University Moving & Storage

14 Reviews: Add Review

1. BUYER BEWARE: DON’T BELIEVE A WORD COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS

   BUYER BEWARE: DON’T BELIEVE A WORD COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS. GET IT WRITTEN IN THE CONTRACT!
   
   IF I COULD GIVE THEM A ZERO STAR I WOULD but let’s start by going over some basic facts:
   
   Moving Date: 05/03/2021 – 05/04/2021
   
   Delivery Date: 05/10/2021 – 05/15/2021
   
   Moving from Ann Arbor, MI to Austin, TX: 1,350 mile
   
   Partner Used: University Moving
   
   We requested the stuff to be delivered by 05/13/2021 and before we signed our contract, the coordinator assured us that it will be done.
   
   Stuff picked up: 05/03/2021
   
   Stuff put on truck: 05/13/2021 (yes, the day we requested things delivered)
   
   Stuff Delivered: 05/18/2021 (3 days past delivery the window)
   
   IT TOOK THEM 16 days to move 4,000 lbs. across 1,350 miles.
   
   These facts do not include the hundreds of calls both my wife and I had to make to get the required information and the emotional distress of moving to a new city, starting a new job, and that too without any of your stuff.
   
   We decided to go with a bigger company despite the premium because I thought they would be professional, will ensure that our stuff is delivered on time and will have good customer service. Sadly, none of that was true!
   
   They have expert sales folks ready to sell you and promise you the moon and the stars. But once you sign the contract, they will non-committal on everything. They will not make any commitments on when you can expect your stuff to arrive even within the delivery date window.
   
   In my experience, I believe this company is reactionary and does not have a contingency plan for anything. The day before our stuff was supposed to arrive, (after the delivery window had already expired), the driver called us and told us that he is 30 miles away but his truck broke down. We tried reaching the delivery coordinator to get an update but couldn’t get hold of her for the next 4 hours. Instead of acknowledging their mistake or coming up with a plan for when things go wrong, this company’s response was “things break down, we can’t control that!”
   
   Final note: If you get Rachel as your delivery coordinator, ask for another one. She doesn’t know what the job of a coordinator is. We were running after her all the time and she would never be in the office or available to take our calls. She did not know how to prioritize her customers and was unavailable when we needed her the most. I could go on forever.
   
   TLDR: RUN THE OTHER WAY!

2. Relocation

   We cannot say enough about University Movers and Storage's attention to service and detail. In particular, I want to signal out Susan Berger and Mark Chambers. From the office, Susan was in constant contact with us to ensure planning and execution of the move was going well and that we were happy after the move. Mark Chambers is a team lead/driver; Mark is a ROCK STAR! Great communications skills, and outstanding logistic management skills to compliment his great personality. I highly recommend this company and compliment Susan and Mark in particular.

3. Caveat Emptor / Let The Buyer Beware

   Double move with storage . Rescheduled original pack three times due to other "priority moves". Resulted in unnecessary additional expense at hotel. Gave us no choice even though we had contract. Driver said we already paid in advance. Had to contact office to have him take Cashiers Check. Four days later were notified they could not find cashiers check even though they had seen it. Told not to worry they would locate it. Four weeks later contacted us to say check was still missing. Long story short were told we must pay again and it was up to us to stop payment and receive a refund even though they lost check. Must wait 90 days to stop payment on a Cashiers Check. Informed we must double pay prior to the 90 days if we wanted furniture delivered. Requested to speak with manager and was told "we have many managers" and asked for direct report was told they "would not feel comfortable" divulging this information. We can only wonder why. We double paid and eventually received a refund. Also very difficult to get any call backs. Their follow up was very very poor. Customer satisfaction was certainly not a priority.
   
   Original moving crew was fantastic. The driver that delivered to Florida was very rude and uncooperative. Very upset they had to put down rug pads and rugs prior to setting up furniture, Said if we wanted this done we could pay extra or they could leave it in the middle of the floor and we could arrange. Driver said they had a schedule and they had to go. Also forgot to deliver a glass table top which was finally delivered eight days later. Draw your own conclusions
   
   and make your choices carefully.

4. A Very, Very Bad Move-In Experience, Damage Claim Denied.

   I had a bad experience with University Moving & Storage (UMS) during an intrastate move from west Michigan to northern Michigan in August 2018. The issues relate to furniture and condo damages caused by a poor move-in crew for which UMS refuses to compensate me.
   
   I hired UMS for $4,356.59, which included a $715 fee for “extra care protection” to cover damages at replacement cost up to $65,000 with $0 deductible. I specifically asked for and was promised experienced, professional movers at both ends of the move. Although the move-out crew in west Michigan was excellent, the move-in crew in north Michigan was neither professional nor experienced.
   • Wardrobe boxes were placed upside down.
   • Crew members slid boxes off their backs, causing them to land hard on their corners.
   • Heavy book boxes were placed on large, light weight boxes.
   • The crew didn’t know how to maneuver pieces around 90 degree turns, ramming multiple pieces of furniture against oncoming walls and/or corners.
   • No care was taken to set furniture down carefully on the driveway or inside the condo.
   • One broken piece of my entertainment center was wrapped in a moving blanket and left between two stacks of boxes.
   • Throughout the move-in, crew members yelled and swore at each other.
   • One crew member refused to take breaks and wanted to quit before the job was finished.
   • Another crew member staggered under the weight of furniture and boxes.
   • My condo was left with marks and gouges on walls, trim and ceilings.
   • My freshly cleaned carpeting was soiled.
   
   I relayed my dissatisfaction to the driver during the Saturday move-in and to my moving coordinator on Monday, the first business day after move–in.
   
   I submitted a written claim for all damages within the allotted timeline.
   
   UMS reimbursed me for only the cleaning of 2 soiled upholstered pieces ($195) and a computer desk ($279.99) that was so badly damaged that the driver took it with him to dispose of. UMS refuses to cover any other furniture damage. In addition, UMS refuses to cover ANY damage to walls, trim and carpet.
   
   The reason given for denial was that damages “were not noted on the inventories at the time of delivery”. BTW, the two soiled upholstered pieces were NOT listed on the inventory sheets. Later, UMS said that a damage report indicated “pre-existing damage to many of the pieces.” I was not permitted to see that report. I completely refute that any of the damage claimed was pre-existing.
   
   I reported my experience to Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division (CVED) Regulatory & Credentialing Section of the Michigan State Police that oversees intrastate moves. January 2019, CVED said, “UMS was reminded that the Motor Carrier Act 254, PA 178 of 2015 allows 3 months for a shipper to make a claim. We requested that the claim be reviewed according to the regulations of the Motor Carrier Act.” It is now mid-April 2019 and UMS has not responded to that request despite CVED’s follow-up emails and phone calls.
   
   I have now filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General.
   
   I interacted responsibly and patiently with UMS over the past 9 months. I communicated with UMS in a timely and professional manner. I did my best to follow procedures. I submitted my claim well within UMS’s deadline. I asked questions. I kept things moving forward by periodically checking in with UMS. I allowed ample time for UMS to respond before submitting complaints and reviews to public forums.
   
   I am seeking the following: (1) replacement cost of the broken Ethan Allen entertainment center piece, (2) the cost to repair scratches and marks on furniture, (3) financial consideration for devaluation of damaged furniture with deep gouges, dents and scratches beyond inconspicuous repair, (4) the cost to repair of condo wall and trim damages, (5) the cost to clean carpeting, and (6) reimbursement of the $150 cost to have my treadmill brought inside.

   

5. Do Not Use This Company.

   I moved cross country for a new job and the relocation company selected University Movers. University gave us an estimate for packing and loading time frames. Then changed it at the last minute. Packing ended up taking a full day longer than anticipated, resulting in me and my family sleeping on the floor of a half packed up house. The packers were late arriving each day. University delayed the delivery of our stuff to the new house and blamed the relo company. My property arrived damaged. Boxes crushed. Furniture broken. China packed under small appliances. Parts taken off furniture/appliances and lost. They even opened boxes of fragile items I packed and threw books into the boxes, damaging the items. Clothing was just thrown into wardrobe boxes, not hung up on roads. Bottles of liquid soap were thrown into boxes on top of food. I was told by University's QA department "things happened during a move". I am now dealing with nearly $10,000 in damaged property. Pure incompetence. DO NOT USE UNIVERSITY MOVERS.

6. Very Bad Experience!!

   I wish that I found this website and read the reviews before hiring this company. If I could give zero stars I would! We packed all our belongings and put them in a storage unit. The company came out to the unit to do an inventory to give us an estimate. At no time did the person giving us the estimate tell us there would be a problem because we packed ourselves. They proceeded to give us an estimate that turned out to be completely wrong so they charged us $1000 more. Also they sold us insurance for everything even the furniture that was covered in blankets never telling us if they chipped or cracked anything they wouldn't be responsible. When we unpacked we found our armoire doors out of wack due to the mover moving the piece on its end. They claimed it wan't level but as the picture I've attached shows it was. Also they chipped up our bedroom furniture and dining chairs. Of course when we made the claim they said sorry not covered because it could have been like that before. We tried to go higher in the company but like others have said the customer service is terrible all the way to the top. I've moved several other times before and never had such a disreputable company which wouldn't stand behind the damages they did. Do yourself a favor and find a better more honest company!

   

7. International move disaster.

   We had to use this company because of my husband's job. They sub-subcontracted another company to arrange the pickup of our belongs in Germany. During the assessment the man provided us with no specific instructions, but we has packed everything ourselves already because we could not have packing paid for, and showed him the packed boxes. He said nothing about this being a problem. I had however arranged to pay separately for professional packing for two sets of fine china and crystal, one set being an antique. I knew something was wrong with this company the day the movers showed up (45 min late without notice). First of all they said they needed to open and inspect every box for batteries, though we had not been told this before, and I had at this point I had spent a month packing almost 40 boxes very carefully. Finally after a long discussion I showed them the two boxes with electronics with batteries, but had to carefully unpack and repack them myself seeing how carelessly they handled things. They then started to "pack" my china. I heard plates banging together, and went to investigate and found them pilling my dishes unwrapped into boxes, which would not have survived an international move without breaking. I had to yell at them to stop and get the manager to come to my apartment. I told him I had paid separately for professional china packing, and was not going to accept my dishes arriving broken. He finally agreed to actually provide the service I had paid for, but they could only show up a week later. I had already left the country at this point, but my husband was still there to supervise, I can only imagine the disaster this would have been had we had to move immediately. I contacted University Moving and told them I was uncomfortable trusting my life's belongings with this company, and they did absolutely nothing, other than ask about our payment for the china packing! Finally our belongings arrive 2 months later, and a half a dozen of our boxes were opened by the moving company. It is at least obvious which boxes were opened because they resealed them with tape with their company logo, but now I have to try to deal with the fact my boxes were illegally opened, and see what has been stolen or damaged. I have done an international move of the same scale before without a single problem. The company charged less than half of what University mover's did, did not open a single one of my boxes, and provided professional packing china without an argument. This company just used subcontracts on both ends, under no circumstances should they be trusted.

8. Dishonest and deplorable.

   We moved across the country and used this company. It was one of the biggest mistakes we've ever made. The packers stole electronics, jewelry and souvenirs from boxes that had been pre-packed and set aside. Not only did they steal but they REFUSE to acknowledge it. The customer service is terrible, all the way from bottom to top. Please don't use this company!

9. Horribe and Dishonest Company.

   I should have read these previous reviews before using this company. Kelsey, the sales person made this a "three day" move. the first day, one man would wrap a few small glass tabletops and disassemble the beds. This was supposed to take 1/2 day. He shows up with no tools for the beds so just packs the two tabletops which takes about 20 minutes. But I WAS charged for the entire half day.
   The second and third day was the actual move. Several pieces of furniture arrived with small nicks. But the killer for me was a 4 inch tear in my brand new leather couch. They had put it on a dolly and wheeled it in. Why would they do that other than just being dumb? There were 5 movers and they could have carried a delicate item like that in. When I filed a claim they informed me that I had not purchased extra insurance so my reimbursement was $60! Another complaint was that they nicked my drywall in several places (brand new home) and I had to patch and repaint.
   I feel that this company is dishonest, careless, and negligent. DO NOT use them if you care about your home or possessions at all!

10. Poor from beginning to end.

    I am another extremely disappointed/displeased customer of this company, which was founded in Ann Arbor by two women when I first lived there. The company has apparently grown way out of proportion and beyond being watched over.
    The estimator had to reschedule our appointment because of an error on his part. When he arrived, he was drenched in some fragrance that smelled up my house for days, while it was being shown. He overestimated the need for wardrobe boxes, which I clearly pointed out to him during the estimate. The packers used the extra boxes to just throw stuff into when packing. The estimator also did not give the scheduler all the pertinent information, so there was a huge misunderstanding about what was to happen with my belongings - going into storage, not being transported until I found a house.
    A decision was made to send only two men to pack AND load on the same day. I had done quite a bit of packing myself, but there was enough left to do that two men were clearly not enough to accomplish the task. Not only was the "lead" of the team extremely hard to deal with, but it was the worst packing job that I have experienced. Things were packed inappropriately, which resulted in much damage and breakage of irreplaceable items. A step stool was completely lost. They drove off without my couch, which was on the lower level. Fortunately I discovered it before they got too far away.
    While the items were in storage, I made an offer on a house and thought that I had a closing date, so notified the scheduler. Because of a bad inspection I could not go forward with that purchase, but found another house in short order and came up with a new closing date. I was told that because I had changed the date I would have to pay an additional $1000.00 dollars, even though I had a BINDING estimate, which is against the law.
    The delivery crew were very wonderful and were, as I was, appalled as we unpacked the wardrobe boxes, not to mention things that should have been in boxes and were not, so were damaged. However, instead of calling me for directions, the crew decided that they could not get the large van to my house, rented a smaller truck and, so, had to handle my things two more times.
    There is a now a crevice in the side of an oak dresser that has thrown off the entire dresser, so that the drawers are unusable. When I tried to file a claim, the form on the web site did not work. I called and the woman I spoke with emailed me a different form. It, too, did not work. I emailed her to let her know and did not hear back. Apparently the BBB will not help with any of this, so this is the only forum available to let people know to not use this company. It used to be good and won many awards, but I, personally, had the most awful experience with them. I am a seasoned mover, including going cross country and having things in storage. I have never had such a bad experience.

11. Disgusted.

    I moved in January, 2013 from Michigan to Colorado. My things arrived damaged. One item in particular was ruined. This is a Sligh leather top desk, a family heirloom, my mother's desk.  Upon arrival in Denver, the driver immediately admitted that they had dropped the desk while transferring  trucks in Detroit.  I filed a claim and they sent someone out to repair the desk, even though it was apparant from the damage that it could not be repaired. The repair filed his report in which he stated that the damage was "due to atmospheric conditions".  Two things wrong with this, the driver had admitted dropping the desk and damage of this magnitude could not be a result of "atmospheric conditions".  I had to go through a process of submitting photos and finally NA Van Lines agreed that the desk had been damaged in the move.  They sent the same guy out to "fix" it.  He glued and vised. It took four Satruday morning for them to piece the desk back together. Last week I moved again, this time just across town. The men that I had to help me just moved the desk an inch and it crumbled.  So what the repairman had done was allow me 2 years to look at the desk, because I never really moved it during that time, then see it go to the dump due to the recklessness of University Moving North American Van Lines. I would never use the NA again. I have moved several times and only when I have used NA have I had broken pieces. in my recent moved I have found other things that were damaged in this move as well.  Their carelessness continues to plague me.

12. Horrible Experience!

    Recently (April-current day 2014) used "University Moving & Storage" based out of Farmington Hills, MI as our moving company. We had a horrible experience when you look at the "big picture". They forgot two of our couches and my piano! On the day of our move they unloaded the trucks and realized our two couches and my piano had been left back at the warehouse (after we needed to store our items for 3 months). The company brought our pieces over the following day and another 4 hours of delivery ensued. There was damage to our walls attempting to get some larger peices into our house. Also we had several damaged items: tv, armoire, vase, patio umbrella, and they lost our ladder. It was never found. Our move, though within the state was very costly due to requiring storage. So we didn't purchase extra insurance for moving, we signed a regular standard contract as most would. BE AWARE..if you have damage, signing a standard contract agrees to the company only reimbursing you .50 cents per pound of weight on the damaged item.  This works out to be $70 to replace our TV! $90 to replace an armoire that cost us $900.00 we were given $10.00 to buy a new ladder that they lost. It has been an utter mess. But..we signed the small print and that is our fault. However, being utterly disrespcted by their employees and customer service is not our fault. I have been more than patient with this company. I was rudely spoken to by one of the drivers that proceeded to spit as he approached my front door and also flick out the butt of his cigarette as he walked up my path. (Just not professional behaviour). Sue Maiden of claims was also very rude to us on the phone once we had questions about the claim. She basically told us she was too busy to explain the claim and that if she spent time explaining every claim to each customer that she would never get her work done. She said the paperwork was in the mail and in 10-12 days we could read about the claim. I then proceeded to call and try and speak to someone 'higher up' in the chain. I thus spoke with Howard the Development Manager and though he listened to our issues with said employees and claims disputes he said he would look into it and call me back. A week later I called him, as I hadn't heard anything and he said he needed more time. 4 business days later I called him again and got VM. Later that day I got a call from a Matt Adams who explained Howard passed the compaint on to him. I tried to tell my story (for the 5th time) of why I am needing to file a complaint and through my story he told me to "just get to the point".  While explaining the disrespect of a few of their employees and neglect on our account he told me that he would handle it and fire Sue Maiden this afternoon. He was very sarcastic about his response and said that if that is the outcome I am looking for, then he would fire her today. When I told Matt that his tone and response was not taking me seriously and wasting my time..he proceeded to tell me that "I have bigger issues than the move" and hung up on me. So my complaints regarding unprofessional and rude treatment from an employee were basically disregarded and not addressed. I didn't even get to discuss the damaged and lost items of our claim, as Matt hung up on our phone conversation. I have since put a call into the CEO of the company, Elise Benedict, and (not surprised!) my calls have not been returned. If you are looking to move, I highly advise you to AVOID this company. After reading reviews it sounds as though if the move goes well..then everything is fine. But if you have any disputes or questions about your move, damaged items, lost items..they bounce you around from person to person on the phone. They are able to get away with unprofessional customer service and don't know how to handle a simple customer complaint.  A simple, we will look into this and follow up further would have sufficed. A few of our damaged items were not recorded down on the final copies of our paperwork at the end of a long day of moving..example: damaged patio umbrella cover/shredded and lost the centre cap from our patio table..and they will not replace them as they weren't written down on the list/contract. Even though we had reported it to the driver and by phone to the office that very moving day. This company forgot some of our furniture, spoke to us very unprofessionally on several occasions, lost a peice of our furniture/ladder, rarely returned our phone calls within a week and then finally to be hung up on today by a representative after he told me that I had issues!!  It is so wrong on so many levels and I can't do anything about it but try to get the word out about our joke of an experience with this company and to avoid them at all costs. They cannot be relied on to do the right thing. Think twice before hiring them. And if you're reading this..make sure to pass this experience along so that others will not suffer the stress, disrespect, frustration that we have.

    

13. Damaged furniture and refused to pay for damages.

    University Movers damaged a couch we paid approximately $950 for. We paid a couple hundred to have a professional cleaner to remove the damage, but did not work so we filed a claim. University denied the claim, and they said it was pre-existing damage, which is patently untrue. We confronted them with pictures of the couch taken pre-move, showing their was no damage. The movers claimed they told my wife of the damage, which is untrue as well. The manager, Brock, was completely unresponsive. I called and left 3 voice mails over a two week period. Only after a fourth call did he reply, and he was completely unsympathetic to our situation. He had no concern at all for customer satisfaction. I explained to him that we had multiple sources of evidence that could prove that the couch did not have pre-existing damage. I also explained we were out $950 because we will have to replace the couch. He showed no empathy whatsoever, made no offer to compromise, did not even offer to try and have the couch cleaned or repaired. Based on our terrible experience with them, this company appears to be not at all reliable, and you should think long and hard before entrusting your possessions with them.

14. University in Indy was FANTASTIC!!

    My move was so great that I didn't even think about writing a review online until I saw all the negative and damaging articles out there about these companies. As a business owner myself, it is a shame that one only tells his friends about a good experience, but wants to tell the whole world about his experience. My encouragement for everyone would be to do your homework and get on the same page and the professionals in terms of the rules and regulations of your move. That's what I did with University Moving (North American Van Lines)in Indianapolis and my move was great. My rep was great, got my weight and packing accurate, and the number only changed by $12 when it was done. My movers were on time for the load and unload. AND, the person responsible for keeping me informed did her job. I rarely had questions because they were so on top of it. University gave me a great experience and plenty of bang for my buck.