BERTSCH MOVING & STORAGE CO- Allied Van Lines

When they loaded my household into a box truck for storage, the main movers handled my large furniture with no care: they did not wrap my furniture or couches (I followed them into the truck begging them to wrap an brand new $5000 article Italian leather couch that was thrown on the floor of the box truck), they stacked 2 highly valuable Tibetan cabinets on their side with no wrapping and loaded them with boxes, completely destroying one of them requiring a museum curator to repair, they threw a fragile antique secretariat crown and embellishments on top of the load, where they broke into pieces (some of which were never found in the truck suggesting they broke it in the warehouse) they stacked golf clubs in with heavy workout equipment, they set kettle bells in so they rolled around and destroyed unwrapped table and cabinet legs, they pinned an I MAC between boxes with no boxing or support, they did not wrap some of my couches (the most valuable ones), they threw metal sculptures in the truck unwrapped, pinned between weights and exercise equipment, they did not tie down crates and let them float in the back of the truck, they completely destroyed my boxes, including those labeled fragile, and they concealed items they broke in their warehouse by opening a sealed box and hid half of the broken piece inside! I have photographs to prove all of this and signed statements from the unloading company. This is only a fraction of the failures in my move by this company, but I hope this gives a strong enough illustration of the conduct of this company. Professionally, they did not provide me with an inventory of my items when they loaded my things, leaving me with no way to account for what they loaded and what was unloaded when my possessions arrived. The process of providing a client a thorough inventory to sign off on is a primary component of an Allied move. It is my proof of what was loaded. Not having this has caused me so many problems including items not being listed and me having no way to hold them accountable for losing them. In my case, boards to a custom made full size bunk bed with trundle. The people who run this business were not able to use their computer systems, access photos they requested I email them, or update contracts without using their personal emails and texts. After a 17 day delay of transporting my things, the coordinator texted me that the 3rd party truck driver did not have to follow federal trucking laws and he could drive straight through from Oregon to Colorado without rest! I have a photo of this interaction to prove this claim. Moreover, It took them over 3 weeks to give me a receipt for my payment of over $19,000. In all of my life experiences paying professional businesses to do work for me, I have never been treated so poorly or experienced such negligence. They have made no effort to make it right, despite my requesting them to do so. They throw up their hands and tell me I must go through the Allied claim department. A small business ran this entire move, but I have to work with a huge corporation to hold them accountable. Needless to say, I am left in a lerch. Hopefully the $1800 extra I paid for insurance will be enough to get repairs done to my things. Repairs will never replace what was ruined by their negligence. Finally, The moving coordinator told me their "very best crew " (I have this in writing) was loading my things (because I over and over expressed how valuable my furniture was to me). If these were their best movers, then they certainly do not train their employees on how to wrap furniture and load a truck. I tipped each loader $50 with the hope it would serve as an incentive to take good care of my things as they loaded, unloaded, stored and loaded them while in their care. Instead, when I discussed how my things were treated so terribly with the customer service manager, she rudely said "If you are so unhappy, why did you tip my workers?" The lack of professionalism is staggering. I believe Bertsch Moving and Storage relies on a false reputation. They rely on Allied Van Lines to be accountable for their actions and take no responsibility for their business conduct. I directly asked them to do something to make it right; for example, give me a refund for their portion of profit from my payment, but they laughed in my face and told me that was impossible. It is never impossible to make it right, it is a choice.

My experience with Bertsch Moving was really pretty good, considering how stressful moving can be in general. I really appreciated Dakon coming out and looking at my stuff and estimating it himself. He really laid to rest a lot of worry I had about moving across the country. I trusted them completely, and they did not disappoint! The movers who came to load and unload my stuff were professional and kind, and had great senses of humor as well! The *only* thing I could say was a little bit lacking was some lack of communication in the beginning in hearing back about my quote and finding out the exact date that the company would be coming to get my stuff. A bit more communication would've been better, but once the ball was rolling, it was a smooth ride. I would absolutely recommend these guys for anyone else who is looking at moving!