Simple Moving Labor

I've had horrible experiences with movers during previous same-city moves, which made me dread arranging a cross-country move. The moving industry is replete with companies that low-ball you on an intial quote & then up-charge you on the day of when you have no choice but to play along. SML is a bit different in that they contract with local companies for the actual move. But that ensures that you have one single point of contact for the whole process, & they guarantee that their quote is actually 100% binding. Their customer service was fantastic & we didn't have to negotiate pricing at the last minute. Plus the crews they hired for the load/unload were very good, as was the driver. We did experience some minor damage but SML was efficient about providing us with a refund per the RVV rate & we didn't have to fight with them to get it. We were lucky enough not to have any real issues with the movers' arrival time or anything like that, but SML gave me confidence that they would've handled any problems that arose. I'm hoping we don't have to move again for a long time, but if we do, I'd definitely use SML. They were slightly more expensive than some other movers (at least theoretically--I'm very skeptical of many of those quotes) but the psychological benefits of their customer service & no-BS pricing were well worth the cost.

Service cost: $4823

When delivered I had lots of damage due to a very loading job. I latterly saw them pitch two bikes over the last bulk head and hard telling where they landed or on what.  After sending pictures of the damage to the company, they have denied any responsibility to the damages.  The men in California said they hadn't seen such a poor loading job and I paid extra to get the professional loaders.  Anyone considering these people to load your move is out of their mind.  .

Service cost: $1000

I had a very mixed -- but generally poor -- experience with SML ProMovers. My biggest complaint is about the subcontracted ProMovers in Baton Rouge.
Pick-Up: While I was contacted by SML two days ahead, the subcontracted movers (ABBA Movers) did not call until 9:30pm the night before my 8am move. (I understand this is not SML's fault directly, but since they were the contracting company, the blame also falls on them.) ABBA instructed me that night to bring additional supplies that I was not able to get before the pick-up time of 8am. At pick-up, I had two young movers in sweats who spent a chunk of the spent time on the clock on their phones texting and talking with friends. All but 5 boxes and furniture were ready to go, so this was not downtime, but rather wasted time. This was frustrating as I had to pay for an extra hour since they were not able to get everything in the truck within the three hours allotted. Had I had the requested materials due to proper notice and had the movers not spent so much time on their phones, I believe it would have kept the total time under 3 hours and saved me $95. I have a hard time imagining that they were bonded and insuranced as promised. Also frustrating was the fact that I had to go into the truck multiple times during the drive to resecure items that they poorly fastened, like my motorcycle, despite the fact that I provided ample tie-downs and straps. Luckily no damage occurred there. The same cannot be said for my couch that ended up with laundry detergent all over it due to poor securing and no furniture pad wrapping by the crew. Very disappointed with the Baton Rouge side of the move. I plan to report ABBA's service to the BBB.
Unload: I had a much better experience unloading with the contracted ProMovers from Pick Up and Go Movers. They arrived on time and were professionally dressed. They were very efficient and unloaded the entire truck in under two hours. Unforutnately, they did break a bookcase unloading but referred me to their company to pay for damages since they said SML would not cover this. Waiting to see what comes of the claim. Overall a better class act than ABBA Movers.

Service cost: $798

Movers on front end were polite and hard working but because of the packing method quite a bit oThe f my furniture had rub marks when unloaded. Laborers on back end showed up late, we very slow (my friend and I moved more from the truck than they did.)  One or both of them stole my heart medicine from my house while my friend and I were busy doing their job.  The company claims no responsibility and still charged my the full amount even after I called to complain that they were late and slow.  I found that the medicine was missing a few hours after they had left and reported to the Sheriffs department.   I would NEVER recomend this company.  Don't use them unless you have enough people to watch every move they make.

Service cost: $631

I used this service to have 2 people unload the moving truck in August. I was very satisfied with it and the price was reasonable ($90 deposit plus $128 the day of unloading). However, now in November, I was reviewing my credit card statement and noticed that Simple Movers charged my credit card $264. I used this service in August and they're fraudulantly charging my credit card for some other service? I disputed it with my credit card company and reached out to Simple Movers to cancel this charge, remove all of my information, and give me an explanation. The office isn't open yet for a response, but what kind of company charges you correctly for their services, then months later charges your credit card again for no services and with no authorization? Ridiculous. I'm calling the Better Business Bureau.

Service cost: $482

As an Army family, we are well aquatinted with moving. I paid a bit extra for the "professional" loading crew, and wasn't impressed.
- They showed up early, which was good.
- They brought none of their own tools, which was supposed to be part of the professional thing, so that was bad.
- They were very slow. I actually had to address it at one point, and though they were defensive at first, they did pick up the pace noticeably. That was bad, then better.
- They only used two of the 4 dozen moving blankets I supplied. Not two dozen, but two. Of course, we now have numerous new scratches on our furniture. Very bad.
- They did a great job of fitting everything into the 26' truck, and even left a bit of space for a few things we had intended to leave behind. I was sure they would not have space, and they proved me wrong. That was good.

I only paid for the normal unloaders, and other than taking far too many breaks, they weren't bad. They got everything unloaded, in place, and ready for me to assemble in a reasonable amount of time.

This was our first time to use Simple Moving Labor, and though I hope we're done with moving, we won't be using them again either way.

Service cost: $600

SML's team was sharp and helpful. I wasn't as impressed with the contracted labor (SML subcontracts with other companies to provide moving labor) who helped me unload the truck. I had the distinct impression that the two guys really wanted to just empty the truck as quickly as possible and leave, rather than help me put furniture together and take boxes to correct rooms, etc. I paid for a minimum of three hours of moving labor, and didn't like that they made me feel guilty about having them work for nearly the full three hours (with me alongside them, mind you--it wasn't like I was sipping a pina colada in a lawn chair, telling them what to do without moving a muscle myself).

Service cost: $384

I contracted with SML to load a rental truck with my apartment items in Annapolis. The salesman (in Texas I guess) was pretty pushy about getting the contract sent and taking my deposit, but it seemed like an easy deal since they were referred by Penske where I got the truck.
But that morning the crew never showed, no calls to confirm anything, and the next 4 hours were a nightmare of calls and angry voice mails between me and the SML "managers" in Texas or wherever trying to find a replacement crew. They said they couldn't contact the original crew (really?) and gave me excuse after excuse. I had cleaners and painters coming and had to get on the road by a set time so their screw up cost me extra for delaying other help..but the only thing they said was if I wanted to cancel I'd get my deposit back. Very poor communication, few call backs and a huge run-around at their end. I finally found my own replacement crew (so how come they couldn't find one?) and they came right over, I had to pay extra for same-day but I had no choice.
After my crew came SML finally called to say they found another crew, but I told them forget it, to refund me and I would send them a bill for the difference between their quote and the cost I had to pay for my own crew. They said "no way" and gave me more grief. I also called Penske to complain and they said they were not pleased with my experience and would contact SML but who knows if they did.
So..bottom line: don't use SML. After reading the other posts (should have done that first) I'm kind of glad they didn't show. My replacement crew was friendly, quick and really took care of my stuff. If you need a mover/loader in Annapolis call Annapolis Run Moving.

Service cost: $229

Found Simple Moving Labor through Penske's website when I was reserving the truck.  Signed up for two "helpers" for two hours to help load the furniture from a two bedroom apartment onto the truck in Denver.  We were going to load most of the boxes and random stuff ourselves.  They were to show up at 1:00 p.m.  One of them did show up at 1:00 and said that he was the only one scheduled to be there.  So I called Simple Moving Labor and asked where the other guy was.  They promptly found another guy to help but by the time he got there, it was 2:00 p.m.  Because of that, I had both guys for only one hour to move the furniture so we ended up having to move some of the furniture ourselves which is not why we were paying Simple Moving Labor.  The first guy moved pretty slow and seemed more interested in socializing.  The second guy was a really hard worker and really wanted to do a good job.  I would give Simple Moving Labor a better rating if they would have made some concession for the fact that both of the helpers were not there for the same two hours.  They could have had the first guy stay for an additional hour at no extra cost so that I would have had my full "two guys for two hours" that I paid for.

Service cost: $219