Around Town Moving

Recent Move

Run as far away as possible from this company. The move experience was horrendous and the claims process even more so. The only positive experience was the salesperson and I actually regret that he was good enough that I acquired their services! The movers showed up smelling of marijuana - I couldn't tell which one/s but a friend said he thought it was only one of the four men. After their "lunch" break, my friend found several empty drink bottles in my driveway. I told him it was ok I would pick them up and throw them away. The driveway had been blown off so that leaves would not be tracked into the house by the move so, the empty ice bag and Stella bottle cap were not pre-existing items. Furthermore, I don't drink beer and since I live alone - it was not my bottle cap. Obviously, the bottle cap belonged to one of the movers. Unfortunately, they broke several items the most important being my washing machine. Of course, the team leader denied breaking it. I deduced (correctly) by his aggressive behavior and the fact that he was yelling that the company penalizes the movers for breakage. He did not want to file paperwork for the breakage. I insisted, he continued to yell for quite some time. There were three other people in my party who were frightened and appalled by his behavior. He had the gall to tell me it was their word against my word! He told me they would call me on Monday about the claim. They did not call on Monday. When I called about the claim and mentioned that I was told they would call me on Monday, she said they never call about claims. I found that they had also broken my radiant oil heater (they had dropped it down the stairs). I wanted to file the claim as I wanted to get the washing machine repaired as the door would not close and I needed the ability to wash clothes. I was asked to send pictures in an email. I did. A week passed and I had not heard anything so I picked up the phone and called again. She told me that she had not received anything from me. I said well let me confirm your email address because I have the message with pictures in my Sent emails. She then backtracked and said oh well you sent jpg files and I cannot open jpgs. The individual at the company said she needed pdfs or Google drive. She did not inform me of the file type when she requested I send the pictures nor did she contact me after she received the email with the jpgs. I, once again, had to reach out to her. I immediately resent the email with pdfs. I called a week later to inquire about the status of the claim and she said they had 90 days to settle it. I was concerned since I could not wash clothes at home. Unless you paid, in my case, either $297.50 or $910.00 in additional fees for insurance the reimbursement for breakage is $0.60 per pound. In her first settlement offer she underestimated the weight of the washing machine by 70 pounds and omitted the radiant oil heater altogether. I found documentation of the weights and sent them via email to the company. After an unreturned phone call and another where she told the person answering the call to give me a message and some haggling in emails we arrived at a settlement value for the 2 items which I accepted via an email. However, prior to me signing and returning the settlement letter, I found that a floor lamp was also broken. I sent another email containing pdf pictures and documentation of the 24.4 pound weight (insurance reimbursement value would be $14.64) for a $200 lamp. I received an email saying that was not how the claims process worked - if it was not filed with the original claim, it could not be added. I had told the company when I submitted the original information that I would be taking a number of weeks to unpack and I could find additional items but felt it necessary to go ahead and submit for the washing machine since I was unable to wash my clothing. I find it interesting that the company did not pick up the phone to call me and that they have 90 days to settle a claim but you cannot file for other items you find broken within the same 90 day period. So, all I can say, is DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. I know this is a long read but I feel details like this will inform you as to why I say RUN as far away as possible from this company. BTW I did inform Around the Town Moving & Storage of the marijuana smell and the Stella Artois bottle cap as these are safety issues. Perhaps their insurance carriers will read this review...