Dishonest company
I have moved about twenty times in my life, nationally and internationally, with different moving companies. Garland Movers, part of the Liberty Moving Group, is by far the worst mover I have had experience with. This is the type of company attracting you with a low-ball estimate at first, then once you have become their customer, they will lie on the volume of items being moved, and will not hesitate to take your belongings hostage until you pay the difference. In my case, I had exactly 421 cubic feet to move. I knew the exact volume, because my items had been professionally packed by another mover, and stored during one year in a storage place! The only thing Garland had to do was moving the already packed boxes… I had been very clear with Garland Movers about this point, before signing their estimate: « A situation I want to avoid at all costs”, I wrote before they took possession of my belongings, “is you telling me, after loading the items into your truck, that ‘well, it might fit in 421 cubic feet when in crates, but it did not fit in 421 cubic feet in our truck’. If the items fit in 421 cubic feet, and if they are handled by professional movers, there is no reason why they would not fit in the same volume once in a truck… Your reassurance on this point is crucial” Despite of Garland’s reassurance, a few days after my items were picked by Garland Movers, I got a call from them telling me that the volume they had moved to their NJ warehouse was 621 cubic feet, not 421! They then literally took my items hostage, sending emails like this one: “would you prefer picking your items up in New Jersey?” (by that time, I already was in New Mexico). They then pretended that they had no working phone number to contact me, just to justify the fact that they were not willing to get my items out of their warehouse before I would pay the extra money they were unduly asking for. I eventually received my items about 6 weeks after they took possession of it, but not without any collateral: to lower their costs, Garland subcontracted the delivery to another company without my consent, and without letting me know in advance. Consequence: a box was lost in the process, a box that contained some items that cannot be replaced, including a painting, an expensive knife, and shoes. When I told Ken J. (my contact) about the matter, he just advised me to get reimbursed by the insurance (at a rate of… 60 cents per pound!) On the top if it, I realized months after the fact that Garland Movers had made an “error” when debiting my credit card for the deposit, debiting $825 instead of $632. Just a honest mistake, of course… It took them about three weeks to get reimbursed for that money. Conclusion: if the estimate it too good to be true, it probably is. Especially if it is the kind of price ending with “999.95” and that includes a rebate. You are probably dealing with a struggling company ready at everything to steal some busin