Zippy Shell Incorporated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The delivery end of our experience went very smooth. They delivered the empty container and picked up the loaded container on time at the origin location near Seattle. That's where the good part of our experience ends.

I called on October 6, 2017 to have our container shipped to our destination location in North Carolina. On November 11th, I received a billing notification for a month of storage in Seattle. I called them immediately and told them they shouldn't be charging me for storage in Seattle when our container was already on the truck. The customer service person confirmed it was on the truck and that it would be delivered in 10-14 business days.

On approx. the 11th business day I called to confirm delivery so we could let our apartment complex know when we would be receiving our container. The person I spoke with stated it was due to ship out of the Seattle warehouse on Oct. 25th..WHAT?? When I told the customer service agent we were informed the items had shipped on or around Oct. 10th, she confirmed that they had not. She then scheduled delivery for Thursday, Nov. 2nd. We made all of our arrangements for this "scheduled" delivery date.

On Wed., Nov 1st, we received an email asking us to contact them because our shipment had been delayed. I was very concerned since they had already charged me for the 2nd half of the delivery fee which only should have been charged once our container reached the destination warehouse. I called and spoke to a "manager" (his name was Rod or Don) who apologized and stated our container had to be re-routed through New Mexico and we should expect it Thur/Fri of the following week (11/9 or 11/10). He refunded the extra month of storage and the 2nd half of the shipping fee. This is the only thing that has actually happened that they said would happen.

Today I called to confirm delivery for 11/9 or 11/10 and was told, once again, that the container was still in Seattle and would arrive at the destination warehouse on Monday, 11/23/17. I said "you've got to be kidding me!!" and restated my conversation with the manager. I was very angry and dissatisfied with her answer and asked to speak to a manager. She informed me they "don't have the ability to transfer to a manager" and that she would escalate the issue and have a manager contact me within 48 hours.

By this time my husband is furious and calls Zippy Shell himself. He tries to get a manager on the phone and is told repeatedly that the issue has been escalated. Oh goodie..like that really means anything. Now we are supposed to hear back from a manager within 3 hours due to the "escalated status" of our issue.

So here we are, across the country from our origin and still do not have our stuff. No one can give us a straight answer as to where it is or when it will arrive. I honestly do not believe anything they tell me at this point. We've had to spend over $1,000 just to have things to function with everyday. No telling how much longer we will have to wait or if our stuff will even arrive or what condition it will be in when/if it arrives.

DON'T USE ZIPPY SHELL!! They will lie to you and send you in a never-ending circle speaking to people who can't tell you any valid information.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2300

I originally booked Zippy Shell to move from DC to Los Angeles because they were local, had a shell that was a perfect size, and the pricing seemed reasonable.

After booking, and after our stuff was gone, I decided to read reviews online to get a sense of what to expect, and to my horror, I read a number of terrible customer experiences that caused quite a bit of concern. People mentioned their stuff arriving at wrong locations, having to wait 30 days for arrival, 12 days for delivery once it was already in their city, and had awful customer service interactions. Needless to say, I was regretting my decision and crossing my fingers that these weren't going to be the case with my move.

To my pleasant surprise, I received a phone call 8 calendar days after the shell left my prior residence letting me know it had arrived in Los Angeles. I hadn't even left DC yet! They originally said it would be 10-14 business days, so was very impressive!

After arriving in LA, I called to schedule delivery. They said they typically ask for 72 hrs notice, but were able to deliver it within 48 hours of my call. Drop off communication with the warehouse person was fantastic. We were texting to confirm time and location, which is always a nice personal touch. My belongings arrived undamaged (except for two poorly packed Ikea wine glasses). More often than not, damage is caused by poor packing, and I've moved enough to know stuff needs to be tight like a perfect game on Tetris.

Thank you Zippy Shell for proving the bad reviews wrong and giving me an awesome moving experience.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3148

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. This was literally the worst customer experience of my life. I contracted with Zippy Shell to move my family from Charlotte, NC to the SF Bay Area. I found them online and what appealed to me was the fact that the trailers have license plates and therefore can be parked on the street legally vs. POD and other companies (which are not permitted to be parked on the street where we now live in CA). When I called and spoke to a sales person (which I had written down her name..) I gave them my drop dead delivery date of 5/27 and we then selected the container drop-off date in Charlotte based on the estimated delivery time which was provided to me on the phone (5/11). The service which was provided was foreshadowed by an email I received the first week of May stating that my container had arrived in CA. How could these be? I hadn't even received my container in Charlotte to pack my stuff yet? Then they couldn't locate the contract I e-signed, etc. a total mess. The container did arrive on 5/11 in the morning but the metal piece used to remove the cage from the trailer was bent so the ramp couldn't be extended.. the driver had to go back to the warehouse to have it fixed and then returned to my home in Charlotte later that morning. It was picked up on 5/14 and my assumption was it would be on it's way to CA on 5/15, as I was told. WRONG! I called Zippy Shell on 5/23 to confirm my container was in transit and would in fact be delivered on 5/27 and it HADN'T EVEN LEFT CHARLOTTE YET - it had been sitting at the warehouse in Charlotte for 10 days. I of course was freaking out as I then knew there was no way it would be delivered on 5/27. Customer Service stated that my container had been "bumped" from the freight which left on 5/15 and no one had scheduled it to depart until I CALLED. What if I hadn't called? When would my stuff have gotten there? Never? They told me the sales person I spoke with gave me false facts about the delivery time frame and they would "look into it to see if further training on protocol was needed." After working with Lauren, who I believe is an "Escalation Manager", I was finally told my container would be picked up in Charlotte on 5/25 and arrive in California on 5/29. Needless to say the container did arrive on 5/29 but I was then told by Lauren (only AFTER it arrived in CA) that "this time of year in the Bay area is pretty busy and it could take up to a week to get your items delivered - we will have to confirm scheduling with dispatch at the warehouse near your area). Are you F*CKING kidding me? Why didn't someone tell me that when I was booking? The only reason I went with this company was because I was told my items would be delivered on 5/27. I would have packed my sh*t up and had it picked up well before 5/14 had I known it was going to take this long. My stuff was not delivered until 6/7 - 12 days after I was told it would get delivered. I have a 2yo and 4yo, we had none of our stuff, I had to go out and buy duplicates of sheets, towels, etc., not to mention the NUMEROUS times I had to call their 888 number to get a hold of someone. More than a handle of times I was told someone would return my call and HOURS would pass with nothing, I would then have to call them back and basically harass them to get a response. Once again, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $3500

I'm incredibly disappointed with Zippy Shell. I found that there is a major disconnect between the sales team and customer care. Sales does a great job and I found my salesperson to be incredibly friendly and helpful, but Zippy Shell under-delivered.
- My contract states that my belongings will arrive at my destination in 5-10 business days, and I'm fully understanding of that. But, my sales person kept mentioning she's obligated to say that, but my belongings would be there sooner. Customer care keeps mentioning that it's peak season and my belongings will take the full 10 days.
- There is no way to track the status of your belongings once the Zippy Shell ships from the origin warehouse. I'll simply get an email when they arrive at the destination warehouse. This makes it incredibly hard to schedule labor and coordinate the actual move. The customer care team can only see that your Zippy Shell is in transit, but can't give you any additional information.
- The concept, in theory, sounded like a great idea, but it's incredibly flawed. I used professional movers and they found it incredibly difficult to pack the cage without having anything shift and/or hang out the side.
I really wanted to like Zippy Shell, but I am so disappointed. We didn't bring nearly enough with us as we sit in this empty house waiting for our belongings. We even tacked on a little vacation during our move, hoping our Zippy Shell would catch up to us by the time we got to our destination. I would not recommend for anyone looking for long distance movers.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3200

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