Poor communication and damaged goods
Alexandra Walrath
Submitted this review about
Swift-Van-Lines
Review made Live: 10/1/2013 12:35:00 PM
Before the move: Swift offered great customer service and reasonable rates.
Pick-up: The movers arrived several hours late due to a truck break-down. They were efficient, polite, and clear about company policies, but they were not particularly careful with items that I had marked as fragile. They left empty drink bottles on my lawn and spat out gum on my porch steps.
Transit: I was told multiple times by Swift's customer service rep that my shipment would take 7-9 days. After 7 days, I started trying to contact the movers to ask about my delivery date. It was very difficult to get in touch with the people at "dispatch" who knew where my stuff was. Sometimes no one answered the phone during business hours. Sometimes they promised to call me back, but then never called. Eleven days after pick-up, I finally spoke to someone at dispatch who told me that my shipment would take 14 days; she implied that the 7-9 day timeframe had never been realistic. She also revealed that my stuff had been sitting in storage in Florida for the past week.
Delivery: My shipment arrived on Day 12. The movers arrived several hours later than scheduled, at about 8 PM. There were only two men, and they were clearly in a big rush to finish my job and drive home. They asked me to help unpack my furniture, which was fine with me but not very professional. A lot of my boxes were crushed, and many of my plastic storage containers were cracked and broken. Some of my fragile items (ceramic pots, glassware) were broken. Once again, the movers threw their empty drink containers all over my yard (and this was a different crew of movers).
Overall, this company was honest about its rates. The crews worked quickly, and they were polite and kind. Customer service was excellent at the beginning of my transaction, but deteriorated once my stuff had been picked up. I wish that there had been better communication and that more care had been taken with my belongings.
