My family and I have moved cross-country four times now, traditionally parting with most of the big stuff to avoid the hassle. This time, we wanted to keep them and let professionals help. The price was great and the reviews boasted of a professional, dependable company. Tatiana took my inventory and provided me with a binding estimate, and said standard delivery from NC to CA was 4-14 days. She was very nice; we reviewed a calendar to determine which day would be best for pick-up. When the movers showed up late on the 22nd of July, they were obviously from a different company. They were in dirty tank tops. What happened to “moving crews are carefully selected”? My husband and I packed everything but the TV’s, our (organic latex) mattresses; my stone map, and wood trunk-per Tatiana’s instructions. We even moved it all to the living room. We were told it would be wrapped with care by “professionals” as described in their contract. The guys couldn’t move my mattress down the hall, so my husband finally grabbed it (alone) and carried it to the truck. When they were done, they sped up the dirt drive and broke several tree limbs with their truck, honking continuously. I began getting very worried. After arriving in CA on the 30th, my family waited patiently, making do with air mattresses and loaners from friends. On the 3rd, I called to check the status of our shipment. I was told that Tatiana no longer worked for the company. When I asked when I should expect our things, I was told “when I know for sure, I will call you, ok”. What choice did I have? No call. I called the next day and Anastasia told me that long distance moves take up to 21 business days and that the only one who could tell me the status of my stuff was TIM-the supervisor, whom was not in. Again, no call. I called a few hours later and Tim told me that my stuff was still in storage and the truck would leave the 5th or 6th of August. I called the 8th to check. Tim said our stuff was still in NC and would be leaving in a few days. I became very upset. I emailed my contact # just to make sure that there would not be any problem getting a hold of me when they did arrive. NOT ONCE DURING THE 27 DAYS THAT THEY HAD MY THINGS, DID I RECEIVE ANY CALLS. I called Tuesday the 16th of Aug. to confirm my contact #'s with Anastasia, again. She said the truck had left a few days ago and would arrive on Thursday. I was given a number for the truck & told that I could contact them for info about an arrival time. I did. The driver-Mike (not from Principle Moving Inc.) told me that he could come a day early. Great! When they knocked on my door at 9:15pm and began bringing in my things, my heart sank. My kids TV looked as if someone had kicked the center of it. My framed Kalifano-stone map was cracked in three places, and the frame had dings and scratches. The bunk bed frame had chunks taken out of the solid wood. The lid of my wooden trunk was hanging off; even our safe had a huge dent in the top. My latex mattress was filthy, and had obviously been run over and drug around, same with our two twin mattresses. The boxes were torn and dishes broken. Not something you expect from a company who promises you “can be confident that your belongings are fully protected”. The guys who unloaded our things were extremely polite, clean, and apologetic. The driver actually said that he “felt sorry for us”, and had “never seen so many damaged things” and his company would NEVER do business with Principle again because they make them “look bad”. Today, I get to unload my tattered belongings and deal with replacing them, as opposed to celebrating our new home with my family. I hope this is helpful to families moving long distance that are just looking for honest help.
more