AMERICAN RED BALL TRANSIT COMPANY, INC.

I would highly recommend American Red Ball if you are planning a move, especially one that is long distance. We had a very pleasant and professional interstate moving experience with them from beginning to end. American Red Ball was quick to respond to my online request for information -- within minutes -- and an agent came to our house within a few days to provide an estimate. The estimate was the least expensive of all three moving companies I contacted. The agent was quite knowledgeable about what items would need crates and special handling, and once we signed the contract, he was very courteous and flexible when I had to change the moving date a couple of times. We decided to do a "partial pack," boxing books and unbreakables ourselves, then having American Red Ball pack our glassware and dishes -- including some highly valuable pieces. The packers did an amazing job, and so fast! We had a lot of things for them to pack and they were in and out within a few hours. If I were going to do a move again, I would definitely have the company pack everything. We felt our personal items were in good hands. The next day, driver Chubbs and his colleagues Chris, Henry and Mo-Mo loaded the truck. They were courteous and professional, and literally laid out a red carpet runner to protect the newly shampooed rugs (and did the same on the other end). Later that day there was a horrific rainstorm, and to avoid harming the furniture they decided to come back the next morning to finish. As we were away the next morning at the final closing of the house, Chubbs and colleagues handled the remaining load beautifully without any supervision. They left the house spotless. They really went over and beyond to make our moving experience a good one. Chubbs and Chris drove from Indianapolis to our new coastal Georgia house, where they expertly navigated our new neighborhood's narrow roads and somehow made it past the low-hanging live oaks without mishap. With the added help of locally-based Jerome and Tory, they worked hard to get the truck unloaded within six hours -- without so much as a lunch break. All of them were so courteous, hard-working and professional. There were a couple of furniture pieces that were quite difficult to move -- including a large entertainment center that barely fit into one of our low-ceilinged rooms -- but they did it using some ingenuity. Our piano came through without a scratch. It was obvious that they cared. While there were a couple of minor damages to claim (as with most moves), American Red Ball promptly acknowledged my claim, treated me with courtesy, and quickly issued a check to repair or replace the items. This was a great ending to an all-around wonderful moving experience.

From the headquarter's refusal to fully honor their insurance policy and recognize their damage (damage I was alerted to by the movers themselves), to the damage itself, to the uniquely unprofessional moving staff, American Red Ball was a nightmare. I contracted my move from Leesburg, Va., to Fayetteville, Ar., with a local Leesburg company, My Guys Movers (they stood up for me in this process, so I have little complaint with them). They contracted American Red Ball to do the cross-country transport. 1. My possessions arrived later than the "late" estimate {minor annoyance} 2. The delivery truck was too large for my property, so American Red Ball charged me an extra $500 because they had to transfer my goods to a smaller truck (I later learned this was the third transfer of my goods since they were picked up in Va.). {minor annoyance} 3. The delivery truck got stuck in the mud of our back yard on arrival {minor annoyance} 4. One mover was highly professional, but the lead mover was not (there were only two). The lead mover, when the truck got stuck in our backyard, decided he was extremely angry at the world and refused to do any work and refused to call a towing company. He grew belligerent with the other worker...it was beyond unprofessional, more childlike. I had to move many of my own boxes with the other mover for about an hour's worth of the move. {The driver's behavior bordered on scary. The other worker and I both were nervous throughout the experience.} 5. The movers alerted me to the fact that two of my items, including my grandfather's antique desk (which was listed on their inventory as fragile), were damaged in the transit. To their credit, they told me who to call. Then things got horrible. Red Ball sent an "expert" over to review the damage to the desk and the expert tried to convince me the damage (which was on the manifest!) occurred before the move. I was dumbfounded. The desk had been meticulously restored only two years prior, and it was inspected before the move. Red Ball tried to refuse any payment. They told me they dropped the desk, the desk was damaged. I had bought the insurance plan. then they refused payement. I was in the process of planning my wedding for the following month, so I could not fight hard, but My Guys did try to get this resolved, as did the Better Business Bureau (which for some reason lists Red Ball with an A+). It was high up in the company that they refused the payment, so this is disappointing. Through the efforts from MyGuys, I eventually got $180 for what will be $600-$1,000 in repairs (which does not account for the fact that this family heirloom has been permanently altered). This was a failure at every level of the company, which is why I wanted to bring this to the attention of Angie's List users (I would have filed this last year, but only recently joined Angie's List!)

We had an inner city move in November and encountered nearly a thousand dollars in damaged furniture during the move. I submitted a damage claim in November and have called the company nearly ten times. Over two months later and no one has contacted me regarding our claim. The entire process has been handled unprofessionally and has been a complete nightmare. Unfortunately, this will have to be resolved in small claims court to get our money back. I would never recommend this company to my family and friends and I will never use this company again.

They had a good price for the work they provided. The truck broke down in the middle of it, but the driver kept in touch with us and informed us about the status of it. Their representative was out on vacation during that time, so we never spoke to the same person twice during the course of the move. They went back and forth. There was some miscommunication or lack of communication between the company and the driver. They didn?t send several sets of boxes like a mattress box, mirror boxes, and those sorts of things that we had told them we were going to have. They didn?t charge us for them, but they didn?t show up with the boxes. The delivery was delayed. They stayed within their window except for the fact that there was a breakdown. The breakdown caused them to go outside of their window by a day. They matched up their 6-day window by picking up an additional load. The driver was great. They did the actual work of loading and unloading in a timely and efficient manner.

They dented some items but completely fixed them.