Avoid Cali Moving AT ALL COSTS!!
Jon
Submitted this review about
Cali Moving
Review made Live: 7/24/2011 12:43:00 PM
AVOID THIS COMPANY!!!!
I am a separating military officer... I have moved a number of times on the government dime with fantastic results by government contracted movers so I know what a "good" move is and what a "bad" move is. This time, there was a heavy back-log of moves and moving with the Navy was unavailable within the time-frame I needed. So... I structured is as a DitY (do it yourself) move and hired my own company. Big mistake.
Leah, the sales representative, is a liar. She quotes you prices that don't match the service you are receiving. Initially, she quoted me a price of the move from CA to OH for $3900 and $1500 in packing and shipping (for a total of $5400) she quoted me a delivery time of "a week to two weeks". Great. When the movers showed up to pack us up, they said that there was NO WAY they'd be there in that amount of time because our belongings would be sitting in a warehouse for two weeks AT A MINIMUM before they shipped. Leah NEVER mentioned a warehouse or our belongings sitting in one.
So... to alleviate the problem, Mike (a manager) suggested we pay $8500 to get a "one-truck/one-shipment" move. The PENSKE truck that showed up to pack us would drive directly to Ohio. We reluctantly agreed to get our goods as quickly as possible. The head driver (Ari) told us our goods would be on the road that night (Thursday), or tomorrow (Friday). The absolute latest date the truck was scheduled to leave was Saturday morning. That didn't happen either.
My wife and I repeatedly called Mike, where he swore up and down that the truck was leaving Sunday (July 10) morning. He said he'd come in to work especially on this Sunday to verify that it had. Well... we don't know if it did or not. Because the phone call we were supposed to receive (among many other efforts at communication) went unanswered. Now, we're trying to call the office - during normal business hours - and there is no answer! We can't even leave a message because the mailbox is full!
There are many, many other things that happened over the course of this move with broken promises, unanswered attempts at communication, unprofessionalism, and a general sense that they don't really care about our feelings or emotions regarding this process. I mean... they only have ALL OF MY BELONGINGS!
To be fair, there are two things Cali Moving is good at. They did do an exceptional job at packing our things. When/if they ever arrive I do feel that they will arrive in good order. The other things is collecting money. They sure made sure that I was charged and they got paid their initial 60% of the total bill with a quickness.
Pay a big company people... Pay for Allied or something like them. It's worth the peace of mind. Heck, I paid the Allied price for a Cali move and am still completely in the dark. These people have no grasp that situations like these can be emotionally traumatic for people. Especially when numerous promises are made and routinely broken.
Now, I'm in a world of hurt because they have all of my things, I have NO IDEA the status of my move, and I payed out the wazoo for it.
I used to think I was an intelligent and responsible man... this move has made me feel like a fool because I fell for the initial low price and the bait/switch that has occurred.
UPDATE: I finally got my goods. I realized that they only packed well when my wife was watching them. The rest of my things were haphazardly thrown into boxes without any rhyme or reason. My favorite part was when they used my $100 business shirts and $100 ties AS PACKING MATERIAL because they ran out of boxes/paper. I won’t even get into how much stuff came broken.
The worst part of it all was this. They claimed “the truck broke down” in Chicago (why was it in Chicago to begin with? It’s not on the way to Stow, OH from California) and contracted a third party to move my goods the remainder of the way. A man on a truck not even affiliated with a Cali Moving moved my goods into my house with his brother and cousin!!
I’ve filed a claim with the DOT about them. Guess what I found out in the process? They’re NOT LICENCED TO DO INTERSTATE HOUSEHOLD GOOD MOVES! It’s illegal!! At a minimum they have a $25,000 fine on the way.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. These people are crooks, liars, cheats, and swindlers.
AVOID THIS COMPANY. PLEASE!!
