Safeway Moving Systems

First, Safeway is a brokerage. They don’t actually move you. They contract movers on either side of long distance moves and on one side of our move, the movers were professional and punctual. But my word, the movers on the CA side of the move were comic book villains. I don’t file complaints ever. I’m generally too lazy and too easily content to bother. But I feel exploited AND I ended up with 2 boxes of someone else’s stuff and no one seems to care!! I’m hate that my stuff is gone, but I really hate having a random persons things.

So the list:

1. CA movers showed up hours outside our moving window on the last possible move day.

2. They told us we might be over they would tell us our final total once everything was loaded (This is illegal under CA law!! Don’t be like me. Know this!!)

3. They were sketchy as heck. The scratched the floor. They shoved things a weird angles. They did not take any care with packing things like trucks. They did not give us any of the paperwork that they are legally required to give us under law. The manifest that we got from

Akron shipping company makes NO sense.

4. They made us pay more day of move AND they made us pay for to get things out of storage—which we learned the day that we thought our stuff was arriving (it was in CA.

5. All clear Tupperware’s were opened and things were taken (camping supplies being the main one).

6. We are missing boxes. Some higher value (kitchen things), some comical all of my husbands extra t-shirts, socks, undershirts, and T-shirts.

7. Things were really damaged—like dropped from a crane and jumped on. I have wild small kids. Things in my life are scratched. This is unusable wobble de wobble.

8. I am only writing this review now because I was told that someone from claims would contact me today yet again, and they have not. I also contacted BBB. I have someone else’s stuff!!

There is more, but this is all the energy that I can muster to warn you that 1) Safeway is not doing the do diligence in vetting movers will on the west coast right now. 2) I have called customer service repeatedly— mostly they don’t pick up, but when they do they will not connect you to claims AND I HAVE 2 boxes of a random persons things!!

3) moving advice to future self. take pictures of ALL your boxes and write numbers on them, ask for a receipt with a box checklist, ask your broker to provide the name of the moving company on each leg of the journey. Go with the pod that you wanted to get and hire local movers yourself….

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

After promising to deliver our furniture from Los Angeles to Chicago by August 15th (they picked it up on August 3rd), no one will call back and tell us where the furniture is and when it will finally be delivered to Chicago.

This company is only a broker and does not care anything about the customer (and says they have no control over when the furniture will arrive).

And by the way, they advertise they are an LLC, but aren't even that. They dissolved their charter in November of 2020.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1000

Description of Complaint: Safeway Moving System 1440 W. Taylor St. Unit 676. Chicago, Il 60607 AND

Flash Moving & Storage 1805 Sichel Street, Ste 204 Carlos Torres 213-842-1261 DOT#3106377 MC#80331 picked up my family furniture and belongings on May 22, 2021. He said it would be in SEATTLE at pick up, I paid $2731.48 with a balance owing upon delivery twenty-one days from the date of pick up. The company has NOT delivered my property They have stolen my property and money Carlos is my only contact and he has been extremely disingenuous, lied about additional follow-up delivery dates, avoided contact and will not answer the telephone. I booked this move with Safeway Moving Systems - Chicago and paid them $1800.00. at the time of reservation, Safeway Moving Systems DOT#3166589 MC#114982 PARTICIPATE IN theft and fraud. My Account #FY5911954. Payments were made from May 19th - May 24, 2021. NEITHER COMPANY HAS ATTEMPTED TO RESOLVE DELIVERY HONORABLY. SAFEWAY STAFF LIE about contacting me with resolutions. SAFEWAY MOVING SYSTEMS - CHICAGO AND FLASH MOVING AND STORAGE ARE THIEVES.

Desired Settlement:

Delivery; Finish the job; Billing adjustment

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5100

It is the most terrible company I ever used across all service I ever used. They was supposed to call 24 to 72 hours before beginning of pickup window. No one ever called. I called 48 hours prior to pick up window and was promised that I would get a call within 24 hours. When no one called 24 hours later, I call them back and was lectured about patience. He also promised me someone would call me that evening. However, still no one called. So, I waited another 36 hours. The morning of second day of pickup window, I called them. After some back and forth, I was told that they would come pick up between 2-4pm. By 3:30pm, no one contacted me or showed. When I called, I was told that they cannot help me, inquire if someone is coming, or do anything at all until 4pm. I call back at 4pm and was told that they will sort it out and call me back. Nothing. I had a meeting and have to leave the house, so called to check on status around 5:30pm. After tried many times, finally someone actually answer the phone. He promised to call me back in 15 minutes. Well, 3 hours later (9pm), nothing. I am still waiting. I called again. After many tried, hang up, or poor connection then disconnect, someone actually answer and told me that they cannot help in anyway. this is the worst company. Would definitely avoid at all cost.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5800

At our initial call, they seemed decent but after taking my deposit for a cross-country move (~$11,000) there was almost no communication. I called multiple times but the customer rep (J.C.) I was assigned to was unhelpful and mostly unresponsive. They seem more focused on sales rather than aiding with moves, which seemed to be the whole point of a moving broker. My items eventually came after 30+ days of waiting, albeit with some broken and missing items.

The biggest issue is that the moving company they selected was dissolved so my claims for broken items and missing boxes will remain unresolved. According to a manager, nothing will be done on their part. I cannot recommend Safeway Moving Systems at all. In addition, after the deposit, I had to do all the legwork with the actual moving company. Safeway was just there to hire THEM.

A side note: when I tried to get into contact with someone other than my customer rep (during the 30+ days of waiting), I was just told to call them instead (even though I couldn't get a response). I did get a callback but it was from another rep thinking I was a new customer. When they realized I wasn't, they were annoyed and hung up on me. This is part of why I say they seemed focused on sales.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12332

I contracted with Safeway for a partial pack, cross country move and paid 40% up front. The follow-up QA call the following week resulted in a 25% cost increase, requiring additional down payment. On move day, the movers added not only an additional $1,200 worth of goods, but also charged $720 for “packing costs” increasing my total move costs to be 43% higher than the initial estimate. I asked Safeway to cover at least the packing materials on their incorrect estimate, but was told I was “making excuses” for not thoroughly reviewing the contract. I called at least weekly since the first available date, and twice a week after the first few weeks to be told they'd check status and call back. They called back maybe three times total. Nearly a month after the first available delivery date, they said it was 4-6 days from loading from storage in the origin state and that I’d get a call within that timeframe letting me know. That too came and went. They finally delivered our things 56 days after picking them up, 41 days after the first available delivery date. The delivery happened with less than the 24 hours notice we were repeatedly given, and they showed up almost 2 hours past their arrival window. A few things were lost, including a very expensive computer monitor. After filing a BBB complaint, they apologized and said they would call me, and didn’t. 17 days after their initial response and me having to reject their response to prevent my case from expiring, they called to apologize and offer a reimbursement. They wouldn’t cover the unexpected packing or shipping costs. We’re working out that reimbursement. Their claims process is yet another vendor with a paper-only submission process and 120 days to process the claim.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $18000

As a moving broker, Safeway subcontracted with a local moving company - Midwestern- for our move. Midwestern did a good job with our move. However, Safeway offered no value to our moving process other than arranging with the actual mover. Promises were made regarding communication and delivery estimates. None of these were kept. I tried contacting Safeway several times during the process and none of my messages were ever returned. I would not recommend using this moving broker.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

This is definitely not a "moving company." It is merely a telephone broker that provides a completely unreliable online quote to customers for a moving contract. Then Safeway sells the contract to move your furniture to another company. Safeway has zero influence over the reliability or integrity of the company to whom it refers its customers, and has zero responsibility for what that company does with your furniture. WARNING: DO NOT USE SAFEWAY. The company is a collection of middlemen talking on the phone and then passing its customers off to whatever moving company it can persuade to give the Safeway telephone operators the highest referral fee.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

After issues during process of obtaining quotes, we passed on using Safeway Moving Systems. Their salespersons use car dealership type strategies to obscure pricing.

My wife and I both contacting movers during the workday as we planned our move. We inadvertently both request a quote from Safeway. Notable was that our description of the same 1 bedroom NYC apartment yielded two very different quotes. One salesman charged $8 per cubic foot while the other quoted $9 per CF. Despite that discordance, both calculated the same "Basic Estimate Cost" of $5000, followed by a variable mix of different discounts and charges like "immediate discount" or "Local Hub" subtraction" or "shuttle surcharge".

They suggested we described the furniture differently but had no response to the difference in rate per CF or seemingly random mix of charges and subtractions.

Be careful with their quote process and just be aware that they are likely just providing a large number from which there's room to negotiate down. Think of it like a car dealer and keep expectations low for transparency in fees.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

Stay AWAY!!!!

Pick up was iffy - the movers did not have enough packing supplies and asked me to pick up the blankets, etc... and they would deduct from the bill. This was Sunday and finding a merchant open with that type of product was difficult - ran all over town making calls and finally found the supplies at a UHaul location that happened to be open. $500 in supplies and this was never deducted. While I am trying to track down the supplies the driver is calling me asking me to hurry up so they can finish.

Additionally they revised the bill day of the pick up went from 2,500 to 4,000 - because of volume they say.

Drop off was an absolute nightmare - one day notice on a Friday night and demanded cash or a transfer using a Zelle app. I couldn't get cash so I used the app and my bank shut down my account because the transaction was flagged as fraud. When I told the driver this - he said Zelle always works and implied I was lying. Then he started crying (literally) and siad if I couldn't get him cash - his company would deduct the amount from his paycheck and his family would starve. Seriously!!!!

I made repeated calls to their admin office and was told I would be called back. I was never called back.

After 3 hours on hold with the fraud department at the bank the transaction was approved however Zelle transactions were limited to $2k per day. I had to call a relative to get them to do a Zelle transaction on my behalf and again their account was frozen because the transaction was flagged as fraud. My poor relative spent 2 hours on hold to get that transaction thru.

Finally at drop off they revised the bill again!! this time adding for stairs (surcharge because the building had a flight of stairs) - however this payment had to go to a different Zelle account with a Russian email address - this was also flagged as fraud and I could never get this approved. I ended up have my parents wire me cash to a Wal-Mart (several miles away) with an extra $100 surcharge (cost of the wire). To boot while I am out to get the cash the driver calls me and tells me he is finished and he needs to leave to please hurry up. Of course when I get there with his cash he is not finished and is there another hour before he's done.

I have not received a call back from this company regarding the $500 in supplies I had to purchase. Even though they assured me they would call back.

This company is horrible!!! Stay away!!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

Good morning; I'd just like to share my experience working with Safeway Moving Systems briefly. First, my sales Rep Dylan was phenomenal. I mean with everything from the prompt return calls, reasonable quotes, and the expeditious manner in getting crews assembled for our move on very short or even last-minute notice. He was a pleasure working with. Kindest regards! Going forward, I'll use Safeway Moving Systems again for my moving needs and Dylan as my sales rep. Thanks again for everything. You guys truly are the best.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4610

We had rather horrible experience with Safeway Moving System. They were highly regarded for their customer service on move.org website and their quote was 2-3k less than national companies, but the process was very stressful. Since they are a broker, they outsource job to local moving companies, that may or may not have capacity to move your belongings quickly.

Be aware that they promise 21 BUSINESS days from the First Available Delivery Date (FADD). In our case, we moved from WA to VA, our stuff got picked up on July 7th, we were able to receive them on July14th. They actual delivery was made on August 13th. It's two days later then 21 bd's and we were reimbursed $30 for each day.

Make sure that you prepare to live without your belongings for a month. The company that actually moved our stuff did a good job. They got everything nicely wrapped and nothing got lost or damaged.

The so praised customer service happens only before you sign a contract. Safeway misplaced $700 from my deposit and it took many calls to get thru and have it updated. They also did not send correct paperwork to the local company. Their papers showed that we only paid $1000 for deposit, when we paid $4400. Even though I contacted Safeway multiple times (phone, text, email) after we heard about it from the actual movers, it didn't get corrected until movers actually showed up on moving day and we had to call Safeway again and again. Also, keep in mind that Safeway takes 25 to 40% deposit from the quote, then you have to pay half of the balance to the actual moving company on pick up and the other half on delivery. So, we would have to pay extra $3400 if we couldn't resolve the issue. Keep in mind that on delivery you have to give driver cash or post office money order.

To sum up - don't use Safeway. Find long distance or intestate movers locally or go with large national movers that actually have the fleet, not brokers.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $15000

The sales pitch was great and misleading. The service provided gradually went downhill from the time the first payment was made. The agent was not available to confirm the date and time of move even 24 hours before the scheduled 48 hour window. It was recommended and suggested that we would not need full-value insurance because it was a small move and they were professionals in this business. Our 75 inch TV was wrapped in blanket and put in cardboard box. It came broken as did a chair and bed frame. We were PROMISED installation/re-fixing of the dismantled furniture - never happened. The driver who did the drop-off was equivalent to all the moving horror stories you hear of. We were threatened and extorted to pay more for even unloading the furniture. The driver turned up without tools - there was never any plan to install/fix the dismantled furniture. Major items of the move were broken. Ultimately it was stupidity on our part for falling for a sales pitch and high ratings.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6022

As the title states, this company is so far responsible for the single worst removal experience I have had after living in two different countries.

I was in the military in Australia and have lived in 13 houses in 16 years. I have moved at least every 18 months since 2009. I have had movers move me all over Australia and now from Australia to the US.

This one takes the cake, and I have not even got a date to get my stuff delivered yet. No doubt it will be missing, damaged and broken. I am already anticipating another price raise to have my things delivered.

The initial quote was very reasonable, however Ron was very pushy and when I stated that I knew I had over 100 boxes he kept saying "that's a lot" and coerced me in to accepting a quote for only 100. This of course led to an "adjustment" or nearly double the price on moving day. And in the end they left items in the house which needed to be included. Ron told me I would be called two weeks out and then two days prior to pickup to "refine" the details and adjust the quote as required. If I had not asked for the gentleman who text me on the Friday before to call me to adjust it, I doubt I would have had any heads up other than what occurred next on pick up day.

Then the team from Atlas Moving Services who showed up, not Safeway Moving Solutions, asked me if I could take delivery within 7 days. I responded no, I didn't get the keys to my new house until 12 days away. The foreman nodded and wrote that down. That's all that occurred.

Fast forward two weeks and I call to ask for a delivery date, to only be told that it will now be 7 - 21 days from the date I said I could take delivery.

I have now called again today (a week later) and been told "I will check with the agent and call you back in a few minutes" and I am sitting here now nearly 30 minutes later with no call back. The last time I called when I asked if they needed my details to follow up I was met with "that's the beauty of caller ID, I have all of your information. Thanks" in a very unprofessional tone.

10/10 would not recommend this company. Very disappointed with the whole experience, and like I said, I can only assume it's still going to get worse.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $24000

I have moved across the country four times and always move myself. This was the first time I have dealt with a moving service and it was awful. After I did the deposit they were uncommunicative and unresponsive. I had to send multiple emails and call multiple times just to get basic information like delivery date and timeframe. Three pieces of furniture were broken in the move and every box had damage to it. My four small boxes never showed up with the rest of my belongings.

I had to change the delivery address after deciding to rent a house different than the original address given, and after confirming they let dispatch know the new address in writing and over the phone, the movers were not communicated to and went to the wrong address. When I called to let them know, the only response I got was that they were sorry and they’d make a note for the manager.

I would not use them again.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4675

I had the most horrible experience with this broker, my job was sold to Reliant moving, Safeway never contacted us about when the movers we arrive we called over 10x and everyone just kept saying we would get a call back, the movers showed up a day outside of our window and was very nonchalant and short with us, the move increased 4k and Safeway refuse to help us in getting this resolved with the company they sent out, we requested a call from a manager and never received a call, I thought long in hard about writing a review as we have tried to resolve our issues directly with safeway, the have refused to help us in anyway and we were forced to pay overages with no real explanation, I am so disappointed and surprised that the DOT would allow a company to operate so poorly and not take any responsibility in helping their customers, moving with safeway was probably one of the worse life decisions we have made and i want to warn others of this horrendous experience we went through and how much we are forever changed. Please don't ignore the reviews, go with a reputable known company or do it yourself. The worse and i am filing a complaint with the attorney general office.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

This was the absolute worst experience dealing with any company in my 40 years on this earth. The pick up itself was somewhat smooth but it was all downhill after that. About 25% of our load was damaged with items missing as well. Delivery driver charged extra money because he had a park further away than 200 feet from our house then after I agreed to pay the surcharge (had no choice) they move the truck closer to the house and refused to refund the surcharge. The delivery driver showed up alone with no helpers whatsoever and hired non-professional movers locally from a craigslist ad to come and help him move our belongings into the house. items were broken during transport and even moving the items into our home hitting walls and gouging the sheet rock and paint. I was told to file a claim for the damaged and missing items or damage to home which I did.After setting up an account and sending all supporting documentation to the company they completely ghosted me and will not respond. This is not the way to run a business especially for the large amount of money that we spent to move all of our items from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. Do yourself a favor and spend more money to hire a reputable known company to move your belongings so that they arrive complete and intact with no damage. Once again do not use this company to move anything whatsoever you will regret it believe me we do.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

We were searching for a company to move us from Pasadena to Milwaukee. The first company explained how they pack our stuff on a semi-trailer with other peoples stuff and then deliver in turn. We wanted someone to come to our home, load it, and take it to our next location without the in-between step. So I contacted Safeway who said, Yes we can do a dedicated truck for you and delivery will be timed according to your schedule. We agreed to use them as our moving company and then found out they actually contract with another company, Spartan Van Lines, to do the actual moving. Come to find out later, when the driver called to let us know they were close, they indeed put our stuff on a large semi-trailer with others stuff and was delivering it turn. Exactly what we did not want. We had a lot of damaged and lost stuff that is ultimately Safeways responsibility since they were the overall coordinator of our move. Spartan has not been helpful either as they have not accounted for the lost and damaged goods yet.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $17000

I wrote a 1-star review for Safeway Moving Systems in December 2021, after a horrendous move organized by Safeway and carried out by MMG. See my original review here: https://www.mymovingreviews.com/movers/safeway-moving-systems-8977#225926

This past August 2022 (nearly a *full year* after our move, and my repeated attempts to get a manager from Safeway on the phone to help address our concerns), a representative from Safeway reached out and said they wanted to "investigate" the incident in order to "rectify the situation." I scheduled a date and time to chat with the representative (in the middle of my work day) – she did not call at the time we agreed upon, and when I called Safeway to try to reach her, I was told quite flippantly that she was not even in the office yet and she'd give me a call when she could. What's the point of scheduling a call if you're not even going to be in the office at that time?

I got a call a few hours later from a different Safeway representative, who, to his credit, was respectful and apologetic. He called back a few hours later to say that Safeway would be willing to refund $600 for my troubles – but *only* if I removed my original negative review!

Bottom line: Safeway is not concerned with doing right by their customers. They only care about "protecting their reputation" and their positive reviews on sites like this. Completely immoral business model – screw your customers over and then try to bribe them to keep their mouths shut about the experience.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

What a joke and awful experience. Never told this was a broker and that my furniture would be touched by so many hands, 3 different moving companies and who knows how many storage facilities. Quoted 7200.00 and in the end 9400.00 and that's leaving behind lots of my furniture to make sure I stayed 7200.00...Oliver is a liar, James is a liar and my stuff got smashed, damaged and mishandled. Do not go with Safeway who gives out your valuable furniture to random companies. Ashley movers? who are they? and I don't even know who delivered after 2 weeks. AWFUL Experience

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9400

Safeway

Whatever you do, DO NOT use this company for your move. Our laundry list of issues is seemingly endless. I will preface this by saying that we have relocated cross-country four times now— this was not our first experience with a long haul move; however, it is by far our worst experience. It started with the movers arriving to our house 3 hours late, to then go through every room of our house for AN HOUR to “make sure” our things would fit on the truck… something my husband did over the phone multiple times, one resulting in us having to upgrade to a larger truck (of course at an additional cost). So now they are four hours behind on loading stuff out of our house and onto the truck, and after a very slow process, at midnight they told us that our stuff will not fit on the truck (after wasting an hour making sure it would fit). So they would need to go drop it off at a warehouse and come back to get the rest of it. They left our remaining items SITTING IN OUR DRIVEWAY while they went to unload, and did not actually complete our move until 3 o’clock in the morning. On top of that, they charged us for moving materials when we were told upon reservation that it was an “all-included” move.

Fast forward to the delivery of our things in a new state— my husband called them 5 separate times and left messages (because of course nobody would pick up the phone) to inform them that our construction date was delayed and we needed to extend storage. Which was an option we were given upon reserving the move with Safeway. They shipped our stuff anyways, my husband received a call saying our stuff was in Florida and they needed a place to unload it or we would be charged a fee. So my husband had to scramble to find storage units, again AT OUR COST, so that they can unload our stuff there. And now we are going to have to PAY AGAIN to have all of our things moved into our home when construction is completed. My husband and I have both called multiple times and IF they answer it’s always “oh you’ll get a callback” which of course never comes. They’re quick to take your money but if anything goes sideways they’ll leave you in the lurch. The “philosophy and core values” they have listed on their website are nothing more than a joke and a ploy to grab your money. Not a single person I’ve worked with at this company has even pretended to live up to those values. As a veteran owned and run business I was hoping for better. They have all the call logs and have admitted they were in the wrong but refused to take responsibility and now are just ducking and dodging us. Bottom line: save yourself the headache and a whole lot of money— rent u-haul pods, pack them yourself and ship them to your new house. That is the only way to move cross country anymore. I will be reporting Safeway with the better business bureau, and consider this review your warning to stay far away.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $17000

Easy quote and easy first payment. After that….forget it. Driver only took cash or money order. Initial quote was ~$1100 less than final given on day of pickup. Who has an extra $1100 laying around? Items took 29 days to get from Oregon to NC and delivered. One guy delivered. No help. A mattress set was ruined (wet). Paddle Board gouged (ruined). Kitchen table leg snapped off. Yeti cooler missing. Company refuses to pay me or my daughter for this. Oh, they did offer $200 bucks roughly. I have been working with them for nearly 6 months and I have not received a dime of the $1300 I am asking. That for complete negligence on their part. Not accidental damage mind you. Negligence. The damage and missing items is well beyond anything that could be considered “accidental.” Stay away from these folks. Don’t trust that the company is veteran owned. I did, as a fellow veteran, and it got me this. BTW, I had to give one star just to post this. They deserve 0 stars.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000