Safeway Moving Systems

This company was great in the initial process (quoting and collecting money), but awful at giving me delivery updates. Please pay attention to the average long-distance delivery time frames for the number of miles. They have an "estimated delivery date" and a "legally allowed up to" time frame which changes to business days. I found out the company they contracted stored my stuff for three weeks before heading cross country. They delivered my items as close to the 30-business day legal obligation as possible. When my items were delivered, several boxes were crushed and re-taped and one of the larger items was lost in transit.

I contacted Safeway numerous times to fill out a claim form and it took them two weeks to email me the forms and that was only because I sat on the phone with the claims department until I received it. I am dreading the whole claims process based on my recent interactions. Do your research as it may be worth it to pay a little more money to get the service and accountability you deserve.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $3818

When I got a quote they told be distance between my pickup and delivery location was ~1000 miles and it can take 3-14 days but will be more close to 3. I planned my personal travel accordingly thinking I will have my stuff around 4-5 days. Now 8 days later after following up on text, 3 calls and 3 emails to get an update first I am told the move can take upto 3-14 days and per DOT even 30 days may be a possibility!!! Can you believe that!!!! Why wasnt I told that when I got quote! And after all this, now I get call saying my stuff will be loaded now and delivered around 13-17 days after pickup!!!!! All of my furniture, kitchen stuff isnt with me. I planned my travel based on what they told me and now I need to buy stuff because I cannot live like this without my stuff for another 5-9 days!! Please beware, prior to you booking the move with them its all happy and good service. But once they have the stuff and money the DOT regulations and the weather and the rest of the world will be an issue before you get your stuff!

They also will push things around from one department to another. I asked the person who did the initial booking for me about when my stuff will arrive, she said she is in sales ask other department. Other department said they are waiting for response from dispatch. customer service person said DOT regulations say they are allowed to deliver in 30 days!!! Atleast give me an update or estimated date... 3-30 days is an unacceptable window.... or tell me that before I book!!!!! And I dont care which department you are in, stop pushing me around.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3049

Avoid this company at all costs! I had the worst moving experience imaginable.

I contracted for “White glove” service with Safeway Moving Systems for a move from CA to NM. I paid a significant premium for this service. To me this meant the best moving experience possible. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This service was supposed to include packing and unpacking of all contents of my household and placing the contents of my furnishings in place per my instructions.

It turns out this company contracts with smaller local independent movers who may or may not adhere to the services paid for to SMS. In the case of the pick up of the movers packed everything as expected, until I unpacked my goods and saw that they merely dumped many items into boxes without taking care to wrap or place them carefully. In addition I was charged an additional fee for the pick up portion due to the project being “underestimated”. 

Per their contract, the moving company has 28 business days to deliver goods after the pickup date before they pay a small penalty. Originally they asked what the earliest date of delivery would be, giving the impression that delivery was imminent. With that, I tried checking in with their dispatch office, but it was impossible to get any information until the day before the actual delivery. They delivered exactly on the 28th business day from pickup (actually a total of 37 days, over 5 weeks). 

The delivery driver arrived in a 53-foot tractor-trailer and claimed he could not maneuver his truck down a 25-foot wide driveway.He claimed he had to go get a smaller truck, again at a significant additional cost. I was told that this had to be paid for in cash, making me concerned that this was a scam. The cash had to be presented before he would deliver my furnishings or even open the truck to confirm they were in fact, mine. A brisk conversation about this turned ugly when the driver called me a “f’ing dick.” This is clearly unacceptable customer service. I had no options and handed over an additional $1,400 in CASH! They unloaded my furnishings and that was it. NO unpacking at all. When I asked the driver about the White Glove service I paid for he said he only provided basic service  I was left to unpack all of my furnishings after he drove away. In total I paid an additional 25% beyond the initial estimate to receive extremely subpar service.

Aside from the fact that the service I paid for was not provided, many of my furnishings were damaged or broken. I have contacted SMS on four separate occasions to rectify the situation or at least make good on the broken items. They have never returned a call, which simply underscores my advice to never do business with Safeway Moving Systems. 

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

I had a very negative experience with Safeway Moving System. My actual price was 25% higher than my "binding" price when I signed the contract, and I was given misinformation by Safeway at every interaction. It's also relevant to note that Safeway doesn't actually move your belongings, they contract out with other agencies who do the moving.

I contracted with Safeway for a move from California to Chicago, and took advantage of a month of free storage between pickup and delivery. I was quoted $4999 total, and paid a deposit of $2100 when I initially booked the move. When my move pick-up window was confirmed over the phone, I was told I would have to pay $1500 of the remaining balance by check, cash or mail order to the movers when they picked up. When I met the movers, however, they told me that I would actually have to pay $2700, including an additional $800 in charges that they had added on, even though the cubic space wasn't any larger than what I had initially booked for (I know for sure it wasn't larger, because the booking was for 467 cf., and it was coming out of a 10'x7' storage locker of already-packed boxes which was NOT packed 7' high). It was more than a little stressful having to come up with an additional $1200 on the spot.

I had taken advantage of free storage, and when I made the booking, I was told that I should call Safeway 10 days to two weeks ahead of my first available delivery date to coordinate a delivery schedule close to that date. When I made that call, however, I was told that there was no possibility to have input on scheduling. I arrived to my house on the first available date having heard nothing from Safeway. I called them every day, for days after my arrival, and every day I was told I would get a call back within 90 minutes from "dispatch;" I never heard from "dispatch."

Nearly a week after my arrival to my home, Safeway couldn't tell me what state my belongings were stored in, whether they had ever left California, or when I could expect to hear about the scheduled delivery date. They made excuses at every turn, such as, "it's just really hard to coordinate moves in the midwest"--I had booked with the company in part because they're based in Chicago, the city I was moving to.

I was told by a Safeway agent that the move hadn't happened because the original driver had gotten COVID, and they were having a hard time finding another driver. I had initially been told I would hear five to seven days in advance of delivery. In the end, I got a call less than 24 hours in advance from the *actual agency* that was moving my belongings, even though several hours earlier the same Safeway agent who had told me that the driver got COVID had confirmed that they still hadn't found a new driver, and maybe I'd hear something the following week. I believe the whole COVID story was made up--Safeway evidently had no contact with the agency who actually completed the move, since they didn't even know that the cross-country move had been initiated evidently days earlier.

I was also then charged another $450 "shuttle fee" on delivery (even though the movers who did the pickup, and who added on the $800 in charges, absolutely confirmed that there would be no extra charges at delivery). Even though I only had about 450 cf. of stuff, they had put it on an 18 wheeler truck at some point, which they said couldn't come down my street. The guys who were delivering didn't want to do the shuttle transfer and tried to convince me over the phone to rent a small UHaul truck myself and drive it to their depot, so they could load the stuff onto the UHaul there, and then I could drive it back and unload it myself to save the $450; they said they absolutely would not unload the UHaul for me. I have a spinal cord injury, so moving it myself was out of the question (and I had already paid Safeway $4800 for the move at that point) so I had no choice but to pay the additional fee.

In the end, I paid Safeway a total of $6250 for moving about 450 cf. from CA to IL, having initially been quoted $4999. Upon unpacking, I also filled up a moving box with broken dishes and glasses.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6250

We are in the midst of a move from California to Tampa, Florida. It is May 6th. We contracted with Safeway based on their rating and reviews. Don’t be deceived- they are brokers. What this means is that they subcontract moving services through a third party vendor. Joe Winters was our representative; funny how responsive Joe was when we were negotiating the terms and conditions of our move. He hasn’t been cited since we signed our contract. Since then, we had movers who arrived who were unmasked, rude, sexist and incompetent! We’re scheduled to move tomorrow - May 8th. They charged us $2,000 more than their original quote, packed stuff that we asked them not to, and then told us that it would cost $400 an hour to unpack the truck to get our belongings!!! This is a bogus outfit. I plan on taking every possible measure to insure that they don’t screw other families like they have us!!!! Don’t fall for their BS about making contributions to St. Jude. We’re sitting here in what is supposed to be our new home- no response from Safeway. Wish us luck!!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000

Like most companies, they have people who get you signed up and people in "customer service" who offer anything but. The folks you do the estimates with and work out the estimate with are very personable, and even sound reasonable. But these people don't move you. Once you sign up you're transferred to customer service where they tell you they won't have any idea if your set pickup date is confirmed until five days before it happens. They tell you that the binding contract you signed is only binding in that you pay them money, but the amount it costs to move your stuff could change. The fee they collect is ridiculous considering the service they give is lousy and they are not to be trusted. DON'T USE THEIR SERVICE!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9663

On the date that my move occurred the mover on site insisted that paperwork be signed that increased the cubic footage by approx. 45% (to 1100 cubic feet) beyond the estimate I had received, and the price for the move by $2,497.96 or 35%. On the day of the move, the driver of the truck and what I assume was their dispatcher repeatedly assured me that if the added volume wasn't needed I wouldn't have to pay.

My goods were delivered Friday April 9. To confirm what was actually delivered, I cleared a space in my garage 5' wide by 14' long - 90 square feet. The goods when delivered covered the five foot width, and about 10 feet of length (50 square feet) to a height of about six feet - a total of 300 cubic feet.

Thus the volume actually shipped was not only vastly less than the inflated amount demanded on the day of the move, but was less than half of the original estimate (I had deliberately increased the estimate originally as I did not know how many boxes would be needed - it turned out to be only seven). Had I been charged for what was actually moved, the cost would have been the minimum of $5,750 (the very first estimate I received - almost $4,000 less than what I actually paid).

I repeatedly asked Safeway for help in resolving this matter. I spoke on the phone with a number of people, most notably what was supposed to be a customer service person. He never seemed to take my concerns seriously, stating that the huge difference from the original estimate was surely right and must have somehow been due to how the items were packed (?!!?). It seems odd to me that the customer service team appears to inherently not believe your customers... Note: I will admit that I lost my temper when on the phone with him a couple of times, which I usually try very hard not to do - but it was enormously stressful to have him not listen to me, dismiss my concerns out of hand, and not return calls or emails when asked.

I really wanted to like these folks. They had good reviews on Move Buddha (including for accuracy of estimates!) and I really liked the fact that they are veteran owned, and the original estimation and set up process went fine. But the ultimate experience was enormously stressful and cost me not only significant money but also time and energy at what was already a stressful time.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $9900

22. Customer hereby knowingly, voluntarily and intentionally waives the right to a trial by jury in respect of any litigation based hereon, or arising out of, under or in connection with the goods and services obtained here under, the move, or any course of conduct, course of dealing, statements (verbal or written) or actions of Safeway moving system or the mover. customer acknowledges that this waiver constitutes a material inducement to Safeway moving system to enter into this agreement.

23. As the customer, i agree to pay the total charges for moving coordinator services to be provided by Safeway moving system LLC. i understand that my deposit/fee represents only a portion of my total estimated service charges. due to scheduling and routing reasons my deposit/fee is not refundable, unless i notify Safeway moving system LLC in writing within 72 hours of booking at info@safewaymovingsystem.com. I understand there will be a 5% cancellation fee that will be deducted from my refund. the 5% cancellation fee only applies to the deposit amount, not the entire move cost. If the first scheduled pickup date is within 72 hours of the date I reserve my move, then my deposit is non-refundable. I understand that if I cancel my move within the 72 hours of my first available pick up date I am only entitled to receive a credit of my deposit for future interstate moving services to be used by the cardholder within a 12 month period from the date of cancellation. I may change my pick-up date or place the move on hold at least 5 business days (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays not included) prior to the pack or load date (whichever applies) listed above. this cancellation only pertains to the original pick updates of the first signed contract. I understand that if I do change my dates, or put my move on hold, my deposit is no longer refundable.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $3300

BIG WARNING!!! Don't get fooled by SafeWay Moving Systems. Our experience with them has been a nightmare. They repeatedly change their words, they haven't delivered our belongings and it's already been a month even though they promised 14 days. We had to spend thousand of dollars in hotel in the middle of Covid when expecting a child because of how terrible SafeWay Moving System and their service is. I highly recommend people DON'T USE THEIR SERVICE.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

I signed a contract with Safeway Moving Systems in Dec 2020 for my May 2021 move from Philadelphia to Tulsa. I told them I needed my items on May 1st, no sooner, no later. I was advised that in order to ensure that delivery date, my items should be picked up on either Apr 19 or 20. On Apr 19, they finally found a carrier. When the carrier arrived on the 20th, I was charged hundreds of dollars in extra fees. On my move-in date (May 1st), I called one of the packers to ask what time he’ll be arriving. After much confusion, I learned that my things were in storage in Philadelphia. At no point was it communicated to me that my things would be held in storage for any amount of time. I’m currently writing this while laying on the floor of my new apartment because I have NOTHING. According to Safeway, I should’ve been told that when I requested May 1st, that meant it was my first available date of delivery; not that it’d be delivered on that exact date. Meaning I actually have no way of knowing when my items will arrive. I’m so hurt and frustrated. I’m alone in a brand new state and this is the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. Now I’m afraid that when my items do arrive, there’s a great chance things will be missing.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3369

This is a SCAM. Do not use. They are liars and cheats. They will take your money, lie again, take more money, hold your possessions hostage, lie again, faulty phone numbers, horrible service, liars, crooks and cheats. Do not trust this company with your most valuable possessions. They are scamming you out of your money and using smoke screens and gaslighting to do it. They are good at what they do - crime. Do not trust them. They will not insure your stuff, they will have you sign several DIFFERENT contracts and have another contract with a shotty moving company. They will keep your stuff hostage in a storage facility and then convince you it’s your fault and tell you that you have to pay for storage. We still haven’t received our belongings. It’s been over 1 month. We don’t know if we ever will see our entire life’s savings of valuable possessions. We are waiting on a shoestring. So devastating. We are in complete grief about this nightmare process. To be scammed like this with our only possessions on the face of the earth. We feel used and violated. Horrible communication, horrible management, despicable company. Please save yourself the trouble and find another company. They are liars and cheats. Do not sign, do not buy into their low quote, they are not war veterans, only veterans of greed.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $14000

I had the worst experience with Safeway. Safeway is just a broker who outsources the pickup up and delivery to different companies. I dealt with Safeway for the quote and scheduling the move, then with a company Febex for the pickup, and are currently dealing with Prime Relocation for the delivery. There is no communication between these companies. Febex showed up and without actually loading up the trick, increased the quote to DOUBLE. My husband had to leave work to supervise them for 5 hours and they reduced their quote. But still told us to give them a hefty tip in order for them to remove line items from the charged amount. We felt like we were being taken advantage of. I am still working with Prime and that has been very difficult and frustrating. They called to get half of the remaining cost but have not been able to get them on the phone to schedule a delivery. Even after I mentioned that I had a family member who die unexpectedly and needed to know when to expect our delivery so I can plan to participate and help prepare for the funeral. I have sent numerous emails and my calls are going straight to voicemail. I have not heard from Safeway since a few days before the movers came. This has been a nightmare experience. This company should not be recommended to anyone.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7907

In the end, the Chicago pick-up and New York delivery were both within the promised time windows. One bureau leg was broken but repairable, and some inexpensive lamp shades, towels, lamp, bedspread, and dishes are missing, so far. The cost was roughly $6500, and the on-site crews were knowledgeable and courteous, whom we tipped accordingly.

Still, it was one of the worst consumer experiences of my life, in terms of service-provider communication, transparency, and accountability. This was three very stressful weeks, requiring frequent calls, double-checking, corrections, and hand-holding.

One factor in my mover selection was a contractual agreement to store the belonging for up to thirty days for free, if the destination apartment was not ready yet for delivery. When such storage for just four days was a possible scenario, because my building freight elevator has been so overbooked, the delivery company outright rejected that, implying that it would not honor a contract which it did not sign, even though it assumed my move and corresponding payments.

From what I have experienced firsthand, read on many consumer-review sites, and been told secondhand, even brand-name interstate movers have devolved into simply brokers feeding random contractors. Generally, no company performs all the pick-up, transport, and delivery stages of a move order in a continuous, single-handed chain of custody.

Instead, these movers typically sub-contract a local labor company for pick-up, an independent trucking company for transport, and another local labor for delivery. Given so many unaffiliated parties, nobody is really in charge or accountable about communication, scheduling, property tracking and security, customer service, issue resolution, or claims recovery. If anything goes wrong, each sub-contractor points a finger at the others, if any response at all. Indeed, customer service tends to be just over-filled voice-mail inboxes, even during business hours.

Note that most of these brokers lack true business addresses; they are empty corporate shells which use dummy addresses in the Contact Us sections of their websites. Most of these parties accept only cash or US Post Office money orders------not even bank money orders or cashier checks. No credit cards, usually, to skirt no recourse.

According to my building manager, one family has been waiting for over thirty days for its belongings, without any clear sign of where they are, who has them, and how they might be delivered. At this stage, neither the broker nor the sub-contracted parties will even respond to the family anymore. They are onto their next "jobs". Total silence, hence loss. Another resident lost all her belongings, too. She then filed a claim, having paid a steep premium for "full replacement value" insurance. Well, as typical, no adequately capitalized, independent, reputable insurer exists to pay her claim. Worse yet, the mover stalled her for weeks, and now has said that original receipts for all her belongings must be filed within a few days, or the claim irrecoverably expires. So, who keeps original receipts for everything? The so-called insurance is mainly a cash-generating hoax.

My lost box was labelled clearly with the destination address and contact details. However, I am confident that nothing will be recovered, as neither the pick-up, transport, or delivery sub-contractor has any incentive, end-to-end control, or accountability to return them, even if found. My e-mail to make a claim has been effectively ignored. Fortunately, the contents had no sentimental value, and are cheap to replace.

Lesson: If your destination address is ready to receive belongings, just ship more effectively and cheaply via Fedex.

If you Google the names of positive reviewers for either their purportedly old or new places of residence, you suspect that these people often do not exist, meaning fake reviews to bury the real but very negative ones. By the way, my objective but damning initial review was deleted. If the site is packed with apparently positive albeit fake reviews, such moving companies may be more likely to advertise there, in my opinion.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6500

California to Washington - $7k

Before selecting this company you need to understand the role Safeway Moving Systems will play in this process. Safeway Moving does not have employees that will be performing this move for you. They are just a broker that will be contracting out this 'job' to 2 random guys in a truck the day of your move who know nothing about your move and have no relation to Safeway Moving company and are just taking a % cut of the total cost. Overall it was a much worse experience than i was expecting. Here were the issues:

Bad Timing/Scheduling: I told them I needed to be out of my apartment 100% by end of day Friday. They can only give you a 3 day pickup window so we made it Wed-Fri and scheduled the move (have to give a $2,000 deposit to schedule with them). They never zone in on a date/time they just leave it as a 3 day window and you have to wait for them to show up. Then on Friday they tell me they are running late and won't be there until Sunday! I tell them that I will look at going with a U-Haul because i have to be out of apartment end of day and they tell me that i would be forfeiting my $2k deposit because the fine print of the contract says they have 2 additional days in case of 'emergencies' (?). So you are backed into the corner and just have to deal with it.

Bad Estimate / Increase the Price on You Day Of Move After Deposit: They had quoted me for $5,500 which is already pretty steep for less than a 1 BR (no living room furniture, just one bedroom worth of stuff). They said this would cover bedroom furniture + 40 moving boxes. I said i would have much less but they said this way it would be covered and would have some breathing room which made sense. Then the day the guys finally show up they take photos of your inventory (without measuring anything) and send to their 'dispatcher' who tells them that now the price is increased by $1,200 to $6,700 (remember they already have my $2k deposit at this point so i am really backed into the corner and can't do anything). So i probably had 50% of the amount of stuff we estimated and yet they increased the the price by 20% on me day of. Not to mention was the last 'job' in the truck meaning when the truck shows up there were already 3 other peoples stuff in the massive 24' box truck so it really didn't even matter how much room my stuff took up because mine would be the last in and first out and wouldn't stop them from picking up anyone else's stuff. So they jack up the price on you just because they can not because it makes a difference.

Then the actual move, they broke/shattered a mirror, didn't wrap my framed wall art and scuffed up the edges, scuffed up my nightstand, etc. Most boxes had the corners smashed in so you gotta really pack the boxes well.

If you are expecting this kind of service and have done this before than you will probably have an OK experience. However, if this is your first time moving and have any sort of time or budget constraints it's most likely going to be a pretty bad experience for you unless you get lucky.

$6,700 for 1 hour of labor on each + transport? Probably not worth it. My advice would be to Rent a U-Haul and hire some labor on each end of the move. Less stress and more cost effective.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $6700

Do not trust this company nor the 5 star reviews. I contracted with Safeway Moving System on March 11, 2021. Based on the first available delivery date of May 3, pickup was scheduled by Safeway for Monday April 19 and confirmed on Friday April 16. On Sunday night April 18 I was told the pickup would not occur on Monday. My contract states that I need 48 hours notice in order to reserve the loading zone, elevator, and staff at both my pickup and delivery buildings, which I had also reiterated on Friday. This delay cost $300. Flash Moving & Storage, Inc., the carrier selected by Safeway, were unprofessional in their conduct and handling of my goods. After loading part of my shipment and confirming my inventory, they presented a bill consistent with Safeway’s binding estimated amount, and demanded 70% of the balance due, even though Safeway had advised on Friday that it would be 50%. I called Safeway and was told Flash could demand 70% and I had to pay it, so I wrote the check and loading of my stuff recommenced. Then Flash presented additional documents for my signature including a $700 additional charge for shuttle service at the destination even though the shuttle charge was already included in Safeway’s binding estimate that I had just paid. I asked Safeway to intercede. After some hemming and hawing Safeway reaffirmed that the shuttle charges are already included. Next think I knew, the Flash movers were rewriting the contract that I had already signed to add $700 in new charges. When I protested that this is forgery they voided the original contract and my check and tore them up and forced me to sign a new contract and check. I contacted Safeway. I was astounded when Safeway said Flash has the right to change the contract terms and charges. So Flash, aided and abetted by Safeway, fabricated and extorted hundreds of dollars in additional charges. They then drove off with my stuff in their unmarked truck.

That was the last I saw or know of my belongings. It was impossible to reach Flash and Safewaywas evasive, dissembling, unreliable, and untrustworthy. On May 7 I was advised that my job was loaded on a truck and dispatched to its destination, but that there would be an extra charge of $650 for shuttle service. When I questioned the charge, pointing out (again) that it was already included in my binding estimate, my goods mysteriously disappeared. I have made over 70 phone calls to Safeway and Flash to ascertain the status of my move. I wrote over a dozen emails to Safeway, most of which were ignored. Safeway says Flash is responsible; Flash says Safeway is responsible; no one gives a straight answer. I was told on at least seven different occasions that my goods had been loaded on a truck and dispatched on at least seven different dates (ranging from “yesterday,” to “two days ago,” to “three days ago”). Clearly, those statements are inherently inconsistent and cannot all be true. Each of those statements was accompanied by a different two-day estimated delivery window (“5-6 days from today”). I scheduled and rescheduled the move-in with my building management, as well as rescheduling everything else in my life. I reminded Safeway, Flash and anyone I could get hold of that I needed at least 48 hours notice of any change to secure the loading platform, elevator, and security for the movers. That too was ignored. I also reminded Safeway multiple times that the movers must supply a certificate of insurance prior to move-in, and that has not been done either. To date, no delivery, no definitive answers, and no solutions. Just evasion and excuses.

Just before noon on June 28 I received a message “from moving company” that he has a delivery scheduled for the afternoon of the next day June 29. While I confirmedavailability with my building manager, I called and texted but got no response. I called again.He told me the move has been cancelled. He refused to identify his company or employer. He declined to discuss other delivery dates. Having received no advance notice from Safeway or Flash and having no idea if he was legitimate, I called Safeway. After several long calls and long hold times, Safeway advised at 5 pm that the move definitely would not occur the next day on June 29, June 30 was maybe (the only other available date this week for my building management), and they would call to confirm the next day, which is today. Nope.

It is now 10 weeks since pickup and 56 days past my first available delivery date. Safeway’s contract states that they are legally allowed up to 30 business days so they are in clear breach.

I have no idea where my goods are, who has possession, when or whether I will ever see them again. I conclude that they are lost, stolen, or being held hostage in a black hole in order to extort more fees and ransom.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7637

Unfortunately my move is not off to a great start…and it hasn’t even started! We are less than a week away from moving across the country with a newborn child and a senior rescued dog and Safeway Moving Systems has already made this move more stressful and unpleasant than it needs to be.

After not hearing from the company after submitting the first installment I called to follow up, ask a few questions and see if I could secure or voice my preferred moving date. Unfortunately I must of caught my sales rep on a bad day because he was extremely rude and unhelpful. After I realized there was a HUGE miscommunication on the window delivery, I admitted it was my fault for not checking and I could be a little flexible but the last day of my delivery window was going to be almost impossible to do…again moving with a newborn baby and senior dog makes things a little harder to just have a 24 hour window of pick up and again my sales rep responded with an ugly and accusatory attitude then mentioned how my move was a “minimal amount move” and that it was a “low priority”.

After a 4 min phone call my trust was completely broken with the company I am supposed to trust my entire belongings with? I then asked for the sales rep to be removed from our account and was told dispatch would call me the next day. I have still not heard from anyone in the company and honestly I think any communication at this point will be smoke and mirrors.

I am EXTREMELY dissatisfied with this company. If I booked 3 months in advanced how and why is it that you can not be more flexible to my (the minimum amount paying customers) schedule by one day and only offering within a 24hr window notice for pick up even though the contract I signed (which you reference a lot) states I will be give a 2-5 business day notice?

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

I'm giving 2 stars because I paid what I expected, they didn't bait-and-switch with the pricing on pick-up or drop-off, I got most of my items intact in a timely manner apart from some cheap and replaceable pieces of furniture, and the laborers were pleasant and quick. What I learned through this, though, is that there is absolutely no good reason to use a moving broker, no matter how long they've supposedly been in business, and if you really care about an item you are planning to move, you should either do it yourself, or use a service that will ship it all in one go.

This was my first time using a "full service" moving company, so I was pretty uninformed about what to expect. I found Safeway on moveBuddha, which named them one of the best moving companies for long-distance moves. I now have no idea how they came to this conclusion or how the cons that were laid out in the article weren't weighed more heavily against the company. The deposit (listed as a con), for example, is 40% of the total move (which I have seen from multiple sources is a red flag), and you end up, as the price is broken down into a deposit, a pick-up payment, and a drop-off payment (paid BEFORE your items are moved into your home) paying the entire price of the move before confirming all your items have arrived at their destination, and 70% (!) before a truck even makes it to your new house.

Once they have that money, you're on the hook because you already paid so much money and there's no backing out without taking a huge loss, which is a frustrating and vulnerable position to be in, as seen in all the one star reviews on here. It doesn't make it any better when no one calls you to check on the move and it seems Safeway takes little responsibility for how and how long the carriers they contracted take to move your things. I had to keep in contact with the carrier myself (who were not the most responsive either). The other strange thing is that, while I paid for pick-up and drop-off to one company, the laborers and the receipts I received seemed to come from an entirely DIFFERENT company, so the level of contracting out did not bode well for Safeway or the carrier company's accountability for the move. To top it all off, these guys were coming out in U-Hauls and Budget rental trucks, so whatever company they worked for either didn't buy any of their own trucks, or had such a small fleet that they had to rent trucks in order to keep up with demand.

I would next like to talk about how the things I lost got lost and why I don't want to file a claim because of how poor Safeway's customer service has been. When I asked the guys who dropped off my stuff about one of my items, the driver claimed an animal had crawled into it, died, and they had to throw it away (really makes me suspicious of where and how this stuff was being stored), my other item (which was on the inventory logged by a different crew in difficult to read handwriting) was dust in the wind, they didn't even know what I was talking about. They had also picked up another customer's items who had a much bigger move than mine and had mixed my things in with his, so honestly it's a miracle I got everything I did. I realize this is a cost-cutting strategy, but it certainly isn't the sign of a premier moving service.

Now, as for trying to file a claim on these items, I have determined it just isn't worth it. First of all, I only took the base insurance coverage ($0.60 per lb per article) and the items I lost are not very heavy, so I've decided to cut my losses and be done with Safeway and their subcontractors for good. The final nail in the coffin for this was my experience trying to get a receipt from them so I could be reimbursed for my relocation expenses. I had to call two different numbers 6 times across 3 days, speaking to a different person each time (none of whom on Safeway's end gave a name or even mentioned the company name until I brought it up to confirm who I was speaking with which is incredibly shady). Sometimes, no one picked up. Finally, on my 4th try with Safeway, after two other women have told me they'll email me or call me back but didn't, the third lady says that they don’t even have access to the receipt for the move and I'll have to call the carrier's customer service. This has become the most ridiculous game of telephone in my life. Why do I even have to go on this wild goose chase to get a receipt? Why doesn't Safeway have access to this information and are unable to give it to customers themselves? Anyway, I called the carrier and got what I needed in a 3 minute phone call.

After all of that, however, I never want to speak to anyone from Safeway ever again, and I certainly won't be recommending them or any other moving broker to anyone I know, not even my worst enemies. It is far more hassle than it is worth, and even though I wasn't scammed, the whole process was super shady from the payment of the deposit onwards.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $4500

My experience is nearly identical to Stephen Daniel Ramos below. I've called the company several times, nearly everyday now, and they've either lied to me or given me incorrect/false information and I have no idea where my items are.

I had my stuff picked up over a month ago and they provide very little to no transparency. Someone says we will call you tomorrow and they NEVER do. They couldn't get me an update on where my stuff was a month and 10 days after my items were picked up. It's one of the most bizarre things - they are supposed to help you with your move but they do a very poor job, or no job. I have no idea if my stuff is lost or not - they can't even locate the damn thing. I've never been this frustrated with a moving company, or any company in general. I genuinely have to wonder how some of these positive reviews exist.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5500

We moved from Boston to Seattle with Safeway this summer. The sales rep was helpful but everyone else was poor at best. At pickup we got 6 hours of notice before they showed up a 6pm to start packing, not 24h. The packers were fast but they just threw things in boxes with no regard for space or fragility. We had pictures not wrapped loose in boxes, hanging clothes not hanging and loose items flopping around in oversized boxes all over. The estimate went up by 30% for space because of the poor packing, costing us extra money. It then took them 11 weeks to deliver with no updates despite calling them frequently.

Upon delivery more than half the boxes were visibly damaged, multiple furniture items were scratched and dinged and every box that we open hold more horrible surprises of poorly packed an damaged goods like an upside down wardrobe box with everything tangled.

Would strongly recommend not doing business with this company.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $20000

You must avoid this company at all costs, don't even think about it. We did a big long distance interstate move this month. Yesterday the driver delivering our goods verbally threatened me in my own home when I complained he hadn't re-assembled our furniture as was part of the contract. I was verbally abused point blank by this man as he wielded a power drill in a threatening manner. He said "You best F off, and get the F out of my way. You let me do what I F-ing want and get the F out of here."

At that point I called 911 for a police response to deal with this pscyho.

Next morning I called Safeway about the incident and they denied all responsbility. Further, they denied they needed to re-assemble our furniture.

And just so you understand what slimeballs Safeway are, here is the direct contractual language:

*"Disassembly of all standard furniture required for safe movement."

"*Reassembly for all items disassembled by the movers on the day of pick-up."

They have the gall to claim that last clause doesn't say day of DELIVERY and therefore they don't have to re-assemble our furniture.

Prior to this they were impossible to get on the phone most days. Communication is terrible. They never return emails.

What you have to understand is Safeway will blame all problems on some other third-party subcontractor and in no way will they fix any issues you may have. You cannot reach these other subcontractors so you will be stuck in a dead-end maze with no resolution. Safeway themselves does nothing.

This is the true Moving Hell Company and you do not want these people in your lives. Trust me.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $21000

That's not an understatement. From the unprofessional movers to the number of items lost, damaged, or outright destroyed this was the worst experience I have ever had working with any company.

The company they contracted out to seemingly hires random workers with no professional moving experience. The team of workers send to pack up our apartment was 3 people, one of which brought his partner and 3 year old son who spent the entire day running through the house and begging me and my child for food (to be clear - after he had eaten lunch with the team, he was ok) I don't know why he was there, it made me incredibly uncomfortable to have a kid running around while people carried heavy boxes and moved furniture. My partner and I spent the entire day helping load up the truck and disassemble furniture because the team was trying to avoid taking anything apart. At least two items were badly damaged by the crew while still packing up. One bookshelf that was too tall for the mover's liking was slammed against the asphalt to knock off the top shelf. One computer desk was dropped in the driveway while I watched and then the mover turned to me and asked if I still wanted them to load it, since it was broken. By the time that the head of the move team was sitting in the middle of our living room smoking while he filled out paper work my partner and I were too numb to care anymore.

Our items showed up at 8pm (estimated arrival was 9am) so we got to unload them by headlight with a team of 2 guys who refused to assemble any furniture because the bolts/screws had all be lost in their warehouse. They left at 11:30pm, packing blankets still on most furniture and most things jut dumped in the garage. Before they left we realized our daughters mattress was missing, the one they tried to bring in was a queen-size with a different job number and color tag. Along with this at least one box of books and a tool kit did not make it to our new home. We spent the next few days unwrapping destroyed items. Not a single piece of furniture made it without some damage: broken corners, broken legs, finish ripped off from take stuck directly to the wood.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5700

The company made an estimate on our move. We believe they intentionally misrepresented our inventory and underestimated the number of boxes so they could have a lower price than competing movers. They told us they believed the estimate was accurate and said it was binding not to exceed the price and told us we "wouldn’t pay a penny more unless [we] went out and bought five grand pianos.” We did not purchase or add any new items. A week before the move they said the estimate was done badly -- he said that things were entered wrong and they needed to add hundreds more boxes and would raise the price by more than $10,000. They said that would include full value replacement, but then sent a new contract without full value replacement. They then said they wouldn't do full value replacement unless we paid yet another $7,000. They attempted to blame us saying we should have known we would have needed more boxes despite their estimator saying that was the number of boxes we need. How were we supposed to know how many boxes we would need? We believe they were intentionally attempting to defraud us. They told us they are going to unilaterally cancel our move and keep our deposit.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $36000