Dishonest, poor communication and unreliable
Terence
Submitted this review about
Sky Moving & Storage
Review made Live: 7/9/2010 8:06:00 PM
I chose Sky Moving based solely on the ‘glowing’ reviews here at MyMoverReviews.com. Had I researched the mostly-negative reviews of this company in other websites, I’d have avoided them like the plague. They were dishonest, unreliable and didn’t care about customers.
When I spoke with Shiri of Sky Moving, she told me to give her – on the spot - an inventory of all the items to be moved. That should have been a red flag, because one of the things that set apart reliable, quality-service movers from crappy ones is how they take inventory. The former either give you a list on paper to itemize (to be sent back to them), or send a representative over to do inventory. On-the-spot verbal inventory is a sure sign of crappy service. It is also very inaccurate because one cannot remember everything every time. For me, there were items I forgot to include and didn’t realize it till much later.
According to Sky’s quotation, the rates were based on weight and had a “Tariff Discount”. Never heard of “Tariff Discount”. I guessed it was intended to give the false impression that Sky provided the ‘lowest’ rate. It sure looked that way on paper. However, the quotation didn’t matter. Because Sky wasn’t the one that came by to do the moving. The one that did showed up went by a completely different rate and led to a much higher cost.
I called Sky again on June 17 to reaffirm the address, date and transport vehicle (smaller than semi-truck). A man on the other line reaffirmed it all. Sunday, June 27 came. Waited till late afternoon, but no phone call from the driver as promised by Shiri. I left two messages on the office phone, in part expressing my concern that no driver was going to show up. Then at 7pm, a woman (#512-981-9417) called to tell me that a driver named Bobby would be coming the next day (Monday). She gave me his number (after I asked her for it), from which I called him. He told me – over two calls – that our items would be picked up on Monday and delivered on Tuesday. He did not tell me straight up; I had to ask him specifically. By that time, I had an uneasy feeling that there would be more problems to come.
Monday, June 28. By mid-afternoon, driver Bobby neither called nor answered the phone despite several attempts to contact him. So I called Ms. “512-981-9417” twice. The first time, she said she’d try to contact Bobby then call me back. She didn’t, so I called her an hour later. She said Bobby didn’t have the PO. How would he be able to get to my place without a PO?? I was already worried. I then called Shiri. It sounded like she wasn’t at work. Background sound suggested she was elsewhere getting out of her car, and there was a kid with her?? After expressing my frantic state, she said she’d get in touch with the driver. 30 minutes later, someone named Steve from Compass Van Lines called. He said he’d be my driver, and would get to me when he finished with his current job. Except he didn’t know when the current job would end. He and his crew didn’t show up till 9pm. This meant that our items would not be delivered until the following afternoon.
When Steve went through the paperwork with me, I was charged $2.80/cu. ft. for quoted volume, and $3.80/cu. ft. for volume that was over. Since I was allegedly 200 cu. ft. over, that was an extra $786.60. 20 extra boxes of 5 cu. ft. each totaling over 200 cu. ft.?!! Bullshit! Furthermore, Compass charged me by the volume. Sky quoted me only by the weight – $0.81/lb within quotation and $0.90/lb for weight that was over! Not only that, Steve tried to fleece me by claiming his ‘boss’ wouldn’t accept money order (for 50% of remaining quoted balance to be paid during pick up) that was made out to Sky Moving. In the first place, I didn’t know Sky contracted the job to Compass until a few hours before Compass showed out, and that was late in the night on pick-up date. Even then, Steve wouldn’t confirm the approximate time he would show up. Up to that point, I was under the impression that Sky was doing the moving. That was why the money order was made out to them. Yet Sky did not even have the courtesy to contact me “prior to pick-up date” to confirm arrival as promised. Steve didn’t care. The $528.00 money order was no good. I would have to re-withdraw the rejected amount plus the remaining balance. Total projected cost = $2804.00. I could cover $2276.00 (if Steve would accept the money order), but not $2804.00. Where would I get that kind of money? (The following day, prior to delivery, Steve said that he accepted the money order, so I only needed to provide the remaining balance.)
Compass delivered on Tuesday mid-afternoon, with some damaged furniture. The whole experience was a nightmare. Stressful, poor to no communication from Sky, prospective burned finances and plenty of wasted time. I learnt now what to look for in a mover company the next time I relocate. Certainly not Sky Moving and Compass Van Lines. Any company that doesn’t charge by volume isn’t to be trusted. Furthermore, Sky did not offer an GNTE (Guarantee Not To Exceed) proposal, which allowed them and the contracted movers to charge me whatever obscene amount they wanted. But one question remained unanswered. Who was Bobby (#512-981-9418) and Ms. “512-981-9417”? What did they have to do with the moving?
For further information, I've included links to Sky's quotation:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2643/skyw236447page1.jpg
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5290/skyw236447page2.jpg
