Safeway Moving Systems

Our shipment arrived over 30 days after our first available delivery date (FADD), which was a tremendous hardship for the entire family. We were told multiple times before signing the contract that we could expect delivery 3-10 days after the FADD, and it wasn’t until I read the fine print on the Bill of Lading that I saw Safeway reserves the right to hold delivery until 30 business days after the FADD.

In the meantime I called the customer service department at least a dozen times to get a status update and never got any useful information at all—just that our belongings appeared to be in transit (which usually meant between various warehouses) and that someone from dispatch would call me back within 24 hours to offer more specific information. No one ever called me back. After a while I began to wonder whether they actually even still had our stuff!

It would have been nice to have been given some truthful information instead of just being repeatedly put off. As it was, my 90 year old mother had to find alternative accommodations for a month. It caused all of us a lot of frustration and anxiety.

Though the workers who picked up and delivered our belongings were very friendly, efficient and careful I could not recommend this company to anyone. Extremely disappointing.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000

Dishonest and deceptive. We hired them for our move from Nebraska to California. Representative Ritchie assured me Safeway would handle my move, not a third party. He went as far as to have me look up their DOT number on the FMCSA website that listed them as a Carrier, not a Broker. That was a lie. A third party picked up our belongings, broke over $3K worth of our furniture, and raised the price an additional $2100 from what we were originally quoted. No one has ever offered us anything for our broken furniture.

We took Safeway to small claims court and the Judge was VERY familiar with them as unhappy clients take them to court frequently. Although the judge was very sympathetic towards us, unfortunately since they are a carrier, they fall under federal law and can not be held accountable for their actions in small claims court.

Hiring Safeway to move our stuff from Nebraska to California cost $7900 with an additional $3200 in broken furniture, and $310 in small claims court filing fees. I tell as many people as possible to do your research! I found Safeway on a moving company comparison website where they were highly rated. I believe it was all a scam. They have very low reviews on BBB and other review sites.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7900

Safeway Moving Systems, Inc. is one, if not the WORST, moving company I have ever encountered in my life. So, too, are their affiliated, Trans United and DM, Mover (Mr. Melendez, President).

PLEASE NOTE:
By mentioning the sales representatives name, I am in no way sharing any private or personal information that is not already available to the public. It is my responsibility and constitutional right to speak out as a disenfranchised customer about this company that has intentionally inflicted emotional and financial distress and professional hardship on me, among many others.

Mr. Scott is the face of this interaction, and I can prove it. This man is the one who introduced me to Danny Melendez, one of the movers of the crew who literally stole my rocking chair and other boxed item. Mr. Scott has been actively avoiding his professional responsibilities, and he passed work over the their assistant, Delilah, who does not seem to have a clue what she is doing.

Mr. Scott, Mr. Melendez, and Jason from Hallandale, FL, and their crew of thieves, charged me over $8,000 (+ tip) cash for a move that was initially quoted for half that. I am sharing these names because they are of public record, and I can prove it, and I want the public to know what they are getting themselves into by entering in a contract with crooked salesman. Ultimately, it was demanded that I WIRE TRANSFER $4,000 to them before delivery. After I did, they couldn't even call me to notify they have received the payment, which is the one request I made. There was no follow-through, which was really upsetting.

On moving day, I come to find out the initial movers (Danny Melendez and his crew) stole my rocking chair, broke several pieces of furniture (to an non-replaceable state), lost/stole more boxes with personal/household items, and concocted numerous lies about alleged delivery attempts made, yet I had no prior notification, but they still charged me for redelivery, storage, etc. I have cell phone records to prove this!

I was cursed out by multiple employees, a man with Trans United in Florida and a driver from CA. Danny Melendez and another man named Jason are affiliated with these scammers.

These reviews are being reported not because they are personal in nature, but because they expose the wrongdoing of this corrupt company that must be held accountable. I guarantee that if we, as customers, received the services that we initially signed up/paid for, I would not be sitting here writing this.

E. Scott knows and partakes in the deleterious ways these moving companies scam millions, and neither he, nor his staff, care that people are being hurt and placed under unnecessary strife. By depriving us of our hard-earned belongings, our money, and our trust in moving companies, you have violated the trust of millions.

What precautions should be taken before customers allow complete strangers to view and make note of everything that we value, everything that we own, thrown it in a truck, and drive away to who knows where? Do we call ICE? FBI? I know who I'm contacting, and this isn't a threat. I'm a federal employee, and I would never recommend any state or government agency to even consider these companies again.

I had to retain legal representation in order to get my belongings, which they kept from me for nearly 3 months, intentionally. I was forced to sleep on the floor, and one person from FL screamed at me and asked how it felt to know that Eric Scott was intentionally ignoring my calls/emails, then he laughed at me. Appalling customer service, and unprofessional behavior.

Further action is being taken, as these people are dishonest, manipulative, and thieves. I am also not the only victim.

SERVICE MEMBERS, FEDERAL & STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, ETC. PLEASE AVOID.


Class Action, anyone?

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8500

Safeway Moving Inc. is a scam, and it all starts with their name, which has different iterations and overlaps with many other moving and relocation companies. On their website, it's "Safeway Moving" but you'll also find them listed as "Safeway Moving Inc", here on Yelp as "Safeway Relocation Services" and also as "Safeway Moving Systems" and I'm sure there are others. To be clear, this company is located at NW 33rd Avenue in Ft Lauderdale, and I was their client, job number Y6012702. The goal of all this name confusion is to keep them another step removed from accountability.

I could write pages about how awful and unethical this company is; as their reviews across all platforms attest, they're not a traditional mover but a moving brokerage that contracts out all the different parts and pieces of the move to small, rinky dink businesses that you, the customer, have no ability to choose, or vet, or affect in any way. How this is legal is still a mystery to me as the temporarily bubbly and conscientious sales rep (in my case Celeste Devito, 773-596-9036 is her direct line) fails to mention any of it.

What Celeste failed to mention is that the only part Safeway plays in your move is taking the reservation, preparing the inventory, and facilitating payment; once things begin to go to sh*t, they're "new number, who dis?" Here are some other kind of important things Celeste Devito failed to mention to me about my move:

1. Sub-contractors.

Safeway doesn't move you, sub contractors do. In my case, it was Logistics Union Inc, and DEL PRO, with possibly a 3rd I couldn't identify. When your are inevitably not given adequate answers or information because "dispatch" and "operations" has these answers, that means one of these sub contractors.

2. "I have a route for you."

This is what you're going to hear during the first phone call with Safeway, and they tell you this to confirm the reservation and first payment; it's a total lie. Instead, they schedule a pick up and then your stuff sits in a warehouse until they can find a driver and/or pack the truck full enough.

3. Dates, delays and the fine print about "business days."

Of course my stuff arrived late- pickup was 8/14, first available to deliver was 9/1 and my stuff arrived on 10/3. For delay reimbursement, they only count "business days" and there is competing information between the "delivery no later than ___" on the long distance form (that gets filled in at the end of pickup) and the fine print on the back of the interstate bill of lading that specifies "21 business days." The information contradicts itself, and the company delivering your stuff will do everything in its power to not have to take anything off the final bill.

4. Delivery cash.

Like most scams, all the subs push you to pay in cash. To secure the reservation and get your first payment, they'll happily take a credit card, but at every additional stage it gets more and more difficult to pay this way. By the time your stuff finally arrives, they only take cash, a "postal money order" (huh??) or cashier's check. They reluctantly agreed to accept a Zelle payment but that was largely a factor of how badly they had bungled my move up until this point.

Needless to say, OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T USE SAFEWAY! More than that, companies like this shouldn't be legal; they're vultures circling a crowded and confusing scene looking for areas of vulnerability to exploit. It really sucks.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8474

I hired Safeway for a move, which included packing up a 6,000 sq ft house, in early March 2023 from Santa Fe NM to Philadelphia PA. I chose Safeway due to its good recommendations and a desire to support service members. Arranging the move was fine; the follow thru was not. The van arrived very late so packers couldn't work, there weren't sufficient boxes or packing materials (they had to buy out the stock of boxes and paper at the nearest UHaul center), packers had to stay an extra day, items were put in boxes without packing materials, the van left without a roomful of packed boxes, mover had to return several days later to pick them up and pack up 6 additional boxes of items that had not been packed. During this time I called the contact number I had been given repeatedly and received no response. Upon delivery & after unloading I was told many of the boxes had no numbers so I needed to sign off as "whatever was in the van was mine". Upon unloading I discovered extensive breakage (several thousand dollars), however since I had good moves prior I had opted value by pound and received a claim settlement of less than $100. I've moved about a dozen times over 50 years in my prior corporate career, never experienced such incompetence. I would sue the company but since I would have to do so by contract in Florida I will just leave this review.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $23000

My move took them 6 weeks. It was a continual list of delays such as waiting for drivers to return, waiting to fill up the truck with other shipments, going to other states not even close to the delivery state, 4 days to load my shipment onto the delivery truck and on and on. No acknowledgment of how disruptive this was, while my apartment sat empty for 6 weeks. They will not pay for lodging which is in their contract. Never use this company. I would imagine most of the positive reviews are fake and produced by their company. Go somewhere else, even if you have to pay more.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5200