False Promises, Then More Lies — Go with their carrier, not them!

I have been soliciting bids from several companies for an upcoming move. In the process, I have realized that all the brokers and several of the carriers (the actual movers/trucks that accept broker bids) have mixed to bad reviews. You call one and they warn you about the others and vice versa. Andrew Williams at AmeriSafe called me many times, and I told him the things I was learning about the loopholes in contracts that let the movers screw you over last minute, such as charging you: 1) for weight even though you aren’t present to verify it (though you can ask to be present or at least get weight tickets… but tickets don’t matter much if they lie), 2) for taking extra space (either at pickup or “mid-move”… as if boxes get larger, including for space that is left empty on top of a short stack of boxes or above items that can’t be stacked, but apparently that’s illegal now I’m told) so MEASURE YOUR BOXES TO KNOW CUBIC FEET, 3) for changing inventory (but I’m told that only matters if it expands the cubic feet or is a bulky item that is hard to move like a piano or leaves the driver with an inaccurate list, so finalize 5 days’ prior — you can’t sneak in an extra box!), and 4) for added services including the driver deciding they can’t make it to your house without a shuttle ($1 more per cubic foot), or for not emptying plastic drawers (although several companies said the empty drawer rule applies to heavy furniture, not light plastic furniture), etc. I contacted several companies and moved forward in more detail with three, including AmeriSafe. Two were willing to write an addendum to the Bill of Lading (which the carrier must honor) to state that I would only be charged for additional cubic feet, not weight or change in inventory unless a change in inventory affected cubic feet or added a bulky item. They also connected me directly with their carrier to confirm accessibility at both my pickup and drop off addresses to ensure I would not be charged a shuttle fee, since streets are smaller in my area but I could do a workaround with enough notice. Andrew at AmeriSafe said he would do the same. He texted me, “I will put anything in your contract you want.” But then he sent me nothing despite me outlining these items. When I asked him again, including to work on it and get it to me so I could sign, he said, “Type it up and I will copy and paste it into the contract.” So, I wrote it up and emailed and texted it to him. Then he responded, “That is too much. I wish you the best” and dropped me cold. He didn’t honor his word. I think I dodged a bullet since I don’t want a broker that isn’t willing to put in writing the verbal and text-based promises he makes to protect a client from becoming one of the BBB or State Attorney General horror stories. Nor do I want one that is only responsive to get me to sign but otherwise ignores my request for an addendum for days and then dishonors his word before we even sign. He led me on and never followed through. Further, he said other things to try to get me to sign like how terrible the other companies were that I was considering and that his company has been around 27 years although BBB says 4. He also said they didn’t recently have any licensing change, which SafeShip pointed out to me, but FMCSA has a note that AmeriSafe did — downgraded from a carrier to just a broker. What AmeriSafe has going for them is a good carrier — Amex Moving. But you should skip the middleman and go directly to them and avoid the lies and false promises. You won’t get as good a starting price since brokers negotiate by sending multiple jobs to the carriers and you are only a job of 1, but you also won’t get the surprise inflation as long as you do your due diligence. (Another carrier worth considering is Perfectly Fast Moving; unfortunately Google shows mostly brokers in their results so you won’t see these names otherwise.)

Move Size : Studio

Service Cost : 2085 USD