I will preface this with saying this was a military move, so we didn't have a choice in moving companies. That said, I will never choose to use them and will fight for another company if assigned them again!
Good: Packing up our belongings went quickly, on time, and the guys were friendly. Our stuff was delivered quickly - however, initially they called to say they would be at our new place in a couple hours without any advance warning, and we were not yet physically in the state for two more days, which all of our contact people knew. So the broken items could have occurred in transit, during the moving to/from storage for a few days, or in delivery.
Bad: There were all these codes down by items on the inventory sheet and when I saw a bunch next to a decorative armoir that I have taken very good care of, I asked what they were and the guy said for any damage already on the furniture. I made him show me and there was no prior damage to the armoir. I couldn't check the other items because I didn't see this sheet until the very end of the packing process and items were already in boxes or on the truck. I won't know how this plays out until after we file our claim for all the damaged belongings.
Broken items (so far, we still haven't unpacked all the boxes). Most of the smaller items like dishes are fine just a couple glasses, but the furniture is destroyed. Broken/damaged items include: 50 inch TV screen smashed, office desk - can't close the drawers due to splintered wood, decorative armoir wood is splintered, torn couch cushions, bookshelves, small set of drawers, missing bolts to the coffee table and futon, an end table got water damage, and lots of chips and scratches on other furniture items. Some of the damage was due to laziness - drawers in the desk and dresser weren't unpacked or removed even though I specifically told a packer to do this. Also, a furniture blanket was left behind around our TV, I believe on purpose to cover the damage, as they were quick to remove all the other blankets.
On top of this, they only sent 2 guys to deliver our belongings! To a third floor apartment. Keep in mind that 5 guys loaded our stuff onto the truck. The delivery guys got lost and were 4+ hours late and given the lack of help my husband worked as another unloader for 5 hours or we would've been waiting until midnight. Then at the end of the move they tried to get me to sign that they performed a partial unpack, which they did not nor did they offer to do. It probably gives them more money from the military to do it. At that point I wanted them to be gone so I didn't press the issue but I checked not performed.
All in all, I would never pay to use Bekins. As it is, I have a feeling we're going to end up paying in the form of new furniture. I hope the claims process goes smoothly, we're taken lots of pictures of the damages.
more