[ORIGINAL REVIEW]
Allstate Moving & Storage moved us from Toronto, Ontario to the Boston, Massachusetts area in July 2015.
The moving out process seemed to have gone well enough - the team that arrived at our home to load up the truck appeared to be attentive, responsive and professional throughout.
Unfortunately, the crew used by Allstate on moving into our apartment in Massachusetts was far below the caliber of the Toronto team.
The moving in process was difficult. For instance, boxes labelled as fragile as well as labelled which way was up were both carried and placed upside down by the team and the boxes and other things were handled roughly throughout. Heavy boxes were piled on top of lighter, fragile boxes. When we asked one of the movers to be more careful with some paintings, his response was irritation - he informed us that he was not a mover and that he was doing the best that he could.
Allstate's movers attempted to get our largest couch up the stairway into our apartment through brute force, punching several holes in the walls, scraping the stucco ceiling, staining and indenting walls throughout the hallway (amongst other damage) and damaging the couch as well.
After causing the damage, Allstate's crew abandoned the attempt at moving the couch in. The couch was literally left on our doorstep (standing on its side). The driver drove the truck away without providing any direction or assistance on how we should be thinking about the couch.
We hired Allstate as a company of professional movers. That is not the experience we received - the US-side crew even admitted to that.
Allstate has not responded to our attempt to resolve the matter. We were in regular contact with Allstate's office from our move in July 2015 through to October trying to get the matter resolved.
Allstate did make an 'offer' to us in September 2015 but it was not clear what the very modest proffered amount related to (damage to property or to home). Allstate appears to have arbitrarily decided on the extent of the damage even without actually examining our property and without attending to the insurance coverage we paid for.
Our landlord has been extremely patient with us but there is significant damage to the house which needs to be repaired. The cost for the repairs to the house alone will vastly exceed Allstate's 'offer' and that is putting aside the damage to our belongings (and that is where repairs are even possible - some things cannot be fixed and others have been destroyed).
It is now December and none of our property has been repaired nor has the house been fixed up. Allstate has said that it is not willing to review the matter any further.
We would strongly NOT recommend using this company on account of our experience with it and its unwillingness to resolve the situation despite our best efforts. We may need to resort to legal action to try to recover our costs.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS - FEBRUARY 2016]
This is an update in response to Allstate's comments on our review. We won't bother going through point by point, but suffice it to say that the Allstate response is misrepresenting us. We didn't manipulate (that story made up about the $1000 is weird - we're not even sure how Allstate arrived at that conclusion). We didn't hide information. We are just a married couple with two kids who wanted our stuff moved without damage to it or to our house. In the end, both were badly damaged and Allstate has done everything it can to avoid taking responsibility for the damage caused by its personnel, including attacking our character.
Our suggestion, then, is that if you decide to hire this company, beware - our experience is that it will stop working with the customer and mount a defense if anything goes wrong. Is it really worth the risk?
- Approximate cost of services:
- $4,000.00
- Company Response
Mr. OOOO contracted us to move their belonging from Toronto to MA.
We originally quoted them for 5500 lbs, Mr. OOOO was adamanant and told us he wanted a revise quote for only 5000 lbs, at that time we proceed to quote him for 5000 lbs on the basis that he will have to pay for any extra weight once the goods was weighted, he agreed. They had specific exclusive dates for pick up and delivery, which we agree to. We picked up their goods on July 20 in Toronto there were much raving about how excellent our services were after we weight their goods, their weight came in at 6780 lbs. A final bill was email to them and things took a differen turn at delivery.
They hide the fact from us that there is a third floor walkup and their might be the possibility of certain articles might be too large for the staircase, had they done this we would have been prepared for the possibility of having to hoist such item with enough manpower to do so at an extra cost of $350.00 for hoisting.
Mr. OOOO goes to Harvard University, and to get there you have to be very bright, we are not from Harvard, but we can tell you that by looking at a third floor walkup building with a small staircase and a tiny flatform that an oversize stuff leather couch would not go up.
Our crew in MA was hired from a very reputable agency, after arriving at the delivery point to the driver surprise it was a third floor walk up which we usually charge extra for, the crew took the leather sofa up the stairs at Mr. OOOO request, in our contract it clearly states.
IF ARTICLE ARE TOO LARGE FOR STAIRWAYS AND REQUIRE HOISTING OR LOWERING, THE CUSTOMER SHALL PAY FOR EACH HOISTING OR LOWERING OPERATION AS ADDITIONAL. AS WELL IF ARTICLES ARE TOO LARGE FOR STAIRWAYS OR DOORS, ALL ITEMS WILL BE MOVED AT OWNERS RISK.
Some other items had some scuff mark and little damages, most of the items that were claimed were wrapped and packed by the customer in such a way that we were unable to inspect at pick up.
Mr. OOOO final bill was exactly $1071.15 for the extra weight, their email claim for damages was exactly $1000.00 , when I told Mr.OOOO that I will get estimates on this, thats when he became nasty, he was looking to get back his $1000.00
As most the claims were not covered, in GOOD FAITH, we got a quote from HOME ADVISOR contractor for $500.00 for the wall and painting and as per my repairman here it would cost approx., $200.00 for repairs other minor damage.
In GOOD FAITH we give $750.00 there is a $300.00 deductible, we credit their credit card for $450.00Mr. OOOO just wanted his money back for the extra weight.
Advise to anyone who are planning to move, please be honest with your Mover so your final bill will not be a surprised. We have always treated our customers with fairness and respect.Our service was a 10 star .... pick up and delivery was on time, our crew was curteous and polite, but failing to be honest about the 3rd storey walkup was not good.
BE FAIR AND HONEST TO YOUR MOVER....AND YOU WILL BE ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER !!
In Response to this new review:
Please let me know which part is a lie.
We picked up your goods on date you specified:
We deliver on DATE and TIME you specified:
You asked for quote for only 5000 lbs.
You were warned that with boxes and boxes of books weight would be more:
Your weight came up more:
Your bill came up approx $1000.00 more than quoted:
You put my crew in an unpredictable situation: with tons of boxes of books to walk up third floor:
You did not mention tiny third floor walkup:
You knew that some items were very bulky and very heavy:
We did not charge you for third floor walk up:
Some damages: You claim $1000.00 same as your bill, I have the email to prove it:
You stayed anonymous, but attack Allstate Moving a company in business with an impecable reputation: You did your homework on us, before you hired us.
You are a Harvard something:
Just let me know which part of this is lie: