Suddath

Worst PCS I have ever had. They ensured they would take care of us. They busted RDD 3 times with NO notification. Lost my stuff twice and refused to tell me kept saying they didn't know where it was. After 8 weeks of contact daily, my stuff arrived in Kansas, had to wait another 3 weeks for my stuff to be delivered. Staff is completely rude and refuses to be of any help including the manager. I had to threaten to hire a lawyer for them to find my things and return my phone calls. My father is a truck driver and said he could noy believe how crappy of services I was receiving from this company. The Military and Quality Control were contacted and are aware of this situation so it doesn't happen to other military families. Have also tried to contact them since the move about my broken and missing thjngs and they refuse to return my calls yet again.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $123

I will admit, I was a little nervous about having Suddath move us from Minneapolis to Atlanta.
My employer contracted them, so I didn’t really have a say in the matter, but I was not encouraged by the mixed reviews I found on sites like this and elsewhere on the internet. It seems people either had a wonderful experience or a horrendous one. Eventually, I just had to let go and hope for the best.  
It turns out, that’s exactly what I got.
For those who are looking for more of a summary and don’t want to read a long, rambling review, here are some key words.  
Communication. Punctual. Efficient. Sensitive. Experienced. Stress-free.
That should tell you everything you really need to know about my experience with Suddath. No need to read on unless you want the details.  
 
From the first moment, communication was top-notch. I got a call from Elaine, my coordinator, who was to be my go-to person throughout the move. She got the info she needed to set up a walk-through of the house and emailed me a tremendous amount of information to read.
Now I will say that I got a little worried after our first conversation because I learned that I could not get any more specific expectation of when my belongings would arrive than a 4 day spread of dates.
Stinks, but understandable based on the way they ship multiple households in the same truck.
The walk-through inspector called us shortly there-after and we made an appointment for the walk-through. The inspector was punctual, and we got right into the walk-through. He seemed unfazed by any of the oddities that I showed him in the house, simply making notes on his iPad and assuring me that it wouldn’t be a problem. This actually worried me a little bit, to be honest. I mean, this wasn’t going to be the guy doing the packing; easy for him to say it’s not going to be easy, I’ll probably never see him again. But I decided to trust him and we completed the walk-through. We weren’t in a big house (1300 sq feet) so it only took 20-25 minutes.  
Elaine of course called afterward to check-in and make sure things were going ok. This would be a theme going forward.  
My next contact was from Al, the lead packer. He called me the Friday before our pack date, just to confirm the time and ask a couple follow up questions based on what the inspector has passed on to him. He told me he would be there between 8 and 9AM on the following Monday.
Then, on Saturday, the skies opened up with the first snowstorm of the year in Minneapolis.
We got 8-12 inches between Saturday and Sunday and I spent the whole time dreading what this would do to our entire move schedule. I dreaded a phone call from Al telling me that they would have to delay.  
Then, Monday morning, at exactly 8AM, the door-bell rang, and was opened to Al, and his partner Troy.
Here’s the thing; the roads were atrocious, I mean really, really bad. I was hardly expecting them to show up at all, much less within the first minute of their one-hour window. Punctuality would prove to be a common theme.  
They quickly introduced themselves and immediately started setting up, bringing in boxes, paper, tape, etc, and got right to work.  
I have two dogs (one of them quite large) and 4 small children. Even though the packers were unfazed by this, I initially had to put the dogs out in the back yard to keep them out of the way, despite Al and Troy’s assurances that it wasn’t a problem. Troy (who was clearly a dog lover) insisted they get the basement completed first so we could bring the dogs in out of the cold ASAP.  
Let me tell you, these guys were good. They were extremely efficient. By that I mean, they were fast, but they weren’t robots. They made smart decisions and asked good, intuitive questions of my wife and I, ensuring that the process on the other end of the move would be easier. They were also very sensitive, seeming to know when something might have sentimental if not monetary value, and packing it accordingly.  
From my discussions with each of them, I learned that both of them had upwards of 30 years experience with Suddath. The fact that they were extremely experienced showed clearly in their work, but it still impressed me to hear that Suddath was employing people on a long-term basis. By 2PM, they were done and packing up their supplies. The packing was my first “real” and substantial impression of Suddath at work, and my fears were beginning to subside.  
Cue check-in call from Elaine. Everything go ok? Yep.  
That afternoon, I heard from Doug for the first time. Doug was the driver. He said he had just picked up the trip and was in Iowa, so he may not be there until 10AM the next day for loading, but they would try to be very quick so we could get on the road ourselves.  
Sure enough, 10AM rolls around, and a HUGE semi pulls up. It’s Doug. Troy is back to help load, and a young guy (obviously the new kid) Dylan is there to help as well.  
They line up the truck, drop the ramps, and start laying down padding and cardboard paths. Within 15 minutes, load out has begun.  
I don’t want to sound too repetitive so suffice it to say that I was just as impressed with the load out as I was with packing. Same efficiency, same sensitivity, etc. It was great to have Troy back because I felt that as one of the guys who had packed our house, he had some greater stake in getting it loaded right. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but it made me feel better at the time.  
Again, the guys were unfazed by the craziness of a house with 4 kids and 2 dogs. In fact, when they were just about done, Troy took my kids up into the truck to show them all of our stuff (which took up less than 1/3rd of the total space) and then Doug took them inside his extremely nice cab, and they were impressed that he drove in a vehicle with a bathroom and kitchenette in it.  
Load out was done by about 3PM and Doug told me he would do his very very best to get there as early as the following Tuesday (the 2nd day in our 4 day spread) but it would more likely be Wednesday. We planned to take possession of the house Sunday night, so we were resigned to either staying in a hotel or sleeping on air mattresses for a few nights. We opted for the latter.
We got into Newnan on Sunday night, late, and slept on our air mattresses. Monday morning we explored the town and as we were eating lunch I got a call from Doug. He asked how our trip in was and told me he would be there between 8 and 9AM Tuesday after all.  
I had to work Tuesday, so I wasn’t there for load in, but Doug pulled up in his truck just as I was leaving, at 8:02AM.  
I was worried I would get frantic, frustrated calls from my wife every few minutes, but that didn’t happen. Everything went smoothly. The guys re-assembled the furniture, brought in the boxes, moved some furniture again as my wife got a better idea of where things would go, and were out by 2PM.
Stress-free for her, stress-free for me.  
I’ve never written a positive review this long, but moving is a highly emotional experience, and even as Suddath impressed me with each interaction, I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did. They did a fantastic job from start to finish. Every person I interacted with was a consummate professional, both knowledgeable about their job, and patient with us and our lack of knowledge.  
So I’m compelled to document this level of detail because of the relief I feel as we get settled into our new home. It could have been a disaster and it wasn’t; it was the least stressful thing about my transition.  
This was my 3rd long distance move, but my first using any kind of service. I hope I don’t have to move again for a long time, but if I do, I will be calling Suddath.  
Thank you Elaine, Al, Troy, Doug, and Dylan, for everything.

Service cost: $1000

Would NOT recommend based on my experience.  Moved out of state and had damage done to my new home.  I did not see it until I cleaned up after the mover left.  I was encouraged by my Suddath contact to put in an insurance claim with them, and this turned out to be a total waste of my time.  After getting 2 estimates, the claim was denied based on the fact I did not see the damage before the mover left (which I had stated upfront).  Also I did not like that they used different workmen to help with the move on both ends.  They did not know which rooms furniture went in and kept asking me.  And I had to request a refund (many times) for things not packed by the movers, but that I had paid for in advance.  The company has not responded in the past seven weeks to my Better Business Bureau complaint, the Orlando general manager never responded to my email asking questions regarding the damage claim, and they never sent me a survey of the how I would rate my move (which they use the results for to sell their services.  No wonder their reviews are so high..) .

Service cost: $7200

As part of move a car was also shipped by Subbath-Houston. Car was a new Mercedes. At pickup I challenged shipper to find even a small scratch anywhere on the car. None per shipper. Fortunately to 3rd party shipper did a good job with no issues. The shipping papers given to me at delivery showed Subbath - Houston had changed auto condition scratched hood, soiled seats and other scratches and rubbed bumpers.  Obviously this mover is totally dishonest and untruthful. .

Service cost: $18000

We hired Suddath/United Van Lines to move When the salesman originally came to our house he explained what Suddath/UVL offers for the moving process. That they take pride in protecting client’s property and explained all the awards Suddath/UVL has received. We discussed how the company was made up of employees not contractors, that a moving tractor with “air ride” trailer would be used to transport our belongs, that the truck would come to our house with the same driver that will deliver our household items from Minnesota to Florida so we could meet him and discuss the move. We were told the driver would be in contact with us along the way to give location updates and his expected arrival time. We were also assigned a move coordinator to work with us on the move. He also explained that our credit card would be pended the day of loading and the final payment be charged on the day of delivery. On the contract we were given guaranteed delivery date window.
our household goods from Minneapolis to Orlando
Below is what actually occurred.
• On June 13th a small truck from the local terminal arrived with a local crew to load. This was not the long haul driver nor the moving truck. At this time they told us our items would be unloaded at the terminal and reloaded into a moving truck.
• Our delivery window dates were from June 19-24. Beginning June 19 we were to be given daily status updates. On June 19th we received no call or status update.
• On June 20th we finally called UVL, after we had not heard from anyone. Our primary move coordinator told us she would be on vacation the previous week and a fill in would be calling us. When the fill in coordinator returned our call, she told us our belongings were yet to be loaded.
• On June 21st and June 22nd the status calls told us our items were still not loaded and no driver assigned. Our items were still sitting in Minneapolis.
• On June 23rd the status call told us our items were still not loaded and that they would be loaded on Monday June 26th and leave for Florida. Missing our guaranteed delivery window. No driver assigned yet.
• On June 26th the status call was that it got loaded, but had not left MN as we were told on Friday, June 23rd. No driver assigned yet, still sitting in Minneapolis.
• On June 27th the status call was that the truck was going to St Paul, MN to pick up another load. Still not leaving from Minnesota. No driver assigned yet.
• On June 28th we were told they had leased a driver (contractor) and leased a trailer. This was not our long haul driver, nor a moving trailer but a freight trailer. We would possibly be able to be unloaded at our Monday July 3rd .
• June 29th and June 30th we were told the other load in front of ours had to go to Sarasota first, and then come back to Orlando. Our coordinator spoke to her GM and he diverted it to Orlando to take control of the load. We would not have our delivery now on Monday July 3rd but should arrive on Wednesday July 5th.
• On July 3rd we were told the truck broke down and now our delivery would be Thursday July 6th.
• July 5th we were told the delivery crew would contact us Thursday morning with an arrival time.
• On July 6th our household belonging finally arrived in a freight trailer, not a moving van trailer as we contracted with Suddath/UVL.
• On July 8th we picked up the motorcycle in Orlando.
• We were told the final charges would be billed/paid upon the delivery date which was July 8th, instead our Visa card was billed and paid to Suddath/UVL on July 2nd.
• The delivery staff was a local sub-contracted driver and crew, not employees of Suddath/UVL as we were originally told by our salesman.

Many items were damaged and scratched as well as a piece of audio equipment that was crushed. We can only assume this was due to the number of times it was loaded and unloaded into a freight trailer vs a moving trailer. We ended up filing a damage claim with UVL totally almost $5000.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7900

Experience with Suddath- Our experience has been painful with Suddath. Drivers and labor never wrap up the furniture during the move, cause it to slide in the trucks and damage. Breaks and damages the costly and expensive furniture. Suddath damaged almost $7,000 worth of furniture and reimburses 1% of the cost. Do not trust them with the move.
Experience with Suddath- Our experience has been painful with Suddath. Drivers and labor never wrap up the furniture during the move, cause it to slide in the trucks and damage. Breaks and damages the costly and expensive furniture. Suddath damaged almost $7,000 worth of furniture and reimburses 1% of the cost. Do not trust them with the move.

Move size: Office Move Service cost: $15000

I like many others have moved several times with major moving companies, including several moves with United Van Lines. The sales rep assured me that my move experience with Suddath would professional and of the highest quality, unlike the others. Well that never happened. When the loading day arrived it was a completely different company and there was no Suddath employees on site. I was assured Suddath would be making the move. Very little contact with the move coordinator at Suddath, I usually had to call her to find out what was going on. When you set expectations with a customer you should try to meet those expectations or at tell the truth about what is actually going to transpire. United is only interested in your money and not the quality of the move experience or your personal belongings. United owns Mayflower and Allied. Do not use any of these companies. I have used United for three major moves within the United States and will never use this company again.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

My family relocated from Boston to CA at the end of June 2011. It's a corporate move which uses United Van Line with which Suddath was affiliated and they handled the moving process. Long story short. They used a local vender to handle the pick up which I was very satisfied with (very professional and organized). Well, we did our own packing before they came in small, medium, and large boxes and we gave them in an organized manner.But in CA during the delivery, it was a totally nightmare! I don't know how they stored or handled our boxes but they came back all falling apart. I moved once 2 yrs ago prior to this move from the west to the east and the boxes came in all fairly nicely. But this time was different. These were all new home depot boxes I bought prior to the move and they were all broken or torn, totally unusable after this one move. They promised they would put back the furniture(desks, bed, couches, TV, etc) but the movers initially failed to do. After I brought it up and insisted, they put together our bed and couches in a sloppy way, still left the TV without the base, and desks unassembled (I later did on my own). They told me they had to rush to the next appointment. Some furniture were badly scratches, bookcase totally broken, decoration tree broken, and a large bowl broken.The worst part is this: they lost 10 of my boxes out of 144, including a printer, other electronics, basketballs, home decors, dishes, etc! At the delivery, I sensed some boxes are missing because for one I didn't see my printer which was packed in its original box. So I refused to sign the paper work to acknowledge I've received all my belongings. The movers were mad so he grabbed the paper from my hands and walked away. I later filed claim but the claim agent used that fact against me saying that because I didn't sign the paperwork, they won't be able to compensate me for the lost boxes. I said I didn't want to be compensated just find these boxes but she said they couldn't do that either.I was seriously mad at that point and wrote a complaint letter to the VPs of the company I was joining since it's a corporate move. They worked with a VP Brian at Suddath and got the issue resolved after 3 months and I was paid about several thousands for all the repair and the lost boxes. Since then 6 months have passed, every time I thought about the experience I felt angry. I'd better forget it, but word of wisdom for new consumers: STAY AWAY FROM SUDDATH!

Service cost: $5000