Dale J. Cook Moving and Storage

8 Reviews: Add Review

1. DALE J. COOK Movers.

   AWESOME COMPANY!! We had the best packing 'n' moving experience with this group of professionals! From Karen, that came to bid the move--and her delivering boxes to us--to the great team that did the over-sized packing, the team that moved us out of one home and the team that moved us into our new home--cannot say enough EXCELLENT things about them all!! They were timely, thorough, professional--and so personable and fun to have during this stressful time! We are thankful that we were referred to them!! Henry & Jeannie Z.

2. Worst experience.

   I wish I could give them less than 1 star. I have moved 4 times with the military and this has been the worst experience I have ever had. I really do no know where to begin. First of all, they did a horrible job packing. Nothing got labeled correctly they just threw whatever they found and named the box something generic. I just have 15 boxes saying garage sitting there not knowing what is in them. Not to mention that all of the boxes they brought to pack my stuff were all used, which I can understand, the problem is that they did't erase the previous information so then I had a bunch of boxes with other last names and labeled incorrectly. They also ran out of their used boxes so a lot of my stuff was not packed at all so they left a bunch of hardware around and now I am having trouble putting together my furniture in my new house. Another problem I ran into was I had overflow on the truck so Dale J Cook had to store my extra stuff until another truck picked it up and they threw everything on their truck without boxes or wrapping it and most of my stuff that was put in that storage came damaged. Two shelves just collapsed when they got off the truck and broke to pieces, they chipped the wood off of a bunch of my furniture and damaged other items. Again, I had a lot of experiences with movers and this has been the absolute worst.

3. Failure to remedy damages in move.

   My Moving Experience With Dale J. Cook/Stevens
    
   The person who sold me the experience was cordial and convincing of what a great company Dale J. Cook would be for my move.  She did convince me that I should pay them to pack everything of value and that I should purchase $600 of insurance, “just in case.” She could not have been more wrong.  Following is list of some of the reasons:
    
   1.   I specifically pointed out to one of the women 2 times that I had 2 shopping bags of Christopher Radco ornaments that had a beginning price of $100 each and that each ornament needed to be wrapped separately and packed securely.  They arrived at my destination in the same shopping bags with absolutely no wrapping dropped into a wardrobe box. 
   2.   I have a piece of hand-painted antique slate from the roof of a house in Charleston that was likewise dropped into a wardrobe box together with a heavy camera tripod with no wrapping around it.
   3.   Hurry, not care, was the name of the game in packing and loading. I halted one trip down the stairs where a steel bookshelf was being scrapped across the ceiling rather that disassembling it.
   4.   I went upstairs at one point of loading to find yellow paint from the wall all over the floor.  The corner of a wall was so smashed in that the repair man they sent over the next morning (before my final walk-through of my buyers) said that it needed the metal corner replaced and at least 2 pieces of sheetrock.  The hole was caused by someone later described to me as “a guy who sometimes likes to showoff”  “dropping” the headboard of my bed into the wall. The Wesley Allen Queen Size Iron Bed now had yellow paint embedded in the headboard! No one mentioned to me prior to my finding it myself that it had been done. 
   5.   When they left at the end of the day a blade was hanging off the fan in the dining room.  Again, no one mentioned that they had torn up the fan. 
   6.   The ceiling all along the stairwell had the paint beaten off of it from all the times boxes and furniture had been scrubbed up against it.
   7.   There had been a half dozen cokes in the refrigerator when they arrived.  They were all missing when the moving crew left.  I would have gladly given them one had they asked, but since no one did, in my world that is known as stealing.
   8.   An iron quilt rack had for some reason been disassembled for the move.  They couldn’t get it back together, but broke it while attempting. It was left in pieces all across the floor as the last person ran to the truck telling me to “turn it in.”
   9.   I moved into a 4700 square foot, 3-story house.  I could not watch and check out every single piece of furniture that was run off the truck – again the order of the day was HURRY! I did ask the driver and the receptionist/secretary at Dale J. Cook how long I had to turn in my claim.  Both people told me that I had 9 months.  DO NOT BELIEVE THAT!! In fact, now that I have a claim on a stool that was hidden behind a 3 deep, higher than my head wall of boxes, I am told that I had to turn it in before the driver left!
   10.                 As I began to unpack boxes, I could not believe my eyes.  I had 4 picture boxes that had 2 or more paintings in them with the front of one jammed up against the back of another without a single piece of paper in between or around them.   Therefore, the screws and hanging wire on one piece scrubbed up against the one behind it the entire move. Needless to say, the frames were destroyed beyond use.  Included in one of those boxes was a piece of artwork that was a mirror surround by pottery.  The  “mortar” holding the pottery in had been knocked out all around the edges.
   11.                 We had purchased a signed vase on a trip to Albuquerque.  It was chipped.
   12.                 A Drexel Heritage lingerie chest has a huge dent in the top edge.  I have inquired of someone who hand built my dining room table and my new cabinets if it could be repaired.  He said that it could not be repaired to its original state.
   13.                 I did have a framed photograph of my mother-in-law with her siblings when she was a child.  As they have all passed away, it was priceless to us.  It was displayed on top of my wardrobe in the master bedroom.  It should have been packed by Dale J. Stevens and moved here.  After unpacking all of my boxes, it is nowhere to be found.  I reported it to them.  Their only response has been that they don’t know what happened to it! 
   14.                 It says in their sales packet that they will pay you $100 if they damage your house.  They did a lot of damage to my house! They did not pay anything.
    
    
   This move cost me almost $12,000 including the $600 for insurance to protect in case they damaged anything. I have lived in 7 states so I’ve moved a lot. I have never in the past allowed the movers to pack my things and have always done it myself.  I have never had anything broken. Neither have I had my house torn up by other large or small moving companies. I have now turned in my claim for all the damage done and expected to be paid for it.  The “inspector” they sent over was here with a tiny cheap camera for all of 10 minutes!  After that in depth investigation and with the help of eBaby, this is what I was allowed:
   1.Quilt Rack: Claimed $100 – Allowed $0
   Denied liability as it had already been repaired. I did have it welded back together so that I could get my quilts put somewhere, but the repair looks awful and there is no denying that they tore it up!
   2. Four framed Paintings that needed custom framing.  I had already priced it so that I knew the amount to claim. I had claimed $700.  Allowed for “repair” $195.  Where does one go to get a frame “repaired”?
   3. A framed painting that they decided the damage wasn’t done in the move.  Claimed $150 – Allowed $0
   4. On the Framed Mirror they decided, “the filler for the pottery frame had fallen out. This is not transit related.” Claimed $100 – Allowed $0
   5. Pottery Vase – They did “research” on eBay and found one for $35.99. I had claimed $75.  It probably cost me more than the $35 to ship it, as I didn’t buy it on eBay!
   6. The Drexel Heritage Lingerie Chest I had claimed $1880 to replace as I had been told it could not be repaired.  They allowed $150 to repair.
   7. The Wesley Allen Bed that had torn up a wall “was denied because it had many pre-existing paint chips on both the headboard and footboard.”  The bed was distressed! It was a new bed that was in a guest bedroom that had probably not been used more than 25 times! It, however, did not have yellow paint on the white bed!! They absolutely know they are responsible for it because they had to repair the yellow wall!  Claimed $716 (The store where I purchased it still has it on record where I bought it) Allowed - $0
   8. Bar Stool that was hidden behind boxes –they deny all liability because I didn’t turn it in at delivery! Claimed $200- Allowed $0
    
   Apparently they have a list of the reasons they use to deny claims and they just choose one for each thing that a person turns in!
    
   I have called both Dale J. Cook and Stevens Worldwide Van Lines in Saginaw, MI to try to talk to them about their businesses.  Neither will return my call.
    
   Please do not use either of these companies it you care about your house or your belongings!

4. Dale Cook is a reliable company.

   We are very pleased with the service provided by Dale J. Cook movers in Charleston. We moved from a raised beach house, so lots of stairs. The estimate was appropriate and great care was taken to make sure our furniture was not scratched or damaged in any way. We will use them again.

5. Dale J Cook Moving and Storage.

   This company made a cross town move for us and we could not be more pleased. The actual cost was very close to what the sales lady estimated. The crew was courteous and professional and did not damage any of our stuff. They were also very careful not to damage either house. We also had them store some valuable antique furniture for a time and it was handled carefully and delivered in perfect shape! I highly recommend this company!

6. Moving services.

   My experience with this company was very positive. My move was completed on time and with great and personable service. They took special care of items I called out as being special family heirlooms. This company has a long history of doing excellent work! I will definitely use Dale J. Cook Moving and Storage for any  future moves.

7. Damaged items and increased cost.

   Had them estimate a local move.  The person who estimated the move promised that good care would be taken for all items with less boxes required since it is a local move.  Many items would be wrapped in blankets, and our linens would be put into drawers or stuffed into book cases.  The entire move with packing and all was estimated to be just over $1800.  We were also told that if we packed many of the unbreakable stuff ourselves such as books, etc, it would save us money.  We packed the entire kitchen, most of the garage, most of the office and most of the bathroom items.  There was little left to be packed. Our packing bill ended up being exactly the same as what was estimated despite all of our packing.  Our packing bill was run up by them packing all of our linens in boxes rather than putting them in drawers.   On moving day, they completely damaged my filing cabinet and gouged our bedroom dresser.  They said they would do nothing about the filing cabinet since its worth would fall under the $250 deductible, which I was not informed of prior to the move.  I'm amazed that we didn't find more broken items because they were constantly dropping stuff. They ran up the entire move bill an additional $400 over the estimate because they complained that our driveway was too long. Beware of this company.  They can definitely entice you with their estimate and promises, but they do not deliver what they promise and they do not do anything about damage.   Last year we did a move nationally with another company without any damage and no billing issues.  This local move by Dale J Cook within a few blocks resulted in damaged items and a lot of complaints from the movers of how heavy the items are.

8. Damaged property refused to make it right.

   I hired Dale Cook Stevens to professionally pack my POD with my condominium contents. I provided 4 quilts to wrap my pottery barn sofa which they did not use to safely pack the sofa. Cook movers poked holes in the base of the sofa, created two large scuff marks on the top of the sofa, and gouged a 4 inch whole in the seating area of the sofa. They refused to compensate me for the damage to my property indicating, "we packed the POD and that is what we were hired to do." I hired professional movers to pack my possessions in a safe manner, but I didn't get what I paid for. When the POD was unpacked, my movers asked me why I didn't have the POD professionally packed! Don't use this company, they did not provide the service I paid $595 for.