MOVING VAN GO

I had my wood floors refinished and hired Moving Van Go to move my furniture into my garage before the wood floors were done and move the furniture back into my home once the floors were finished. The company and the owner, Bill Stone, was highly recommended by the company that refinished my wood floors and so I did not expect any problems to occur. Bill arrived late for the estimate. His estimate includes both an hourly wage, an hourly minimum, and cleverly a "not to exceed" cost. He asked for $100 in order to buy the materials he would need for this job. Thinking it was a bit high I paid him the $100 and trusted that I would be reimbursed if the receipts did not equal the $100. He was late for both appointments thereafter. His crew of three men on the first move were courteous and they were able to move the furniture into the garage in two hours, which equated to $220 hourly rate, but he charged me $350 which was his minimum daily rate. So, I paid him the minimum of $350 at the end of the first moving day. His crew was careful with the furniture including a parlor grand piano. However; after observing them I do not believe they had any prior experience moving a piano of any size. During the five days my piano was in my kitchen resting on a piano board I noticed what appeared to be sawdust on my kitchen floor and underneath the piano board. I cleaned it up and another pile appeared. My piano was wrapped tightly and it was obvious that the piles were coming from some insect inside the piano board. Unfortunately, the move corresponded with Labor Day and Bill said he was too busy to make the second move until after the holiday. I just kept cleaning up the piles and spraying the area with everything I had in order to kill whatever was making the piles. Bill arrived late for the second move and unexpectedly brought an extra crew member with him. I showed him the wood piles and asked him to immediately remove the piano board from my house. His answer was that he would have to warm up before moving the piano. They prepared all of the furniture with felt pads to rest on the wood floor and apparently purchased cups for the piano legs and a screw to secure one of the legs although a receipt was never offered or produced. At the end of the day, Bill had his invoice including additional charges that were not included in our original contract. His invoice totaled just under the "not to exceed" cost. I questioned him on the invoice and he became defensive. I asked him to consider the insects in the piano board but he would not budge from his total. I was going to give him a sofa bed that I no longer wanted and he did not give that any consideration. In fact he told me he was doing me a favor by taking the sofa! At that point I just wanted him out of my home so I paid him what he was asking. I really felt that he found ways to increase the bill in whatever way he could to get as close to his "not to exceed" price. During the night I became more upset and I went into the kitchen for a glass of water. The kitchen counter was covered in translucent, winged insects. I felt something on my foot and went back to bed after killing the insects and cleaning the kitchen counters. I was up all night worrying about protecting my canary from the insects. In the morning I woke to discover bite marks on my feet! I called my bank and cancelled the check. I immediately notified Bill that I canceled the check, I would send him another check for what I believed to be fair, and I made other arrangements regarding the sofa I was going to give him. I received multiple text messages that night after 9pm from him and finally turned off my cell phone to avoid the harassment. He demanded that I pay him the $970 for the job and he would not accept anything less, etc., etc.. The next day I sent him a check for $380. So, he received a total of $830 for the job, which I thought was still high. He cashed the check which put an end to this miserable experience. I called the company that refinished my wood floors to let them know my experience with Moving Van Go and Bill Stone. The woman I spoke to was shocked and we both ended up laughing about the unbelievable experience. Later she called me and asked if she could have one of her perspective customers call me as a reference. I told her that I would be happy to speak to anyone about her company, but I would never recommend using Moving Van Go as a moving company ever!

Prompt, organized, effective team work with his crew (2 additional guys). Accomplished everything in 2 hrs or less, each move. Very protective of the property, furniture. Took extra care with heavy/large items coming through doorways (no dings, no splinted wood); also made sure the underside of the queen-sized sofa-bed cleared the newly refinished hard wood flooring. Examined all "feet" of furniture for nails or anything that would scratch newly refinished wood floors; affixed felt to furniture "feet" to prevent scratching before moving furniture back in. Cued his crew thoroughly and continuously regarding body mechanics. Conscious of their safety and his. Satisfactorily assuaged this customer (after a no show, no return call episode) by agreeing to pick up a large upholstered chair from another residence and deliver it here.

THE TWO MEN WERE VERY POLITE. THEY ARRIVED ON TIME, THEY WERE NEAT, AND VERY HELPFUL. THEY WORKED CAREFULLY, AND HANDLED THE TV VERY CAREFULLY. THEY WERE ALSO VERY ACCOMMODATING WITH THE DELIVERY TIMES.