Gold Standard Moving and Storage LLC

I signed up for Gold Standard to move us from CA to TX in September 2021. I signed the agreement on 8/14/21 and made a deposit in the amount of $6,135. The next day, I decided to move with a container instead from Upack so I cancelled the Gold Standard agreement on 8/16/21 (within the 3 day limit noted in the agreement) and the refund from Gold Standard was approved, with an email from them! They said I would receive the refund within 12-14 business days. It has been 67 business days since then and I have STILL NOT received my refund. When I call they hang up on me. When I get through, they say sorry and have no idea when they will process the refund and that they are "backed up." This is not acceptable. I hope you decide to use another business.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6135

Horrible experience! The website gives the appearance that this company is actually a moving company. Actually, they are moving brokers, which they did not tell me until I asked directly after finding our from someone else. They did not provide me with a list of moving companies they contract with, as required by FMCSA regulations, even when air requested it.

I was not notified of which moving company they hired. One man showed up in an unmarked box truck a day late, with a dolly with 2 flat tires, no quilted blankets or moving supplies, and no tools to disassemble furniture. We were not given a copy of the bill of laden, or an itemized inventory. The movers did not answer our calls or emails, and voice mailbox was full. Gold Standard was unresponsive when asked to help recover our property when it was nowhere in sight after 21 business days. Management did not reply to many emails, and no manager called me after I requested multiple times.

Long story, but we ended up finding our property ourselves, with the help of law enforcement, 79 days after pick up in an abandoned Budget truck in Nebraska. We then had to hire a man to fly to Nebraska and drive the truck to upstate NY. A group of family members and friends unloaded the truck and reassembled furniture.

Gold Standard did not hire “an A+ mover for a seamless move” as promised by sales person Sarah A. They did not provide professional support and guidance throughout our move, or any of the services stated on their website and on the contract. They have partially refunded our deposit with them, and “approved” a refund of the remainder of the deposit over a month ago. No sign of that refund yet. They refuse to take responsibility for hiring a sub-par moving company that had only been in business less than 6 months and was rated a D on BBB (now rated an F). They refuse to compensate us for the excessive costs we incurred recovering and delivering our own property. The owner of the moving company actually had a felony arrest before GS hired them to come into our home.

This company is unprofessional, unresponsive, and operate fraudulently. The positive reviews read as if GS is a moving company, and are not valid.

DO NOT USE this company! THIS HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE,

Move size: Studio Service cost: $5000

First of all, they were not upfront from the very beginning. The contract stated they would get my things during a three day span of time, and deliver them within a week. I asked the phone representative to clarify, and he said they would get my things on the first of the three days, and have them delivered by the third day. Great! Not true, the three days was the window to pick up my things. Secondly, they don't actually do the moving, they only broker the move with an actual moving company, in my case Inch Perfect Logistics LLC. This was the real nightmare, and after the nightmare was over I looked up IPL on the BBB and discovered they have an F rating. These people waited from May 14th when they picked up my things in NC until June 17th to deliver them to PA. When I called to complain the GSM&S company rep said even though my contract stated my items would be here within 7 working days, the law stated they have 21 business days to actually deliver. They arrived on the 23rd business day. So they were to deliver on Friday morning, but the foreman of the crew called me and said they wanted to deliver at night and would be here around 10:30 PM. I told him I wasn't sure that was safe r/t poor lighting, and the rudeness factor to sleeping neighbors. They showed up at 11:15 PM Thursday evening. They piled everything in one room even though boxes were labeled. l pointed this out to them and they just stared at me for a moment and continued piling boxes in the dining room. It was up to me to move them to the appropriate room. They also refused to put things in the finished basement or integral garage. So there I was, the 65 year old woman carrying these big items around the house to the basement. None of my items were reassembled, even though the crew who took my things from NC said they would be upon arrival to PA. So much for a full-service moving company. The one man did take a chair downstairs. The real kicker is that while I was in a room of the house, they all piled into their van and took off while I was unaware, leaving most of my items still wrapped up, even though I had asked if they were going to unwrap the items and take their garbage with them. They replied they would but that was a lie. Multiple things were broken, from a trinket box given to me by my now deceased Mother, to a picture frame, to a wooden piece of furniture where the legs were wrapped so tightly at the bottom, it pulled the upper part of the leg away from the main furniture piece, and split the fascia board on the back. My now deceased grandmother's floor lamp was broken, lamp shades were bent. Multiple deep scratches on many things. When I pointed anything out to them, they again just stared at me with no response. They didn't even unwrap the TVs, left them still wrapped in the company's big moving blankets, as well as the large wall decorative pictures. This was an unbelievable experience. When I moved from PA to NC 10 years ago, I had a local company move me and had an excellent experience. Nothing broken, everything placed where it belonged in the house. They even hung up my clothes in the closet because they had a big rod in the back of the truck on which to hang clothing. If this is the type of movers that Gold Standard Chooses, I would pass on Gold Standard if I were you. I wish I could upload photos of the multiple unwrapped items left in my rooms, along with some of the broken items. Come on Gold Standard, do your homework. Don't hook up people with movers that have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5100

Please avoid this moving company. They are not honest. We were moving our elderly aunt from Oklahoma to Louisiana and needed the furniture delivered at a later date because we were going to be out of town. My salesperson Thomas Guy ensured me that I would be able to schedule my drop off time for a later date with the driver, but on the day they were scheduled to pick up the furniture the company who they contracted to do the move informed me that it would be a straight delivery. Kappa trucking (the company they hired to do the move)told me that I could not schedule the delivery for a later date and if they had known that I needed storage they would not have taken the job. I tried contacting Gold Standard regarding this and they acted as if they knew nothing about this. I tried contacting the salesperson and he told me to ask the company about storage. Then he stopped responding. When I texted him to inform him that I would give them a bad review he responded ok. They were not helpful at all. They refused to give us our deposit back. Horrible horrible customer service. They didn’t care once they received the deposit. Don’t fall for the lies. They will tell you that they have a truck going that way already so you’re only paying for labor. They will ask if you’ve gotten quotes already and give you a lower quote but as good as it sounds it’s not worth it. They are not with the BBB that’s a red flag. Don’t waste your time or money. They refused to refund our deposit even though we were within the 10 day cancellation window.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

Let me start off by saying that as bad as moving normally is, K actually had a fun and exciting day when Phil and his crew showed up to move me. They did not stop from the word go and did such an awesome job in such a short period of time, I could hardly believe it. They had a keen eye for detail and the safety of all of my items as I did not find anything damaged from the move. These guys were the best and I will definitely be using them again. Give them a call if you want to save money and stress on your next move.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $250

I couldn’t ask for any better service , I haven’t moved in a while and was looking for a company to be reasonable with pricing and who had great service , Then I came across gold standard moving and storage they were excellent from just the talk on the phone down to the service , they helped me pack and unpack safely , fast & efficiently , I couldn’t ask for any better service , they all came ready to work and very business oriented , I would definitely use Gold standard for my next move & recommend anyone who is looking to move oh yeah they also have storage options , now isn’t that great !!!

Move size: Studio Service cost: $200

DO NOT USE! I’m sure they will respond with “It’s just an estimate, final charges could be different” but that is what you should be concerned about. I forfeited a $996 deposit, which I was under the impression was the only deposit (1/3 of total estimated expenses). I understand “fine print” always gets you. Their tactic is to call just a few days before your scheduled move date to verify inventory and then send an updated estimate that is now almost $2600 more than the original estimate because I added 15 plastic totes from the garage and a standard 3 seat couch. However, I removed a side by side refrigerator, an ottoman and two fabric high back chairs as we sold those items. Understandably there was going to be a little more than originally estimated, even after the items we removed, but $2600 worth because now the plastic totes require additional labor and packing materials etc. as we were told? It’s a scam. I understand an increase in expense to cover the additional totes but there is no way on this earth that the totes (after we also removed the second couch added at the inventory check) would equate to almost $2600. It left us in fear that we would potentially have to pay more to the movers upon pick up and delivery or else they will hold our items hostage until paid. If you have read the horror stories about moving brokers treat them as accurate. Even those that appear to have great Google Ratings and are rated well with the BBB. If you look at their Google ratings they are all 5 star. Even Disney World doesn’t have only 5 star ratings. They claim they are not affiliated with Gold Standard Relocation Services but I believe that is a lie. I think a simple name change allowed them to keep doing business but I could be wrong. My advice, hire a reputable moving company and yes it will cost more but peace of mind and good business ethics will likely be included.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5996

They pretend to get your business, but resource the job to incredibly poor moving companies. They added an additional $1k with no explanation. One obese woman finally arrived in a truck (who admitted to never moving anything in her life), 1/4 of my furniture was destroyed. I physically had to move everything off the truck, EVEN HAD TO BUY A DOLLY. It took me 4 hours. They promised white glove service. Then they lost my entire art collection. My deceased grandmothers paintings, 3 very large framed photos and prints. I also received a box of a strangers' belongings (car mats). There has been no financial reimbursement and no sign of my artwork returning. Im so upset, they lost the most sentimental and important part of my move. Im looking into legal action for larceny, this has been the worst consumer experience of my life. Shame on this company! DO NOT HIRE THEM!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3600

This company needs to be investigated for their grossly negligent practices and clear false advertising. They are not actually a moving company, and as others have complained, by the time you find out who the job has been subcontracted to (we found out the DAY OF), you don't have time to research that company -- also, the subcontractor made us sign a new agreement on the spot (no time to review, otherwise they would not start moving/packing our stuff. Talk about a classic bait and switch. I've emailed them with this complaint and have not received a substantive response. Give us our money back -- per your satisfaction guarantee.

1) 75% of our boxes arrived at our new house damaged - either the box was smashed because it was improperly packed into the truck, or the items were not properly wrapped/placed so they were damaged or completely destroyed (like our bed frame). The items in the boxes were not properly wrapped--it looks like the team just emptied our drawers and threw them into the box as-is. The only items that were properly wrapped were the tvs, a couple of the picture frames, and one of our mattresses along with a couple of the several boxes. The driver said he had never seen a worse packing job in his career and that he would not do work again for the subcontractor because he was embarrassed and saddened by the damage to our stuff (as well as the other person's stuff that was in the truck). We contacted the rep from sub, Cheetah Movers, due to the amount of damaged items due to their grossly negligent packing and he told me "I got all your stuff from Seattle to Denver as I said I would do and I will provide you with the link to file claims for all your damaged stuff." Not surprisingly, he has not sent me the claims link yet. See photos attached of how the boxes were packed. Olive oil and vinegar spilled in a couple ruining the other items in the boxes as well as damaging the boxes. In another box, green food coloring spilled all over the other items in the box. A large picture frame of ours was just thrown in the truck, unwrapped on top of all the boxes -- not surprisingly, the frame broke. THIS IS GROSS NEGLIGENCE and I will be seeking the advice of an attorney as to how to proceed. When Cheetah Movers was almost done packing our stuff, I asked them why they left the cleaning supplies and some of our alcohol -- he said that they do not move liquids. I then asked about the other liquids they had already packed from our kitchen, including wine, olive oil and vinegar, and he said those were fine. Literally made no sense -- as his explanation was to avoid leakage and damage to the other items in the boxes. Our knife block set was wrapped but then thrown in the box upside down...so all the knives were loose in the box (very DANGEROUS).

2) We had no idea that they would subcontract the work associated with the move to another company. We found out when the subcontractor arrived to pack and load our stuff that they were not affiliated with Gold Standard Moving and at that point had no other choice but to go with them. I would have done research on them prior to proceeding with Gold Standard had I known the work was going to be subcontracted. Their site states that "Gold Standard Moving offers interstate moving services based out of Florida." They do not offer moving services -- they offer moving services coordination/logistics. This is not clear on their site and I believe would qualify as deceptive advertising and I will be speaking with an attorney regarding this claim. We only found out that our move would be subcontracted when the sub arrived with their own contract (the day of the move) and had no choice but to go with them without being able to do research on them or thoroughly review the contract. We had no choice at this point but to go with them -- as it was the day of our move and we needed our stuff in Denver the following week.

3) On their site, they say "Satisfaction Guaranteed". What is the guarantee as I am clearly not satisfied...? I would expect that this guarantee means we get a refund of our deposit with this company and I look forward to receiving that refund. Or is this just another false advertisement?

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11875

This company pretends to be movers and asks you questions about your belongings so they can create an estimated cost of your move. In later calls they will bill that estimate as their “broker fee” and simply call an actual moving company to come do the exact same thing. So you end up paying twice for your move! And they’ve essentially done nothing but pick up a phone and call someone you could’ve worked directly with yourself. They will make an excellent first impression, have processes in place to make themselves seem legitimate, but once they have some of your money and your signature they will no longer respond to your questions. When they do speak with you they mislead you to reassure you until they have the rest of the money they are trying to scam you out of. Then once the actual movers show up you’ll never hear from them again.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4000

Do NOT book with them! Came my moving day and over DOUBLED the price for me to move for my 1 bedroom apartment. I asked for a explanation as to why it was such a huge price jump and the guy told me they had to wrap my tv blah blah and said he was going to go outside to make a call. Went out back to see what was going on about 5 minutes later and the truck was gone as well as the scumbag who doubled the price. I kept calling him and calling him as well as text AND text the emergency number with NO answer from both. He ended up BLOCKING me! I was stranded with a newborn baby and in complete shock of what happened. I called the company the next day after having the worst anxiety attack of my life (was on hold 2 hours btw) and they are REFUSING to refund me my deposit as they said I “refused service” which is a complete LIE! Why would I do that after paying my deposit and needing to be out that day?! All I asked for was a explanation and I thought the man was going out to make a call to explain the breakdown for me. I’m disgusted how they are refusing to refund me my deposit after CLEAR evidence of my texting the man who came In asking where he was and what was going on. Worst company out there stay far away. I will be persuading small claims court.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6800

This is the worst moving company I have ever dealt with. They are brokers, not the actual movers. Tbis company promises everything on the initial sales call but after they get your deposit, good luck. I had to have my move done by July 30th, so I had a 3 day window and was told that i would be called the day before to letvme know they were coming. By July 29th I was called but it was to let me know that they could not get in touch with the carrier but I might hear something by the end of the day? I had to cancel and find another mover because my move had to happen on July 30th. They also informed me that I would lose my deposit or they could hold it for a year in case i wanted to use them again. Why on earth would i ever want to use these crooks agian? They basically want to keep my deposit of $1599 for doing nothing! STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS!!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1599

They steal your money and don't pick up, we ended up renting a uhaul because they just kept changing the date on us. My husband had a job starting, we had to be moved so he could start. We forked out deposits and then when they didn't pick up we had to rent a uhaul and move ourselves. We are all joining together on a class action lawsuit against them. Go to endgoldstandard.com or look up a Facebook group, end gold standard. They need to pay back what they have taken

They are thieves!!!!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1765

I contracted with this companyto move items from Arkansas to Tennessee. I gave them detailed description (including measurements) of the items I needed moved. they were all large items -an entertainment center, a piano, a China hutch, 3 dressers, 2 full sized beds, 2 rocking chairs plus 50 boxes. They gave me an estimate of 780sq ft and based the price on that. When they showed up I was now told it was 1200 Sq ft of space and I had to pay an additional $1,500. When I called the company to ask how they could be 400 Sq ft off when I gave them detailed measurements of all the items I was told that they based their estimate on the ability to stack the items and that because i had "bulky" items the mover was not able to properly stack them. I understand this is a common practice they use to increase the amount of money the actual mover gets! I paid up front $1490 ...that money went to gold coast...then 1/2 of remaining balance "cash" of $1,100 went to mover at arrival and final 1/2 of $1100 when items were delivered again "cash" to actual mover. Now I owe an additional $1550 cash to actual mover upon delivery. I have the contract with the list of items. How can a company be more than 1/2 off on their Sq footage in their estimate??? You have no choice but to pay it and they suddenly need more cash to move your items! To add insult the storage unit was a 15 x 10 x 8 (the 1200 i was charged) and I had a 3 ft walking area through the middle of it and the items weren't even stacked up on top of each other!!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3600

A continuous horrible experience!

Horrible, horrible experience. And still continuing. We graduated college in may of 2021 and planned a move from Indiana to Denver. Contracted with Gold Standard and paid deposit of $1299.00 on 5/18/21 for a move to Denver from Indiana. Pick up scheduled between 7/11-13/21. No communication from either movers or GS. Called GS on 7/13 and spoke with Lily in customer service. She checked with scheduling department and informed me that truck was not coming and could not give a future date. We needed to be out of our apartments on 7/15 and in Denver to start new jobs. This caused incurring a tremendous amount of effort, time and money to rectify situation. Lily declared this a “service failure on GS” part and sent an email stating refund approved and would be issued within 9-12 days. There still has been no refund and there have been probs 20+ Calls. Always saying being expedited. Short staffed. Changed banking institutions. And today, 11/3/21, was informed my request was moved to head of line and would be 3-6 WEEKS again. Told this same timeline every follow up call. We are college students who graduated this year and worked 3 jobs to make this move. We need and are due this refund ASAP.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $1299

DO NOT USE THIS MOVING COMPANY! It is a scam. We asked for an estimate and paid an up front cost of $3,543. After we received the estimate, we found another moving company that would be able to do it sooner for the same price, so we cancelled our contract with Gold standard moving and storage. We were well within the 10 day refund period and should have had that deposit refunded. We received an email that said "refund approved" and we should be receiving that refund within 12-14 days. That was in July of 2021. It is now December 29th and we have not received a refund. We have called multiple times over the last few months only to have an angry customer service person tell us "it's coming!" unfortunately we only read the negative reviews after giving them money. It seems many other customers have experienced this. Do not engage with this company. Do not give them any money.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3453

My experience with Gold Standard moving was the worst moving experience of my entire life. I have left several 5 star reviews for other companies, and I normally wouldn’t make a big deal, but I am absolutely traumatized from my move. The initial process was fine, I had competitive offers from other companies, but I chose to work with Gold Standard because they seemed knowledgeable and were aggressive on pricing.

The carrier that was assigned to complete my move was rude, careless, and manipulative. I had to keep my stuff in storage for a time with them and checked multiple times with Gold Standard the cost of keeping it in storage. I was told $.40 per square foot. When I called after my first 30 days free, the company laughed at me trying to pay $.40 per square foot, was nasty, and literally extorted me out of more money, stating that things were more expensive in Jersey City in the summer. They actually had me frustrated to tears. I was moving from Pennsylvania, so I didn’t decide on the location in Jersey City which was costing me extra. I tried to have it resolved through Gold Standard and received no help. I was so scared I wouldn’t receive my stuff, so I paid the extra money. They also had my delivery date wrong and randomly called me in the middle of the night a couple weeks before my delivery was due saying they were delivering the next morning. We hadn't closed on the house yet, so you can see how it would be a problem to deliver stuff to a house we didn’t own. They tried to pressure me to have the current owners allow them to deliver, which I couldn’t do, so my stuff was then moved again to a random warehouse somewhere else in the country. From there, it was supposed to be a set amount of time per our contract for delivery. The spread based on our mileage should have been 3-10 business days. We assumed the maximum, and planned to have family come to visit well outside of the window to give us time to unpack and everything. IT TOOK 28 BUSINESS DAYS. I called numerous times just to get an update, and they actually screened my calls. I called at all different times thinking it was just not convenient for them, mailbox full, no answer. I called one time from a different number after days of trying and they picked up right away, which confirmed they were actively avoiding me. We had to go out and buy furniture for our family to come visit last minute because we had waited so long to receive our stuff. When it finally did arrive, we had paid extra for packaging and special handling of several items, including 3 TVs. Two out of the three TVs were broken and the claim wouldn’t even reimburse us for the hundreds of extra dollars we spent on the packaging and handling, nevermind the TVs. We are supposed to get about $9 per TV (the claim was approved weeks ago and we still havent been paid). Why pay extra for packaging and handling if it didn’t even protect our items? We would have gotten more money selling the items instead of moving them. It cost us hundreds of dollars to deliver broken TVs? We also had several other special items we paid extra for including a Peloton bike, which was also damaged, and several arcade machines. The movers applied excessive amounts of tape directly to the artwork on the arcade machines without a blanket or plastic underneath, damaging them. Basically everything that was important and we paid extra for careful handling was ruined.

This moving experience caused extreme stress, tears, and frustration and we are left with mostly broken items and trauma. Please do not book with Gold Standard moving if you want to have a good experience.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7106

This company took my deposit with a 3 day cancellation rule that was adjusted to 30 day per our contract. I canceled within the 3 days after reading more reviews and they said I would receive my money. Called after a few weeks when I didn’t get my deposit back and they said it takes 2 months. Called after 2 months and they stated that their payment processing company was having issues and that they were basically in a lawsuit. I was assured I would get my refund and asked for updated confirmation emails which I received. Still no money has been returned. See email response below.

First email

“We realize you are due a refund on your deposit, and the expected timeframe of 60 business days from November 1st has arrived and you are due an update on where this process stands.

The delay has been due to an issue with our payment processing agency. We are working with our attorneys on this matter and will update you again as soon as we have additional information. We certainly appreciate your position and will keep you advised.”

Second email.

“This is to confirm you are slated to receive $2974.33 once our issues with our payment processing agency has been resolved per the last email that was sent over to you. “

Sincerely,

Michael Anderson

Customer Service Specialist

Now the emails show a logo of us pro moving and logistics instead of gold standard moving which leads me to believe they tried to change their name to hide from paying deposits. This company is the worst unethical company I’ve ever seen. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000

How can you be such garbage human beings? I cancelled within the 3 day period and they assured me my card would not be charged as long as I did that. They still charged my card and I obviously did not end up using the money. I have now been waiting on a refund of $1148 for OVER A YEAR with no updates from this shit ass company. The only contact I had, her email is coming back undeliverable now. You can’t get anyone on the phone either. Not sure why since they “stopped taking new clients in November” so it’s not like they should be busy. I am a single mom and this is absolutely ridiculous that this company can get away with this. I want my money back and I will not stop until I get it. Absolutely horrible that you do this to people.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1148

This is honestly the first bad review I have written in my entire life. I just took the time because I want to help out other people like me. Seriously, if you are thinking about using these guys, just DON´T. Pricing appears to be good but they end up charging more. Team is unprofessional, no COVID precautions being taken, and they do not safely protect your furniture or honor your claims. There are plenty of other good companies such as Good Greek Movers, or Special Deliveries. I have moved 5 times over the last 8 years, so I know when moving companies are good and when they are not.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5500

Whatever you do, do NOT book any services with these people!! They are fraudulent and unprofessional individuals. Gold Standard Moving and Storage will contract the job to an actual moving company and you may not get your goods within the time frame you sign up for. Read the fine print and give yourself 30 days before you get anything delivered! They have absolutely no empathy for anyone moving long distance and will ask for a non-refundable deposit so you are basically stuck with them!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000