Blankenship Movers Inc

Charlie, Blue and "the Kid" were fantastic. Efficient, great communication. Got the job done sooner than I would have imagined.

The movers themselves were punctual and efficient; they moved me without damaging or breaking anything. If I was just rating them, most scores would be "A" or "B." HOWEVER, the manager, Eric, had erroneously said his company could move a Murphy bed and, on the day of the move, I found out that they could not move it. Eric's excuse was that "I didn't know .what a Murphy bed is." If he didn't know (and I specifically told him it was bolted to the wall), he should have asked more questions or sent someone to look at the job. Now I am stuck trying to find someone to move this bed on short notice. He said he would try to find someone to help me but all he did was call back and say there were sites on the internet. So the "F" for professionalism is for Eric.

I had sent a spread sheet of all of my items to be moved to Eric, General Manager, a few weeks before the move. Movers.com provides a Weight and Volume Calculator (Cubic Sheet) to be completed by a customer. It is an Excel Spread Sheet; it is helpful in determining the size of a truck needed for a move. sales@movers.com will provide customers with a copy via Email upon request. If you fill it in accurately, the movers should be able to determine what size truck you need for a 1-trip move. It affords you the opportunity to list all of your furniture --- chairs, tables, desks, couches, etc. --- and the number of boxes, etc. Then you can Google and get an idea of the size of the truck you need based upon the cubic feet calculated. However, seasoned moving companies should be able to read it also and tell you honestly what will be needed. Based upon my list of belongings to be moved, I calculated that I needed at least a 26' Truck and discussed it with Eric more than once. He received my spread sheet of items. He stated that he didn't have any trucks in the fleet smaller than 26', but didn't think that I needed a 26' truck for the move (an important detail of this episode). In retrospect, I wonder if he even read the spread sheet. What I was trying to avoid was a 2-Trip-Move. A 2-Trip-Move is attributable to either a consumer under-estimating their loads inadvertently or purposefully to get a low cost quote or the moving company failing to provide the right size truck inadvertently or purposefully to make more money. Two other movers had the integrity to tell me that they didn't have a large enough truck available for a 1-Trip-Move of the load. Eric told me that the trucks had 60-100 Bands/Straps for file cabinets, etc. And I had stipulated that I would need 6 Wardrobes based upon the clothes I had in my closets. The quote in an Email I requested and received for the move was 4-6 hours @ $120/hour (3 men). Hence, I expected to pay $720 --- perhaps $800 + gratuities for the men when all was said and done. The day before the move, July 29, 2015, I was contacted by Eric's Assistant and she reassured me that a 26' Truck would be provided. She also told me that the crew I read about on Yelp, Jimmy's crew, would be sent. Eric told me that the trucks had 60-100 Bands/Straps for file cabinets, etc. And I reiterated that I would need 6 Wardrobes for clothes. The truck arrived @ 9:00 AM. July 30. I asked the Driver/Lead (Carl, not Jimmy) about the size of the truck --- he said that it was 20'. 6 feet may not seem like a lot, but Guess What!!! Carl was very confident that he could get all of my stuff onto this truck, but at 12:10 PM, he told me that a second quick trip would be necessary. I asked him what I would be charged and he said that they wouldn't charge me for the travel time needed to make a second trip ... and then we would "negotiate" on the rest of the time involved. A move, which began @ 9:00 AM concluded at about 11:20 PM. Matt, Drew & Carl --- worked very hard and were overall excellent; the 2nd trip between Highwood and Evanston required only about 10-15? of the truck --- so, a larger truck would have done the job. But where was the 26' truck? It was occupied --- loaded with furniture to be delivered to a family in South Barrington ... so was at least one other truck the same size. Blankenship had 2 options and exercised neither: (1) Call me early AM, July 30 ... tell me that a larger truck was unavailable and reschedule the move from July 30 to July 31, or (2) Call me the night before and determine if another solution might be feasible. Carl presented me with an Invoice for $1630 (13 Hours!!!) --- about $910 more than the 6 hours or $720, which I had been quoted and may have cost if I had a larger truck for the move ... as I requested and was promised. This was Blankenship's notion of negotiation. I noted my Dispute of the excessive charges on the invoice. The move was more expensive than expected because inadequate equipment was sent --- truck size, wardrobe shortage, bands/straps not available, etc. The lead and driver, Carl with 28 years of moving experience, overestimated his ability to move the items in one trip. The other movers, Matt and Drew, worked hard under absurd circumstances --- I am still unpacking and moving items placed in the wrong rooms because they wanted to get home after an unnecessarily long day. I called Blankenship the next day. Eric returned my call in the afternoon. He was defensive and threw every conceivable excuse at me ... lo and behold, it was the customer's fault!!!! My input in the conversation didn't matter. He was going to be right and I was supposed to be content with the consequences. Too exhausted to argue with him, I wanted to go over the spread sheet Monday, but Eric said he needed to close the books --- after all, it was Friday, July 31!!! Going over the matter on Monday --- what a crisis it would have been for the books!!! Bottom Line: Eric charged my credit card $1150; weeks before I had given him a $50 Deposit. So, I was ultimately charged $480 more than the higher range of his quote, 6 hours or $720. The Movers.com spread sheet might not matter. If it isn't read or it is ignored, we are in for a much more stressful day than we had been prepared to experience. If the mover is intent on rationalizing his errors, we pay the price. What I learned: GET IT IN WRITING THAT THE MOVER WILL MOVE YOU IN 1 TRIP FROM YOUR OLD HOME TO YOUR NEW HOME AND THAT THE QUOTE IS CARVED IN STONE AND WOULD BE HONORED + or - 10% of the highest quote. Otherwise, place an ad in Craig's List --- rent your own truck ... and hire men who have experience in the moving industry. Too many times movers provide a quote to a customer and somehow the job is under-quoted. The implications of a bad move include excessive expense, customers needing to consume much more time than expected, time wasted because insufficient straps compel more shrink-wrapping and unwrapping, time wasted because numbered boxes in a series for a specific room are placed in another room, and furniture designated for a particular room are delivered to the wrong room. If there is a next time for me (not with this company), it will be based upon in-person, signed Memorandum of Agreement aka written contract. The verbal contract is sufficient if one wants to litigate, but that's another episode if necessary.

I went with this company because they accept checks and his reviews were so good. He said any mover that wants to be paid before the move is over, is not a good mover. We set up the move. I had to move earlier than I had planned because of scheduling and availability. They were 2.5 hours late because the truck broke down. I was supposed to have a 4 man crew between 8 or 9 in the morning. 1 crew of 2 showed up at 10:30 with a smaller truck. The second truck showed up later. The crew leader on the 2nd truck began to yell at the 1st crew and asked why they didn't order a 3rd truck. The decided they would make it work. I told them, we got to get this done. I have to get my cat before the vet closes. As time passed the trucks were filling up and they had not ordered a 3rd truck and they began yelling at me that they didn't have anymore room on the trucks. They did not listen when it came to where and how I wanted things packed. They told me don't worry about it, we'll sort it out at the storage. I needed one item out to the curb. They could not get it out in one piece, so they broke it. They also ran out of pads and then only shrink wrapped my items. The owner said it was impossible to run out of pads. They have over 100 pads on a truck. Then they were taking paintings and glass out to the truck not wrapped at all. The owner told me, "Oh they wrap it out at the truck."My patio chairs were strapped to the metal lift, and my mattress and box springs were attached to the outside of the truck. They told me the entire house was empty. I came back and luckily checked the garage. There were enough items in the garage to fill the back of a pick up truck. The owner called and was yelling at me about refusing to pay. He said I cannot refuse to pay because it is against the law and is fraud. I had no idea what he was talking about because I did not refuse to pay and was not supposed to pay until the move was over. I reminded him of that and he said, "Oh, I forgot I told you that." The owner told me that because of all the issues I had with the first move, that he would send a new fresh crew of his best and fastest movers. I said how will they know what goes where? He said to call in the day before for the stuff that was going to my sister or necie. The owner told me I would never get a shock from his company, because he is so good at estimating. Well it ended up being 1500 more than estimated. He stated that it was my fault because I needed things delivered to my sister and my neice. Originally I needed the items delivered to my sister by noon, but then she had the day off, so it was no longer an issue. When it came time for the second part of the move. They told me that they could not pack the truck and deliver the items to my sister, my neice and I. He said it was going to cost more money and take more time because I was putting time constraints on him. They wanted to do me, my sister, then my neice. I told him "Remember, I called you back and told you my sister was off and there were no time constraints." When the crew of the second move brought the items to my home, they were all mixed up and not sorted to what goes where. They kept bringing the wrong items to the wrong areas. The older guy, Carl, was very nice and told me don't worry about it, we will sort it out for you. The younger guy, Nick, kept threatening me that "His crew was about to walk off the job." I told them I would be happy to come down and tell them where everything goes, but I was not going to leave my apartment door open because of my cat. They kept bringing things up and making piles. I told them to not pile things there, furniture is going to go there. They said, just let us bring the items up, then we will put everything where it goes. Then, they were mad that they had to move the items twice because the didn't listen when I told them not to make piles. They told me there were still boxes in the truck and they could not bring up anymore boxes because I wouldn't be able to move around. I said that I needed my boxes for my bathroom and my kitchen. They then began to cuss, just bring it all in. They began stacking the boxes and using moving straps to bring them in. This crushed the boxes. They finally got everything loaded in the house and I began to notice all the damage to my furniture items. I still haven't found all the damage. I felt intimidated by the movers, so I tipped them way more than I would normally have because I was scared of them and they knew where I lived. Carl then gave me a paper to sign. He said don't be shocked by the numbers just sign, you and Eric will talk about the final price. So I signed and did not give them a check. Then The owner called me and began yelling at me about refusing to pay again. He said I was a liar and I was being facetious. He wants payment immediately or he was calling the police. I reminded him that Carl said that he and I would work the final price out. He said everything was my fault and what credit card did I want to use. I told him that I would send him a check. He said he was not going to wait for a check. He made me overnight a check and send him the tracking number or he was going to call the police. He said "I was going to work with you on the price, but everything is your fault and now I want the full amount. Now give me my money or I'm calling the police." I am honestly shocked at how bad this experience was after seeing how great their reviews were.

They were an hour late but after that, it went extremely smoothly. The four guys were great.

It was horrible. They showed up prior to calling me first. I asked them to call me within 30 minutes of showing up. Eric said he would give 30-60 minutes notice before they showed up. I arrived at the storage unit. They looked in the unit and said it should be no problem getting the job done in 2 hours. They started loading up my coats and other wardrobe. I asked them if I should stay and look over them or leave? They advised me I could leave and meet them at the new unit. They called me as they were leaving the storage unit at 9 a.m. It took them about an hour to load the truck. I gave his directions on how to get to my new apartment. It was supposed to be a 15 minutes drive. I called him 30 minutes later and asked where he was. They advised me they were driving slow so nothing would be bouncing around in the back of the truck. They finally showed up and started unloading. They were throwing fragile items into that wardrobe cart. They weren't being very careful with those fragile items. I had some items that were going into another storage unit that was in my apartment complex. They were just throwing things on top of other fragile items. Danny, Leroy, and Felix were the 3 movers. Leroy and Felix were the ones who were bringing the items upstairs to the apartment. They were very kind. They weren't being rude or anything to me. They were just careless with my belongings. I had a leather couch, love seat, coffee table, end table, mattress, 2 box springs, and the bed frame. They bed frame was never put together. It was just thrown into the room. An antique curio cabinet, from World War I, was lifted by the legs and broken. The leather couch and love seats were dragged. It caused scuffs and scratches on the arms, corners, and bottoms of the couches (front and back). There was no damage to the coffee or end tables. Everything was already wrapped with moving blankets before they ever showed up to the storage unit. Eric insulted his employees and said "not a bad job for a bunch of drop outs." On my way from from the condo, I received a voicemail from Danny that said "I forgot to talk to you about the gas (money)." I called Eric after I received that voicemail and asked if I owed money for gas. Eric said, "Absolutely not, that's included. If he mentions that to you again, call me immediately and I will fire him on the spot. My son called and spoke with Eric. My son told Eric he has never seen such a horrific moving job in his life. It was just a terrible experience. I spoke with Eric after the move and advised him that my couches were trashed. He said he had a great leather guy to come out and fix my couches. Finally on August 10, Eric called me and offered me $100 "out of good faith." He advised me if we followed the contract (that was never explained to me) that I would only get $6. He also asked me not to talk about this on social media. He wanted me to sign a paper agreeing to it. I opted out of that, because I feel like people should know about my experience with this company.

Loaded all of the items going to the storage facility first Loaded all items going to an apartment last - very organized and never a complaint. Very cautious with fragile items Never took breaks Excellent communication skills

These guys were FANTASTIC. Prior to the move, Eric responded to all of my questions very quickly. The day of the move, Jim, Juan and Derrick arrived very promptly. Everything was explained and they got to work immediately. They were all super friendly and professional. Everything arrived safely and was over in about 3 hours. I hope we won't be moving again any time soon, but if we do we're definitely using these guys again!

Excellent job. They showed up on time. Loaded quickly and drove imeadiately to the new residence. At the new location they unloaded quickly and put everything exactly where we wanted it. No bumps, drops or scratches on anything.

We had scheduled another company (USA Moving and Storage Co - stay away from these scammers!) to do the move the previous day. However, that crew left without doing the job, so we had to find a reliable moving company on a less than 24-hour notice. Not easy on a summer week-end. Called several companies but everyone was booked. Then checked with IL Movers Association and they were very helpful and recommended Blankenship among others. Thankfully, Blankenship had an opening on Saturday due to a customer cancellation. This company has two owners / business partners, who personally take calls and do scheduling and follow-ups. I spoke to both of them and was impressed with their clear explanations and professionalism. The crew arrived punctually on time and scoped the work. One of the 3 people on the crew was sick and they found a sub pretty quickly -- we only paid for the actual time he was doing the work. They carefully wrapped the furniture including piano and disassembled two beds and a dinner table. Communication was friendly and professional. What really impressed me was the flexibility of the workers and the owners. For example, when they required an extra run they knocked off one hour worth of charge. They estimated that all of the furniture will fit in one truck but it did not, so we had to go twice. It's only about a mile between the two properties, however they honored the original estimate. Plus, we got the side benefit of moving extra perennial plants and soil, which we originally wanted to do ourselves. In the end the owner called me back in person to make sure everything was done to my satisfaction and provided additional discount for the minor "disconnects" such as waiting for the substitute 3rd crew member. Overall, very pleased with Blankenship service and would certainly recommend to others.

The team was amazing. They stayed in constant contact prior to arrival and throughout the move. But more importantly despite some bumps in the process totally outside of the control of the movers, they stayed positive and made me feel like I was the most important customer they had. In addition to moving and set up - they went WAY ABOVE and beyond to accommodate special requests. I HIGHLY recommend the team - Manny, Sean and Johnny - absolutely the most painless move I have ever had! Bravo to the team!

After doing an extensive search on Yelp and Angie's List I chose Blankenship Movers and I am extremely satisfied with my choice. The guys at Blankenship we're friendly, respectful and FAST. Although they were moving in a way to minimize the time it took to move me, they took the time out to answer my questions and follow my instructions. Great movers and great customer service. I will use these guys again the next time I move.

Awesome job done by the crew. They helped us moving from two different cities . The crew handled the furniture with great care. They placed all the furniture where it belonged. All the time they were very pleasant and helpful. Thank you so very much helping us. We will definitely hire your services again.

Great company. They booked an appointment with us despite relatively short notice and their busy schedule. Three movers came with a huge truck to move us out of our three bedroom house. All three guys worked really hard and were super pleasant the entire time. We ran into a big challenge disassembling some equipment but the guys made it work. The price was good. They made sure we were satisfied and were just all-around nice people. Highly recommend them. Left a glowing review on Yelp too.

it went very well in a timely manner

The 3 men that did our move were punctual, courteous and efficient. At first I was given an hours window as to when they would arrive. I told Sean and Eric that we had the freight elevator reserved for 8 am. I was told the movers would be there exactly at8 am- and they were. They introduced themselves, explained the process, went over paperwork, moved everything into the truck-all within an hours time. They met my husband at the receiving end and unloaded everything in the same efficient manner. We would definitely recommend them to anyone and we would definitely use them again. Great Job!!

They were great! Very professional I will use them for our next move.

Make sure you ask for Leroy to be on your crew. Very conscientious guy who went the extra mile.

The movers were very friendly, professional and careful with our things. I had never packed up a home before and if I did a poor job, they were nice enough to not let me know. They immediately started working and worked quickly until the job was done. While unloading, they were quick to ask where I wanted something, if it wasn't labled instead of placing it anywhere. Everything valuable was delivered in the condition in which it was packed. They came in directly in the quoted time I was given by Eric at the estimate. I had one question regarding the final charges and they were promptly and thoroughly investigated by Eric. I was more than pleased with how things turned out.

Very pleased with the experience.

The team they sent us were great, very friendly. These guys didn't take a break and kept up the pace through the whole time. I was shocked at the weight just two of these guys were able to lift. I was also surprised at how efficiently they were able to make use of the space in the truck. They took great care in wrapping up the mattresses and things like bookshelves, desks, etc. The one thing is, they mentioned that they would charge for the shrink-wrapping of the couches, which I thought was included in the original price - if I had known, I would have probably done it myself to save on cost. However, they did a great job wrapping the stuff and totally made it clear it was my choice and were up front about the cost instead of bringing it up after-the-fact as once happened to me in the past. Totally would recommend these guys for your moving experience. I have moved 8 times within 16 years and this was the best bang-for-your-buck in all my moves.

The 2 veteran guys were fantastic, did fine job with no damage to furniture or homes.

I called on Thursday and asked if they could move on Sunday. Eric said he would check and got back immediately and said he could get a crew there Sunday afternoon after 3pm. I underestimated the amount of "stuff" that had to be moved. The crew, led by "Johnny Boy" got there early (1:30). When he saw the amount to be moved, he said: "Don't worry, we can get it all." JB was a go-getter and the crew followed his lead. They were respectful and hard working and though the move took 2 hours longer than planned (due to the amount of stuff we had) they kept at it. We were pleased by the work and the leadership of JB. I would recommend them and will use them again.

The movers showed up on time. They moved us out of a 3-bedroom into our new home. They were professional. I would recommend their service to others.

They were on time, courteous, professional and careful. They called when they were leaving the city to come out to the suburbs to allow me to coordinate the rest of what goes into moving day smoothly. They showed up a few minutes early and worked straight through. They carefully wrapped everything, moved everything in and out and were 100% professional the entire time. I would hire them again in a heartbeat.