A Smart Move

I actually used this small moving company a number of times, and despite several repeat frustrations probably would have used them again and spent another $1500 with them IF the owner Tony Davis had actually handled things as promised. He broke a very expensive table which is the major piece to a set, so the whole set will have to be replaced. Of course, I can't afford to do so because Tony has not reimbursed me as he said he would. Not only did he admit to breaking the item and promise to handle it as soon as I got him a receipt, but then he asked for full payment on the services and has pretty much dodged me ever since. I have given him multiple opportunities, and well more than enough time, to make this right. Our business dealings began in late 2011 and finally stalled in March 2012. The first time I hired A Smart Move, it was to pack a very specific list of items and then load them on a UHaul. While I was told by a friend who was there to observe for me that they worked efficiently and carefully, they did not follow the instructions and did not properly label any boxes. (This was very important because I was forced to move in phases, and to put a significant amount of my belongings in storage, so I needed to have the items packed and labeled as requested so I would have access to necessary living items.) The next several times that I hired Tony, I requested an estimated of the number of hours needed to finish packing up EVERYTHING in my home for later delivery. Due to recovery from a very serious accident, I was available by phone and had my sister on site to observe and instruct. Work was performed quickly and carefully as long as Tony was on site, however, any time he left, work slowed considerably, and sometimes stopped altogether. His packers on site were unresponsive. As a result, all the remaining packing was not accomplished in the six hours estimated, and I had to bring them back for packing again and again and again. All total, I paid A Smart Move for 20 hours of packing, and as of today's date, there are still numerous items throughout the house unpacked and paintings stacked on top of each other and mirrors, without any wrapping or boxes. This is disappointing since I've been moved professionally four other times, and this same household has been completely packed by two people in 10 hours or less each time. On Feb 29th, Tony and his crew left El Paso with the UHaul and trailer to tow their car which I rented. They were given a priority list of items to bring when they discovered they couldn't fit everything in the truck while loading. I received a call during the day regarding the table set in my den. I said to leave them since they didn't have the ability to crate them. Tony said he thought he could fit the tables in. Once again I reminded him that these were heavy solid travertine tables and had been crated on previous moves. He repeated he could get them. I finally left it up to him with the final instruction not to bring the tables unless he was absolutely sure they wouldn't be broken. About halfway through unloading on March 1st, Tony asked me to come outside. I was heartbroken to see the coffee table broken in half. Tony assured me he would cover it and rwould have his wife start searching immediately for a replacement, and if that couldn't be done, he would reimburse me after I sent him a receipt. He requested full payment at the end of that day. I certainly now regret not withholding at least some portion of payment - and I even gave them a very nice tip. My fiance has griped at me every week since then for being so trusting. I have provided the receipt to Tony three different times, and even got him on the phone once, and he stated again he would handle it - "just send me the receipt again, please." I sent it, but not only has he not handled it, but he doesn't answer calls from me and doesn't return any voice mails or emails. I reported him to UHaul since I booked him through their MoverHelper tool. They got back with me and said that Tony had told them that he would resolve it, but he again didn't answer calls or return messages. It's clear I was foolish to trust him and now I am out the money and my expensive table set. I wouldn't recommend using Tony unless you just don't care about your stuff, don't care if things are done the way you need it, and most importantly if it doesn't matter to you whether problems will be resolved.

The service was satisfactory, they worked out very well for us.