Moving Staffers

We used SML movers, doing business as Moving Staffers, to relocate from New Orleans to Houston -- with disastrous results. The loading muscle we employed on their re​​commendation were no better than amateurs, arriving at our house an hour late, a man short and with no tools whatever. They labored in high heat – but their haphazard loading meant that much of our furniture, including some massive, precious pieces, came off the truck in chunks. Heavy oak legs were sheared off! Boxes marked “Fragile” came off crushed and torn. But most importantly, despite dramatic photos, SML refuses all claims for compensation. They claim it’s our fault by violating the terms of service in that: We did not provide a moving blanket for EVERY piece of furniture (they specify 60 blankets for a 25-foot truck!) and they do not cover moves by freightliners – although in multiple conversations, including one VERY thorough introductory conversation, I explicitly mentioned my arrangements and they continued to work with me. My wife wept as the furniture came off the truck. Despite clear evidence that overpowering shearing forces generated by sloppy loading tore off chunks of furniture, SML retreated behind the technical excuse of too few blankets and the use of a commercial freightliner to blow me off. It’s their cover, pure and simple. Adding insult to grief and thousands of dollars in injury, they offered to kiss me off with $100. Classy. We do not want this to happen ever again – to anybody. Be warned, this is not a stand-up company.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2188

Where do we begin? What a joke to have wasted our valuable life, time and energy working with this insurance group (Unirisc). Laughable! Their professionalism (none), their timely service to their customers (none), regard for the belongings destroyed by the PODS company they sponsor selling insurance through (a joke)!

From Jan. 2017 to today (3/20/17), the timeline we were subject to for reviewing our claim was a comedy of errors from beginning to end! They were like the 'Keystone Cops' chasing their own tails in figuring out how to even handle our claim. One department lost our documentation to initiate our claim, while another department had numerous so called claims analysts assigned to assist us - of which, none of them did.

Ultimately, after waiting almost 2 months for a decision on receiving restitution (either replacement of our damaged valuables or honoring the insurance policy we took out for security with PODS, in the event any of our belongings were damaged) we finally received a letter emailed to us today. The end result was their due diligence was resourceful in finding a way to exonerate themselves from honoring the claim. Their "out" , if you will, was to revisit verbiage they extracted from the policy (in the finest of small print, no doubt-because we certainly didn't recall seeing the reasons they pointed out in their decision as grounds for simply writing us off). In other words, we were left with quite a bit of our furniture, priceless memorabilia and heirloom pieces in ruin without any regard for "making us whole", as insurance purchased against such losses is meant to do!

Advice to the wise..don't even waste your money on the insurance PODS includes in your contract for possible damages. It's obviously a profit ploy they've built into every move they handle with no intentions whatsoever of honoring when it comes time to use the coverage for damages incurred!

Thank God this was our final move and we never have to deal with the likes of services like PODS, or the unprofessional 3rd party packers (Moving Staffers) they suggested on their list of vendors (without really vetting or validating their quality or lack thereof of services to their customers or the shady insurance affiliates they are associated with). It truly is a Buyers Beware Era and you would be making a big error in working with this organization!

Moving and transporting is going to continue..we are aware of this reality, but, if you've taken time to research and review who to deal with and what to save yourself from, we hope this helps in your decision making process. Because, if we had it to do all over again, PODS was not the best choice and we should have just gone with the more experienced, traditional movers. Trying to save a few bucks cost us far more in the long run. Operative word here - "RUN"..as far away from using PODS for your move, if you can help it!
Good Luck and may you not be subject to any losses!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

On both ends of this move, the 3 men we hired were extremely efficient.
They did not break or lose any pieces, no wheels/handles or glass pieces were broken.

The 28foot trailer and one cube were packed tightly floor to 8 foot ceiling, and strapped into place. There was no shifting.

after the horror of another moving company I was leery of hiring people, but, but being a single person could not do it alone. However there was not a scratch on a wall or a dent on a piece of furniture. The three men on both ends, arrived on time, worked tirelessly and were courteous and pleasant to deal with.
The fees were nominal and nothing extra was padded in, I knew exactly how much I was paying.

Would highly recommend.

Service cost: $1690

This company is recommended by UPack on their website. It is the main company they recommend.
Moving Staffers did not take any care in loading my furniture and sewing machines. No machines were tied or secured to truck. The rolling wheels were not locked after rolling them up ramp into UPack 28 foot trailer.
The movers did not arrive with appropriate packing materials and had to go get some items.
Large steel ladders were loaded on top of delicate machines. The movers did not have any normal moving tools such as blankets to separate machines. They rolled around in truck causing severe damage to 4 machines. They overpacked the truck, loading items such as a canoe and steps, suitcases on top of crates that were clearly marked ‘do not stack’. These crates were delivered by the Upack parent company. The damage took place based on incompetent loading, recommended by Upack, and the rolling around of my machines for the trip from Ventura CA to Denver Co where the 28 ft trailer was in storage for 8 months, then delivered to my house in Placerville, CO.
Moving Staffers would not pay for damages and Upack would not cover any damages even though they clearly recommend Moving Staffers as the main mover on their site, describing them as a network of movers.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $2548

My tables are ruined from them taping my sheets to them (sheets are ruined too). Every single box was crushed and ripped open. I'm still going through it all finding more and more damages to my belongings.

The truck was packed so unevenly that things had to be held up or they would have crushed my grandson and his friends when they unloaded the truck for me.

Completely disgusted. Never use them. My refrigerator is dented, my clothes are ripped, I'm just hoping that my bread machines and tv work.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $480

Worked with them to get movers for both ends of my move from Atlanta to New York.  They seemed reasobale to deal with on the phone.  When the movers at the destination began to unpack the truck they found many boxes and pieces of furniture that were damaged or destroyed because the truck was packed so poorly in Atlanta. The movers unloading the truck said they had never seen a truck so poorly packed before.  I documented how all the boxes were crushed and the furniture had been stacked haphazardly, all with many many picture of the extreme amount of damage.  Book boxes stacked on top of boxes labeled glass or fragile.  A 100 year plus antique table just thrown on top of boxes and not tied down. A large chair stacked on a ironing board and then balanced on a vacuum, all three of which were destroyed or severely damaged.  The antique table now will cost more to fix than what I payed them.   Moving Staffers refused to pay any insurance, and the amount of damage exceeded the amount I payed them by a vast amount.  I will never use them again and will go with a full service moving company next time.  It was not worth the small amount of saving to have so much of my furniture and other items damage or broken beyond repair.  STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY.  They provide little to no customer support or resolution.  The worst company I have had to deal with in as long as I can remember!  This is a terrible and irresponsible company AVOID them at all costs, no savings is worth having all your possessions left broken with the refusal to work with you.

Service cost: $1037

I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I am in U-pack and the company that they hired on our behalf moving staffers. They caused damage to over 60% of our property, and what I am estimating at 20K+ in damage. The service of U-pack was horrible from the start, when working with us, they gave us a quote and were completely off in the amount of space we needed in a truck, we ended up needing twice as much space as they apparently don't know how to estimate properly. Then we had several scheduling issues. They gave us estimated delivery windows which were also incorrect. But most notably was referring us to Moving Staffers who sub contracts work out to other companies who don't seem to have a good rating who have no regard to clients personal property and loaded things in the truck so bad that we had so much damage to our property. These guys were horrible, and for the cost we should have used a company that does it all for you.

Would you recommend this mover to a friend? No.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1900

My stuff was in storage for a couple years, it was packed by myself and several helpers. I went to check on everything 3 weeks before actually hiring moving staffers and everything was in same condition as it was left.

As you can see there were footprints and candle wax on my Italian Silk sofa and the wrought Iron table legs were easily removed with one allen wrench instead of broken off. Many, many more.. I paid for 3 hours no steps nothing just from storage unit to truck it was a 1.5 to 2 hours job max.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $420

The loading company that was contracted through moving staffers for my origin city (Cincinnati - Here to There Movers) )was great, however, the unloading (moving in) contracted company that moving staffers used (Big Boy Movers based in Utah, but specifically the Vancouver, WA branch), was HORRIBLE, completely unprofessional, very unresponsive. No equipment was given to the two people who were helping unload (no dollies (apparently that is an extra fee..), no back braces, no moving straps for heavy furniture.

The people who showed up looked like college kids that were just doing this for a summer job, and for one of them it was his first day/first job, so he wasn't trained nor did he know what he was really doing. The other person seemed to have some experience, but again, was not a professional mover at all! When they arrived, I seriously thought it was a joke. Like you two, are going to move my heavy stuff, without a dolly, moving straps, OR back braces?

I've been dealing with the company (Big Boy Movers) for several weeks now, trying to get reimbursed for my dresser, which was very damaged from them moving the furniture into my apartment. They took off all the padding, and shrink wrap that the professional movers from my origin destination (here to there movers) had used to protect it, since it's a solid wood custom dresser.

It's been a series of unprofessional managers getting angry with me over the phone, for even suggesting that they provide their workers with a dolly for moving, as I guess moving staffers told the movers (if you can call them that) they wouldn't need one (I had 2 pods to unload..into an apartment.. so i'm not quite sure how it was communicated a dolly was not needed). On top of that, I was told (rudely) a dolly was an extra charge..

I've never heard such nonsense before in my life with a moving company.

I've had my dresser moved 4 times prior and it has always stayed protected until it was put into my bedroom in the apartment, and I've never had a problem.

Since they didn't have any assistance, and after my recommendation of having them contact the company (Big Boy Movers) to provide extra staff to help them move it, since I knew these two people could not, they decided to move it anyway, and took all of my clothes out of the drawers to make it lighter. My clothes were basically put in garbage bags, and set on my floor, no organization what-so-ever.
Again, I've had this dresser moved 4 times prior to this move, and NEVER have I ever had to take the clothes out of the drawers, or have the dresser unwrapped of it's protection before it has been placed in my apartment.

If you are using a company (e.g. UPACK) try to find people on your own if you are contracted with Big Boy Movers in any capacity. Moving Staffers is a good resource, but they really need to read and monitor the companies they are using for their client's moving and care for their possessions.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $900

After becoming handicapped from a motorcycle accident in 2017 I decided to move home. July of 2018 I set up my move from Las Vegas to Ohio. The company who moving staffers had do the loading was beyond negligent. They used 22' of trailer and only 2 of the 12 provided straps at the very end. Fragile boxes were loaded on their side with heavy furniture on top of them. It looked like someone just tossed everything into a blender. The footboard to my bed was completely broke into 3 pieces. It costs me thousands in damage and all they did was refund the cost of the loading for the "inconveinance" of destroying everything. The company unloading my belongings were so embarrased and ashamed to see such damage. It took them an extra few hours to unload because of all the damage and needing to photograph everything. But don't worry.. Moving staffers didn't forget to charge me for that extra time! Worst business practices I've ever come acrossed. Company takes no accountability but they sure do take your money.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1120

The movers arrived late and took 8 hours to pack and move the belongings of one person, from a one bedroom apt. The moving staff were not professionals which led to the destruction of property. Now they are refusing to pay for the damage. This happened to my 85 year old mother who is living on a fixed income and can not pay for the damage which is in the thousands of dollars.

The packers wrapped two antique marble tops together with one moving quilt around both. They put a metal grate on top of a wooden end table and packed them together in a box. The belongings were not properly secured inside the truck which led to multiple items breaking. This company is the worst and some how they continue to be in business.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2500

This company is a danger to society. I have experienced the worst move of my 66 years at their hands. They broke 18 items, including a $3000 iMac computer, several glass covers on framed art and photographs, and a 140-year-old slab of marble which was the top to my great grandmother's antique side table. I documented over $6000 of damage, and they offered me $400 as compensation. Their packaging skills are so deficient it is a wonder they didn't do much worse. I was actually amazed to find that my great grandmother's Tiffany-style lamp came through intact, as they put it in a box with no cushioning and piled several items on top of it inside the box. We had a two-day pack and a two-day unpack, and each day had a completely different crew. So the the people who unpacked had no clue as to what they were unpacking and how poorly and haphazardly the items were packed. They even charged me to move a box of empty tape spools and wrapping scraps. Calling these people movers is an insult to the entire industry of movers. They have earned my inestimable and unending contempt. I rate them hazardous, which is below merely poor.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

Do not use this service! They are not experts or professionals, and I mean the company, not necessarily all of their laborers. Their Terms of Service are all slanted toward them so that they can get out of reimbursing the customer for damaged property. As a non-professional mover, you are taking a risk by using them, and there is no effort made to educate you, the customer, about how to load and unload. They expect you to direct their laborers on how to load your possessions so that they can say any damage done is because you did not correctly inform the movers. On top of that, the movers they gave us did not have enough experience or professional knowledge to know how best to load our truck. This is WRONG. As a customer there is an expectation of service. I expect the laborers to know a little, or this company should provide the customer with education.

We loaded a four post dining room table with their help. The movers then proceeded to stack two layers of heavy boxes on top of the table. Given that our family does not have professional moving experience we relied on the knowledge of the movers who seemed to know what they were doing and assumed this was the best course of action for loading the table. Of course, the table could not handle the weight. By the time the table arrived at our destination, it was destroyed. The table top had splintered under the weight and the middle completely fell through. Anybody with a glimmer of truck loading knowledge would have known that and would have protected the table better. Moving Staffers would provide us no recourse for the actions of the movers they subcontract, so we are left buying a new table after paying to move the broken one. Again, do not use their service.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1200

Worst company to even think about hiring for moving. They damaged our hardwood floor. They damaged several items during the move. Their compensation to cover damaged items was pennies on the dollar. There is a 3 inch scratch on a TV screen. That had to have been put there intentionally. They want to give me $40 dollars to cover the damage.

We have a Thomas Kinkade print. They frame was damaged.

Again, they want to pay pennies to cover the repair.

We have a bedroom dresser where the mirror frame was damaged beyond repair. Pennies on the dollar to replace something that is irreplaceable.

I would avoid using Moving Staffers and shipping with Pods.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $15000

The loaders did not secure the load, did not wrap the foot of my bed, and disregarded the labels of “fragile” and “heavy”. They ruined my antique hand-carved cherrywood bed, so that it could not be assembled by the unloaders. They caused the marble surround of my fireplace to shatter into pieces. They broke a mirror in my dresser, and shattered an heirloom porcelain candelabra. Do not use this company. The only reason I gave them any stars at all was the excellent service That I received by Chelsea, their CS person.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2400

Find an alternative to Moving Staffers for your move. U-Pack is a great option, but they recommend Moving Staffers and they are TERRIBLE!! They contract with local moving companies and take ZERO responsibility if your belongings are damaged (which ours were). The moving crew arrived 5 hours late and were loading the truck until 10:15pm at night (in complete darkness). The result was broken furniture, damaged mattresses, holes in a rug, grease on our couch (where they loaded a garage work bench). Moving Staffers has pathetic terms and conditions that absolves them of any responsibility and puts it all on you. We had thousands of dollars in damage and they offer us $150 as "good faith". Seriously find another option and double, triple check their terms and conditions and insurance of the contract. Moving is stressful enough.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $1400

They do not vet or train their third-party movers. We had the most damage of any move we have ever had (we've been moved professionally three times prior). Their insurance does not cover a thing. And to make matters worse, I was made very uncomfortable by the team leader, an unprofessional older man who wouldn’t stop making comments about my body and what good shape I was in. A hole was made in our new leather 4k sectional because they packed a sharp chair leg right up next to it. It makes me very angry that I had planned to wrap the whole sectional in plastic and they told me not to because they would protect it with blankets. It received many scratches. I DO know why they wanted to use blankets though. They charge 20$ for a basically disposable blanket and were happy to use A LOT more than we had provided so they could charge us for an extra $400. SURPRISE! And they didn’t even help! My solid wood beautiful dining room table had so much stacked that the table is cracked. The top of my dryer is broken loose because of all the weight put on it. Several smaller things were broken and I have not unpacked yet. I would gladly have paid for more space if it was needed to keep my belongings safe. I would have wrapped everything and supervised the loading if I had known they were not a professional moving company (would not have hired them). Instead I have 10k in damage to my property. The original quote sounded good but it took them probably twice as long as they estimated with a huge blanket fee and now I need to buy new furniture and dryer. NEVER AGAIN!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $2042

I could have done a better job as a woman moving these items out of my home into the pod I ordered . Idk why they thought it was ok to put my brand new wooden headboard in last and pack everything else inside the pod so poorly that when it was time to be taken out all the pressure from the other items were pushing on it and cracked the leg and back of my headboard . This headboard was just replaced not even 7 months before and I have the receipt . I have pictures from when the next moving company got to my items after they packed it and you can clearly see how the next movers had to let the headboard lay on his shoulder to push everything behind it just to get it out without breaking anything else . You would think these guys would be professional and make sure that the bed which is the heaviest item in my storage would be put inside of the storage first like it’s just common sense right ? Anyways I reached out to them and because it was a year and a half ago they can’t do anything about it and was very snotty about also . He clearly wouldn’t even let me finish explaining why it took me so long to notice the cracks in the bed frame . I’m not from the state where my stuff was for about a year and I literally just got it out of the storage unit a week ago so once it’s in my house now I’m able to see the damage they caused . They are very unprofessional and I will never use them again I hope someone reads this and finds it helpful because this is just not ok .

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $450

These people were a joke and I will never use them ever again and wouldn't recommend them to anybody. The movers on the one end showed at the last minute of their appointed window of promised arrival.  On top of that they damaged many furniture items of ours. The worst part about it was that they charged us way more than they quoted us for "moving materials" and tried to place it on our credit card without letting us know the amount they were trying to charge in the first place.  I never gave them authorization to keep my credit card information on file and try to charge me extra without letting me know beforehand.  They could have done serious damage to my checking account if funds weren't available, but luckily the bank had sent me a new card and closed out the credit card they had "on file." I finally had to settle with them today due to repeated phone calls and threats of sending to the account to collections. It was over $300 extra for moving "materials.".

Service cost: $800

We used the services of Moving Staffers, and we are really sad that we did. We tried to save some money, but in the end, after all of the damage, it would have been way cheaper (and less stressful) to use a reliable van line instead. Wish we did.

The damage to our stuff was extensive. We filed a claim, and they paid the required 60 cents/pound, but it wasn't enough to replace or repair the items. When we asked them to consider paying out more, they said we needed to prove negligence and promptly closed the claim. At the end of the day, they did the minimum required under the terms of the contract, but, left us with so many damaged items, I'm left feeling furious.

After this incident, I've done a bit of online research, and it sounds like the moving companies are somewhat protected under federal law, and so there doesn't seem to be much recourse available to consumers. Unbelievable. They can charge you to move your stuff, totally break your stuff, and then skip out on making it right.

This sense of having no recourse is why I turned to online reviews. I'm hoping that the collective voice of consumers is loud enough to spread the word.

Service cost: $9500

We contacted Moving Staffers at the recommendation of PODS for unpacking of our unit at our newly remodeled home in Florida. They contacted Flat Fee Movers in Sarasota, FL who did the actual unloading. The arrangements were made through Moving Staffers and they did an awesome job. Everything went as planned and Flat Fee Movers also did an excellent job for us. Moving Staffers kept in touch after the move to make sure all went well. I had scheduled 2 men for 4 hours and only used them for 2 hours. Moving Staffers reduced my bill accordingly.

I was pleased with my service and would not hesitate to hire them again. The move went well from Flat Fee Movers which is one of many companies that Moving Staffers could choose in this area.

Service cost: $245