Safe Ship Moving Services

Awful experience. Upon arrival, the first thing the movers told me was that my "inventory list did not matter". After seeing the space that Safe Ship quoted me for, it was clear that all the things I had in my inventory list would not fit. After many calls or reviewing this list, to which I provided measurements of the major furniture. The additional amount I'd have to pay for further space was not worth it at all (it was absurd) and I had to leave many things behind last minute. After 10 days waiting for my things to be delivered, it got worse. I had 7 broken and damaged objects. The boxes were clearly thrown around, regardless of the FRAGILE labels I had put on them One of my bags, that had all of my shoes inside, was nowhere to be found. Specifically expensive shoes. After contacting the company that same day, I was told they'd search the warehouses for it. In no moment did I receive any updates, I only did because of me constantly reaching out. Days later, I was told that bag was not in my inventory list. To which I responded with a picture of the item highlighted on the sign inventory list as well as a picture of all the bags that were placed on the truck, that one included.I was then told to file a claim, with clearly no effort from their part to locate it and no apology whatsoever. I filed the claim, taking my time to link all the pairs of shoes that were missing. There was a total of $2,100 in that bag and I received $18 IN RETURN! EIGHTEEN DOLLARS! I tried countless times to reach my "representative" from Safe Ship to see if there was anything I can do by myself...reach out to someone, ANYTHING! My emails were not responded, when I called he wasn't around and none of my calls returned. Please don't fall for the scam. They are irresponsible and inconsiderate.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3518

Reasons why it was bad

- when the movers (Petra Pro Movers) arrived at our place to load, the estimated price they gave us was double what the initial estimate was. Whatever estimation tools were used to determine how much space would be taken up were way off.

- when I called safeship to work this out, they said they would be in touch me about adjusting the estimate on the receiving end if we didnt take up the whole truck (and we didnt, I sent a picture). She never called back despite me calling her and safeship multiple times over 2 weeks

- when i called safeship about projected date, they said they had no idea and could help no further. So i had to call the movers company myself and basically bypass safeship. That worked - I got someone with Petra Movers who was able to make some calls.

- on delivery, the foreman was very rough with our belongings. There was also a bag of clothes that didnt belong to us (how did that happen) and he threw it on the ground multiple times

- three pieces of furniture were broken. For one, the foreman jammed a piece back in, said he would come back with wood glue to fix it, never came back.

Fortunately, they did reassemble our stuff (though I had to ask them repeatedly), and the other movers were very nice and professional.

Would not use again or recommend.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

Safe Ship did an excellent job with my move from Alabama to Maryland in June 2023. Two men loaded my belongings in a little over 2 hrs. My delivery process went great, too! From my first intake call, inventory call, and arrangements for my move, Safe Ship definitely eased my stress for a long distance relocation. The four men, two for loading and 2 at delivery doing the physical work were personable, hard-working, and handled everything with the utmost care. Customer service went above and beyond for me with patience and full explanations along the way. As a proud military widow heading to the next phase in life, Safe Ship gave me security and peace of mind. The price point was reasonable and the entire experience positive. Every individual who worked with me to guide me in all aspects, reassured me and provided the best support! Safe Ship Moving was an optimal choice!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $5899

Safe ship have been very thorough the whole pick up. Benny with United National Movers showed up 1hr. early. He's very professional & easy going. The crew got right 2 work & did an excellent job packing the truck & repacking things 2 make it easier as well as work better fitting on the truck.

The cost went up but that was to be expected. I got 1600 sq. Ft. but filled the whole the whole truck up. Overall I'm very happy w/ the price vs. The level of service they provided. Would Definitely use them again & or recommend them for any one moving long distance or out of state like I am.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $15100

Moving through Safe Ship Moving services has been an expensive hassle! I provided an updated moving estimate of a list of boxes, bins and furniture a few days before shipping that wasn't communicated to the contractors. The contractors didn't converse in English and were impolite and hastily started taking things out of my storage and added $400 extra for 2 wardrobe boxes (to contain already packed boxes) and "long carry fee" for using the elevator for 1 level. The customer service doesn't seem to care and help with information. I had to insist that they hear my feedback but their response for this was that it's mentioned in the contract. It's been 2 weeks with no communication about when my stuff is to arrive and I have to call to keep checking. Do not recommend!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

I was wary about using a broker instead of hiring a mover directly but I had a last-minute, somewhat complicated move involving furniture from two locations needing to get to a third. I paid close attention to the contract and all the information laid out for me and there were no surprises. I was able to schedule a move that fit into my schedule and was lucky to have my items arrive the next day all in the same condition I’d last seen them in! There was clear and consistent communication from all parties and I didn’t have to stress.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $4710

When I first contacted Safe Ship, the people there seemed so helpful and willing to help me because I was on a very tight time frame due to having to make a sudden move to get my first job out of college. I let the movers know that I needed my stuff picked up and moved to the location within about a week and that I had a kinda tight budget. They told me that although it was a pretty tight timeframe, they should be able to find a contractor in my area who can get it there since their estimated time frame was 1-10 days due to my move being a 700-mile trip. Now enter the movers, When the movers first got there I was pretty optimistic at first until they told me that my one-room-sized move was going to take 600 Cubic feet somehow instead of the estimated 350 and I was pretty skeptical since I was almost certain it wouldn't, but I was on a tight timeframe and couldn't just cancel at this point since they had already started loading so I received an unnecessary extra amount of $1500 to pay for that. The next red flag was when they tried to get my payment, they were somewhat insistent on getting me to pay in cash (which I didn't and instead paid through Zelle). Afterward, I had one piece of furniture on the second floor where my apartment was, and so since I saw the policy was the first 7 stairs free. I assumed that this meant they'd just count the stairs to get to the second floor. Instead, the guy starts from the step to get onto the landing to walk towards the stairs, then goes up the stairs and walks all the way to my door and claims that it was 35 stairs and that it'd be $425 for the one piece of furniture. After that came the real disaster, the delivery. On the day of my move into my apartment, I called the movers and asked when they would be there since I had let both them and safe ship know that I needed it there by then since I started work Monday. I was then informed that they wouldn't be there that day b/c they had put the 1st delivery date as the day of my move-in and not the next day after pickup which is when it was supposed to be. I was then informed that Id have to wait till next Sunday which pissed me off, but fine, so I slept on an air mattress for the week. Saturday rolled around and I called to see when the ETA would be for tomorrow since he told me they'd be there then at first. The guy then tells me that they won't be there tomorrow b/c they wanted to wait until they had more orders for moves bc apparently it was convenient for them, and then he said that technically they had two weeks to get it to me but that it would be there on Tuesday or Wednesday of the upcoming week. Wednesday rolls around and I call again to get an ETA and the guy then tells me that they just loaded the truck but that they wouldn't be there until Thursday, Friday, or Saturday which told me absolutely nothing and at this point, I was extremely dissatisfied because I had been sleeping on an air mattress and had no possessions for two weeks at this point. Finally. we get to Today, Saturday, The movers at first say that I can expect them to be there around 12:45, but then I suddenly receive a text fifteen minutes after I called and they said they'd be there tomorrow morning, another slap in the face. After about 2 hours from then, they text me and say that I can actually have it delivered at 8:00 PM today if I was available, at this point I just wanted to be done with this S***show so I said fine. They show up and start to take my stuff off the truck and I look at it all and see that about half of my boxes and plastic totes were either smashed or broken and that a lot of them were thrown into the truck whichever way worked for them because some of the boxes were placed upside down inside the truck. The problem I forget to mention here is that the driver for the company, All Together Movers (not All Together Moving, which is who I believe they are trying to impersonate with the fact that they themselves have no website, online contact info, and have a D+ rating on a BBB search), had me sign the Inventory list confirming the condition of items BEFORE he even took anything off the truck; Thus, I ended up with smashed up stuff and they acted like it was no big deal and after putting down everything they thought I had, they left without even confirming with me that it was everything. I am now without a trashcan, two lamps, and I ended up having to spend $4800 instead of the $3100 estimate I received.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4800

Where do I start, after I had a video call with the individuals from the company they quoted me a price Ryan guaranteed me the price would not change four days before the move. I had another car with them and they raised the price by $1200.The driver showed up an hour and a half late with no help did a video of my stuff waiting to hear back from his boss. Once he got his boss on the phone they try to raise it by another $3000. At that point my back was against the wall. We settled on $1000 more l.There were supposed to be three people to load our stuff only two showed they didn’t wrap all of my items they stacked it on top of each other. Once they delivered it some items were scratched and broken they damaged the wall of my new residence. I went back-and-forth with safe ship movers they said they were not responsible for the damage to my items and my residence the driver said, safe ship was responsible, safe ship said the delivery company was responsible. Nobody has contacted me nor followed up with me, repaired my wall,or followed up with me about my damaged goods do not under any circumstances hire this company..

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4800

I have decided to post for what I hope will be helpful to people instead of the intimate details of our move. Do not be misled by the terms “family run”, “we” or “trusted partner”. SafeShip is a large broker that makes at least $1.5 Million each MONTH by arranging moving deals. They are not your family, they are not physically packing or moving any of your items and based on the many of the 1 Star Reviews posted below, I think trusted partner is a stretch. The $1500 that will be taken in the 30 minute phone call you make with them is strictly business. They are not invested in your home and belongings the way you are. I do believe there is a need for the service they offer and I hope that the notes I have below will help you have the best result possible!

***I came up with $1.5M based off of our move which was $3K after a discount. Half goes to SafeShip and the other half goes to the moving company. Their associates were quick to share with me that they coordinate at least a thousand moves a month.***

A helpful checklist when using SafeShip or any Moving Broker:

1) SafeShip is NOT a moving company. Even though the terms “we” and “our people” all over their website, they are only the Broker. They do not verbally disclose they are a broker while placing your order. They do not have employees that wrap and pack your belongings and they do not own any moving trucks. Their job is to farm out your move to 3rd party moving companies that have been vetted by them. Vetting is a misleading term as you can see from the many 1 Star Reviews below. My recommendation is that you require SafeShip to provide your 3rd party mover within 24 hours so you can do your research on them. If your 3rd party company does not have any good reviews, you can ask SafeShip to provide another moving company or get your money back. As stated on the SafeShip website, you have 48 hours to cancel. They may tell you it is not possible to find a 3rd party company within 24 hours. I personally think for $1500 that is a reasonable request unless they decide to extend their cancellation period.

2) There is no %100 Reimbursement. The optional insurance quoted for full replacement was $14,000 and we had a small move. Since the insurance is so outlandish, this is probably why people opt out. Let me be clear, the insurance purchased goes against the 3rd party mover, NOT SafeShip. The claim goes against the 3rd party moving company and if you’re lucky, you may receive a %10 of a refund based on what it would cost you replace the items. SafeShip is quick to mention that they are “fully insured” but that will do nothing for you if you need to replace items. There is no refund by SafeShip because as they will tell you, when you sign on the dotted line, you waive your right to hold them liable for any damages. Even though they refer you to the 3rd party vendor and work closely with and coordinate your move, they are blameless. When they say they act as your advocate in the event that something happens, please know there will be no apologies on their behalf and you will have to fight tooth and nail for any compensation. Look at this service like buying stocks through a stock trader. You may win, you may lose but the broker makes money regardless.

3) In you decide to go this route, watch your movers pack and stack your items in the truck. Many times your items sit in another state before your destination so it may be a good idea to have a location device in one of your boxes. Take pictures of everything before they close up the truck. If the 3rd party movers ask for more money after packing/upon delivery for more than what is on your contract, do not pay and call SafeShip immediately. If SafeShip does not resolve your issue, call the police. The police will help you get your items off of the truck. While I did not have a good experience, some do. It’s luck of the draw who shows up at your door. Hopefully this will help you protect yourself and hold SafeShip and the 3rd party movers accountable. At this time I have decided not to continue pursuing a monetary refund and would rather pursue excellence in this industry. I do believe there is a need for this service but not in it’s current capacity. I would encourage SafeShip to pursue the excellence stated on their website. @Mr. Roger Vance and @Stanley Drinkard, excellence is achieved through great customer service, complete transparency from start to finish and integrity.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $3100

This company starts out by estimating your moving cost and then strongly lets you know that this is basically the deal for that time only. If you don't take it then and there while on the phone, you won't be able to get it by calling back later.

In addition, make sure you have exactly all of the items / # of boxes to be moved upon first contact. When they contact you to finalize the listing of items 2 days before your scheduled move, that's when they get you for a lot of extra $. In my case, this company's fee almost tripled although the cu. ft doubled. Of course, I was stuck and paid the extra. Later, I asked why the Binding Estimate Fee on my final quote vs the previous quote jumped from $1733.74 to $4883.74 when the Estimated Volume only doubled,

no response whatsoever.

Then....their shady moving company(s) charges you even more and damages your items!!! They added another 350 cu. ft. and if you didn't sign the paperwork for payment, they would only take what was on the paperwork...stuck again. Note: They did not take anything apart, but they sure did when they jammed our stuff into another truck with someone else's to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Some of our stuff, including 2 maple barstools-all uncovered, was strapped outside to the back of the truck from Missouri to Florida!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $4685

TLDR: Will repeatedly lie to you to get you to sign with their company. Experience will be nothing like you were told. It will cost more and take longer and be filled with more and more lies along the way. Steer clear unless you want piles of stress and to spend way more money than was promised.

This is by far the worst moving service I have ever had the displeasure of working with. My partner and I have completed 5 international military moves (in theory, setting the bar for bad moving experiences), but Safe Ship has been far worse.

It started off well enough. I was contacted immediately after requesting a quote and connected to a local handler, Gavin, who had a great interest in getting me booked on a truck that he had scheduled to arrive in our area a few weeks before our anticipated move. Due to the good price, we agreed on this earlier date.

Having moved many times before, we asked many questions. Would we be allowed to ship alcohol? Yes. Did it need to unopened bottles? No - it just needed an actual lid. Would our storage unit down the hall be a problem? Nope. Would there be any extra fees? Nope, long carry, elevator, etc would not apply.

Great! We supplied Gavin with an incredibly detailed spreadsheet of our belongings. It listed each item with LxWxH dimensions and what room it was located in. We even included how many hangers were in the closet. Our price was calculated and we made the deposit the same day. Everything seemed great.

After that it was impossible to get a hold of Gavin - he rarely answered any of our communications. Since we were due to fly across the country, we wanted some assurance that the movers would arrive when he said they would so that we could book flights. We also wanted information so we could reserve loading/elevator areas on either end of the move. Eventually he assured us that the movers would arrive on the agreed date, so we booked flights for the afternoon of the day after the pack. We were told that we would receive the arrival date of our stuff on the date it was picked up. The move was anticipated to take around 14 days.

A week before the move, we get a call from somebody else, who wants us to go through our inventory AGAIN. We detail the exact same items. At this point, this new individual increases the price of our move - despite the highly detailed inventory being EXACTLY THE SAME. He also informs us that no alcohol will ship whatsoever. Yup, all 10+ questions we asked Gavin about alcohol he completely lied about.

We get a call before the day of the move telling us that movers will arrive 2pm-5pm, which is a little late. We had detailed to Gavin what would make it easiest for the movers -arriving early and securing the loading bay. Sometime later the arrival time frame moves to 11am-3pm.

Day of the move (Friday) we get a call at 4pm - movers wont be arriving until 5pm-6pm and they want to start in the morning. This is a huge no since we have a cross country flight at 2pm the next day. The time continually slips - apparently they allowed the customer before us to leave while they were packing and he never came back. Why would you allow somebody to leave before paying and signing the paperwork?? The movers don’t arrive until 7:30pm. The man in charge says that this should count as long-carry but he wont charge us for it if we “take care of his guys at the end of the night”. Thank you for yet another lie, Gavin. At the end of the night the price goes up yet again. Shame on me for not checking the truck to see how awful of a job they did at packing it - apparently what they use to calculate cost.

Finally with everything packed, he tells us that we will need to call the office on Monday to get an idea of when the truck will arrive across the country. More lies, yay.

We call on Monday - the truck is just sitting there, no driver has been assigned. They will text us towards the end of the week when a driver is assigned. They never do. We have to call many times to get an update. The truck does not start traversing the country until 7 days after it was loaded.

When it finally has a driver, they tell us on a Friday (7 days post-pack) that arrival will be in 3-5 days and that we will hear from the driver 24 hours prior. This is again, not at all what we were told when we booked. On Monday (10 days post-pack) we get a text that arrival will be in 4-7 days — quite a different story from the 3-5 days we receive THREE DAYS EARLIER.

Another week of no contact from the company - despite responding to the text informing us of the 4-7 days. We call several times on Friday (14 days post-pack) for an update. The update - the driver will arrive between Tues and Thurs, aka beyond their last time frame and now in the 18-20 post-pack days.

This company should be ashamed of themselves for how many times they have lied to us - and we don’t even have our stuff yet. Completely awful experience, would recommend this company only to my worst enemy.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9300

DO NOT USE THEM! STAY AWAY AT ALL COST! You will get damaged goods and lost items. I had my mover cancel at last moment. I had to look for anyone. Safe Ship agreed and I signed without reading any reviews as I had no time. I had everything paced, wrapped marked with my name and address. They took my stuff and put it in storage. I finally got it after 30 days. I do not know how many times it must of went in and out of different trucks to get to my house. My boxes looked like they were picked up from the garbage. Smashed, upside down, damaged. Some stuff was put in different boxes that I didn't pack. Because they must have got ripped open. The driver asked if this was my stuff over here in the truck? Then gave me stuff that was not even mine. Had a TV that was wrapped in a blanket, then put in a TV box. Was no way it could get broke. It was on the truck bed with two bikes on top of the TV. All my boxes and stuff were free to slide around in the truck. It was a mess in that truck. Nother was tied down. People stuff was mixed upped with other stuff. Only one guy was there to unload it. He didn't care about nothing. I asked where his help was, and he said I'm it. I had to help him unload the truck and bring my stuff in. I filed a claim for the broken stuff and lost boxes. Was told that they didn't pack any boxes. so, they are not liable. Case closed. If you ship anything that can break, it will if you ship with them. I really feel that they know that they can toss, smash, misplace any box if they didn't pack it. Because they can. I will never use them ever again and I plan on making sure that I let everyone and anyone know.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $3000

When I first reached Safe Ship Moving Service, I thought I had selected a moving company with a catchy name. I admit that we were wary, especially since we’d had a very bad experience in our last move with a distance involved, so we didn’t want to have a similar experience.

But this time, during that initial call, I got annoyed when I found out that Safe Ship Moving Service was exactly that—a moving service/broker, not a mover. Suddenly, I was being asked to tell and describe to the initial person the items we would be moving, which kind of put me on the spot. However, I did the best I could and was given a tentative quote. The rep told me that a QC staffer would call me closer to our pick-up date to verify the list of items to be shipped and that I could call back with questions. In previous moves, a rep had come to our home instead of handling everything by phone. Knowing all that, I still decided to give them a chance.

Deon was great and so reassuring that we figured we would be just fine. Safe Ship knew that we wanted moving services but also car-moving services, so not being able to provide firm dates was problematic. Every representative with whom I spoke seemed to really care and have a vested interest in our success.

In the end, we came to value the Safe Ship reps, who were with us every step of the way, especially when we had to repeatedly change dates. I had also been so impressed with United National Movers and its rep, Benny, when they picked up our belongings and wrapped up and packaged our kitchen items so carefully. However, there had been only one wrinkle during the pre-mover stage: I found out rather late, while packing, the moving company’s basis for costs. Then I was more self-assured than before and ready to recalibrate for a more cost-effective outcome.

Everything fell into place. Benny’s team delivered and placed all our belongings successfully, and Richard delivered our car successfully too. I would say it was a win-win for all of us!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4595

This is not an honest company. Do not trust them. They are a broker, not a mover. They will give you a low quote and ask for a deposit. Then when it’s time to move, they double or even triple the cost of the move. I ended up canceling my move with them because they were so shady and untrustworthy. Go directly to a verified mover (not a broker) and get a firm quote in writing. Safe ship even deleted their original low quote from the emails they sent me so that I could not refer back to them after they raised the price. I can not emphasize this enough, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $9900

Terrible. A lot of hidden fees attached. Its a Broker company that uses 3rd parties that cannot be trusted. They charge per cubic feet. and when providing an estimate over the phone, PURPOSELY underestimate the amount of space your items will take to give you a good quote, and once the movers get there, they take a quick look at your stuff and give you a new quote that is vastly more than the original quote although I had clearly stated the items I had. I ended up leaving a lot of it behind to stay at the same price. Regarding hidden fees- I was charged extra for a flight of stairs EVEN after being specifically told I wouldnt be for one flight. Be wary that they may also charge extra if you live in an apartment and they use an elevator.

To top that, the movers that did come also STOLE money I had kept in one of the containers. Additionally, delivery was delayed, they stated it would be done in 2 days to a maximum to 7 days, however after constantly following up with them, finally got it in about 2 weeks. I honestly was worried I would never see my items again.

Please do not trust this company or any other company that work as brokers for money.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

EVERY item on that storage must be packed in a boxed , labeled .. any loose item will be charged . Lamp , books everything must be in a box , no garment bags , even a book , anything loose you will be charged for . I was charged over $2,500 in packing materias . Trying to deal with TWO companies one is saying one thing (safeshift is a broker ) the moving company another . The day of the pick up , YOU WILL NOT be able to get a hold of your sales person . BEWARE part 1

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000