Our move with Abbeywood Movers:
We selected Abbeywood as our mover based on their internet reputation (especially Homestars) and their home visit to deliver a detailed estimate for our move. We made a mistake. The following events are exactly what happened on the day(s!) of our move.
• The Sales representative came through our home about 2 months before the move and itemized every item we would need moved, including a piano, some glass occasional tables, a glass front china cabinet etc. She was very thorough and we were very clear on what pieces they would move. We moved all lamps, pictures, china, crystal, glassware, breakable kitchenware, the contents of two bathrooms, all electronics, carpets and all interior plants ourselves. And yet the actual move hours were more than 150% of the estimate! And that is after they left some furniture unassembled (a couple of dressers, one bed, and a couple of sofas (one in small pieces).
• The sales rep noted the piano on the estimate and we confirmed two days before the move that we had a piano. The movers were stunned to find a piano and had no “piano kit”. Happily, the piano survived the experience.
• We had two sofas in our basement that were three seats attached to a frame in which the two end seats could recline with footrests. The movers could not get them out in one piece and sought our permission to take the seats off the frame for transport. We signed a waiver to that effect. One of the movers spent the next two hours in the basement trying to take the sofa apart. He got the footrests off, the lever that raises them, and most of the bolts (including the ones he had to cut through fabric to get to). Sadly, the bolts that attached the seat to the frame were still firmly in place. At this point, frustrated, he sought the help of the foreman who quickly sorted out what needed to be done. The second sofa was dismantled quickly and with no damage in about 10 minutes. Too bad about the first one. We were told that this is not their job and we were very fortunate that they even tried. It would have been nice to be told about this by the salesperson that should have noticed that the sofas could not go up the stairs from the basement without taking them apart and to have an alternative other than a) leave them behind or b) have them reduced to rubble. More to come on this.
• We called Abbeywood to complain about how things are going. The sales rep that we dealt with took no responsibility and she put us through to the dispatcher who was not even remotely sympathetic. After all, he had been in this business for 43 years and there are things that are standard that they expect may need to be disassembled (such as beds, dressers and dining tables) but apparently not sofas! Again, it would have been nice to be told that by the sales rep who should have known what is “standard” for them.
• And now we come to our glass occasional tables. For those to be moved, we once again were asked to sign a waiver. The foreman explained that 99.9% of the time there was no problem; he knew how to take care of them. The tables were two sets of three stacking tables. During transit an unsecured metal bar (seems to be part of the truck equipment) fell onto one set of the tables. The top one was smashed, the second one is cracked but usable. But…..the waiver was signed. Too bad. However, I very much doubt that a wood table would have done better (perhaps titanium, but there might still be a scratch). Once again, even though we paid for insurance, Abbeywood has declared that the waiver means we are out of luck.
• So, more fun. The move is running long (well one mover has been making a mess of a sofa and that is time consuming work). Between 2 and 3pm, they are still not loaded, two movers have hurts, and it’s starting to rain. So they advise that the plan will be – they’ll come back the next day to finish loading and finish the job. Good news – we won’t be charged for the extra travel time. They now have our clothing and furniture loaded. So we get to put on very dirty clothes the next morning – happily we did manage a bed for the night. They come the next day to finish loading, however they were in such a hurry to wrap it up, they left many items for us to move ourselves!!! When one of the crew came back to the house to ask my wife to show them the way, she discovered a vacuum cleaner that she had clearly asked them to take. They squeezed that in the cab, but some other items were still in the garage. The crew explained that since instructions had been given to the previous day’s crew, they had no knowledge of our needs.
• The foreman did feel badly (at least so we were told) so indicated that to save us money, they would leave the sofas (one in pretty small pieces, including bags), beds, dressers etc unassembled and he and one of his coworkers will come back to do this service for us on their own time over the weekend. We never saw or heard from him again.
In summary, the Abbeywood moving experience was unsatisfactory on almost every level. Our movers assured us that as things go, ours went pretty well. Abbeywood seems to agree. We have shared this document with them.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,100.00