Atlantic Relocation Systems

They showed up on time, load and unloaded truck for me. I feel they did a very good job.

The truck showed up on time (Even after suffering a tire blow out). Then while in transit to Oregon the truck suffered a massive engine failure in Wyoming. That is the only real ding I can give the carrier, not for the engine problem, just that we were not made aware of it until I called them to find out where our goods were at and what the timeline for delivery was. Even with the truck's break down our goods made it to our new house within the original delivery estimate we were quoted.

I would not recommend this company to anyone. I wanted to like them and tried to be understanding and give them the benefit of the doubt but overall their service was poor. On the surface the customer service was good, nobody was ever rude to me and every time I spoke to someone they promised to be helpful but when push came to shove they weren't helpful and I am worse off for having used this company. In a nutshell: The movers were careless and damaged 3 pieces of furniture. Filing a claim was not easy and communication was poor and the end result was completely unsatisfactory. Even though I purchased additional insurance they did not adequately cover the damage to a 2 year old cherry entertainment center they damaged and were unable to fix. Subsequent calls to talk with them about their insurance settlement have not been returned even though I have tried to remain reasonable throughout this process. I hired Bekins to move my furniture from one house to another with a few days of storage in between. They sent a representative to my house to give me an estimate on the move. The representative adapted to my schedule and came when I could meet him. We walked through the house so he could create his estimate of the amount of work that needed to be done. During the walk through I pointed out a large oak desk to him and mentioned that the top of the desk comes off and I would like to have it removed before moving the desk. He assured me that they would take apart all furniture that needed to be taken apart. He also told me to leave the large paintings on the wall and his crew would pack them up on the day of the move. I did not ask for this, it was offered. On the day of the move I walked the movers through the house and again pointed out the desk and asked them to take the top off of the desk before moving it. During the move I mentioned again that I would like the top taken off the desk. The representative who had given me my estimate came by during the move and told me that they should not move the desk in one piece and that the top needed to be taken off. I told him that was my preference. I heard him tell the crew to remove the top. They did not remove the top and I saw them carry the desk out to the van in one piece. I also was shocked to see one mover put the cherry entertainment center on a dolly with no cover or protection and move it by himself. The movers were also unaware of the promise to pack the art work and had not brought boxes to do that. They did wrap the art work in paper. I would have taken the time to box the paintings myself had I known. During the move the head of the crew was constantly on the phone and was not paying attention or taking care with my furniture. When they arrived at the new house a few days later one of the first items off the truck was the desk which was promptly dropped on the sidewalk and damaged. Fortunately it did not land on one of the movers or they would have been seriously injured. When they brought the entertainment center in I looked at the top which was badly dented on the edge and the top right where they had loaded it unprotected on the dolly a few days before. This time they carried it in by hand but it was too late the damage was done. I also found damage to the leg of a dresser. Several dishes were broken and many of the boxes marked fragile had holes in them. Since I was the one who packed the dishes it was my fault that they were broken. On the move into the new house the head of the crew once again was on the phone the majority of the time. At the end of the move he wrote up the damage and told me somebody would contact me. I did not receive a copy of the damage form from him because it had no carbon paper. After a couple of days nobody contacted me and I called the company to complain about the way the desk was moved and find out how to file a claim. They were completely unaware of the whole incident - it had never been reported. They put a claim form in the mail to me which I filled out providing photos and receipts for the damaged furniture. The form had an address to return the form to that had been blacked out. There were no instructions on where to send the claim form. I finally just drove back to their office and turned it in. They apologized and said somebody would contact me. After waiting over 10 days nobody contacted me and I called again. I was told all claims go through the corporate office and they would call them. Later that day somebody called me from the corporate office and told me that if I wanted to get the furniture fixed I would have to pay a $250.00 deductible even though I had paid $150.00 for extra insurance. I said that was not acceptable especially since the damage was their fault and could have been avoided. Finally she said I should talk to Steve and she would have him call me. I finally asked who Steve was and she said he was the president of the company. He did contact me and I explained the problem to him. He said he would look into it and get back to me. It wasn't long before I heard back from the woman who handles claims who agreed I would not need to pay the deductible and they would have somebody contact me about repairing the three pieces of furniture. I was promised I would be copied on the email to the repairman but I wasn't. Eventually somebody called and came out to repair the furniture and I was not charged for it. They did a good job on the desk and the dresser but were unable to repair the entertainment center because of the type and location of the damage. He said he would let them know that he couldn't fix the entertainment center. I waited a few more weeks (it was over the holidays and I was allowing for people being off work etc.) when I finally called and asked about compensating me for the entertainment center. She said she didn't know it wasn't fixed. We discussed it and she said she thought she could get my $500.00 for the damage to the entertainment center. I agreed to that. It cost around $750.00 but was a couple of years old even though it was in perfect condition prior to the move. I thought I was being reasonable. She called me back shortly and asked if I could still use the entertainment center to which I replied yes but that it doesn't look good. Nothing was said about less money. Imagine my surprise when I received a check for $200.00 which said if I cash it I agree to this being final settlement. I tried to call them and talk to the woman I was working with and she was not in the office, so I asked to talk to Steve who was also not available. I was promised a return call. This was 2 weeks ago and nobody has called me back. If all I wanted was functioning furniture I would use cinder blocks and boards. I like most people buy furniture not only for function but for the way it looks. I am about to give up having them do right by me but at least I can warn others off. Don't be fooled by their pleasant demeanor they are incompetent and careless.

Packers came on Thursday and the van came on Friday and was loaded for transport. Belongings were delivered to our new home, in another state, two weeks later.

Very prompt, on time, good communications skills. If you do use them to move they will provide you with free moving supplies. Even if they don't pack your things they will bring the supplies.