Safe Load Moving and Storage

Safe Load Moving and Stoage (SLMS) was hired as a subcontractor by First Priority Van Lines (FPVL) to move our belongings. DAY OF MOVE SLMS forced me to sign a new contract under duress and if I refused they would leave and refuse to honor the original contract we signed. We had to be out of our house by the next day so were forced to sign new contract as it was too late to find new moving company. SLMS added more charges after packing. Move cost 2x as much as should have. We were extorted. Original contract had us paying $6983.19 and after SMLS added on fees (that they just made up) we ended up paying $15,221.72. If we would not have paid their ransom then they would have taken our belongings away and not given them to us after paying more money. They also did not pack our items safely and many were damaged.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $15221

A group of three individuals showed up at my steps, as generous could be with all delightful smiles on their faces. They asked what needed to be moved and all I had to do was point the entire day. A very big load off my back since the last company I hired to move really had me working with them (except I wasn't getting paid). I called up in March and scheduled my move for late April. Randy was great with calling me in advance both a week and day before my scheduled moving date to make sure there weren't any issues with moving. Outstanding job and would recommend this company even to Angie's List! Hope they treat everyone well.

Service cost: $1000

Safe Load Moving & Storage     Pick up date: 3/19/2012   Drop off date: 3/29/2012   Sales rep: Maxx S. (General Manager)       1. Safe Load Promised:   Job would not be brokered out; truck would be a "Safe Load owned truck", workers would be Safe Load background checked, uniformed and employed by SL.   1. What actually happened:   Brokered.  Not Safe Load background-checked workers.  Hired nearby homeless man to unload truck.   Job brokered out to Empire Moving DOT #1044554 (photo taken of truck)   Workers were NOT employed by Safe Load.  Not uniformed.   When delivery driver arrived, there were three unloaders with him. Before beginning to unload, there was a 4th guy who looked homeless; I asked who’s this guy?  The driver said “a guy from the street who will help unload so it will go faster”.   I said absolutely not.

Service cost: $3695

This company is a group of unprofessional scammers. They over charged us by $3000 on our move from Las Vegas to Portland, and they delivered 1 week later than promised. This is how they work. They will talk bad about other companies and ensure you that they have a BBB rating of A (it is only because they have 2 reviews). They will promise to match your quotes. When it comes time to move they pack up all your stuff and load it on a truck.

Once loaded that is where they jack up the price and claim that the ''original quote was off and now you have to pay X price. If you go with weight or measurement by cubic feet I would ask them how they measure because they don;t explain that and that is how they charge you per pound or per cubic feet. The only reason why we had to go with them was they had our stuff in their truck before they gouged us and we already had plane tickets the next day.

They promised free moving boxes - didn't happen. We are still waiting on a refund because they overcharged us by 800 cubic feet. the other part they don't tell you is the truck they pick up your stuff in is just to haul it to a storage facility where it then sits until the sub contracted trucker picks up your stuff for delivery. They SUBCONTRACT other people to move your stuff and don't use their own truck or staff to move you! They do this on purpose so they can not take accountability. What this means to you is they play the blame game.. if your stuff is delivered late it is the truckers fault, if your items are missing or damaged, the movers blame Safe Load for incorrectly packing the truck.

It is an endless merry go round of excuses. I am making it my mission for no one else to get screwed like we did. Don't get caught with these crooks moving your stuff. Plenty of our stuff never made it (stuff that can't be replaced like wedding pictures), and of course everyone at Safe Load Moving is pointing fingers at someone else. Sales man Maxx is useless and the owner Yval and Bill will justify everything they did is right. Still waiting for them to call me back after I called them out on every unethical business practice they committed. Do not deal with these people!!

Service cost: $6611

When we decided to hire a company to move us from CA to TX instead of doing it ourselves, Frank with Safe Load was one of the companies that provided me with a quote. Frank seemed to be very up front and honest, assuring me that they always overestimate so there are no surprises at the time of the move. My husband was planning to arrive in Austin on 12/27, so we scheduled delivery on 12/28. Frank asked when we wanted our things picked up, and I stressed I don't care when they get picked up, we want them there on the 28th. He said picking it up on the 18th would give them plenty of time, even with the holidays. So, everything was picked up on the 18th, and I thought all was well. Starting on the 26th, I began calling just to be sure we were still on track for delivery on the 28th. I could reach no one, and no one returned my call. Finally, on the 27th, I got a call from Joe, the foreman, and was told no, my things wouldn't be delivered until the 1st. I was, needless to say, upset and angry. I have three kids and were planning to get there on the 30th. He apologised and said he would do his best to get it done sooner and get back to me. I never spoke to Joe again. The next day, when I hadn't heard anything, I called and spoke to the apparent owner, Bob. He kept telling me I needed to understand, it was the holidays and they have 21 business days to deliver and if I wanted it on a certain day then I would have to pay way more. I said he needed to understand that Frank assured me it would arrive on the 28th, to which I was told, "Frank, Frank Frank, he's just the rep he has nothing to do with scheduling." Bob did assure me that my things were on a truck and he would try to find out some information. Two days and dozens of unanswered/unreturned calls later, he gave me the number of the driver, Oleg. I called Oleg, and was told he wasn't going to Texas and knew nothing about it, but there was another Oleg with the company and he gave me that driver's number. I called him, and was again told the same thing. So, I went back to calling Bob and leaving unreturned messages. Finally, on 1/3, I received a call from Alex, the actual driver, telling me his engine blew and he was waiting for a friend's truck, but he would deliver on the 6th, or 7th, but definitely by the 8th. On January 9th, 13 days after I was assured it would be here, my things finally arrived. When he arrived, we asked when he picked up our load, and he said on 12/30, two days AFTER I was "assured" it was on its way. I was charged $3,000 more than originally quoted, and of course they won't start unloading until you pay them. We requested they reweigh the truck, which is every mover's right to request, and as of yet, we can't get a phone call back to find out the actual weight. No one we met in the whole process actually works for Safe Load, they don't use their own drivers or crew. They are simply a broker, so once they have your deposit they have no vested interest or control on when your stuff shows up. They also demand either cash or postal money order as final payment because they know they are taking advantage of you and this is the only way you can't fight back. This was an awful experience and if Frank or Joe or Bob ever call you, I would recommend hanging up!

Service cost: $8200

Here is how this company works.
Max gets on the phone and tells you all the lies you want to hear. Then the movers show up at your house and have you sign a contract and then the sketchy driver with his coke finger nail has you sign paperwork, after you sign. To your chagrin they fill in a completely different amount that you owe them, they say they will see you in portland in one week. You call max to dispute why your studio apt. Is now requiring a fee of a 5 bedroom house??
He says "He is working with you,"He says "There has been a mistake". 5 weeks later. Mind you bob (owner of the company) and max has told you every week that it was coming soon. And they would weigh your stuff. Have continued to lie to you about price and weigh stations..Then they sell your contract off to a different company. That speaks the same foreign language and they are demanding the entire contract price in cash or they pretty much hold your stuff ransom(and if you didn't get what I was implying by them speaking the same foreign language they are a family that pretends to be separate entities.. That keeps it legal). Like any reputable company(like drug dealers) they only work in cash. Please, please do yourself a favor and do not use this company. I still don't have my stuff and who knows how damaged it is or how many items are missing. You have been warned.

Service cost: $2600

I called the company and spoke and email directly with a gentleman/salesman Maxx. he basically told us that they would be the lowest guaranteed and we took him at his word. Through email he promised a number of things that made the deal that much better. When the foreman (not sure if he is affiliated with the company or not..still trying to figure it out) showed up in a Budget rental truck that was smaller than I had discussed with Maxx, I was very skeptical about the movers fitting out load in one truck. The foreman (Bob) after walking around the house came back with a new price that exceeded the estimate given by Maxx (solely based on guesstimate) by over $3000. I negotiated back and forth with the foreman and he kept saying that if he had to return a second time that he would charge me an additional $1000. Thank goodness I had the email conversations with Maxx so I could show him what was and wasn't included in the bid. After going back and forth for 45 minutes with Bob, I asked him to call Maxx on the phone and Maxx did everything in his power to help me out. the price increased by close to $3,000 so if you know the actual weight of your load you may be better prepared than I. (Make sure you have a reputable company come through your house to give you a weight based estimate and show them everything they will be taking with them.) It ended up that they couldn't fit everything in the Budget Rental Truck so they came back the next day to pick up the rest of our stuff. They didn't charge us a thing for the second truck and did a fantastic job wrapping and packing our stuff. Bob is an interesting character and I believe is far to a point. Make sure you get everything in writing/email before you pay the deposit otherwise they amount you agreed to may increase substantially with this moving company.    The Beginning: I felt very satisfied with Maxx and dealing with his secretary (or wife). I think they run the company out of their home as a third party servicer. I don't know this for sure. Any how they were great to work with.    The Day of the Move: the debate over cost with their foreman (Bob) was literally ridiculous and unless you have a steel spin, he will coax you for ever last penny. If on the other hand you keep good records and have them and are willing to fight for what you were promised, they will work with you to make you happy. The foreman and his group arrived at our home around 5PM and literally worked until 1AM to finish the job. Although this shows great drive, it would have been better if they would have arrived earlier so they wouldn't have kept my neighbors up all night. By keeping they up I mean extremely loud speaking on cell phones in the middle of the street, starting and stopping the diesel engine, raising and lowering the tailgate on the Budget Rental Truck, and banging pipes and furniture as the moved everything into the truck and out onto the driveway. My wife and kids spent the better part of the night hiding in the backroom as to not get in their way and were able to sleep after about 11:45PM. The next morning we woke to a battle field of tape, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, water bottles, and cigarette butts in and outside of the house. The arrived for the second load around 10:30AM and were gone by 11:30AM, after asking if we wanted to give them a tip. :P   The Day of the Move in on the Other Side: We were contacted by a company called OCO Transport that Safe Load had contracted with to transport the move to the East coast. They arrived when they said they would, and did a fantastic job moving everything into the house. I was upset at first that Safe Load didn't do the job, but realized that the other company was great and did fantastic.    Furniture Condition: I will continue to update this section until we are fully finished uncovering and documenting the damage that was caused in the move. To start, there was considerable damage to most items wrapped by the Safe Load guys. Huge dents in the washer and dryer, gouges in our headboards, wood benches, seats, bunk beds, and missing nuts and bolts for everything from the entire bunk bed system to tables and chairs. They tied two Adirondacks chairs together with tape and nothing in between and they are trashed. One of the arms on our wood bench was smashed and dangling, a leather footstool has a tear and slice in the top of it, and the bunk bed set is a mess with gouged wood and missing parts. I understand that long haul moving isn't a science and that damage occurs regardless of what a moving company does to stop it..so I WOULD SUGGEST GETTING FULL COVERAGE BECAUSE THE $0.50/LB COVERAGE THAT COMES WITH THE PRICE QUOTED WON"T COME CLOSE TO COVERING THE DAMAGE INCURRED. It needs to be said that this is something I suggest for all moving companies and not just Safe Load. The guys that wrapped our move looked as though they did a bang-up job, no pun intended, wrapping and protecting our items.    More updates to come related to commmunication with the company, damage, and the insurance claim process. .

Service cost: $8000

It was our first move ever using a moving company, and I did as much research as possible.  When I called the company initially I asked if they could come do a visual estimate, because I had a couple of other companies do the same.  Matt guaranteed me there was no need - they will just give a price based off of the estimates from the other companies.  I called a few days later to confirm a delivery date with Brian (I think) and told him I don't care what date they pick up my items as long as they are there by June 3rd.  He said he will schedule it for April 23rd and that way it will "FOR SURE be there by June 3rd.  I guarantee it."
Apparently, this company has a very nasty habit of verbally guaranteeing things and then later hiding behind contracts and paperwork.
April 23rd came, and the movers said we would have to pay an extra 1900 because they estimated wrong.  After letting them know that we were very disappointed and that it put our family in a very tight spot, the man kept pushing and pushing, and in such a short time frame we really had no choice but to pay them the extra money.  I called the company and all they said was "Well, estimates are not binding and they're just estimates."  I told them "However, when I asked you to come do a visual estimate, you refused."  They said nothing.  Mind you, my boyfriend, who is financing this whole thing is out of state working so I am by myself with our toddler, and I think he figured he would take full advantage of the fact that I was so naive when it came to moving.  I asked the man in charge that day "So my things will be there on June 3rd right?"  Twice he reassured me "June 3rd, yes.  No problem.  I guarantee it.  You have my word!" 
June 3rd comes along, and we waited until about 3 PM before we called the company and they told us they would have the driver call us.  The driver calls and says, "I'll be there in 3 or 4 days because I am in Dallas right now."  Excuse me?  I call the company back fuming, and all they said was, "Well, our contract says that we have a 2-3 week turn around time, and if you wanted a guaranteed delivery date you should have paid the $30."  When I asked her what she was talking about, the lady says, "Our company has a fee of $30 that we charge to guarantee your goods to be delivered on a specific date."  I told her that nobody made my aware of a fee when I made the reservation MONTHS ago, and nobody on the day of the move asked if I had paid it or even so much as brought up a fee when I specifically told them that I would need my things ON June 3rd. They should have either told me about the fee or scheduled the pick up date sooner when I made the reservation.. MONTHS ago.  She just hung up.
I had to send our son with his grandparents because we didn't have anything for him to sleep on or anything else for that matter!!  I told my boyfriend, who called the next day and got nowhere.  Mind you, most of the people in "dispatch" don't speak English, they interrupt you at any chance they get, and they talk over you.  I tried to get the matter solved, because I feel as if fair is fair, and for us to pay an extra 1900 for them to be 4 days late is ridiculous.  We got a call back the day before the movers got to the house and the "owner" (I guess) said "Um, the truck broke down."  How f** convenient, right?  Right.  [EDIT], in my opinion.  Took you two days to come up with that excuse.  Not only are we out the 1900 for the company, but now we had to go buy other household items to live until the movers got there because we had no stuff.
Anyway.  June 6th at around 6 PM, the guys come, and one of the guys shoves the papers towards me and says, "Sign here."  It was a paper saying that they had delivered all of the goods and that they were in good condition.  I told him I can't sign that because nothing is off of the truck.  He told me if I didn't sign it, they can't unload the truck.  THEN he tells me I have to pay the rest of the 1900 before they start.  It didn't make sense, but I was so exasperated I signed it and paid the money.  They were SUPPOSED to assemble the beds and couch, and unwrap the furniture.  They assembled the bottom part and arranged both beds so the headboards only LOOKED like they were assembled.  They forgot to unwrap a whole dresser.  They didn't bother to assemble the couch at all.  AND they threw all the paper on the floor - didn't even bother to ask where a trash can was.
As I was unpacking, I came to realize that we were missing not only a significant amount of our pots and pans, and other kitchen items, but some of our stuff was placed into different boxes and moved around.  We are also now missing a lot of expensive electronics like our cable modem and router and things like that.  I filed a complaint with the BBB and DOT a week ago - they have not responded.  They made an already stressful and terrifying experience even worse.  I will NEVER use any moving company ever again because of them.

Service cost: $3200

They picked up last minute due to crazy circumstances on my end, which I was grateful for.  They talked a great talk and quoted me a resonable price, based on estimated weight. Then when it came time for pick up they were hours late.  I was out of town, so my friend was facilitating for me and was inconvinced by their tardiness.  Communication was poor even though the pick up crew had my phone number and I was available.   When I they finished the pick up and called with the total cubic feet, I was confused. I had been given a quote for weight (switching after contract signed  I believe is illegal). The driver told me it was late and he didn't have time yo go to scale prior to pick up. left with no choice it stood as was. Upon delivery by a different company, something that I was specifically told wouldn't happen (subcontracting), I noticed a discrepancy in cubic feet. I was the first delivery from a packed truck and it was clear that my things took up 700 cubic feet.  I was told, and paid for, 850 cubic feet. I thereby over paid by hundreds of dollars. When I notified the company and sent pictures, I was given the run around. Never refunded or compensated, or even return call. I of course had things scratched and broken. I have with every move, with no recourse. This company puts you at such ease initially, I thought I may have a good one-for once. Alas, they are scammers too. .

Service cost: $4000