USA Moving & Storage

Thank you for forwarding Ms. [redacted]’s

complaint to our attention. We would like to offer the following response.

The truck scheduled to collect Ms. [redacted]’s

shipment was delayed due to a mechanical breakdown which made it impossible for

the...

truck to arrive in time to collect Ms. [redacted]’s shipment. Arrangements

were made for a partnered carrier to collect Ms. [redacted]’s shipment in our

place. Ms. [redacted] was contacted by our dispatch office 24 hours prior to

the pickup date and informed of the situation and was provided with contact

information for the partnered carrier. Ms. [redacted]’s move was not brokered

out. Due to the unexpected delay, alternative arrangements were made to avoid

inconveniencing Ms. [redacted] or delaying her move.

Because we were not the transporting agent, all

payments were made by Ms. [redacted] directly to [redacted]. As no

payment was due to [redacted] from us, we do not understand why they

would say the shipment was delayed due to lack of payment on our behalf? Finally,

Ms. [redacted] was available to receive shipment as of May 10 and or records

show that she received her items well within the agreed upon delivery window.

We regret that Ms. [redacted] was unhappy with

our service. As the services were provided in full, Ms. [redacted] is not

eligible for a refund as she received the services she contracted for.

I used this company for my first out of state move to Los Angeles, CA and am very pleased at how smooth the whole process went. After hearing several moving horror stories from friends (things going missing, arriving weeks late, etc.) I was a bit reluctant to use a company rather than rent a truck myself, but am incredibly thankful I went with this company instead. They saved me money, time, and the headache of doing it all myself. The movers were professional and efficient on both ends, placing everything in its proper place as per my instruction. My moving rep kept me updated the entire time as to when my things would arrive and stuck true to her word. Nothing was missing or damaged and I ended up paying less than I would have had I rented a [redacted]. A huge thank you to USA Moving and my rep who was in constant contact with me every step of the way, you will be highly recommended!

Thank you for forwarding this consumers complaint to our attention,

we would like to offer the following response: Ms. [redacted] was provided in good

faith, with a ‘Binding Estimate by List of Items’ consisting of 76 pieces to be

moved which was provided by Ms. [redacted] to the relocation...

coordinator and a

visual estimate.   On the date of service Ms. [redacted] presented with additional

inventory items to be moved and required additional services. The Household

Goods Descriptive Inventory shows Ms. [redacted] transported 144 pieces, almost

twice as many as had been included in the Binding Estimate by List of Items’.

Ms. [redacted] was provided with revised pricing reflecting the additional

inventory and services which Ms. [redacted] accepted and agreed to. The delivery time frame agreed upon was up to 21 business days

from the 1st date Ms. [redacted] was available to receive shipment. General

delivery information provided to Ms. [redacted] indicted most deliveries occurred

within 7-14 business days. Any estimates on delivery provided by the foreman were

done in good faith based on the information available at that time.  Ms. [redacted] indicated November 23rd as her 1st available date for delivery. Ms. [redacted] received delivery

on December 12th, within 14 business days of the 1st available date and well within the agreed upon 21 business day delivery window.We

are currently searching for the missing boxes claimed by Ms. [redacted] and will coordinate

their return as soon as they are located. In the event the missing boxes are

not identified, Ms. [redacted] missing items will be addressed in the context of

our established claim process. Thank you.

Thank you for forwarding this complaint to our attention. Mr. [redacted] received a Binding Estimate in which it was indicated that packing materials were not included and would be charged upon use.  On the date of service, Mr. [redacted] required packing services and the price was...

adjusted to reflect the materials used. The cost of Mr. [redacted] move increased by $232 over the estimate. Mr. [redacted] should have been notified of the delivery time 24 hours in advance. We apologize if he did not receive enough notice however the delivery was delayed to accommodate his schedule. We also regret any refuse the delivery team may have left behind beyond. Please note that if Mr. [redacted] is referring to packing materials, since they were purchased by Mr. [redacted], they are his property. As Mr. [redacted] was aware that packing materials were not included with his estimate, and as Mr. [redacted] required packing materials and labor, which the carrier provided, we are unfortunately unable toaccommodate Mr. [redacted] request for a refund. If Mr. [redacted] continues to believe he is entitled to a refund he may submit to our claim administrator for consideration. Thank You.

USA Moving & Storage dba First Choice Moving and Storage

Move Out To Their Storage Facility: Actual price was more than double the price quoted. They will quote you a competitive rate, and then charge you more than a more reputable company. I paid a ton to have them pack most of my house. The movers did a good job and worked efficiently, but neglected to label any boxes. Dumb. I still tipped them well in hopes they would take good care of my possessions.

Storage: Awful in terms of invoicing and organization. For three months, they could not get the storage prices correct as per the contract I signed. Phone calls and emails were never returned. In the end, the movers had to correct the costs when they showed up months later. One of the most unprofessional business deals I've ever been subject to.

Move In From Their Storage Facility: Same guy in charge of the move as before. Denied being involved before and denied knowledge of why the boxes that his crew packed were not labeled. Unorganized and unprofessional. Broken items in boxes that they packed. Broke a light fixture in the house and offered a refund. Never followed through on the refund.

Conclusion: I cannot stress enough that for what I was charged in the end, another company with a better reputation would have done a much better job for less money. If the costs was significantly less, I could have accepted the incompetance of this company. But it wasn't, and I don't. Brutal.

Dear Revdex.com,
Please be advised that as of this date, USA Moving and Storage aka 1st Choice Moving and Storage have never contacted me regarding my 10 missing boxes.
Additionally, I found out from the driver, that my belongs were warehoused, and reloaded onto a truck by USA Moving and Storage aka 1st Choice Moving and Storage.
In lieu of my belongs being transported East from the Phoenix area, they were loaded onto a LA Van Lines truck which then went to California.  From what I was advised of by both the driver and the "man who answers the phone at LA Van Lines - Gary ###-###-####.  I have spoken with him on a number of occasions with the same very polite BS (1/5/16 12/29/15, 12/21/15, 12/23/15, 12/21/15)  "We are trying to locate the boxes.  Twice he requested and I sent him the Lot number and box numbers which I did on 12/23/15 and again this week on 1/4/15, because he advised that "my boxes were in the Bay Area and that the lady is not answering her phone", I requested that he just ring her door bell and pick up my boxes and he advised that after their job, the driver would.  Today is Jan 6, 2016.  Have you heard from Gary at LA Van Lines or anyone else for that matter regarding my belongings?  Neither have I.  
When I book with USA Moving and Storage, I was advised that the truck would be leaving soon.  Not that my belongings would be unloaded somewhere, misplaced, reloaded, transported to California and unloaded in some place else, without ever making it to my residence.  This is deceit at the least, fraud, and inappropriate business practices by "fly by night, name changing so called moving companies to screw with the consumer."  I want my 10 boxes of belongings.  That is the bottom line. From Robert/aka Rotan the Israeli at USA Moving and Storage and their pseudo names to Gary at LA Van Lines, all I get is lies, stories and BS.  Please assist me in retrieving my belongings.   Thanks in advance for your assistance,   [redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and recover all of my loses, if it does, I will consider this complaint resolved.
However, I have already submitted a full packet of my missing items to [redacted]  on August 10, 2014.  I received a letter of rejection from the Anthem stating that USA Moving & Storage rejected my claim.  I have a receipt from the [redacted] with the date my paper work/full packet was mailed. 
As of 12/11/2014, I received an email from [redacted], asking me to submit my information again.  I will resubmit, but they already have all of my information with Claim forms submitted, and with photos attached.
I will resubmit to [redacted].

Regards,

All my belonging was delivered in the time period they said it would. They were helpfully and made my move stress free. Everything is delivered to me the same way they took it. Nothing was lost or broken. I was very pleased with the whole moving experience

USA Moving & Storage (aka) First Choice Moving & Storage (aka) First USA Moving & Storage.

DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY - under whatever name they are choosing to use.

I was moving from AZ to OH and my quote came from Anthony (Sales VP in CA) done completely over the phone and estimating the sizes of the boxes just by our conversation. He quoted me $1201.00 in a binding estimate. I packed my own items and called Anthony 2 days prior to when pickup was scheduled and he said he'll just add the 3 boxes at no charge. When the "supervisor" showed up, he handed me a completely different "binding" agreement with a price increase of $260 & I wasn't sent a copy. It may not sound like much but what's the definition of binding then? In addition, the guy running the show on day of pickup was extremely rude and if I didn't need my items picked up that day, I would have thrown him off my property. In addition to his 3 guys grabbing the boxes and loading them onto the truck ) First USA Moving & Storage, they stole 2 roles of my packing tape. I told the "lead" guy that my items had to be delivered as soon as possible, but he chose to put a date down on the paperwork for a week later. When I called Anthony to tell him that I was displeased with the whole situation and that I planned on calling the owner of the company, he said he would pass the information on. I haven't done that yet, but plan to find who the owner is (if there is one) and will register a complaint.

So, I waited 3 weeks to get my things.

In addition, the communication from the dispatcher is ridiculous. I tried to reach her on several occasions to get a timeframe as to when I could expect delivery and never received a return call. I finally got a call after calling Anthony numerous times and he told me that the dispatcher is just busy. Oddly enough, she called the next day to tell me that my items are on a truck (couldn't tell me what company) and that the driver would give me a 48 hour notice prior to delivery and to make sure that I had a money order with the correct amount for payment.

The driver called (Paul Arpin M & S) with a 3 hour window. When he arrived, I assisted in getting the boxes off the truck and into storage and when I initially packed the boxes, I had several of them clearly marked with bright orange stickers -

FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE. I guess they can't read because several boxes had the tops crushed and others had the sides crushed.

Overall, it was a horrible experience and I will never recommend this company to anyone that I like. This company is a broker who takes a deposit, adds up your items over the phone, gives you a binding estimate and then, changes the pricing which you have to pay in order to get your items. How's that fair? It's NOT!

I moved from AZ - NY.. I had a very good experience with First USA Moving... from beginning to end .. sales rep [redacted] was very nice .. [redacted] at pick up was great and as well the moving crew.. by belongings got delivery with the window of delivery they told me .. over all I am very happy with the service I got form this company..

Shawn with USA Moving was honest and amazing. I moved my 80 year old mother and myself from Arizona City, AZ to Ellensburg, Wa. From the time they picked our household items to delivering them was stress free. I would recommend this company to anyone who was making a move!!!! Thanks again Shawn..

Thank you for forwarding Ms. [redacted] complaint to our attention. We regret that items may have been damaged while in our care but we do have an established process in place to handle any moving related damage and loss claims. 
In order to properly address Ms. [redacted] concerns we ask that she submit a claim for review and consideration. Our claim administrator has emailed claim forms and directions to Ms. [redacted] so that she may submit a claim as required by our tariff and Federal law. Claims must be postmarked within 9 months from the date the shipment was delivered. 
We apologize for any damage which may have occurred and ask that Ms. [redacted] submit a claim for consideration.  Thank You.

Avoid at all costs. "locked in rate" was increased by 50% once they arrived to move. Then what was supposed to take 2-3 days took 8 days. Then on day 8 truck arrives at 11am with no helpers (only driver). Wouldn't refund, credit offered was $400 on a $6600 move to unload ourselves (51' truck), no assistance, everyone blames everyone else. Do anything except hire these people. They will do anything to get the sale then disappoint and dodge when any questions happen.

I had them move from phoenix to madison, they will call you and quote you the lowest price on the market but when they are done loading up your luggage in the truck they would ask for more money for smallest stuff. I took the complete package for assembling and dissembling but they would just load up everything after dissembling and would not assemble back at your delivery location. Beware of their marking guy "Anthony" he would call you up talk sweetly and make all sort of promises, but once you pay the initial $100 for the "booking" he would stop picking up your calls.

Avoid this movers at all cost , they just do not care about your stuff, they just want to make money.

Please accept the following response to Ms. [redacted]’ rejection. Ms. [redacted] was given the opportunity to purchase Full Value Protection for her shipment but opted instead for the free valuation coverage, which limits the carrier liability to $0.60 per pound per [redacted]gible item. As an interstate domestic mover the carrier is obligated to adhere to applicable federal law as administered by the [redacted], specifically in regard to limitation of liability, [redacted](b) for all items damaged or lost during transport.  The level of valuation coverage Ms. [redacted] chose applies to her entire shipment, with no exceptions for accidental damage. We respectfully disagree with Ms. [redacted] statement that 1st Choice authorized compensation for the full value of her TV. We value Ms. [redacted] as a customer and regret that she is not happy with the amount of compensation she is entitled to however Ms. [redacted] was offered compensation consistent with her choice of valuation coverage.A copy of the Valuation Addendum confirming Ms. [redacted] valuation choice is included with this response. Thank you.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The contract that I signed was with USA movers. I never hired [redacted].  I Hired USA Movers. I can supply a copy of my contract along with pictures of all damages and a list of missing items if necessary. I tried contacting [redacted] and the message I received was that they were no longer in service.  

Regards,

Thank you for forwarding Ms. [redacted]’s rejection to our

attention. As we indicated in our previous response, Ms. [redacted]’s shipment

was collected by a partnered carrier under their contract because our team

experienced a mechanical delay. Ms. [redacted]’s deposit payment would have

been applied towards her move during account reconciliation between our respective

accounting departments.   

 

Once we realized our team could not make it, our goal was simply

to find a replacement carrier to minimize any inconvenience to Ms. [redacted].

We apologize for not accurately communicating to Ms. [redacted] and explaining

that the partnered carrier would be the primary contact for the delivery stage

of her move.  We are pretty confident

that we did in fact communicate Ms. [redacted]’s 1st available date

to [redacted] however, as Ms. [redacted] was never promised or guaranteed a

specific delivery date, only that her items would be delivered within a specific

delivery window, and the shipment was delivered within that time frame, it is a

moot point.

 

We

agree that we could have done a better job at communicating to Ms. [redacted]

about the transition to [redacted]. No fee was retained, and the deposit collected

was reconciled with the carrier and applied towards the move. USA moving did

not collect a broker fee and Ms. [redacted] is not eligible for a refund of

her deposit as that amount was applied to her move. Thank you.

Thank you for forwarding this complaint to our attention, we would like to offer the following response: Ms. [redacted] contracted for moving services to Arizona during which a TV was damaged during transit. Ms. [redacted] was asked to submit a claim as required by federal law and...

our tariff. Ms. [redacted] was advised that she would be compensated for the damage to the TV in accordance with federal law and the level of valuation Ms. [redacted] chose on her contract. Ms. [redacted] submitted a claim which was received by our claim administrator on March 13, 2015.  Ms. [redacted] also spoke with our claim administrator representative regarding her claim on March 17, 2015. Ms. [redacted]’ claim will be reviewed within the time frame allowed by law and Ms. [redacted] will receive a letter of disposition regarding the results of the review and a settlement offer if warranted. We regret that a TV was damaged during transit. Ms. [redacted] has submitted a claim and will receive compensation in accordance with the level of coverage chosen by Ms. [redacted] on the contract. Thank you.

WARNING: DO NOT Use this Moving Company!

Review about USA Moving and Storage in Phoenix, AZ, also doing business as 1st Choice Moving and Storage - 2804 N. 29th Ave., Ste. 102, Phoenix, AZ 85009. The intent of this review is to warn other future moving customers who are researching moving companies in the Phoenix area, as well as those in CO, CA, NC and all other locations this company services.

I hired 1st Choice Moving and Storage, aka USA Moving and Storage in Phoenix, AZ to move me from my house in Cave Creek, AZ to Longmont, CO in July 2016. They offered one month FREE storage, which supported my moving schedule and needs. The greatest warning I can give you is to be aware that they use the very shady business practice of bidding low over the phone, using a very inaccurate inventory form, and then add hundreds of dollars at the time of pick-up. Initially, based on my recent previous move weight and cubic feet size with a National moving company (and no additions or deletions of goods) 1st Choice Moving and Storage quoted 831 cf as my shipment size and a cost to ship by them of $2,982.03. All of my belongings filled about 3/4 of a 26' U-Haul truck. At pick-up, they said I had a much LARGER shipment (even though I had the previous moving paperwork to prove it) and charged me $3,600!!

I suspected the supervisor, Rob, was swindling me so I said I would like to talk to my 1st Choice Moving and Storage sales coordinator. He said it wouldn't make any difference, as he was my sales coordinator's "boss". I called and complained to Shawn, who gave no advice or help, and then came back to Rob. Rob then lowered the price to $3,460. I could see it was a "shell game" between the office and Rob. I should have shown him the door, but had a serious deadline to get my goods out of the house with contractors coming in to do major remodeling the next day.

When I say "they", I mean you need to be extremely cautious about dealing with their crew chief / supervisor, who comes at the pick-up, Rob (aka Rotem). He is aggressive and demeaning, will bully you about your items and sizes of boxes, even claim he has to charge you more for "packing" items like slipping a plastic cover over a mattress that YOU bought at Home Depot for the move or for packing tape, which their sales office says is INCLUDED in the their original estimate. In fact, all extra needs packing materials were discussed with Shawn, Sales Coordinator, of which there were VERY little and he calculated these into his bid. Rob adds on whatever he thinks he can get away with by bullying you!!

Rob will also claim that your boxes are "larger" than you first claimed on your inventory estimate form. This form only has small, medium, and large categories and he will claim you have EXTRA LARGE items. He also claimed I had items I had "not reported over the phone" so had to add a much higher cost (agin, hundreds of dollars). The ONE item was one light-weight, flat, folded up laundry drying rack. That was it!!

As an experienced, well-organized mover, I had all of my boxes completely packed, sealed, and well-labeled. I had even taped closed all folding step stools, brooms, floor lamps, trash basket nests, etc. All they had to do is carpet-wrap the little furniture I had.

His crew will not listen to you when you want anything packed a special way. I had paid a carpenter $150 pre-move for a special wooden crate to be built to move a fragile glass top of a table. The movers would not do as I asked to use it, wanted to do it (more quickly) their way. Parts of the glass table were left outside of the crate, just wrapped in moving blankets. I was afraid these would be broken or lost. They left trash around the house - old empty tape spools, etc., and were not professional at all in how they left my home.

MAJOR WARNING: Again, "Rob" will fight with you and claim that he is the "BOSS", that no one back at the office can help you if you call. However, CALL ANYWAY!!!!! I did call Shawn and he acted sympathetic to me, but seems to be very intimidated by this Rob fellow and has no power at all. Ask for the owner, ARIK!!!!

I asked for an in- home, VISUAL ESTIMATE, but they said they were "too busy" for this. I called several weeks before the move for this estimate. DO NOT accept a bid over the phone!!! Insist that they send their sales estimator out to your house BEFORE you sign a contract with them to give you a NOT TO EXCEED ESTIMATE with his guaranteed signature and date on it.

Another shady practice of 1st Choice Moving and Storage is how long it takes for this company to get your household goods to you AFTER they have picked them up. Most moving companies take about a week to ten days, at the very most. 1st Choice will have you sign an agreement for much longer than this and delay delivery as long as you let them get away with it.

I had a smaller load and knew they would add me to a larger van with other customers. However, I was only 900 miles away from Phoenix and it took 2 weeks for them to deliver to CO, but only after I called at least 5 times to ask when my delivery would happen. It was only by this sheer persistence that I believe I got on the delivery schedule at all.

There is something very shady about how they schedule these deliveries. It has nothing to do with your needs or good customer service. They have lots of excuses and you will be transferred from one person to another to get answers. They say they will "get back to you" but won't. You will have to call again and again.

I got very concerned that it was taking so long to get my small shipment delivered just 12 hours away, 900 miles, from Phoenix to the Denver area. I decided to google this company and to my horror, I found terrible reviews on Yelp while I was waiting in CO for my goods. Other customers, like I have here, reported terrible problems with "Rob", large increased pick-up charges, and especially, those who had had their goods put in 1st Choice's storage, found their boxes had been opened, gone through, even a vacuum cleaner used, full of old hair that was not theirs.

Check out Yelp yourself!! I was petrified waiting for my goods to arrive, not sure what might be stolen or broken. As it turned out, my goods arrived in good order except for two broken floor lamps and many boxes with no sticker numbers. My delivery driver told me it was because my goods had never been put into their warehouse, but instead had been sitting for 2.5 weeks on his extra van, that they arrived in better order. See story below why you should NEVER use longer-term storage with 1st Choice Moving and Storage!!!

However, I discovered on delivery that the inventory that Rob did on pick-up was missing LOTS of numbered stickers, some boxes had double numbers on them, and these unstickered items had not been put on the inventory. It took a great deal of time to locate all the boxes on the inventory. I am extremely organized and had every box well labeled on all sides and it was a nightmare. On pick up and delivery, BE SURE to take the time to check over your inventory before it leaves your house and at the delivery destination. Do not feel pressured to just "make a claim later", as they suggest!! Without a sticker on every item, they can say you never had it in your shipment and steal it from you or not allow you to make a claim!!!!!

The delivery team in Colorado was excellent and went well beyond to help deliver and set up our household goods. I was told that my goods had gone directly onto Steve's van from my AZ house, were stored there for the 2.5 weeks before coming to CO, not at the 1st Choice warehouse. Phoenix weather has been 110-120 degrees for weeks, so 1st Choices claim that my goods would be stored in a cooler warehouse did not happen. Who was guarding my goods?

I was told at my delivery by my moving crew that, if your goods go into the 1st Choice Moving and Storage warehouse in Phoenix, they have a surveillance camera that runs 24x7. HOWEVER, the man who manages this warehouse, "RUBIN", and his accomplice, "JOHNNY", have a way of turning this off while they go through all your goods, steal from or disrupt your boxes. They can erase the video tape and make it look like nothing has happened so the owner and manager of this company, ARIK SKULNICK, does not know about their criminal behavior.

RED FLAG: By the way, "JOHNNY" is also one of the packing up crew members in Phoenix, so he sees everything you are shipping when he packs you up at your house!!

CAN YOU SEE NOW WHY I AM WARNING YOU TO _NEVER HIRE THIS COMPANY???!!!

If you have been duped like me, over-charged and suffered damages, aggressive bullying by Rob, or delayed delivery of your goods and feel helpless........ if you put your trust in 1st Choice Moving and Storage and thought YOU just had to be "patient", but still got horrible customer service, PLEASE report this company to the Revdex.com (Revdex.com), on Yelp, Craigslist, on all moving review websites, AND send a letter directly to the owner of 1st Choice Moving and Storage:

Mr. Arik Skulnick, Owner

1st Choice Moving and Storage

2804 North 29th Avenue, Suite 102

Phoenix, AZ 85009

If they arrive on moving day and charge you hundreds of dollars extra before they even start packing, show them the door and get another mover!!!

Be very careful about FREE STORAGE deals, too!! Get references from other customers who have USED their storage services!! Ask how long they waited for delivery and how many times they had to call this company to get their goods on a delivery schedule.

In summary, DON'T USE 1st CHOICE MOVING AND STORAGE, also doing business as USA MOVING AND STORAGE, out of Phoenix, Arizona, or probably anywhere else!!

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.TIMELY MANNER??????? Over a month it took and was supposed to be compensated for that. Then when the movers came here not only did they try to strong arm me into signing, they also tried to charge me more to pull the truck in because they said it wouldn't fit. MAYBE THAT WAS IN THE CONTRACT ALSO!!! Only when I refused they finally pulled in after they said the truck was broken down for 3 weeks in Texas. So when you say a "Timely Manner" do you usually include the breaking down of a truck. I was charged more because the bedroom set was so big and HEAVY. HEAVY, I will say it again because we were charged 1400 dollars more for that and then was told (after you broke it and didn't send half of it) that it was 90 pounds I was insured for. It's one or the other. I want the full coverage for the bed or the money back for what you charged me for the 90 pound bed. Not only was Bamboo poles missing we got other peoples things. Pictures and personal things that you don't even care about. You didn't even put the bed together that was paid for. Maybe because you knew half was missing. No I do not accept this pathetic reasoning by this less than pathetic company. 

Regards,