Safe Ship Moving Services

I would strongly warn anyone considering Safe Ship Moving Services (and their partner carriers like Star USA Moving) to avoid this company unless you’re prepared to pay for their “guaranteed delivery” add-on service.

From the start, I was explicit about when I needed delivery, providing over 30 days’ notice and a detailed inventory. Despite this, when moving day arrived, they increased the cost by 50%, claiming additional charges even though my inventory hadn’t changed.

Now that I’m waiting for my belongings to be delivered to my high-rise condo (which requires advance elevator reservations), they are saying delivery could take up to 7 business days. This “delivery window” was buried in the fine print, never clearly explained upfront.

On top of that, all their email addresses now bounce back, making escalation nearly impossible. After doing further research, I found many other reviews with the same complaints—bait and switch pricing, hidden delivery timelines, and extremely poor communication.

If you value transparency and reliability, do not use this company unless you’re ready to pay significantly more for a guaranteed delivery date. Their practices are misleading, stressful, and costly.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

Overall the people that picked up and wrapped everything did a very good job and everything seems to be well protected and they worked quick. But prepared the day of to pay a LOTTT more than what you originally expected, and also they say it’s up to 30 days they have to bring you your stuff even though they do not say that over the phone when you’re originally booking with them. I believe the actual movers get a 5/5, but as far as safe ship and whomever I spoke to on the phone to book thing- I believe there could have been a lot more transparency. They also did not include some items I had told them over the phone, so that wasn’t very fun to pay extra for those either. 3.5/5 (5/5 for movers).

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

I had two guys come to move my furniture in my 3 bedroom 2 bath home. They came right on time, as they said. As a matter of fact, they were even a little early. And got busy right away. They wrapped my furniture very well. They were very careful with my things and I felt comfortable with them being in my home…. They were so friendly and understood everything that I asked of them. I mean I really enjoyed them. They were very fast, careful and kind. If I had to move again I would definitely!!! use them again as a moving team. I can truly say that, they were very thorough..Please give them a try. you will not!!! Be disappointed. I’m so happy. Thanks again you guys?

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

On May 5, I got a quote from Safe Ship: 1,246 cubic feet for $7,595. My move was scheduled for June 17. On June 14, Michael Palacios (561-536-5102) called for a "quality assurance check" and suddenly claimed my shipment was actually 1,800 cubic feet and the price had ballooned to $12,253. Nothing had changed on my end — I was already fully packed. I pushed back, and he admitted they intentionally overestimate so they can “refund the difference later,” but charge much more if you underestimate.

On pickup day, I had already spoken with Gia (561-486-6532), a customer service manager, to dispute the inflated cubic footage estimate — but she insisted the charges stood and told me I’d have to wait until the truck arrived to “see for myself.” When the movers showed up to pick up my items and the truck was packed, I took photos clearly showing that only ~900 cubic feet of my items were loaded, based on the volume markings on the truck. But now Gia was nowhere to be found, and every rep I reached repeated the same line: “you’ll get a final volume when the truck delivers.” That turned out to be yet another delay tactic.

On June 25, my furniture finally arrived — in a 26-foot straight truck, ¾ full, not a semi. Before paying anything (because they refuse to unload unless you pay first), I spent over an hour on hold with customer service. When I finally got someone, I explained that my shipment only took up ~1,270 cubic feet, and the rest of the space belonged to someone else’s cargo. I was told “you must have more stuff,” which was clearly false. I asked for a manager. After 2 hours of arguing, the manager insisted it was a semi and ¾ of a semi equals 1,800 cu ft. I had the driver confirm it was a 26’ straight truck — still, he refused to believe us. I finally took photos with a tape measure to prove it.

After all that, they offered me a $1,380 credit, leaving me paying $10,873 for a move originally quoted at $7,595 — with fewer items than estimated.

Later that evening, I got a call from Saika Valerius (561-717-7785), another customer service manager, promising to “look into it” and begging me not to post this review until she called me back by Monday at 5 PM. I gave her until Tuesday. She never called.

In my opinion, Safe Ship is a textbook bait-and-switch operation.

Don't just take my word for it — BBB shows 569 complaints in 3 years, 286 in the last 12 months, with a disturbing pattern of volume scams and surprise charges. Reviews on Consumer Affairs, Reddit, MoveAdvisor, and Facebook echo my experience. Multiple customers report false estimates, massive overcharges, and hostile support. One federal lawsuit (Hemperley v. Safe Ship) was filed in 2023. Another (Ryan Walker v. Safe Ship) is currently active. Complaints have also been filed with FMCSA, DOT, and state AGs.

I’m filing formal complaints with the Florida Attorney General, FMCSA, and DOT.

I encourage others who’ve been deceived to do the same. This company needs to be held accountable.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

I will confirm I did not make a mistake to choose safe ship. Their professionalism was good, clean parking with identification of items. Even you forget parking a pin, they will make sure to package it and bring it to you. Delivery was good and I admire the respect they show by not messing your home. Thank you all for the wonderful job. Even though, nothing in life goes perfectly, overall I am really happy with the services. My lesson learnt is make sure you understand everything written on your INVOICE, ask questions before finalizing your deal.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6203

Our family needed to move within a month, so found Safe Ship online. The call was everything we wanted to hear. Veteran owned company, veterans would deliver our goods, and no issues with our timetable. On that initial call, my wife started to walk them through the house to detail all that would be moving. She was told that wasn’t necessary, they only needed to know the “big stuff.” We contracted with them to have the movers pack the house, asking if it was even possible to pack the house and the truck the same day, they assured us it was. 48 hours before our scheduled move, they wanted to do a video walkthrough of the house. It was then that they said we had more things that we originally said (they claim they have a recording of ther first call but refuse to provide it to us), and as a result, were increasing our cost by nearly 50%. They also wouldn’t let us cancel, as the 72-hour window had passed. When we asked why they didn’t do the detailed walkthrough on the initial call, their agent actually said this was their standard business practice, and confirmed they provide low estimates to start and then dramatically increase right before the move. Standard business practice! Half of the services they “brokered” for us were not provided, a significant amount of our things were broken or damaged, and Safe Ship just shrugs their shoulders, stating “we are only a broker” and thus believe they have no responsibility or liability.

Stay as far away from this company as you can. They will lie and lie and lie to squeeze every dollar out of you, then will deny any obligations and responsibilities they have. It’s like they are in cahoots with their shipping companies to defraud customers.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $28000