L&J Moving and Storage

We have moved no fewer than 10 times within the past 25 years — all with reputable moving companies. This moving company, without a doubt, was the worst mover we have ever used and I warn all those considering using this mover to stay away. Highlights of the disaster:

We had a 7,500 sq ft home full of furniture to move and showed up with a truck that was less than half the size of an 18 wheeler with a total of 3 people to move all our stuff!

The lead mover was badly hung over and complained extensively about the size of the load he had to move. We called the moving company in desperation to get a larger truck and more people to help move and it goes on deaf ears. They rarely answer the phone and it takes at least 3 voicemails to get a call back. A one day load turned into 3 days of loading due to small trucks and not enough people to move. They brought in a total of 3 small trucks to hold all our stuff and then needed a final 4th truck, which they rented from Uhaul! They sent two random guys from their warehouse in the Uhaul to load our remaining stuff. These guys had no idea what they were doing with no instructions from dispatch!

The quality of packing and movement of our stuff onto the truck was very poor and movers interest in moving things properly and safely was nonexistent. We were not sure how our things would arrive and complaints to the moving company were not acknowledged. When our stuff arrived on Aug 10th our worst fears were confirmed. One medium sized truck arrived that was jam packed with our stuff and then another medium sized truck that was even more jam packed than the first with our stuff. No 18 wheeler with nicely stored and spread out stuff. The same lead mover showed up again - very hung over again, not recalling who we were and this time with only one person to help him move our stuff!

We called the moving company again expressing our concern - zero call backs. The lead mover and his assistant unload our stuff very sloppily, again complaining about the size of the load, at which point the extent of the damage to our stuff begins to unfold. Most of the stuff they packed was never packed properly, marble table top shattered, glass tops shattered due to poor packing, lamps and tables broken due to poor packing, kitchen table stained with goo due to dirty blankets, etc.

Then more stuff was broken as they brought it into the house due to insufficient staff to help move and a hung over lead mover - the entire time making it clear none of this was his fault!

A one day unload of our stuff turned into 3 days of horror, only to find out on the 3rd that the lead mover only hired 1 assistant (rather than 3 or 4) so that he can make more money on the load he would be paid by the moving company! Unbelievable!! Our complaints to the company go unacknowledged during this time and again, no call backs from the supervisor!

The lead mover then has the gall to ask two of our teenagers to help him unload, one of which ended up in the urgent care. More voicemail complaints and, again no acknowledgment from the moving company about the disaster they caused and putting our kids in danger!

At the end of the move, at least 10 pieces of furniture remain missing, at least 20 pieces irreparably damaged, all of the screws to the bedroom sets twisted because the alcoholic lead mover had no idea how to put the beds together and was too hung over to do it properly.

We have left no fewer than 5 voicemails since our stuff has been unloaded and no call back from management. Only supervisor calls, who has zero authority to do anything other than tell us to file a damage claim with North American for damaged goods. Zero apologies or accountability for the moving company’s service failures! Will have to go into arbitration unless someone from management has the courtesy to call us and make matters right on all of the points in the process that they failed to deliver a quality, safe and professional move! Stay away!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $23000

Moving from Philadelphia to Raleigh and thought I made a good decision to go with a company that has offices in both locations. They are an agent of North American Van Lines. I was wrong. The sales pitch did not live up to my experience - especially in the area of customer service and follow up after the move. Do not expect any communication nor follow up. Most everything I was told in the beginning did not happen, from the wrapping of furniture to the error in collection to the so-called fully insured without any deductible. You will wait months for service and it will take many calls. It could have been so easy to make the customer happy with a bit of compassion and communication.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

The company seemed very responsive. They indicated that the house would be packed on a Thursday and we would be moved out on a Friday. The driver brought 2 instead of 3 packers and an insufficient number of garment boxes. There were indications initially that things would not go well. One of the packers dropped a wood printer stand, snapping off one caster. Another packer pulled down a storage shelf in the garage, leaving broken glass on the garage floor. The packers spent as much time listening to the baseball game as working. The packing was not completed until Saturday. Upon arriving in Baltimore, the tractor-trailer rig was parked at Home Depot (unable to enter the driveway) and the house items were shuttled using a 16 foot truck. During the first load, the professional driver failed to secure the tailgate of the truck resulting in an antique piece of furniture bouncing out onto the road and being severely damaged. There were numerous items damaged - broken lamps, furniture scratched, appliances packed with no protection. Expensive clothing was jammed into boxes and badly wrinkled as a result. The movers hired in Tennessee were appalled at the carelessness of the Baltimore packers. I sent letters and photos to two North American Van Lines executives and received a response from the assistant of one to the effect 'we are sorry for your inconvenience'. There was no acknowledgement of the fact that repaired antiques are greatly diminished in value. I would not recommend this company - either the local movers or the parent company.

Service cost: $11

I recently hired L&J Moving and Storage to handle my move from Pennsylvania to Utah. While their estimate was higher than other movers, I felt confident in their process, they verbally indicated they did not outsource work, and most reviews were positive. Unfortunately, my experience has been very disappointing. My belongings were not safeguarded within the vehicle and they literally bounced across the country. The company that unloaded the vehicle in Utah was astonished and indicated that the shipment and contents had not been secured at all. See arrival pictures. Additionally, I have been communicating with L&J Moving since my move over 4 weeks ago to discuss the negligent behavior and to find a mutual resolution regarding their service fees. I cannot get anyone to have a conversation. I absolutely would not recommend this company for your move.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13500

First off, I had to harass them to get a final bill.  I got a real run-around about how LJMoiving had to wait on NorthAmerican to do something.  It took several weeks.  And the movers damaged my $2000 55" TV and they still haven't settled my claim.  They keep giving me the run-around.  First they want to know why the TV wast listed on the inventory: the driver did not complete the inventory, and the receipt showed I was charged for a TV box.  Next they tell me the driver didn't remember my move, like that was some excuse I was supposed to accept.  Then they ask me to send a picture of the box.  Are you kidding me?  And they asked me why I didn't report the damage to the mover when he unloaded: because I didn't know it waas damaged until I hooked it up..and on and on and on..

Service cost: $2600

When I first contacted North American, I was referred to their local company in Pottstown PA. The rep that came out, Ryan Graver, was very nice and went through every step with me. As this was my second move in as many years, I felt confident in how this would go. He sent me a decent price and I agreed to use them for my service. Fast forward to my actual move dates. The crew of 4 people that showed up at my house to pack was very nice. We walked thru to discuss what was being packed, what was staying, etc. About 3 hours into the pack I realized someone was missing. Turns out one of the packers "felt ill" and was sleeping on my couch in the basement! This person slept on my couch for the next 7 HOURS. I can understand not feeling well, taking a rest for a little bit, but come on. A 7 hour nap?? At a clients house?? That set the tone for the entire week. Because that person didn't pack the entire day, it set the whole move back by one day, a 3 day move now became a 4 day move. They came the next day, three people, and finished packing. They were done by 2pm. The following day they returned, with a crew of 5 people, to load. They said they would arrive at 8:30am. They didn't get there until 11am. Because they were late, they worked the entire day and didn't finish until almost 10pm. As I had to be two states away, with a toddler and infant in tow, I had to leave them to continue loading without supervision. I checked in with them and the lead guy, the driver, informed me he would be at our destination at 8:30am the next day. They arrived at 9:30am. We walked through the house reviewing where everything would go, which elicited several rude comments from one guy on the crew about how there's no way anything was fitting where I asked. They spent the day, until about 9pm loading things in, scratching and scuffing my floors as they went. They didn't put together all the items that they took apart, like my dresser mirror, and several boxes/items were not put in where they were supposed to (like boxes labeled laundry room shoved in my master bedroom closet). Two of the guys on the crew I will say were great and working hard. Their names were Steve and John. The rest, all I can say is that everything somehow managed to get in the house. Once unpacking again, the amount of items that were broken and damaged was ridiculous. I'm still putting together a claims list to figure out what can be replaced and what needs to be repaired. When I was contacted by North American during and after my move to see how it went, their response was "Wow that's terrible. Make sure you have your check first thing in the morning for the driver." Oh, thanks. I'm so glad you're concerned that your service was horrible. .

Service cost: $9200

Our moving experience with your company has been the worst experience we have had in moving residences in our lifetimes. We have done this a number of times and moved greater distances (Orlando to NJ) than this engagement where we were moving from NJ to Mass.. I acknowledge that there were scheduling changes that were made from our side, but regardless, we still paid for the packing and shipment of our property with the expectation that it would arrive at our new home and would be safeguarded from damage or loss during that move. Sadly, this was not the case. The packing of our belongings in NJ was unorganized and random. Items from several different floors and areas in the house were packed together and mislabeled. Fragile and expensive heirloom china was packed with several pieces stacked together and then wrapped. This china was damaged. Screws and bolts for furniture that has been disassembled were lost. Almost every piece of furniture has been damaged to some degree. As the movers here in Massachusetts were moving furniture into our home, they even handed us pieces of wood that had broken from one of the bed sets and said “Here you go. Gorilla glue should take care of that.” There are mysterious white streaks and scrapes on almost all pieces of furniture that were not there when it was loaded from the house in New Jersey. These cannot be easily removed without damaging the pieces and we are still trying to come up with the right cleaning solution. The drama of moving residences is already enough to make a sane person crazy. The emotional stress of the failure of your company to deliver our belongings to our new home efficiently and safely has compounded that drama to the point of tears and has made what should have an exciting celebration of our new home into a miserable daily discovery of just how poor our decision was to place our trust and our cash with your company. What add insult to injury, is that we tipped out all of the folks involved in this move over $1,000 to do the right thing by them. And the only reply from the company when receiving this review in advance as a courtesy was to have the insurance folks at North American send us an email addressed to "Dear Sir" with claims instructions. Stay away from this company unless you don't care about your belongings.

Service cost: $10000

I do not recommend this company or North American Van Lines for whom they are an agent. Completely unprofessional. They just threw my cartons in the truck one on top of the other crushing them. I had a marble top professionally packed and they unloaded it and placed it upside down. Many fragile items were damaged upon receipt. My King size mattress was not placed in a carton, they just shrink wrapped it which everyone knows is bad, and they placed it in my storage unit on its side, which any first year mover knows is a recipe for damage. Oh, yeah, they also denied my claim because I didn't inspect each carton upon delivery. Who does that? North American Van Lines and L&J Moving and hacks. Steer clear kids.

Service cost: $2800

I also wish I could give 0 stars. Worst experience of my life. The communication was terrible as it took me 5 calls to get them to send me the correct form for my original inventory list. I then explained I lived in the city and parking would be an issue where they assured me "they would take care of it". Movers showed up and were completely shocked I didn't have parking spaces so they blocked my entire street upsetting many of my neighbors. The movers acted like I was inconveniencing them every time they picked up a box. It seemed to me that they went out of their way to stack very heavy boxes on top of all the ones marked "fragile", breaking several items. Afterwards I filed a complaint as they ripped the entire back off of my entertainment center. My move coordinator told me they forwarded the information along and I would hear something back in 24-48 hours. A week later I followed up and couldn't get a response. I left several e-mails and voicemails when someone finally got back to me and told me I had to fill out a separate form and have it notarized (never mentioned to me when I originally complained). I did this and sent it in and again never heard back. I followed up several more times over the next few weeks with little to no reponse when FINALLY, their "claims agent" Gyna Craigo, THE MOST MISERABLE, INCOMPETENT, RUDE, person I've ever met said a check would be sent out. They would only pay me .60 for every pound of damaged materials. They NEVER explained this to me originally. They broke a $650 entertainment center and an antique typewriter from my grandmother and they were only going to give me $60. It was an absolute joke. Nonetheless, after I was told the check would be sent out, 2 weeks later I still hadn't received anything and started e-mailing Gyna and leaving her voicemails asking her to please call or e-mail me back to let me know what was going on. Over a month later, the check still has not come. They are an absolute JOKE of a company and I would NEVER trust them for a move ever again!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1900

Their initial Quote for the move was a good one but they mis -Estimated and required both a second truck and a 2nd Bill! The broke many items during the move including some family heirlooms. We did buy the additional Insurance for coverage but that did not seem to matter. We had claims totaling $3,150 in broken and/or damaged furniture and other goods. After over a YEAR of going back and forth with them we received a check for $125.00 from North American Van Lines. Don’t even consider L& J!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $5864