Simonik Moving & Storage Co

Their rep arrived at my home and spent about 20 minutes working up an estimate. He said he would call back the next day with an estimate. Next day, nothing. Day after that I call and left a message. No response. Obviously they didn’t want the business but I’m always peeved when they don’t have the courtesy to respond and just go with the «silent treatment.»

Moved from Central Jersey to Astoria, NY for my boyfriend’s job. We got tons of boxes, paper, tape, etc. Everyone was really timely & helpful, and they even helped us move a few pieces of furniture from my boyfriend’s parents’ home in Hillsborough (all of our things were in Somerville). They also helped us install our A/​C unit once we got to our apartment. Really great service!

Simonik has deceptive & fraudulent practices and did not keep their word on multiple counts. Their «guaranteed rate» does not mean anything. Their weighing wasn’t honest. Buyer beware!
First, their sales rep Matt, courteous and seemed professional at first, gave a low-​ball estimate to get our business. They gave us a «guaranteed not to exceed» estimate of around $ 12k. I also purchased a «guaranteed rate reduction» just in case our weight would come UNDER their estimate. But a week after they picked up our goods and put it in storage, he called to say that the weight came way above (about 4,000 lbs) above their estimate. Apparently, they did either a very poor job estimating our goods, or purposely underestimated (by a couple hundred items?!), just to get the job and then «stick it to us» later. I had not hidden any items, and even disclosed one additional item that I later found during the move, that was in a dark corner of our crawl space, that was most likely missed. They wanted me to pay an additional $ 3,500+! Not having researched all my rights yet, I said to Matt that I would be willing to work out a number in between and asked for a new quote. Instead, he sent me a change order showing no compromise on his part, but asking me to pay the additional $ 3,500+. Apparently, he had no intention of absorbing any of the error in his estimate. He SOUNDS nice on the phone but what he DID doesn’t line up with what he SAID.
I called other movers and professionals in the moving industry and was told that they are bound to keep their «guaranteed rate» estimate. The «Mover’s rights & responsibilities» book says that even if the estimate is non-​binding, they’re not allowed to charge you more than 10% above the original estimate. Multiple professional sources confirmed that my complaint was valid and what Simonik was doing was unethical. I called Allied Van Lines to complain, and they reported that in the system Simonik had already put in the higher weight and price, when I had not even signed this change order! I let Allied Corporate know that I had not agreed to this change order, and that Simonik was charging me way more than originally estimated in their «guaranteed rate estimate», and that I was disputing this charge.
In my follow-​up calls with Simonik, the sales rep was not helpful nor did I trust him, so I asked to speak with the president Jim, who then insulted me on the phone, yelling, calling me NAMES (unbelievable!) and threatening me. («I can charge whatever I want to for that extra item, you won’t get your things back until you pay, etc.») He was unprofessional & a bully. He wasn’t willing to work out a compromise until I showed him my other quotes. I wanted to get my things back and decided to work out a compromise to do so; I gave copies of the two other quotes I had received, a low/​mid non-​binding estimate, and a higher, binding estimate that was actually accurate. Knowing I would file complaints w/​various organizations and go after him legally if necessary, Jim did work out a number in between, and net-​net, I ended up paying about $ 1,800 (about 11%) more than the original estimate and signed the change order.
Next, the weight ticket. ALWAYS ask for the weight ticket, and know that you have the right to be present at the weighing. I was not present at the first weigh-​in after pick-​up, but did ask for copies of the weight tickets. But not being able to trust in the integrity of their weighing, I did ask to be present for the weighing at final delivery. Matt seemed reluctant to have me present at the weighing and even slightly tried to discourage me from being present, but when I stood firm, he complied and connected me with the driver who would do the delivery. And guess what? The weight of the delivered goods came in 850 lbs LOWER than Simonik’s weight. How do you think Simonik got a weight 850 lbs higher than the actual weight? Even their weighing was dishonest!
I’m so disappointed & disgusted at the levels of dishonesty in their company, that I can’t even speak with them. In the end, I got my things back, from a mover that didn’t keep their word and even falsified their weight of my goods to charge me more… but it it took a whole lot of stress & fighting to get my things back! I will never deal with them again, and warn others from doing so.
The packers, loaders & unloaders worked hard and seemed to do a good job. Not sure how the unloaders at the Simonik storage facility did; a few of our items did arrive broken, and we will be filing a claim. On delivery day, the unloading team, led by ANOTHER Allied Van Lines driver (this agent was from NY) did a good job, and we tipped them well. Overall, Allied Van Lines might be OK, but PLEASE do stay away from their local agent Simonik Moving & Storage! :(

Do not use Simonik and do not use Allied Van Lines! You will regret it. We selected Simonik Movers since they are the local partner with Allied Van Lines. We just relocated o Austin two weeks ago. I completely agree with the comments of John K, but wish to take my critique further, since our move was to Austin. Our furniture was picked up by a very competent local crew on June 22. That’s where the positive experience started and ended. Allied Van Lines staff in Indiana and Simonik in Bound Brook, NJ grossly misrepresent their capabilities to provide a worry-​free, timely national move. The salesman arranging our national move, completely misled us and the staff at both the local and national levels are uninformed and apparently unable to help the customer. It’s a perfect storm of confusion and chaos.
Bruce Hartmann, was our national salesperson who is based in the local Simonik office, promised in writing that our household would be delivered 5 – 9 days from pickup on June 22, or by July 1 at the very latest. Our delivery finally occurred on July 8. The local Simonik staff — Sandy the manager, Wendy, the coordinator and Bruce our slick salesman — have NO information on our move status, nor do they care. We have had to contact the national move «specialist», for information on our move and She has done her best to give us updates on status. Apparently only the assigned national driver of our truck is the only person able to tell you when he plans to deliver your household.
This complete lack of management information at both the local and national office levels is astounding in this day and age. Allied Van Lines has little investment or interest in managing their moves. They literally have no national tracking system of their moves so they don’t know where your move is at any given time, or status, leaving the customer to scramble to get updates. I would NEVER recommend scheduling a move either locally in the Tri-​state area or nationally with Allied Van Lines or Simonik in New Jersey. Allied Van Lines is as disorganized as is Simonik; no one at either level really cares. When we finally were contacted by the driver, he appeared agitated and frustrated with the workload. He was behind schedule and understaffed. This is not a «bargain» move by any means. We are paying top dollar for this move because we thought we were hiring one of the best national moving companies. It’s a joke. We have asked for compensation above a meager $ 150 a night hotel reimbursement offered by the national coordinator but were denied. In Austin, any decent hotel is well over $ 200 per night. Our scheduled delivery date is now July 8^th (17 days since pick-​up.
When we finally received delivery, many furniture items were scratched and knicked. Multiple boxes were delivered soaking wet and others crushed. Our delivery driver To Austin was excellent. As were his two local assistants from Austin. He told us that our entire household had been unwrapped at the Simonik warehouse and off loaded from the truck that picked up our belongings on June 22. All our carefully wrapped furniture had to be rewrapped because the padding belonged to the local Simonik company and not the national company! Plus our furniture had sat on a loading dock uncovered for over a week editing to be re wrapped and reloaded onto the national truck. Our driver said this was completely unnecessary and the fault of Simonik and the local management of our move. So why isn’t Allied staff monitoring their moves and preventing this sort of nonsense from happening? Where are the quality checks? Who is monitoring the performance of their network partners? And why is the delivery solely in charge of the move? It’s a bizzare and archaic system. Congress should investigate the moving industry!
We plan to litigate for compensation due to delays, false advertising on both websites, and incredible emotional stress caused by Allied and Simonik.
IF ANYONE HAS EVER USED ALLIED VAN LINES OR SIMONIK AND ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING A CLASS ACTION SUIT, PLEASE CONTACT ROBERT DANTUONO AT
THANKS.

Even though they were the one of the most expensive quotes we received they managed to charge us another $ 1,000 that was never mentioned to us. The moving crew did a great job, the salesman and the office staff were very unresponsive. I would not recommend this company.

This company ruined an expensive dining room table and chair. After waiting for a month I called them to ask why no one had responded to my claim. The owner, Jim Simonik made no effort to apologize for damaging my furniture or ignoring my claim. He told me I would be receiving a settlement of only $ 78.00 and then got nasty and told me it was my fault for not buying more insurance. I would have bought more if I had known how badly they would treat my furniture. Needless to say, I would never use this company again!