WORST MOVING EXPERIENCE EVER
Terry O
Submitted this review about
Flatrate-Moving
Review made Live: 4/2/2011 5:19:00 PM
Either our belongings were stolen, or through extreme incompetence, were lost.
We have moved seven times since July, 2007 and have used several different movers. The experience with FlatRate Moving was far and away the worst.
Ours was a small move. We moved 37 boxes, a television, two beds, and 8 pieces of framed artwork from upstate New York about 50 miles into New York City. Price, $820, although the sales person, Bernard Smith, tried to ratchet the price up late in the game. We had, at one point, considered making the move larger, which would have, of course, raised the price. But when we decided to drop the size of the move back to our original estimate, he insisted on keeping the price at the increased level. We fought it, and eventually he put the price back to $820.
The crew arrived about 20 minutes early, the truck was packed in 35 minutes, and at that point I was sure things were going OK. I got to NYC in my car in 90 minutes, and the movers arrived in 3 hours. That's when things started to get fishy. The driver kept insisting that we go down and look at the truck to make sure it was empty, which it was, and we therefore signed the paperwork. No mention was made of counting the boxes in the apartment. And of course, when you're moving, it's a very stressful time, and very easy to get flustered and distracted. Easy also to be taken advantage of.
During the next two days, as we unpacked, it became clear that a LOT of stuff was missing, maybe 5 boxes worth.
For our part, we should have inventoried everything, numbered the boxes, and made it clear to the crew we had done so. Our mistake. But you don't expect a company with a national reputation to employ people who would steal or lose customers possessions in a 50 mile drive.
Insurance compensates at 60 cents per pound. Ridiculous unless you're transporting an anvil. Customer service (Vicki Roehling and her crew) has not been particularly responsive, and have been mostly defensive of the crew. If it were me, and anyone employed by me was being accused of stealing or loss, that person would be on the carpet fast and I would be bending over backward to try and insure customer satisfaction. Not so with FlatRate Moving.
The reviews for FlatRate Moving around the web are generally quite good, except, notably for the ones relating to the New York City (Bronx) outlet. On this site, all but one are really negative. Our big mistake was to take the recommendation of a friend, and not to do our due diligence and check the company out more thoroughly. I'm pretty sure we would have gone with another group had we done so.
If you are looking for a mover, I would strongly suggest you look elsewhere than FlatRate Moving.
