Queens to LI
Kerri Acerra
Submitted this review about
Men On The Move
Review made Live: 2/21/2012 10:19:00 AM
I called Men on the Move after another very well known moving company didn’t show up for my appointment for an estimate. I set an appointment for a few days out; the estimator, Dmitry, was prompt, knowledgeable, well-dressed, etc. He provided an estimate on the spot and was easy to contact when I had questions and needed to change the date (multiple times).
My husband and I were moving out of a 2-bedroom apartment in Queens. We had pre-packed everything except for very large pieces. The day of the move, they arrived at 9:08am, just 8 minutes late (stuck behind a garbage truck on my one-way street). There were four guys who came in and looked over the place, went over some paper-work and got started.
My husband and I helped them with boxes and bags in hopes of making things quicker (it was an hourly charge). The guys were fairly cautious with our belongings and did carefully wrap furniture, beds, etc. in quilts. The quilts themselves were a bit disheveled and dirty and I had second thoughts about them wrapping my furniture in them but at that point there was little else I could do. I had requested three wardrobe boxes and when they brought them in they were pretty beaten up and over-used so I told the guys forget it and I dropped my remaining clothes in some bags.
There was once incident, which I had tried to prevent before the move. There was alternate side parking the day of the move so I called MOTM three days in advance to make a game plan so the truck wouldn’t be ticketed. The girl who answers the phone put me on hold, came back and told me not to worry the guys would take care of it. On the actual day, as the time for alternate parking came, I asked the guys what their plan was and they told me that the customer usually pays the ticket. I, of course, was angry since I had tried to mitigate the problem ahead of time. I called the office as the cops began patrolling/ticketing the street and had words with the manager who told me that either I pay the ticket or he’d have his guys circle the block until alternate was over. Alternate is two hours long and I was paying by the hour so clearly that was not a reasonable solution. Finally after some time the manager agreed that if we got ticketed he would pay one ticket. When the cop came around, I was able to avoid a ticket at all so in the end things worked out.
Getting back to the move – they were done emptying our apartment at around 1200pm (3 hours since arrival). At that point, they wanted to get lunch so my husband led them toward our next directed them to a subway for sandwiches. They didn’t take long before heading back out. They had to make one stop at my parent’s house to pick up a refrigerator we had stored there – they were in and out fairly quickly since my parents had it at the door ready to go. Finally, they arrived at our new home in the 2 o’clock hour.
Unfortunately, it began to rain at that point, but the guys did what they could to pull the truck close to the door so things wouldn’t get too wet. At the end of it, only 2 boxes had gotten very wet. Before I insert my complaints here, I should note that the guys really did work hard, carrying some very heavy pieces and maneuvering through hallways, stair cases, etc. That being said, they did severely chip one door-jam, made a few scratched in my wood floors, chipped the side of my bed frame and, most annoyingly banged up my master bedroom wall which had just been freshly painted. I’m not even certain why or how they did that considering it’s a very large room and they had plenty of space to work without hitting the wall. I now have a completely marked up wall and need to call the painter back/pay for the additional work. I didn’t call to complain only because I know the struggle I had with the manager the first time around and something tells me I won’t get anywhere with it.
They were done, ironically, at 4:08pm. I paid them, gave them some drinks and they were on their way.
Overall I was pretty pleased with move, albeit a few hiccups. They are they only moving company I’ve ever used so I have no experience to compare it with. I’d likely use them again if needed, but I’d be more prepared with certain things (ie: my own wardrobe boxes, more protection for my floors/walls, etc.)
