Average service price

Get an estimate
$ 3453
Interstate move average
29% less than market avg.
$ 976
Local move average
1% more than market avg.
How did we get these costs?

Review summary

Write a Review
5
4
3
2
1
1.2
220 reviews

Your trust is our top concern, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews.

Reviews

Victoria Labonte
Jul 13, 2017
Long-distance move from Darien, CT to Austin, TX

Never Ever Use This Company.

This company is UNBELIEVABLE.

FIRST, 1ST July we call them, they are nice enough. Make the reservation, they ASSURE US someone will call, confirm and charge CC on the 3rd for a move date of the 5th. they tell us in the CT area, we must use their movers. fine. We sign a contract for the 5th July

3rd July - NO COMMUNICATIONS. They charge the CC half the amount. We assume they will be here on the 5th.

5th July - NOBODY SHOWS UP. NO COMMUNICATIONS AT ALL. NO EMAIL. NO PHONE CALL. We call them, 30 min waiting, we leave a message. Unbeknownst to us, they refund the money. NO RETURN PHONE CALLS or EMAILS.

3 DAYS LATER, we finally get them after NUMEROUS CALLS. they say "the truck already left CT, you will have to call & reschedule.

4 DAYS later - We finally get them again, after several calls, THIS TIME, they say "our facility is full, we can't accommodate you. We refunded the money". First time we know that.

LATER THAT DAY.. they now say "We DON'T SERVICE CT, sorry" and hang up. Send the receipt that shows the refund.

We have no movers 10 days from moving 2000 miles. What a LYING LITTLE COMPANY.

LESSON HERE: DO NOT USE UNLESS you are PREPARED to get SCREWED and LIED TO.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $5400

Anna
Apr 19, 2017
Long-distance move from Kennesaw, GA to New York, NY

The worst.

Your job is simple. Pick up, drive, deliver. Add as many features as you'd like, but at the end of the day, it comes down to three key tasks. If it takes you an ungodly amount of time to deliver a container (10-14 Business Days.. Seriously?), and I have my things picked up early to ensure it arrives on time, I expect it to be delivered by the date you quote. No exceptions. Please realize that your containers are filled with everything that matters to us, including necessary elements for day to day living. I went without furniture for over three weeks. I drove through the worst snow storm of this decade to make this shipment date. I put myself in danger to be here in time for this delivery that didn't come. No phone call, no email, no text, NOTHING. After calling every number I could find, someone finally answered with an excuse, blaming the weather for the delay. You've had my container for 3 weeks, and the past 2 days are causing the delay, the two days I drove up through? Tell me how that works. The part that bothers me the most is the complete lack of communication. As a business, this is your sole priority. We received no discounts, no apologies, no follow up. I will NEVER use this company again, and have informed my company's relocation service of just how horrible this was. Avoid them at all costs.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3347

Yasmin Longoria
Mar 21, 2017
Local move from Seattle, WA to Lacey, WA

Ridiculous Runaround.

My Zippy Shell “experience” began in late October 2016. I sold my house in Seattle, WA and planned to
move to Las Vegas, NV, after the spending the holidays with family in Lacey, WA. I got quotes from several companies offering a similar service, PODS, ABF, U-Haul and ultimately decided on Zippy Shell, though more expensive, reviews were better than other companies.
We were not planning to move to Las Vegas right away but to
store our stuff for a few months while we looked for and purchased a home. We estimated that we would need our stuff February of 2017. I relayed that information to our salesperson Dennis Johnson. He assured me that Zippy Shell would be able to meet my needs, I went ahead and initiated the contract on
November 4, 2016.
For the entire move from Seattle, WA to Las Vegas, NV less
storage past the first 30 days, I was quoted a total price of $2769 with
$1384.50 to be paid prior to delivery and $1384.50 to be charged after the 45th day in storage. I understood that my storage fee after the first 30 days would be $159 per month. The price was fair, as I was also able to take advantage of a promotion that included movers to load the Zippy Shell at my origin in Seattle.
Zippy Shell came to pick up our stuff on November 17, 2016 and the movers that were sent were absolutely amazing. They were professional, courteous and very efficient. They had our entire home and shed loaded into the container in less than 2 hours.
Our Seattle house was sold and closed that weekend and so we
were out by November 20, 2016, and we headed to Lacey, WA. Due to unforeseen family circumstances, we decided to not move to Las Vegas and instead stay in Lacey, WA. We made this decision in early January 2017 and I reached out to our Zippy Shell move coordinator, Autumn Ortiz by phone to let her know and to figure out how
to get our stuff redelivered. Autumn let me know that I needed to pay the other half of my move costs, $1384.50 and I would be able to get my stuff redelivered. That didn’t make sense to me since I was no longer moving from Seattle to Las Vegas but instead was staying local. When I asked her for a breakdown of the charges, she was unable to provide the information to me which
immediately caused an uneasy feeling. She emailed me a day later and offered the following “breakdown” which was unacceptable:
(1) 15ft container Breakdown* WITH DESTINATION UPDATED TO SEATTLE, WA
Breakdown of fees/total
move cost:
$850 Origin Fees (Container delivery, handling & warehouse)
$850 Destination Fees(Container delivery, handling, & warehouse)
$300 Taxes & Misc Fees
Total Cost of Move: $2,000
I reached back out to her to let her know that “breakdown” was cryptic and unacceptable. She said she would look into it for me. Unfortunately, a few days later, I had a death in the family and had to leave town unexpectedly. I emailed Autumn to let her know and advised that I would be back in touch after I returned home to Lacey.
Autumn reached back out to me to let me know that “In an effort to get your quote down to the lowest possible price for you, we were able to get our Franchise in WA to pick up your container and redeliver it at a later time once you decide you are ready to set that up. Doing this allows you to save an additional $250”.
She then provided a new cryptic breakdown:
(1) 15ft container Breakdown* WITH DESTINATION UPDATED TO SEATTLE, WA
Breakdown of fees/total move cost:
$850 Origin Fees (Container delivery, handling & warehouse)
$250 Destination Container Delivery Fee
$350 Unloading Service
$300 Taxes & Misc Fees
Total Cost of Move: $1,750
Again that breakdown was unacceptable but I did not have the energy or desire to deal with it.
I put the whole situation on the back burner for a bit and in early March 2017 I reached out to Autumn Ortiz by email and asked that a
manager give me a call to get this situation straightened out. Autumn emailed me back to ask why I needed to speak with a manager and I told her that I was not comfortable with the cryptic “breakdown” of my fees for just simply storing my stuff for a few months. Autumn let me know that she would request a call and her manager Marissa Belle(?) called the next day.
Marissa and I played phone tag for a bit due to the time difference and we finally connected March 15, 2017. I asked her to help me
understand why a 50-mile move is nearly the same cost as an 1100 mile move. I got the same hemming and hawing as I did when I asked Autumn the same question a few months prior. Marissa then said she would look into it. She gave me a call back the next day to tell me that she would be initiating a refund for
$711 to my card and that I should reach out to the local customer service representative to arrange for the redelivery of my items. Since I had gone several rounds and still did not understand what I was being charged for I just gave up because I needed to get my stuff out of storage with Zippy Shell.
I followed up on my refund status on March 20, 2017 just to
ensure that it was processed back to my card since I did not see the amount reflected in my online banking. I called Autumn Ortiz, and she didn’t answer so I sent her an email asking for confirmation. She informed me that a check had been mailed to my Seattle address. I do not live in Seattle nor have I since November 2016. I promptly emailed her back to let her know that and provided my address for the 4th or 5th time. Autumn called me back to say that the check was actually mailed to Lacey, WA which is untruthful since she didn’t have my Lacey address and never asked for it. I will remind you, MarissaBelle initially said it would be credited back to my card.
I called the local representative I was referred to and was
delighted to speak with Dawn Marie Clifford. She was quick and efficient and was able to arrange to have my stuff to me the following week. To my dismay and also beyond her control I had to pay another $399 to get my stuff back from Zippy Shell. I went ahead and paid it because I need my things, and no longer want Zippy Shell to store my possessions.
I shared with Dawn the issues I have dealt with in working with Zippy Shell and she apologized profusely for my experience even though it had nothing to do with her.
To date, we have paid Zippy Shell, $2,260.50. The breakdown of that is
my down payment of $1384.50, $477.00 for storage, $300 for movers at the destination and $99.00 for container redelivery. I was “refunded” $711.50 making my total spend $1549.50.
While speaking with Dawn, I asked her to quote me for a
local move with movers to help on both sides and 3 months of storage. She came up with a detailed breakdown and total cost of $1460 which made complete sense and was NOT cryptic! It really did not seem that difficult to provide me a detailed breakdown of the cost of doing business with Zippy Shell. Granted that total cost is only a few hundred dollars over what I have spent so far but the
insane trek to get to this point is unacceptable.
In my opinion, what should have happened when I initially
called Autumn to tell her we weren’t moving was that she refund what I already paid then transition my account from the long distance team to the local team. I should have been able to pay the local team for the movers and the storage I used and then been able to get my stuff back. Instead, my items were essentially held hostage and now I have paid a lot of money for services NEVER rendered.
I have written to the corporate office asking for a review of my experience. I will happily update my review if their proposal to fix this is acceptable.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2261

Troy
Dec 27, 2017
Long-distance move from Tucson, AZ to Minneapolis, MN

Where the heck is my stuff??

We moved from AZ to MN.. in OCTOBER. Now that its the end of the end and we are still waiting to find out when our items will even leave AZ! We call and we get the same run around, they are waiting on a carrier. Meanwhile, we live like we are squatting and without my professional resources to do my job. Oh, and meanwhile they keep charging us for storage when we have asked repeatedly to ship it to us already! This company is a complete scam. They hold your items for ransom. Who knows when our items will leave the place of origination let alone when they will arrive here where they belong??!!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

Joseph
Jan 04, 2018
Long-distance move from Orlando, FL to Denver, CO

Avoid! Takes way too long to ship!

Everything started out great- they were quick to provide a quote, assured me that they would ship quickly and it’d be easy.


Problems: they only gave 2 days to move vs the guaranteed 3. They dropped it off on a Wednesday morning at 10:30am so common sense would tell you that they’d pick it up Saturday. Wrong. I got a call on Friday while I was at work and they said they were on their way to pick it up and when I mentioned the 3 day moving time he said “yeah, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, Friday morning. That’s 3 days.” I managed to get him to talk to his manager and they “made an exception “ and picked it up on Saturday.

They assured me that it’d be 8-13 business days. Well, it’s been 14 business days and they don’t seem to have any idea when it will arrive. It has all of my stuff in it minus two suitcases of clothes so I’ve had to rebuy a lot of it. 14 days may not seem like much, but it’s their generally apathy towards everything once they get their money that’s the problem.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2300

Arica
Jan 11, 2018
Local move from Berkeley, CA to Richmond, CA

ZippyShell.

I am very disappointed at how the final steps of the delivery of the pod were handled for this account. I called ZippyShell last week and spoke with someone named Crista about the fact that my mother had not received the delivery of her storage pod. Crista promised to look into the matter and never called me back. I called back today and spoke with Balinda from the Customer Care Team, who informed me that the pod was delivered to the Indiana warehouse and an email was sent to my mother, but the email was never opened. I told Balinda that my mother is elderly and does not look at email. I also said that per my request, ZippyShell has been sending me emails, as well as my mother, so that I could monitor and make sure everything was going smoothly. ZippyShell did not send me the email stating that the pod had arrived in Indiana. When I set up the pod move, I was not informed that that I needed to confirm delivery. I was told that the pod would arrive at my mothers house in apx. 2-3 weeks.

Balinda offered to reduce the amount of the storage to $100, but she would not allow me to talk to a manager regarding my issue. She said that she would not escalate the call becuase the contract had not been violated. I reviewed the contract with Balinda on the phone, but there is nothing in the contract regarding how Zippy Shell communicates. Balinda said we communicate through email, and that is not in the contract. I told Balinda that historically ZippyShell has been sending both me and my mother an email, but because I was not sent an email letting me know that the pod had arrived and letting me know that I needed to schedule a delivery to my mother's house. Balinda said only the primary person receives emails. ZippyShell charged a monthly storage fee for the time the pod arrived in Indiana through now. According to Balinda, the fee was justified. I disagree because ZippyShell changed the way they communicated with us by leaving me off of the email confirming the pod had arrived. Balinda refused to let me speak to a manager, but she offered to change the email notification to my email address so I will receive the emails. I agreed, but told Balinda that I would be calling back to speak to a manager.

When I called back I spoke to Lauren. I told Lauren the history of events. She told me there was nothing she could do and that she would not escalate the call for the same reason as Balinda. I hung up and called again, this time speaking to Kimberly. Kimberly pulled up the account and didn't say anything. I said, "Hello" and she said, "give me a minute." Then she came onto the phone with giggling in the background and said, "You have called several times in the last 5 minutes, and I can't help you either."

This customer service team of Balinda, Lauren and Kimberley would not let me talk to a manager. I am very disappointed with the lack of customer service.

I emailed the helpdesk and they also nothing could be done. I beleive my email went the same 3 customer care people who told I could not talk to a manager.

As a Real Estate Broker I refer movers to my clients all the time, but because of the lack of customer service (and professionalism on behalf of the customer care team) I will not be sending any more business to ZippyShell. I will recommend PODS.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $3100

Tracy Jones
Jan 15, 2018
Long-distance move from Kirkland, WA to Forest Hills, NY

Beware of Hidden Fees.

The Zippy Shell representative was very clear on the phone that I could cancel up to two days before the move. However, there are hidden fees when you cancel, which are not listed on the contract but are only visible if you hyperlink off the actual contact to sub-pages.

This company has a two-star rating for a reason and after my experience with them, I would NEVER use them. They are disingenuous on the phone and the 4-page contract does not contain all the information it should make fees clear. All fees should be on the signed portion of the contract.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4500

Scott
Jan 16, 2018
Long-distance move from Dublin, CA to Oklahoma City, OK

San Francisco to Oklahoma City.

The absolute worst moving company. My container was picked up on December 19th. I will finally receive delivery on January 17th, 4 weeks to the day after pick up. The container sat in California for more than two weeks before they even began to move it. Even with the holidays factored in I was notified the container arrived more than a week after the latest arrival date, according to how they calculate business days, per the contract. They then had the nerve to minimize the number of days late by creating extra holiday days and saying those days don't count as business days (Dec 22). They notified me of arrival on a Monday, told me the container had arrived the previous Friday and didn't count that extra business day either. They acknowledged being 3 business days late then just said we're sorry there's nothing we can do to make this right. No adjustment to the bill. I won't even go into how they were 2 hours late in dropping off the container on the front end of the move costing me an extra 2 hours of loading labor. Stay far away from this dishonest, incompetent company.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

Brad
Jan 16, 2018
Long-distance move from Silver Spring, MD to Boise, ID

Never! Horribly Slow!

Never use Zippy Shell. They were unable to locate our shipment for weeks, and we've been without our property now for 37 days! Now that they've found it, they can't reliably predict or expedite delivery. At current estimation, we'll have been without our property for 43 days when (if?) we get it back. Outrageous! We were originally promised between two and three weeks. Never use Zippy Shell!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2800

Martha
Nov 22, 2017
Long-distance move from Arlington, VA to Los Angeles, CA

Took over a month to arrive - lost in transit.

The local folks in DC and CA are good, but the parent company that transports long distance is horrific. They continually told us our shell was in transit, only to advise us after 20 days that it had never left Virginia. Instead of expediting it, they took over 2 weeks to get it to us, with a terrible lack of service and communication. No single point of contact -we continually had to explain our situation to a new person each time, and we were always given the same answer - it is in transit, no expected date of arrival recorded. We literally had no idea where it was or when it was arriving until a month and 3 days after pick up, we got a call from the local people in CA saying it had arrived. They had no idea we had had any problems so they were looking to deliver it in a few days. Thankfully after hearing our story, they delivered it the same day. Over a month of living with no furniture and no way to cook is depressing and expensive!! We had to buy bare essentials and eat out all the time. Our kids had to start school with only the one suitcase of clothes we had brought and air mattresses to sleep on for over a month. No chairs to sit on. And having no idea when the end was in sight or if they had truly just lost our things was simply awful. I would recommend the DC or CA zippy shells for local moves but never for long distance!!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2500

Angela
Feb 27, 2018
Local move from Buckeye, AZ to Goodyear, AZ

Zippy Shell Arizona.

Complete misrepresentation of the unit size and very poor customer service! They claim the unit holds up to four rooms, which is incredibly misleading as well false advertising. When the unit pulls up on your property and you see the size, they ask you if you want another unit delivered trying sell another delivery charge and storage fee.

When I approached the delivery driver, on the size of the unit, he said it does hold up to four rooms "but only what you really need". The third party movers also said they have told the company multiple times of the problem however, the problem continues. They both thanked me for not taking it out on them and ask me to call the office regarding my concerns, as they are the one’s the customers typically take out their frustrations on. This is apparently a normal occurrence and very unethical business practice by this company.

When I called to discuss the issue with Stacy, I was basically told I was a lair by both Stacy and Amy “the manager”. They claim I was told the unit holds only "2-3 rooms with only a moderate amount of items", however the only thing I was asked by Nancy was if I was moving a piano because "they've had a problem with that the last couple days", as to which the answer was no piano. We have a small 1,500 sf house and about half of the items are being moved and with no appliances. They refused to compensate for anything or any services and were unwilling to come to a fair and reasonable compromise.

I've used other companies like this for moving in the past and I regret ever calling Zippy Shell and giving them a chance and my money! I DO NOT recommend them, especially since there are many other companies out there that will treat you with respect and be upfront about how much the unit can hold. Now my hands are tied as they have 1/2 of my stuff, I've paid for movers, and I still have more to put in storage.. and they don't care, they just want your money.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $500

Lisa Owens
Aug 20, 2018
Long-distance move from Massachusetts to Florida

Cancellation fee.

This company sucks as far as I’m concerned they do not tell you in the beginning that they charge a 300 cancellation fee and have you sign the contract and they put the cancellation fee in really fine print. The containers are really small two and if you have a big house then don’t use them they are a complete rip off I cancelled my order 10 days in advance and they still charge me the cancellation fee hade to get my bank and lawyer involved I wouldn’t even recommend them at all.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $2500

Steve
Aug 31, 2018
Long-distance move from Lawrence, MA to Dallas, TX

Rude - Pressure Sell.. It did not work.

As someone who has worked on the executive level of Sales and Marketing for over 22 years. I understands that anyone trying to pressure you to hurry up and sign, typically (99.9% of the time) have something to hide. That was the case with this company. The online reviews are horrible-REALLY BAD. I question the few good reviews as being done by Zippy, its employees, etc. After reviewing the online reviews for Zippy.. I just rented a U-Haul and drove from MA to TX with my stuff. Not that big of a deal.

Additionally, I was first quoted $2,900.00 and then told them that I have a quote of $2,000 from another company. Zippy quickly reduce my quote to $2,200. The girl helping me on the phone did not like it when I told her that trying to pressure me into signing would not work. She just hung up on me.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2200

Joan R Parker
Aug 16, 2018
Long-distance move from Sierra Vista, AZ to New Port Richey, FL

Do Not Use This Company. See More Reviews on Facebook.

I had the same problem with them. They had someone pack my cage and my sofa got ruined. They said my insurance doesn't cover shifting of cargo that customer is resonsible for that. I wanted my delivery on a time I could get help and it took almost a month to get .y things delivered. They lied about the insurance coverage and won't pay for a new sofa. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. BAD NEWS DEALING WITH THEM.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4000

Leel
Sep 08, 2018
Local move within Sacramento, CA

Worst Company Ever- Will Probably Bite The Dust Soon w/ These 1 Stars.

I rented one of these way smaller than advertised containers. Contains inner cage where your stuff goes, which greatly reduces usable square feet. They delivered. We loaded. Was to be stored in Sacramento warehouse ~4 mos. About 6 wks later, a RUDE young guy called and said Sacramento company was closing and my stuff was going to be moved to SF area. I said NO, bc it was not packed to be moved 180 miles round trip. His response was that I didn’t have a choice unless I wanted to take my stuff back THAT VERY AFTERNOON. I TOLD HIM I DIDNT HAVE A PLACE TO TAKE IT W/ such short notice! They moved it. Three months later, I took out of storage. They drove it all the way back; ~90 miles. My beautiful furniture has SO MANY SCRATCHES AND GOUGES. They were not careful. I filed a claim. They assured me it would be paid. IT WAS REJECTED. Their reason: OOPS, WE FILED WITH THE WRONG INS CO!! I never received a penny for all the damage. THEY ARE UNPROFESSIONAL AND DON’T GIVE A ROYAL RAT ABOUT THEIR SO-CALLED CUSTOMER! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

This company doesn’t have a decent rating at all. Not even mentioned on TOP 5 Lists for container companies.

Franchisee in Sacramento closed for business less than a month after they took my container to storage so they TOTALLY KNEW they were not making it and still contacted with me and others. DECEPTIVE.

There is still not a new franchisee in Sacramento bc they cannot sell their shady concept to a new business owner.

Horrible company..

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $600

Sari
Sep 12, 2018
Long-distance move from Minneapolis, MN to Brookline, MA

Stay Away!!

Went with Zippy Shell for two main reasons. First, my boyfriend is recovering from a surgery due to a broken clavicle. When I had asked about movers, they confidently insisted that we wouldn't need to lift a finger so I felt it was worth paying them for their services. Second, they indicated over the phone that our things would be delivered to us on September 1st so long as we scheduled a pickup on or before August 24th, which is what we did.

When they arrived and loaded everything up on the 23rd, it went a bit slowly but very well, except at one point they were going to charge us extra for a "piano". Once we explained it wasn't a piano it was fine (this was referring to an inexpensive and small electric keyboard that an 11-year-old girl can lift one-handed). No big deal!

We waited to receive confirmation that our shell had arrived at the warehouse in the new city, and the moment I received that notification I called them to confirm the move-in date and time.
Much to my chagrin I discovered that Zippy Shell wouldn't move us in that day because they don't work labor day weekend, which the sales guy had conveniently neglected to mention.

So I asked them to come the days after labor day. After waiting 3 days for a call from them confirming an appointment, the earliest date they could give us was two weeks after move-in on September 13th. (Yes, even though they had known for almost two months what date we wanted to move in, and even though they TOLD us they had scheduled an appointment for that date.)

Because there were certain items (meds, clothing, cooking utensils, outfits for a wedding) that we needed before the 13th, we asked if there was a way to work around the issue. They told us they could either "let us" access our own items at the warehouse location, or drop off our stuff to us on the 9th but without movers.

Because we didn't want to pay for our own team of movers after paying out of our $#%#$ for Zippy Shell, we decided to go to the warehouse and pick out the items we'd need, and let them deliver the non-essentials on September 13th as planned. I asked the agent on the phone whether or not there would be help lifting things out of the shell at the warehouse (because if not I needed to plan to bring a friend or mover), and she said DEFINITELY. And the "good news" is that I didn't need to pay a fee for the extra help, and didn't need to pay a fee to access my things because the warehouse was theirs and not a 3rd party's. Great.

So I tried to set an appointment to access the warehouse, which involved calling, telling her when you want to stop by, having her "put in a request" with the warehouse, wait up to 2 business days for her get back to me to tell me the day and time I chose wouldn't work, and repeat the process (to her credit, it took more like 2 hours than 2 days, which I thanked her for). I told her that the earliest day or time that worked for them would be fine for us, but apparently the system requires that you pick a specific date and have them accept or reject it.

That's when she mentioned they hadn't actually charged me for the movers at the destination. So to be clear, the fee I was quoted when I first contracted them did NOT include movers for unloading, just for loading.

We got to the warehouse and they brought our shell out to the parking lot (at noon during the 103 degree heat) and then vanished. Once it was clear that we had been left to our own devices I realized that the cage was locked with a padlock and we weren't given the combination, but (thankfully?) the first code I guessed was 0000 and I opened it right up.

Then I, a 5'2 woman had to personally move things in and out of the shell in this weather with the assistance of my right-handed boyfriend's left had (remember, he just had clavicle surgery and can't lift more than a coffee mug with his right) because I naively believed the woman on the phone when she said they'd help us with lifting at the warehouse.

When I finished we tried to find someone to let them know we were done and they could take the shell back inside, but there WAS NO ONE to be found, probably because they were on lunch break (?). We called and wandered around for like 5 minutes but didn't encounter a soul. We waited for about 20 more minutes for someone to show up because we didn't want to leave our things unattended in the heat, but then I literally started seeing stars due to heat exposure, so we needed to go get water before I fainted.

On the drive out I tried calling the corporate headquarters to request that they call the folks at the warehouse and have them put our shell away again. BUT I COULDN'T CALL BECAUSE THEY BLOCKED ME.

I called 3 different phone numbers and they were all "disconnected" even though I'd been in contact the day before to schedule the warehouse access. TURNS OUT THEY BLOCKED ME. I swear to God I was nothing but respectful on the phone, precisely because I was terrified that they would do something to my things out of spite. But I guess if a customer calls too often to figure out what's going on with her things, it is sufficient cause to BLOCK her calls.

To be very clear, I know for a fact that they blocked me because when my boyfriend called from his phone 10 seconds after I hung up, the numbers were not "disconnected". (Furthermore, I have tried to call the same numbers again from my phone and I still get the "we are sorry, this number has been disconnected" automated message, but he doesn't.)

So then BF asked that they call the warehouse to put our shell back inside and he said he'd "get right on that" and would confirm with us that this happened. Come to think of it, we still haven't gotten confirmation so we're just basically hoping that our things were put away and didn't get ruined in the sun or stolen.

Tomorrow the movers are due to come with our remaining things at some point in the morning, so I will update this review based on how that goes. But in the meantime, here are the takeaways:

1- The folks who loaded up the shell were slow, but this is totally fine because they were safe and careful.
2- You cannot assume that anything they say on the phone is true, including the quotes, appointment dates, details about services, and so on.
3- For some reason they don't schedule move-ins until you call them after the shell arrives.
4- The scheduling system is absurd. They can't tell when they are available, so can they only "get back to you", sometimes after 24-72 hours, with a "yes" or "no" after you choose a specific date and time. Your move-in cannot and will not be scheduled until your shell arrives, even if you want to schedule on a date that is well AFTER the "guaranteed window" of arrival. However, this won't necessarily stop them from telling you they've scheduled a move-in appointment when they haven't, especially when they're trying to make a sale.
5- Warehouse security is highly questionable.
6- THEY WILL BLOCK CALLS from paying customers.
7- Hidden fees may apply if you are unlucky enough to need to get your things at a warehouse they don't own, or if they decide they didn't charge you enough to begin with.
8- On the plus side, the folks on the phone are always very polite. They are not particularly helpful and can be very dishonest, but let it never be said that they don't have good manners!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1961

Doug
Sep 14, 2018
Long-distance move from Columbus, OH to Savannah, GA

Never ever use zippyshell!!

These people quoted me at 2100, for a move from Ohio to Georgia, which seemed fine. They told me it would arrive in 10 days. 15 days go by and still haven’t heard from them, I called to see what was going on and during the phone call she increased the price after verifying my address by 150$ ?? So when it finally does show up at the storage place they bill me and then return the money and tell me they don’t know if it’s in Florida or Georgia?? Now they can’t process a payment for some reason and bill me a storage fee of 150$ now they somehow also bill me 500$ and are now saying the contract I signed says 2400$ even though I have the contract right in front of me. They also sent 2 men even though I selected self load, and billed me for them being there. Now 900$ over what I was quoted they still have not delivered my stuff.. when you call they will argue, call you a liar and then lie right to you, Never use this company.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2400

Alikeh
Sep 18, 2018
Local move within Accokeek, MD

Seems okay until Its not! They changed my lock!

I can't believe I even have to write this. The company seemed reputable and straight forward. I needed to use their storage services for a few months. They quoted me decently and zippy shell arrived on time. It had some random items still in there, like a movers sheet/cover, but we just packed our stuff anyway. We used a hook lock, put our key away and didn't touch it. About 4 months later, we ask them to bring our shell back, and low and behold to our surprise there was now a disc lock our our storage!! Of course our key didn't fit!! We told them that there was a new lock on our storage and they swore up and down they didn't do anything to it! We had to pay to cut it off!! Absurd! We removed our stuff and left the junk that was there when we first moved our stuff in. They picked it up that Monday and took the junk out, including the the old movers sheet and left it at our front door. These people are ridiculous. Will never use them again.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $850

Kristina
Sep 19, 2018
Long-distance move from Altadena, CA to Portland, OR

Terrible for our State to State Move.

DO NOT use this company for anything other than a cheap, local, basic move. They failed us at every turn for our state-to-state move. Honestly, if we could give them zero stars, we would, without hesitation.

We were promised a 3 day move from point A to point B, they took 7 days total. We have a small child and had to buy lots of duplicate items once at our new home, since they were so late.

They were M.I.A., communication-wise. During the 4 days they were late, their offices were either closed or they just said they didn't know where our stuff was yet. Useless.

They broke and damaged MANY of our items (our brand new t.v., for example). We are currently attempting to get our broken items replaced and just learned that they denied our claim. We will continue to fight it.

Unless you have inexpensive items that you don't really care about, and you're moving very locally and aren't on a time deadline, DO NOT USE Zippy Shell.

And now we have the headache of having to stand up for ourselves, escalating this with the BBB, etc.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5896

Victoria De La Torre
Jul 17, 2018
Long-distance move from Springfield, MA to Martinez, CA

Best choice in moving.

Zippy Shell might have been the best choice I made for my entire move. I moved across country and although it was a bit more expensive than the cheapest choice I AM SO GLAD I MADE THIS CHOICE! This entire experience was amazing and stress free and relaxed. The customer service has been AMAZING. I moved alone with two toddlers and they managed to make me feel confident and amazingly calm for the entire move.

When I first called for my quote it was easy painless and no pressure. We talked about what the best way to plan the move was for my family and signing all the paperwork was a breeze. They were very hands on and never made me feel like I was left in moving limbo.

As the load date got closer they were very open and upfront about what to expect and what I needed done. The movers who came to my house were insanely kind and polite. They even brought extra paper and wrapped items that I hadn't thought of wrapping. They allowed me to be part of loading my cage to make sure everything was as secure as I had hoped it would be.

Once my shell was sent and on it was to my destination I had movers jitters and must've called them a half dozen times asking for updates like a nervous first time mom leaving her kid alone for the first time. They were great and patient and never made me feel bad about calling asking for updates.

Now here is where we hit a snafu, and in typical Zippy Shell fashion they were AMAZING handling it. One of my little humans is on extremely specialized formula, like not available at a regular store sort of thing. I thought I had packed enough and lo and behold I was wrong. I was in full blown panic mode, and of course the place I ordered from dropped the ball and was delayed in mailing more formula to our new address. I called zippy shell and explained the situation and they let us go to our cage and get the extra formula that I had packed even though it wasn't our unloading date (we opted for a terminal unload). They were so kind and understanding that it was a medical urgency. Joe at the San Leandro terminal is the sweetest kindest man I have ever met.

On unloading day our cage was outside waiting for us to open and finish getting everything out. Joe came and gave us some advice and offered help. It was a very easy and non stressful unload.

All in all I would recommend Zippy Shell to anybody moving across country and I could not give a higher praise to this company. Nobody likes moving, its just not fun. But they managed to make it slightly less sucky. They assured me and made me feel like they had my back for the entirety of the move. Great company FIVE STARS FOR SURE!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

Veronica
Jul 17, 2018
Long-distance move from Dallas, TX to Chapel Hill, NC

Misleading - Costing Me Hundreds Extra.

I'm just going to post my email to ZippyShell and their response:

My Email:

Again I want to express and put on record my frustration with ZippyShell. After my front end experience I had hoped the unloading process would be easier however this was not the case. Two weeks before my Shell was to be delivered I called ZippyShell to start the delivery process. I asked for unloading to be added to my bill no questions asked I was quoted an unloading cost of $350. When I received an email about my Shell arriving at the final destination I called ZippyShell to schedule delivery. I was given a priority date of July 6th and an alternative date of July 10th. I was told I would be notified if my first date was not honored. Only July 5th I was driving from Michigan to Chapel Hill, NC in preparation for a July 6th delivery date. I called late morning of July 5th to confirm the delivery- only to learn my stuff would not be delivered until July 10th- resulting in unnecessarily losing time with family over the July 4th holidays. On July 10th when my Shell arrived I was immediately given an invoice from Tom (unloading captain) for an additional $300 charge because the 28 stairs, which were not inquired about, were not included in my unloading quote. He relayed to me that ZippyShell charges by the stair- meaning each stair cost me an additional $10.71. Feeling like I had no other option to get to sleep in my own bed that night I signed the invoice to accept the charge. Throughout the unloading process one of the movers complained to me directly about the two flights of stairs to get to the third floor “This is why you will never find a mover living on the 3rd floor” and about the shrink wrapping of the furniture which I explained to him was done by ZippyShell movers on the front end of this process. I understand it was a hot day- I provided water and a significant tip to each mover.

Overall I was happy to use ZippyShell- it was an economical moving choice- each phone call was pleasant- my movers in Dallas were strong and efficient- and Tom and Jaylen in Chapel Hill were a pleasure to work with. However, I do feel like I was mislead or there were significant lapses in communication on multiple occasions resulting in unexpected costs to me. I would like this to be remedied with a refund of my additional $300 unloading costs.

Their Response:

Thank you for writing in about your compliment and concerns regarding your move with Zippy Shell. We very much appreciate the feedback and we apologize to hear that the unloader complained regarding the steps as that is not the professional behavior we strive for. I do apologize that a representative did not inquire as to whether there were steps or elevators that the movers would need to use in order to unload your shell.

Unfortunately, we are unable to void that fee as it is listed in the contract that was signed.

Thank you very much for your time in this matter and we hope you are enjoying your new home.

Kind rgards.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

Ceran
Jul 18, 2018
Long-distance move from Albany, NY to Denver, CO

Stay Far away from Zippy Shell.

Stay far away for this company - if you value your items and need a smooth move - do not go with Zippy shell. They are unreliable, will run your credit card without your authorization for charges, pack the cages so badly that everything was damaged, do not read labels on your boxes - so no need to label things fragile as they won't take any notice, and they do not pick up or deliver when you want to schedule them. Pretty much every thing about this company is terrible.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

Sarah Trujillo Palacios
Jul 19, 2018
Long-distance move from Ventura, CA to Lebanon, NH

Poor service, very poor customer service.

Zippy Movers is a living nightmare. They do not live up to their contract and hire convicted felons to pack the shell which they had no experience doing. I had to leave behind furniture due to their incompetence. Now I am dealing with non-delivery of my goods. I was promised my goods will arrive in NH by the 15th of July nearly a month after being picked up in California. To date, they cannot give me a status on my goods. I am to begin a new job soon and am a single mother of a 6 year old. What are we to do, sleep on the floor? Their Customer Service is totally useless. I have been calling and all they tell me is that they must discontinue the call. Someone PLEASE help me. I am so stressed out over this matter.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

Melinda
Jul 24, 2018
Long-distance move from Farmington, UT to Marysville, WA

Worst customer experience ever.

Zippy Shell Moving and Storage
This has been the WORST customer experience of my life. I was (wrongly) assured and reassured of how simple and convenient this process would be for me..

2 months of arguing about being double charged, with employees refusing to let me speak to a manager. Being told that they didn't know where my property was. Being told that the time I requested was unavailable because "it's a weekend and peak moving season" (umm.. You are a moving company and don't make the necessary adjustments in staff for peak moving season??). Having to explain 5 times that I need to have the trailer delivered as late in the day as possible, only to be told the warehouse isn't open after 5pm, and that my things would be delivered between 9am-1pm on a Monday. FINALLY being told they could "escalate" my case to manager, but not for 2 business days. NEVER being contacted by any manager. I asked how I was supposed to even hire someone to come help if they don't know exactly when my possessions are arriving. They offered to have me hire their workers come unload for $300 extra. Found people who were able to help unload at 10am- all strangers to us from our new church- (since you told us repeatedly that the truck would be here as close to 10am as possible)- onle to have 10am come and go. Being called at 1:30 by the driver to tell us they are 45min out. Hmm, warehouse must be open after 5 or how does the driver return? Guess who's still not here (3:00pm)?

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

Bridget
Jul 24, 2018
Long-distance move from Berwick, PA to Los Angeles, CA

Zippy Shell Moving & Storage.

I strongly encourage you NOT to choose Zippy Shell for your move. By far the WORST customer service I have ever dealt with - I still have not spoken to a manager or supervisor after multiple attempts since my belongings were picked up - and it took from 6/15 to 7/18 to have my belongings delivered and absolutely NO refund or discount was offered.

My belongings were picked up on June 15th to be shipped across country from PA to CA. I scheduled a cross country move with zippy shell on 4/21/18 to be picked up on 6/15 for a 7/1 delivery at the latest. Called customer service rep on 6/8 to confirm and schedule an immediate shipment, no storage needed and was told that wouldn't be a problem and it was confirmed. I then also confirmed with the movers when they packed up the truck, - they said it would be 3 days max to ship, as it was a Friday and they had to load 2 other storage cages into the freight before it could depart. Thinking everything was on schedule, 10 days later I called on 6/25 to confirm the location of the freight and provide the delivery address in CA. Much to my shock, I was informed it hadn't even shipped from PA yet. They apologized for error and the customer service rep assured me they would handle it - she said she spoke with her supervisor who would "expedite the shipment" to arrive by the end of the week 6/29 and I should call back in the morning to get accurate date when freight would arrive. I called back the next day and spoke with another customer rep who said unfortunately it wouldn't be able to make it until Monday 7/3. I didn't have any other choice so I said that was okay. I was told I'd get an email the next day confirming. The next day I got an email that said it was "expedited" for delivery between 7/6-7/9. Again different dates and info than the last two customer service reps said. Although extremely frustrated, I again was calm and waited until 7/9. Still no email or call to let me know my unit had arrived. I called in the afternoon on 7/9 and was told "they don't have GPS to know where the truck is, but she spoke with freight and it would be there that night. I'd get a confirmation/delivery email late that night or early in the morning and I'd then be able to schedule my delivery to my house from the storage facility."
By 5pm on 7/10, no email. I once again called the only number the company provides and was told by customer service rep Sabel that "oh I'm sorry the rep you spoke with yesterday provided you inaccurate info. It's not there yet and would arrive sometime this week". I asked to speak with a manager or supervisor and was told I couldn't, that someone would call me in 2 business days and in the meantime again was told they'd expedite my shipment." I said I was already told that my shipment was expedited for 7/6 - that response made no sense whatsoever. I asked again to speak with a supervisor and she informed me "she's on the other line so she can't talk right now." I asked to be put through and would wait on hold until I could speak to someone. She said "ma'am I can't do that and I have other calls to take so I need to get off the line with you now."
Again, no date or accurate information given and no one has contacted me from the company to rectify the situation. I filed a complaint with BBB and the company simply stated they didn't have a reason for the late delivery and acknowledged nothing else about the horrible customer service and shortcomings of the complaint.
I did not ask for a refund or a discount for any of this up to this point, and no discount was offered for the error with shipment. I simply wanted to know where my belongings were and I get a straight answer from management. It was over a month since I shipped with this company and my belongings were finally delivered on 6/18. Mind you also, the warehouse was over an hour from my place and only did deliveries between 8-12pm. By this point I had started my new job and had no extra time off, but the company would not make any exceptions (nor was I ever told this when I called to get information and a quote back in April).

Again - I thought choosing this company would be okay and I read the bad reviews and prepared accordingly, but I was very wrong. Please do not use this company if you value your time, money and sanity.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3700

Not showing 26 filtered reviews.

These reviews are the subjective opinions of MoveAdvisor members and not of MoveAdvisor itself.

About Zippy Shell Incorporated

1.2 from 220 reviews · Washington, DC movers

Washington,Washington DC Map
Explore more Washington DC movers
See more moving companies in Washington, DC

Zippy Shell Incorporated has registered their account, so they will be able to see and respond to your reviews publicly.

Their address is 3050 K Street NW, Suite 170, Washington, DC, 20007, but movers usually cover a much larger area.

Company Notes

Zippy Shell Incorporated is a national provider of portable storage and moving services. Through a network of franchise locations and licensed partners, Zippy Shell provides nationwide moving and storage services. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Zippy Shell has over 50 independently and corporately operated facilities in approximately 120 markets. Zippy Shell is an exclusively licensed trademark of Zippy Shell Incorporated.

Licenses & Certificates for Zippy Shell Incorporated

To legitimately perform interstate moves, moving companies must be registered with the FMSCA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration). Click on the Zippy Shell Incorporated license numbers for the government record information:

ICC MC number: 935064
(Interstate Commerce Commission Motor Carrier number)

US D.O.T.: 2574332
(US Department of Transportation number)

Local State License: not provided

Want more detailed information on licenses? See our detailed guide on moving company regulations here.

What is Zippy Shell Incorporated cost for local moves?

We have calculated an approximate local moving market average price from 15 reviews of people moving within Washington DC to be $966.

From 12 local reviews for Zippy Shell Incorporated, we have calculated an average moving cost of $976 for local moves.

This could mean that Zippy Shell Incorporated is more expensive with about 1% from the market average.

Take note that these local moving prices may vary from the prices you will get if you contact the company, since these costs are based on reviews data and not the movers themselves. Move prices can vary greatly as factors like home size and time spent moving as well as supplemental services like packing and assembly could influence your individual price.

To receive a more accurate moving quote from multiple local movers and compare the best pricing, we recommend you get an estimate from our cost estimator here.

What is Zippy Shell Incorporated cost for interstate moves?

From 11556 reviews of people moving long ditance, we concluded that the market average costs are around $4846 when moving long-distance.

For Zippy Shell Incorporated, we estimate that their average long-distance moving costs will be around $3453, based on 162 long distance moving reviews.

This could mean that long-distance moving services costs of Zippy Shell Incorporated for moving between states is cheaper with about 29% from the market average.

Note that these long-distance moving prices vary from the prices you will get if you contact the company, since these costs are extracted solely from reviews data and not the moving company. In addition, move prices can vary greatly because of factors like shipment size and distance between locations as well as supplemental services like packing and assembly. This is why you should compare competing moving quotes from licensed movers with our tool here.

Average service costs information

We generate average normalized moving cost based on information submitted by people who have reviewed Zippy Shell Incorporated. Take note that these prices may vary from the prices you will get if you contact the company, since these costs are based on reviews data and not the movers themselves. Please note that move prices can vary greatly based on factors like home size and distance between locations as well as supplemental services like packing and assembly.

The market averages are generated from reviews on our review sites from the last 3 years. To get more precise moving quotes, please consider using our moving estimator.

Community testimonials, ratings and consumer reports on Zippy Shell Incorporated - a professional company located in 3050 K Street NW, Suite 170, Washington, DC, 20007. Discover Washington, Washington DC moving companies.

*MoveAdvisor may not be affiliated with Zippy Shell Incorporated and the estimates may be provided from other professional movers in our network.

Do you need help with your upcoming move? Call now (800) 989-8833 (800) 989-8833
Get a free quote and moving consultation. We are available 24/7.
Find Movers
Quote by Phone
Get a Quote
Click to call (800) 989-8833*

*At MoveAdvisor we will connect you with a professional moving company. Please note that we may not be affiliated with Zippy Shell Incorporated and you may be speaking with another licensed provider.

Best movers nearby