Safe Load Moving & Storage

It was our first move ever using a moving company, and I did as much research as possible. When I called the company initially I asked if they could come do a visual estimate, because I had a couple of other companies do the same. Matt guaranteed me there was no need — they will just give a price based off of the estimates from the other companies. I called a few days later to confirm a delivery date with Brian (I think) and told him I don’t care what date they pick up my items as long as they are there by June 3^rd. He said he will schedule it for April 23^rd and that way it will «FOR SURE be there by June 3^rd. I guarantee it.»
Apparently, this company has a very nasty habit of verbally guaranteeing things and then later hiding behind contracts and paperwork.
April 23^rd came, and the movers said we would have to pay an extra 1900 because they estimated wrong. After letting them know that we were very disappointed and that it put our family in a very tight spot, the man kept pushing and pushing, and in such a short time frame we really had no choice but to pay them the extra money. I called the company and all they said was «Well, estimates are not binding and they’re just estimates.» I told them «However, when I asked you to come do a visual estimate, you refused.» They said nothing. Mind you, my boyfriend, who is financing this whole thing is out of state working so I am by myself with our toddler, and I think he figured he would take full advantage of the fact that I was so naïve when it came to moving. I asked the man in charge that day «So my things will be there on June 3^rd right?» Twice he reassured me «June 3^rd, yes. No problem. I guarantee it. You have my word!»
June 3^rd comes along, and we waited until about 3 PM before we called the company and they told us they would have the driver call us. The driver calls and says, «I’ll be there in 3 or 4 days because I am in Dallas right now.» Excuse me? I call the company back fuming, and all they said was, «Well, our contract says that we have a 2 – 3 week turn around time, and if you wanted a guaranteed delivery date you should have paid the $ 30.» When I asked her what she was talking about, the lady says, «Our company has a fee of $ 30 that we charge to guarantee your goods to be delivered on a specific date.» I told her that nobody made my aware of a fee when I made the reservation MONTHS ago, and nobody on the day of the move asked if I had paid it or even so much as brought up a fee when I specifically told them that I would need my things ON June 3^rd. They should have either told me about the fee or scheduled the pick up date sooner when I made the reservation… MONTHS ago. She just hung up.
I had to send our son with his grandparents because we didn’t have anything for him to sleep on or anything else for that matter!!! I told my boyfriend, who called the next day and got nowhere. Mind you, most of the people in «dispatch» don’t speak English, they interrupt you at any chance they get, and they talk over you. I tried to get the matter solved, because I feel as if fair is fair, and for us to pay an extra 1900 for them to be 4 days late is ridiculous. We got a call back the day before the movers got to the house and the «owner» (I guess) said «Um, the truck broke down.» How f****** convenient, right? Right. Bullshit, in my opinion. Took you two days to come up with that excuse. Not only are we out the 1900 for the company, but now we had to go buy other household items to live until the movers got there because we had no stuff.
Anyway. June 6^th at around 6 PM, the guys come, and one of the guys shoves the papers towards me and says, «Sign here.» It was a paper saying that they had delivered all of the goods and that they were in good condition. I told him I can’t sign that because nothing is off of the truck. He told me if I didn’t sign it, they can’t unload the truck. THEN he tells me I have to pay the rest of the 1900 before they start. It didn’t make sense, but I was so exasperated I signed it and paid the money. They were SUPPOSED to assemble the beds and couch, and unwrap the furniture. They assembled the bottom part and arranged both beds so the headboards only LOOKED like they were assembled. They forgot to unwrap a whole dresser. They didn’t bother to assemble the couch at all. AND they threw all the paper on the floor — didn’t even bother to ask where a trash can was.
As I was unpacking, I came to realize that we were missing not only a significant amount of our pots and pans, and other kitchen items, but some of our stuff was placed into different boxes and moved around. We are also now missing a lot of expensive electronics like our cable modem and router and things like that. I filed a complaint with the BBB and DOT a week ago — they have not responded. They made an already stressful and terrifying experience even worse. I will NEVER use any moving company ever again because of them.

I called the company and spoke and email directly with a gentleman/​salesman Maxx. he basically told us that they would be the lowest guaranteed and we took him at his word. Through email he promised a number of things that made the deal that much better. When the foreman (not sure if he is affiliated with the company or not… still trying to figure it out) showed up in a Budget rental truck that was smaller than I had discussed with Maxx, I was very skeptical about the movers fitting out load in one truck. The foreman (Bob) after walking around the house came back with a new price that exceeded the estimate given by Maxx (solely based on guesstimate) by over $ 3000. I negotiated back and forth with the foreman and he kept saying that if he had to return a second time that he would charge me an additional $ 1000. Thank goodness I had the email conversations with Maxx so I could show him what was and wasn’t included in the bid. After going back and forth for 45 minutes with Bob, I asked him to call Maxx on the phone and Maxx did everything in his power to help me out. the price increased by close to $ 3,000 so if you know the actual weight of your load you may be better prepared than I. (Make sure you have a reputable company come through your house to give you a weight based estimate and show them everything they will be taking with them.) It ended up that they couldn’t fit everything in the Budget Rental Truck so they came back the next day to pick up the rest of our stuff. They didn’t charge us a thing for the second truck and did a fantastic job wrapping and packing our stuff. Bob is an interesting character and I believe is far to a point. Make sure you get everything in writing/​email before you pay the deposit otherwise they amount you agreed to may increase substantially with this moving company.
The Beginning: I felt very satisfied with Maxx and dealing with his secretary (or wife). I think they run the company out of their home as a third party servicer. I don’t know this for sure. Any how they were great to work with.
The Day of the Move: the debate over cost with their foreman (Bob) was literally ridiculous and unless you have a steel spin, he will coax you for ever last penny. If on the other hand you keep good records and have them and are willing to fight for what you were promised, they will work with you to make you happy. The foreman and his group arrived at our home around 5PM and literally worked until 1AM to finish the job. Although this shows great drive, it would have been better if they would have arrived earlier so they wouldn’t have kept my neighbors up all night. By keeping they up I mean extremely loud speaking on cell phones in the middle of the street, starting and stopping the diesel engine, raising and lowering the tailgate on the Budget Rental Truck, and banging pipes and furniture as the moved everything into the truck and out onto the driveway. My wife and kids spent the better part of the night hiding in the backroom as to not get in their way and were able to sleep after about 11:45PM. The next morning we woke to a battle field of tape, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, water bottles, and cigarette butts in and outside of the house. The arrived for the second load around 10:30AM and were gone by 11:30AM, after asking if we wanted to give them a tip. :P
The Day of the Move in on the Other Side: We were contacted by a company called OCO Transport that Safe Load had contracted with to transport the move to the East coast. They arrived when they said they would, and did a fantastic job moving everything into the house. I was upset at first that Safe Load didn’t do the job, but realized that the other company was great and did fantastic.
Furniture Condition: I will continue to update this section until we are fully finished uncovering and documenting the damage that was caused in the move. To start, there was considerable damage to most items wrapped by the Safe Load guys. Huge dents in the washer and dryer, gouges in our headboards, wood benches, seats, bunk beds, and missing nuts and bolts for everything from the entire bunk bed system to tables and chairs. The tied two Adirondacks chairs together with tape and nothing in between and they are trashed. One of the arms on our wood bench was smashed and dangling, a leather footstool has a tear and slice in the top of it, and the bunk bed set is a mess with gouged wood and missing parts. I WOULD SUGGEST GETTING FULL COVERAGE BECAUSE THE $ 0.50/LB COVERAGE THAT COMES WITH THE PRICE QUOTED WON“T COME CLOSE TO COVERING THE DAMAGE INCURRED.
More updates to come.