Safeway Moving Systems

This company is a scam. I was quoted comparable rates, but wanted to support a Veteran owned company, as I am also a Vet. The day before my movers were to pickup my household items, no one had called to confirm, I had to reach out to them we went over the manifest again, I provided measurements of all my belongings, plus the exact number of boxes. When the movers arrived, they immediately said all my items were larger then what I indicated- FALSE. The movers said it would be an additional $800 or they wouldn't take my stuff. I had no options since I was leaving the next day. I was called a couple of days later for my new address and I filed a complaint. I was told a supervisor would call me THAT day to hear my grievance. No one called! When my items were to be delivered, the CONTRACTED delivery company had different policies than Safeway and it cost me an additional $150 for the delivery. I should have not let my soft heart for fellow vets cloud my financial decision making. DO NOT USE THIS MOVING COMPANY- SCAM!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

Still haven’t received our stuff 10 days later & just got off the phone with customer service. Guess what? “We don’t see where your truck is.”. We went with this company because they’re military owned & figured they would be organized and have good comms. They had to put our belongings on two trucks because they packed their truck too much on prior trips & couldn’t fit all of our stuff. We said okay, do what you have to do. When they left our house we asked how long until we get our belongings? They stated “it depends on weather but you’re the next stop.”. The driver confirmed he listed first available date as April 22nd. The drive from our OG state to this state is under 2 day drive btw. We called everyday because we weren’t getting calls back & no one could tell us where our truck was (& customer service was rather rude) until last Wednesday when they said our stuff was dropped off at a warehouse in Dallas, TX….it was never mentioned our stuff would be dropped off in another state out of the way. Called next day…still at warehouse. Waited the weekend and called this AM. They can’t answer where our stuff is & don’t see where the truck is. Do not hire this company unless you don’t want your stuff back until an undisclosed date. Happy to remove this review if they finish their job that we hired them to do and our belongings are in our home tomorrow, as it will be 11 days tomorrow.

Update: After calling 3 separate times and getting no call back. We finally got some answers. That answer is, they have no idea when our stuff will be here & it hasn’t left TX. After reading other reviews of belongings going missing, stuff being delivered over a month later & even being haggled and lives threatened upon delivery for more money (check other reviews, an attorney stated her and her husband were threatened). I have half the mind to file a report. I don’t know if and when I’ll get my things back at this point.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

TLDR- Unprofessional moving company that packed haphazardly and poorly and delivered a couch with no cushion.

I had a recent long distance move done by Safeway. Listen to the negative reviews placed here on google. There are plenty of additional complaints on Yelp and Better Business Bureau and many people on Reddit stating how poorly this company does service. I highly doubt many of the positive reviews placed here are from real customers. You can tell by how short and sweet the reviews are. When you need volume you don't spend time with details. I wish I had done better research before doing business with them. My advice- scour reddit on r/moving and it will give you a good idea who you should be picking for your next move.

First and foremost, Safeway is a broker. Never pick brokers. They aren’t the actual moving company. They pretty much bid out the work to someone local. The people that came to pack my stuff were initially surprised that nothing was packed when I had explicitly stated and paid for a full pack and move service. Much of the packing was not organized well and was just dumped into boxes before placing tape on them. They also provide no update after picking your stuff up. Only some vague language that its on the way. I recommend placing some Airtag trackers in your stuff to get a general idea as to where it is. I am glad I was atleast able to get my stuff within the 21 day window as there are horror stories of people out there that took more than a month.

Worst part about my move was that the Safeway essentially lost a piece of my cushion of my expensive couch. Upon delivery, the driver essentially stated that the cushion was missing and must have gotten lost in transit. Safeway basically washes their hands off the problem pointing to the insurance clause that states that they only cover 60 cents/lb and that is tied to the weight of the cushion. They are like…”yeah we will try to find it for you…it might show up in 6 months. Good luck!”. This is not the level of service I expected. For the record, I have moved 5 times and have NEVER had a such a large mistake happen. I know what good service looks like and this isn’t it! The carefree attitude of this company should make you stay far away from them. They essentially dont care about your stuff once they have your initial deposit and have packed your stuff. They know you are in their hands.

Veteran owned….what a joke! You guys should be ashamed of the quality of work and customer service you are providing.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

I decided to hire Allen and Mark after thorough research for a reliable moving company. Their honest, punctual, and prompt responses convinced me of their reliability. I highly recommend them. They were attentive, responsive, and provided a detailed estimate and inventory list free of charge. Their transparency and accuracy were commendable, with no hidden fees or surprises. They were dependable, punctual, and arrived ready to work. They were truly the best movers I’ve ever encountered.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2254

I hired a moving team at the last minute, and it was a gamble that paid off big time. They arrived right on the dot, even though it was a Saturday morning and they must’ve had a busy week. The team leader noticed I had a massive antique mirror, and he took extra care with it, wrapping it in bubble wrap like he was handling a baby. When I got to the new place, I realized I’d forgotten to pack a box of kitchen essentials. They went back to my old place and retrieved it, no extra charge. Talk about going above and beyond!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3860

Long story short, Safeway is a dishonest company that made my move significantly more stressful and frustrating than it needed to be due to lack of communication, respect, and honesty. I’ll detail my experience below but I would not recommend booking with them but if you already have, try to get as much in writing as you can.

To begin with, I was misled during booking promising that only Safeway would handle my move, that GPS tracking would be available, and that the delivery date would be scheduled before my first available delivery date. These were the main reasons I booked with Safeway. To later find out that I would not have any of those things was disappointing to say the least.

I originally booked with Safeway because the salesman, Scott Curtis, seemed to answer all of my questions with honesty and transparency, but, unfortunately, that was all a show to get my business.

My first red flag was when another moving company, Just Pro Moving, arrived to pick up my belongings. Scott promised me that Safeway owns all their trucks and employs all of their movers. He affirmed Safeway would be the one handling the move from beginning to end. He went so far as to send me a separate email advising that I watch out for predatory brokers. So I was confused and afraid when the movers asked me to send the payment to Just Pro Moving, instead of Safeway, after all of my belongings were on the truck. I was afraid I had been scammed. No one warned me that this would be happening. I had to reach out to the general customer service line where I was met with a rude explanation. The person remarked, “How can you expect a national company to have movers in every location?” I called for clarity and reassurance and only received dismissal and condescension. I don’t expect a national company to have movers in every location, but I did expect Safeway to have movers for my move because that’s what was sold to me. They also tried to say that they were Safeway although paying Just Pro Moving and them arriving in a Penske truck would suggest otherwise.

During one of the calls, they clarified that Just Pro Moving was handling my entire move, including delivery. They also clarified that because of this, GPS tracking would not be available as it was advertised at the time of booking my move. I understand that a cross country move takes time, and I’m sure the logistics are very complicated, but multiple promises were, at best, wholly ignored or, at worst, intentionally falsely advertised.

Overall, communication was terrible. Much of this could have been avoided if only I was told beforehand. It was hit or miss if Blossom would answer, and if I left a message she never called me back.

I’ve experienced a similar issue with customer service. When I spoke to someone, they promised they had escalated the issue and that someone would call me back but they never did. I was told that everyone is extremely busy but that is not an excuse to never call a customer back. It’s also not an excuse to outright lie to customers to get their business.

Now that my move is complete I was supposed to receive a quality assurance call to make any claims and give feedback but it’s been almost a week and a half since my delivery and I haven’t been called. I think it’s clear that don’t care what I have to say since they know I had a terrible experience but didn’t do anything to try and make it better.

To top it off, one of the customer service representatives advised me to send an email to their general inbox in the hopes that a supervisor would respond. I sent two emails summarizing my experience and never received any response. I am shocked at the lack of respect Safeway has for their customers. Their willingness to lie and mislead to get business is disgraceful. A friend also booked with Safeway to do the same move as me and they had a similar awful experience. I don’t know how they made it onto any of the best long distance movers lists but I think they need to be seriously reevaluated.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6248

Robert and his team did a fantastic job. They wrapped everything up in blankets and plastic wrap to protect them from any damage during the move. I had a variety of furniture, including a sofa, coffee table, mattress, and some shelves, and they handled them all with caution. They even disassembled and reassembled my mattress, which was a huge relief because I had no clue how to do it myself. They were very helpful and accommodating, and made the whole process smooth and easy.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3075

This company was very difficult to deal with. My furniture was 10 days late. No phone calls were returned and most texts ignored. They didn’t have records of my payments. Upon arrival the movers said I owed more money than I did. My moving coordinator wouldn’t return my calls. I eventually had to find my receipts. Unacceptable. It felt like a scam to get more money from me. Worst customer service ever!!! Companies MUST do better. All my concerns were met with minimal concern and that was IF I ever got to speak to anyone. I would never recommend this company to anyone for their cross country move.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000