CROSS COUNTRY MOVING & STORAGE

Cross Country Moving and Storage is a major disappointment and scam as a moving company. Your best option is to rent a truck or trucks from Budget, Allied Rental, etc. The cost for doing so would far less than what you would be charged by Cross Country and less stressful. The discrepancies between the BBB ratings (4.95/5) and Google reviews (1.2/5) should have been the first red flag. Fraudulent reviews should be prohibited and the BBB should do better in ensuring that these reviews are genuine. Cross Country employees, friend and families of the employees should not be allowed to write reviews. I am assuming this is the case given the drastic difference in the average BBB rating and Google/Yelp Ratings. If I can give this company a negative score, I would. My first issue is that the customer service rep who generated the "Binding" quote is not qualified to do so. Only the actual movers can determine how much space your items will occupy in the truck. They finally told me this on the day of the move, while present at my apartment. So expect your initial quote to double on the actual moving day. I was initially quoted $1200 for a PA to MD interstate move. I emailed images of my property so that there would be transparency regarding whether a shuttle bus would be needed. The customer service rep emailed me to assure that short distance moves would not require a 53ft tractor trailer. However, on the day of the move, I was charged an additional $400 for a shuttle bus, an additional $400 in cubic feet despite the "Binding" quote. When the movers arrived, I expected more seasoned individuals. The movers were young and one of the movers bragged that he had 3 years experience. THREE years of experience is not something to brag about given his performance when unloading my items. He would pile several large items into his arms, scraping my furniture against the wall, and slamming my boxes unto the floor. Because they were running behind, he then asked that I assist in unwrapping the furniture. Attention movers, this is your job; this is what you are being paid to do. Also, the company charged me two additional steps as another flight of stairs, so that was an additional $150 charge. The stairs to my apartment was downward, so why charge an additional fee.The company requires that you pay in cash prior to unloading your items. So, if they load your items and decide to double the charge for frivolous and subjective claims, there is nothing you can do except pay. This was the best part after swindling me out of an additional $1000+, one of movers had the audacity to insist that I provide a tip. His reasoning is because they unloaded and assembled my items. Movers, as per the contract, this what you are SUPPOSE to do. Strong arming your customers into paying a tip is unprofessional! The tip was never given.

The company showed up on-time and I recognized the truck was too small, the supervisor told me it would fit no problem. The quote was for $534, the total came in at nearly $1400 and a tip was mandatory? The main reason for the additional expense is that they would not put anything in the truck unless it was boxed. They boxed ridiculous items, like my portable AC unit, Pillows, etc? They also removed items from existing boxes and put them in their boxes. The additional $800 over the quote was all this packaging they did which costs a bundle. Finally, they weren?t able to load all of my items on the truck (which wasn?t big enough) and I had to make five trips in my full-size truck to get all of the remaining items, which had to be out by the following day.

I think if I had an accurate estimate to start with I may have given them a Fair rating. The original estimate was $312 (3 men for 3 hours plus $78 travel time) based on a two bedroom apartment. I listed out each piece of furniture to the rep. in the end we decided to up the estimate to 5 hours so that would be $468 without materials. I guestimated materials would be $250 based on past experience but didn't get a quote from the mover. Big mistake. They took too long to pack but I knew that nothing was going to get damaged. I had less packing material used when I moved overseas. If you have items you are concerned will be damaged, these guys will take care of you. However, moving things 10 miles, I feel it is overkill especially on large furniture items. It takes a lot of extra time to pack and it costs a lot more in packing materials. They took 3 hours to pack and 3 hours to unpack. They charged me an hour travel time in addition to the total hours they were working and in transit. They charged me 5% surcharge for fuel. The packing materials were more expensive than the labor for the move. I thought renting their pads was a rip off but it is a common practice. They also insisted for insurance reasons to bubble wrap and box my four large framed pictures and two old TVs. It was appropriate for my glass table top. They left all the old boxes in my garage when I thought they were taking them away. amount price total small box 3 6 18 large box 1 10 10 china box 3 15 45 mirror box 20 7 140 bubble wrap 104 2 208 tape 12 4 48 pads 15 5 75 plastic 6 12 72 My move from DC to Miami took 1.5 hours to pack and they packed the everything including, the entire kitchen (that was a third story apartment without an elevator). It cost less than this move. I also moved from Miami to Houston and Houston to LA and this move was more expensive or about the same price and took longer. For those who say should have bought your own materials, I have done it in the past and been told by the mover can't use that type or it they do, they can't be responsible. It also turned out to be very expensive and I had a lot of unused packing material. If you pack it yourself, their insurance won't cover damage. I also didn't like that they don't encourage tipping but make it very clear that 10-15% of the total cost for the entire team is appropriate and appreciated. I did like the movers and thought they worked hard. I appreciate anyone who will carry heavy furniture down 4 flights of stairs. My advice. Don't move or make sure your company pays for your relocation.

They gave me an estimate of $750 for the move, and I ended up paying $2000. The people I had to deal with on the phone (other than the person who gave me the initial estimate) were very rude. I was told they'd be bringing a dolly, moving blankets, and tape and it would be included in the quoted $700. They used excessive amounts of blankets and tape and ended up charging me extra for all of it. The move took much longer than it should have, which resulted in additional fees. They ended up bringing a smaller truck than they should have and had to make multiple trips. While moving furniture out of my old place, they broke the door frame. Fortunately we were able to repair it, but the workers denied doing it at the time. When I called to complain about everything after the move, the customer service person said to me "How do you expect us to make money if we don't charge for the blankets?" The real issue wasn't the charge. It was the fact that they did not communicate the charge to me until the arrived for the move.

The moving company, Cross Country Moving and Storage, is not an honest company. While we occasionally run into incompetent people providing low-quality services, this one is different: they have developed a fairly sophisticated act to overcharge you(in my case, 200% more than estimate-can that margin result from an honest mistake?!)and rob you from your rights as a customer. Cross Country Moving and Storage has developed strategies to trick you into signing papers that can have information added after your signature; charge you by the weight of the moving truck and keep you from witnessing the weighting of the truck at the weight station("scheduling misunderstandings" according to them). Once Cross Country Moving and Storage has your belongings, they refuse to provide you evidence of the charges/weight and blackmail you with veiled threats of delays in delivering your belongings or not knowing where they are stored. They take advantage of us running around the house on moving day to throw your items in random boxes without any wrapping or protection(although they charge a lot for both)when we are not looking. Finally, Cross Country Moving and Storage has a lot of fine print in the contract and contract language that surprised lawyers that have seen and said they would never accept that language in a contract(sorry I am not a lawyer, and I don t think you should worry about one when moving; pick another company!!). In short: worse than just being incompetent, people at Cross Country Moving and Storage are crooks and cannot be trusted. I can provide documents and pictures to support my statements if needed. But I suggest you really choose another company if you want peace of mind when you move. In time: I have a perfect credit history and driving record: I play by the rules and do not make frivolous complaints/accusations, but I speak out for fairness.