!" BUT the final price is based on your WEIGHT of the move. Doesn't matter what your estimate is. I had to pay 165% of my original estimate. See all the 1/5 reviews below, you will see Golan habitually give low-estimate to lure customers in.

2. The moving truck arrives to your house without a weigh ticket. Your stuff are all packed ready to go! You have plans! You planned to leave THAT DAY! What are you going to do? Ask the person to come back tomorrow and throw off your plans? You can't even switch moving company at this point because typically you have to let them know in WEEKS in advance!
Yep, they know this and will take advantage of you. If your schedule is not flexible, realistically you don't have much choice at that time.

3. 49 CFR 375.407(a) states "If an individual shipper pays you up to 110 percent of the non-binding estimate on a collect-on-delivery shipment .. you must relinquish possession of the shipment at the time of delivery." -- Golan is aware of this law and will ask you to sign "addendum to the contract" upon pick up which adds ridiculous amount of "expected additional weigh" so they can by-pass this law. SO, read every line of what you sign VERY VERY carefully no matter what the mover says.

4. 49 U.S. Code § 14912 (a) :: defines "weight-bumping" and possible penalties IF caught doing so. Read this carefully and research how mover's can do this with sleight of hands on your time. BE PRESENT AT THE WEIGH STATION.

5. The one AND only one positive thing about Golan's is the driver and mover themselves. Larry - the driver and mover - was fantastic. As for everyone else in the management, nah.

SO, do your futureself a favor. Avoid headache. Avoid stress. Spend time, do research. All the 1/5 stars here is exactly what I've experience. I just moved, I wish I had more time to do my own research. IF price is a concern, don't be because YOU WILL NOT BE PAYING THE ESTIMATE you've been given anyways.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2500

From first contact, I found Michael, at Golan’s Movers to be very helpful and attentive to my moving needs. He was very supportive and did his best to make the move less stressful for me, presenting a clear plan to make the move go smoothly as I was moving items to three different locations in addition to my new apartment. The crew he sent was very nice, totally competent, careful with all my belongings and most of all polite and patient with my somewhat confusing move. The move took 8 hours total, and they worked steadily the entire time, with no breaks. Even though it was a partial move, I had a lot of stuff. Overall, I was very pleased with the service, the management, the foreman and the crew. I would definitely recommend this company,.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1791

Golan's Moving moved us out of our Winnetka home in February 2018. They packed up one day and moved us to storage the next day. Our furniture went into their storage. Golan moved us into a Glenview townhouse end of summer 2018 and the rest of our furniture into a Northfield storage unit. All went well, on time, on budget. I went through the entire final bill of charges with the foreman. He explained to us the man hours for loading the truck from storage, moving into our townhouse and moving the extra furniture our storage unit. I signed off the contract and paid the entire balance, as required, right there with the foreman. We were pleased with Golan.
Then, a month later, we receive an email from Golan's General Manager, Julie Gold that the foreman had not computed correctly and we owed them $280. I reminded her that the foreman had taken me through the entire days charges. I refused to pay arguing it is unprofessional to ask for additional payment without proof to back it up. We submitted our insurance claim for three broken items. Julie Gold emailed me back and said if I didn't pay the unsubstantiated error of $280 she would not pay our insurance claim for which we paid the insurance premium. We paid Golan $2700 on our move out of our Winnetka home, $3000 to Golan's storage and $1800 for them to move us back in. Then they stiffed us our insurance reimbursement over $280 in an alleged mistake by their foreman. What my wife and I thought was a professional moving company turned out to be a very unprofessional mover. Be careful with this group.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

So I had a short distance move but with heavy things I couldn't move myself & I called Golan's Moving & Storage a month before and was quoted reasonably! So today for my move I had the pleasure of having Alex & Roger, they were so professional they called me an hour before they came in let me know that they would be showing up before my window which was 3-4 . They moved everything without breaking anything. Everything was wonderful I am truly grateful that I hired movers, they took care of everything thank you so much Alex & Roger.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1630

Golan's Moving & Storage is amazing! My first call to the office I spoke with an incredibly friendly and helpful woman who helped me schedule an appt for my move with only 5 days’ notice. The movers showed up during the time frame provided and right away were professional and friendly. They moved our things quickly, safely, and gently. The total cost came in lower than what was estimated which was a really nice surprise. I can recommend Golan's Moving & Storage enough!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6480