Texas A-1 Movers - Disaster!
Shari
Submitted this review about
Texas A-1 Movers, Inc.
Review made Live: 1/3/2014 1:15:00 AM
I moved from the DFW area of North Texas to Arkansas and chose Texas A1 Movers (Bekins) as my moving company. I have moved 6 or 7 times in the past and have never used a moving company. This was the first time I used one. In the past, I've always rented a U-Haul truck and hired off duty firemen to load/unload the truck. In all of my moves, I have never had a piece of furniture broken or damaged. So, when I hired Texas A-1 Movers to move my stuff, I had high expectations, because after all, they are professional movers and do this everyday. Never did I think that I would have so many broken and damaged items that will now have to be replaced. I am very disappointed in the service I received from Texas A-1 Movers. I am also disappointed/upset with the lack of honesty and integrity of the company. I will never use Bekins again. Below is a synopsis of my experience. I know it is long, but if I can prevent what happened to me from happening to another person, it will be worth the time spent reading it.
I WAS OVERCHARGED:
1. Originally, I was going to have the movers pack some of my bigger items... pictures, etc. The salesman estimated that it would take 10 cartons for the items that needed to be packed. I was charged for having those cartons packed, but ended up packing most of my pictures, etc., myself. The movers only packed 4 mirrors/pictures, yet I was charged for 10 instead of just the 4 they actually packed.
2. I was also charged for packing and unpacking three containers (hanging clothes). Originally, I was going to have the movers pack up my hanging clothes in my closets, but decided to do it myself instead, therefore, they did not do the packing or unpacking.
THINGS THAT WERE PROMISED TO ME BY THE TX A1 MOVERS SALESPERSON BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN:
I told my salesperson that I was going to be putting some items into storage and some items were going to a house. I also told him that there was a bedroom set of furniture from one bedroom at the destination house that would need to be moved to storage and then my bedroom set (that was on the truck) would be put into that same room in the destination house. My salesperson said that would not be a problem and the movers would take care of it. He did tell me to let the movers know which items (boxes and furniture from the origin house) were going to be going to the destination house so that they could be packed last and the items going to storage would be packed first. A word to the wise, if you have a complicated move, make sure the salesman puts EVERYTHING into writing in the contract. You'll find out below why you need to do this.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE MOVERS HAD FINISHED PACKING THE TRUCK:
When I was getting ready to sign the paperwork, I began to read over the paperwork and the guy told me to just sign each page. I asked the mover to explain what was written under the condition of origin column and he said not to worry about it. It just needed to be signed. He hurried me through each page and seemed in a rush to get going so he could leave. Later, as I sat down with my copies of the paperwork, I realized why he was rushing me through it. He was listing my belongings/furniture as damaged and in worse shape than it actually was. That way, if damage occurred during the move, then Bekins wouldn't have to reimburse me because the paperwork stated that it was damaged prior to the move. This speaks to the lack of honesty and integrity of Texas A-1 Moving Company and Bekins.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED DURING THE MOVE:
When the movers arrived at the destination house (in Arkansas), the truck driver (Marvin) told me that I was going to be charged extra for moving the furniture out of the bedroom and into storage and then moving my furniture into the bedroom. The antique furniture from the bedroom was brought downstairs and left on the front porch outside so that the bedroom furniture on the truck could be unloaded and put into the bedroom at the house. Then the truck driver told me that they were not going to take the furniture that had been put onto the porch. He then proceeded to leave the furniture that I had been told would be taken to storage by my salesperson on the front porch. The truck driver refused to move the furniture. I had to pay $40 extra to have the furniture moved from the porch to storage after the truck driver left.

I also had to purchase a new thermostat for the house because the one that was on the wall was knocked off and broken by one of the movers. The thermostat was broken into several pieces that couldn't be put back together. I also had to go to Home Depot to get wood for bed slats because the slats did not arrive with everything else (before the move, I had bed slats). The movers didn't tell me that there were no slats. The only reason I found out about the slats was because I had to crawl under my bed to plug in my bedside table lamps and saw that they were not there. Again, this shows the character of the company - no honesty or integrity. They should have said something to me about the missing bed slats.
There were several items that were not delivered to me that had been placed onto the truck. I didn't receive them until 3 months after the move. Two items were never delivered to me at all. I have a sneaking suspician that the truck driver has them in his possession. They were a set of Power Block dumbbell weights that cost $350+. Unfortunately, I don't expect to receive them from Bekins.
ISSUES DURING THE MOVE AND WITH THE TRUCK DRIVER:
The truck driver was rude, lazy and inconsiderate of me and my furniture. He was argumentative. He refused to do anything if it was not spelled out for him in his paperwork - absolutely NO customer service. The two guys (from Arkansas) that were helping the driver were extremely frustrated with him. One of them said that he would never work for that driver ever again. They both stated that they always treat the customer and the customer’s items (furniture, boxes, etc.) like they would want their stuff to be treated or would want their family’s stuff to be treated. They would not leave someone’s furniture outside on the porch for the customer to have to deal with later on their own.
While unpacking the truck, the driver called me over to take a picture of a piece of furniture that had been broken. He seemed to not care that the piece was broken and in a laissez faire way, said, “Bekins will fix it”. My thought is that I don’t want to have to go through the steps of having to get the company to fix it and really, I shouldn’t have to do all this. In all of my previous moves, I have never had to deal with this kind of attitude, treatment, and complete lack of care in how my furniture/items were treated and thus broken.
Marvin ruined two of the four chairs from my good dining room set. One of the chairs will not be able to be fixed because the back of the chair (wood) is completely splintered. Because it is a set of 4, the entire set of chairs will have to be replaced. He also denied having messed up the second chair. I was proactive before the move and took pictures of my furniture... I would highly recommend taking pictures of all of your furniture and valuables before your move. They will come in handy`if you have to make a claim after the move. After the truck had been loaded I looked at my items on the truck... it looked like things had been shoved and forced into spaces where they should not have been put. Again...complete lack of care for my belongings.
My final words... moving is very stressful as it is. You don't want to add stress by hiring a moving company that lacks honesty, integrity, and could care less about you and your belongings. Get bids from several moving companies and NEVER go with the cheapest bid!
