As you can tell from above, the move went relative smoothly, the company lived up to their word and didn't try to force any additional charges on us, they were extremely diligent in wrapping & protecting all our items no mater of what value, and their whole operation was well orchestrated throughout the entire move. They were punctual, courteous, and well-intentioned through the whole process. We sustained only minor damage in all that was moved and were pleased with the outcome.
Description of Work: This was our first move in many years and though the price astounded us, it appeared to be the going rate. We were moving from the Los Angeles area to the San Luis Obispo area. We had already taken many items ourselves that we could transport and left mainly furniture, appliances, and other larger type items for the movers to transport for us. We received a thorough estimate from Barak Cohen and were pleased by it's detail and organization. We signed for the move and the contract was a "flat rate" contract in which the company said they would only charge us that rate and there would be no additional charges. They lived up to that agreement & allowed us to substitute items as we saw fit until the truck was full. We received two bids, the first for a two day move, one truck. That bid only included the items we specified that we wanted moved. The second bid was for a two day move, two trucks and would include many of the items we thought we could move later ourselves. The difference was a little over $1,000. We elected the two day move, one truck. The night before the move we received a call from the company confirming our move, the price for two trucks, two days (which we had not agreed to). We told the dispatcher that we had told Mr Cohen that we only wanted the two day- one truck move & rate. He said he would have Mr Cohen contact us that evening. We also told him that Mr Cohen agreed to have his trucks pick up some furniture we had at a storage facility first before they came to the house for the rest of the furniture. However, we never received a call back from Mr Cohen that night before the move and he didn't return my cell call to him that evening regarding the move, and sure enough, on moving day two trucks showed up at our house, not the one truck at the storage facility as agreed. I immediately had to stop all activity until we had a chance to make sure both the moving company & we were on the same page. In fact, the moving crew even called Mr Cohen & couldn't get through to him. Finally, Mr Cohen called me, apologized for the mix-up, said he was having phone problems, and said he recalled our agreement and instructed his men that this was a two truck, one day move beginning at the storage facility. We all then had to drive to the storage facility to pick up the furniture there, then return to our home to load the remaining furniture. Once everything was ironed out, the move began to progress in a well organized fashion. One glitch was that we had a couple of very fine antique furniture pieces that I had told Mr Cohen about when he was estimating the cost of our move, and on the moving day the head of the crew, Oscar, we taking the best piece apart with a cordless drill which I felt should not have been done in the first place and that it was being done in a manner that could easily be detrimental to furniture that was about 200 years old. I anxiously asked Oscar what he was doing, he explained that he was disassembling the piece to make it easier to move, & I explained that I felt this was no way to treat a fine antique piece. He stopped immediately until we could again contact Mr Cohen who again apologized and called Oscar himself & explained our concern & that we only wanted them to use manual tools in the disassembly and reassembly. They complied and did a fine job in wrapping and taping all our items. But it was apparent to us that what we had discussed with Mr Cohen while he was estimating our move was never communicated to his crew. This was the downside of the whole move. Other than that, everything was well wrapped and cared for. We only sustained a minor dent to our refrigerator door that we are aware of. The crew of Oscar, Ernesto, Emilio, and a 4th man were all very careful, respectful, & honest with all our items. Oscar was especially resourceful in moving a sand-based basketball hoop system that our kids had used when growing up. We felt that the items were packed well both for their protection and for maximizing the amount of items we could get on the truck. The crew then took the items to their storage facility in Chatsworth for the night & then early the next morning drove the items up to our new home. They, 3 of the same 4 who had loaded the truck, arrived on time, even a little early, and began unloading in a very organized and efficient manner. They were neat and clean, all were respectful of our wishes and eager to please, and the unloading went well. They hooked up the washer & dryer and the refrigerator's ice maker, got the cables in place for the entertainment center (we were moving the TV at a later date ourselves), and basically were very thorough in all that they did. They were always concerned where we wanted the items placed and even help adjust the placement when what we wanted wasn't just right. The antique furniture was reassembled by hand and Oscar was very careful not to damage the existing holes & screws and was concerned that the hinges & doors worked properly when reassembled. All in all, we felt this company and crew did an excellent job and other than the lack of communication at first, were very efficient, careful, and easy to deal with. The final bill was just as represented, except that they requested half of the payment at the end of the first day even though the contract indicated that the total was due on completion. We paid the full amount in one payment at the end of the move & everything was fine.