STARVING STUDENT MOVERS

Absolutely horrible. I could write a novel about how bad this move was - and I certainly wish I was using Angie's List for the review BEFORE I contracted this company. Some highlights: -Raised price during move three times -furniture was not wrapped so is badly scratched and dented -missing items and boxes -slow, slow, slow. 12 hours to load a 2 bedroom house? 10 hours to unload? -we carried tons of boxes and furniture ourselves -took 30 minutes (while we were paying) to figure out how to park the truck -took over an hour (yep, still paying) to figure out how to get a frig into the house (instead of setting it to the side and continuing to unload the truck) -damaged hardwood floors, front concrete steps -dropped boxes clearly marked fragile (I can never replace my mother's crystal bowls) -manager was disrespectful and unresponsive to our concerns -claims process is long and difficult -stressful, stressful, stressful . . . stressful

We hired Starving Students to move us from Queen Anne to Magnolia. I think my husband ordered them because they were the best deal, and I was pacified because they said they would send 2-3 movers working together. Only 2 guys showed up. They were unprofessional- no real wrapping of furniture to protect it, foul language, staining of new carpet with filthy shoes. The worst part was that they didn't work together at all- I caught one mover dragging a leather couch, upside down, on his own, ruining the leather with scratches. My antique dining set and many other furniture now has gouges in it, which neither mover reported. I do NOT recommend them at all. The money you think you may save will be lost in furniture repair.

Original scheduled at 1 to 5 pm. Manager called Friday 2pm to reschedule to 11am. Entire family got up at 6am to finish up packing. Nobody showed at 11am. Tried to call service line but got very unpleasant response by manager on duty. Was told there was nothing they could do. Movers called 12:30pm, saying they never heard of the reschedule and would not be here until 3pm. Movers asked to reschedule for the next day. I offered additional pay if they could make it before 1:30pm. Mover called back within 10 minutes. Promised another crew would arrive in 45 minutes. Crew arrived at 1:40pm. Did a decent job. Pretty professional. Nothing was damaged and they did move most of my heavy boxes upstairs. Worst experience ever--I was under so much stress that I knocked in to another car parked in the parking lot while trying to vacate the parking space for the moving truck. Will never use them again. Would not recommend anyone to use them either.

They did a good a job at a reasonable price. I thought they did a fabulous job!

They were a bit slow, they didn't seem to move very fast. They also bill by the hour. I had a gash in one dresser, in which he came and told me about. I thought this was honest. They were friendly. I feel like this might have costed me a little more than needed.

Their price was normal with every other company I checked. They did a credible job. If I was to move again I would hire them again.

To begin with the hourly rate changed from the time I called for a quote to the next day when I called to make the reservation. It went up by $5 per hour. Not enough to cancel but annoying. You begin paying from the time they dispatch the guys from their station - in my case it took 30 minutes to get to my apartment. When you look at drive time to me (30 min) and their return drive time (30 min) I'm already paying $80 (1 hr) just for them to DRIVE. Seems like I should begin paying when they arrive at my place. The packing went ok, didn't seem to be problems. I stood at the back of the truck as they unloaded so I could tell them what room to place the items in. At one point I noticed they picked up an antique trunk I have and were paying special attention (for a few minutes) to one particular corner...I asked if there was a problem with it. The "supervisor" told me no, that it had just gotten caught on the blanked and they were making sure it was ok. Turns out they had done something that took a 1/2 inch tall & 4 INCH long chunk of wood out of the trunk. The time they spent messing with the corner was trying to put the piece back on so I wouldn't notice. They also damaged a leg of a desk - which again I saw the guy messing with, he looked at me, but didn't say anything. I did a walk around inspection of items before they finished but didn't touch or move each piece - had I done that I would have noticed the wobbly desk and the chuck of wood that popped out of place off the trunk. Oh, and did I mention I even tipped them $20 each ($40 total) for them to lie straight to my face. Super nice guys hua!

Poor results, overall. In San Francisco: Packers, movers, and truck showed up as scheduled, and with all materials. In Seattle: Packers showed up nearly two hours late for assignment, and with no materials! They raided the local free newspaper (The Stranger) for their packing materials. Trucking adhered to schedule. In both cases, however, my brand-new furniture was described, on the packing manifest as scratched, dented, old. This became an excuse for smashing nearly everything I had to smithereens. If you use Starving Students, be very diligent when looking at--and approving--the packing manifest that is provided you on the origination end. If it looks like the company is about ready to haul a load of "junk" from your old place to the new, that's because it will arrive in disastrous, broken condition.

I was exceptionally happy, from the time I first called to the end of the move. Professional, worked quickly, were patient & clear about pricing.