Empire Moving and Storage

32 Reviews: Add Review

1. Liars and bait and switchers

   Do NOT use Empire. They gave us a low quote - then when I gave them an exact list of what we had, they more than doubled the cost. Then when the company they hired showed up - 4 hours late (8 pm!) they raised the price another $4000! We felt stuck! It took two guys 9 hours to pack our truck so we had to stay up all night. :( The Empire sales people said it would take 5-8 days to deliver our stuff. But hidden in the fine print was a section that said they had up to 6 weeks - and they took 7 weeks to bring our stuff! So annoying. Overcharged, lied, and gave poor service and broke a couple items. Do NOT use them.

2. The worst

   MAKE SURE TO READ INBETWEEN THE LINES OF CONTRACT WITH THIS COMPANY. Strongly do not recommend. I would give zero stars if it was an option.

3. Steer clear.

   We have never used a professional moving company prior to this move and decided we just couldn't make this move without professional help.
   
   I did my homework and read the reviews Unfortunately I tried to judge this company from not only the reviews some good some bad but also from the people I was dealing with from Empire Moving and Storage directly. They seemed so sincere and very friendly and helpful. BIG MISTAKE
   
   They did not come to do a walk thru of our home or our items just took information over the phone and gave us a quote
   I figured it was going to cost a little more than the quote which was under $2000.00 especially since we were going to have to add a few more items.
   
   The day of the move the men were supposed to arrive at 10 am this did not happen..They didn't arrive until after 3 pm and the truck they brought was a rental truck with a paper sign on it that was hand written with Empire Moving and Storage.. The head guy said they only had a short time to load up so we had to get the contract signed right away. Lots of pressure from the head guy on the job. Knowing we had to be out of the home that day with no exceptions they really had us in a fix. He proceed to tell me we had a lot more stuff than was quoted and the cost was going to be 3 times as much as the quote. At this point, we only had three hours to be out of the house as the new people were moving in that evening, so we ended up paying the new price.
   The contract papers were passed to me so fast I didn't get time to really read them and the guy kept saying this page says this and this page says that "sign here" Again BIG MISTAKE One of the papers had a price per pound for damage and not a re imbursement.
   
   The truck was already partially loaded with items from another move so we only had 3/4 of the truck to use for our stuff. WE were told we would have a full truck.
   The loaders were putting stuff on the truck as I was signing the paper work so I didn't have time to tell them what should not be loaded and they loaded things that I didn't want on the truck. By the time I realized had loaded some items I didn't want on the truck it was too late to get them off. Hence this added to the total items loaded.
   We were told our stuff would take a week to 10 days to get delivered to Florida. That did not happen either It was over 2 weeks and I called to find out where our stuff was. It took a lot of calls to get in touch with anyone that would even help me. Then I was told our stuff was still in their warehouse in Denver. They had not told us that they would be removing our stuff from the truck and holding it in a warehouse. They then said they had to wait for a truck to arrive from California to pick up our stuff to bring it on to Florida. I was as you can imagine very upset.. I told the manager that if my things didn't arrive within the next week I was going to call the BBB and a lawyer Funny the stuff arrived within the next 6 days.
   Now the fun began. There was so much damage to our things that I can't even begin to list it all. The estimate cost of the damage was $1900.00.
   Upon notifying Empire of this they said they would have to look into it and after a very long and difficult battle we ended up with a grand total of $147.00 for the damage as they used the price per pound as their scapegoat.
   
   Very Valuable Lesson Learned ..As much as you want to have faith in people and companies you can't trust anyone these days and if the company as ANY bad reviews BELIEVE the review don't give any benefit of the doubt. I had read some very good reviews and only saw two poor reviews and figured some people might have been more critical than others
   
   My advice is to STEER CLEAR OF EMPIRE MOVING AND STORAGE. They are not a company that you can trust.

4. Worst Moving Experience I have ever had.

   We have never used professional movers for any move in the past. This experience was our first. We had Empire Moving & Storage come out to give us a visual inspection of all of our property that would need to be moved and we received a quote based on that in-person visual inspection. The visual inspection lasted over an hour. The initial quote we were given was for $7,638.34. Our understanding was that this was for everything in our home. We knew that it was an estimate so I personally budgeted for approximately 20% overage as their sales person told me that they guaranteed not to go over 10% above their estimate.
   We had two other companies give us estimates and Empire’s quote was the best. Before final selection I called to discuss our pick-up and delivery schedule. We needed a fairly tight delivery window based on a personal family scheduling issue. At that point, we were told that in order to guarantee a 3-day window for delivery, we would need a dedicated truck and that for that level of service would cost an extra $1,500. That used up my budget buffer, but the 3-day delivery window was very important to us so we agreed. Just prior to signing our agreement, as I looked through the details of the estimate we received, I noticed some items that seemed to be missing from the inventory and so I called Empire to discuss that, as I was concerned that they would charge me even more, above the initial quote, 10% potential overage, and $1,500 dedicated truck for guaranteed delivery. I was told at that point, that since we were getting a dedicated truck, so long as everything fit on the truck, that the pricing wouldn’t change and not to worry. Additionally, I asked if we need to have all of the furniture wrapped with furniture blankets or if those were provided with their service and was told that they included providing all the blankets for all wood, fabric and metal furniture and that they would provide both disassembling and re-assembling of all furniture at no additional cost.
   
   On moving day, the movers showed up and asked to do an initial walk through. Upon completion of that walk through, we were told that this was way more stuff than they were prepared for and that it would cost us significantly more money. I explained what I had been told by the sales person and that I did not expect to pay any more. The individual that was in charge of the on-site move called and spoke to some people and said that they would need to charge me about double what they had initially quoted me, so I told them to go ahead and leave and I would try and figure something else out. Shortly after they left, the sales person called me back to find out what had happened and I explained what I had been told and explained why I asked the movers to leave. He told me that I must have misunderstood and that there wouldn’t be any additional charges other than about $700-$800 for some additional packing materials, because although the moving blankets were included all of the tape and additional cardboard that would be needed was not included. I reluctantly agreed to have them come back with the understanding that I was only looking at an additional $700-$800 and because I had not been able to find another viable option with the very short timeframe that we now had.
   
   The moving truck and movers returned and began loading the truck. After they had loaded about one quarter of our belongings we were told that there would indeed be an additional charge for the items that they had initial “inadvertently” not included in our estimate and that we would not be getting a dedicated truck. They also claimed that they never promised a dedicated truck. Because we were completely out of time, we very reluctantly agreed to let them complete the move.
   After they had completed packing the trucks and had left, we began cleaning the empty house and found that there were many items that the movers had not taken, but had just hidden the items by sticking them in closets and attic spaces. The boxed up the most important items that were small enough to ship and paid to ship them to our new address. On the other larger items, like a desk and a small Wardrobe Armoire, we were forced to donate them to a charity in order to get them out of the house. On top of that, there was quite a bit of damage to the house including large gouges, scrapes, and holes in walls, flooring, and the stairway. Additionally, we found a large amount of broken glass in the basement.
   Then, weeks later when the movers showed up at our new location, we were forced to pay in cash and charged an additional $900 on top of what we had reluctantly agreed to, before the movers would even begin to empty the truck. Upon the completion of the unload, the truck driver told me that they were really in a hurry and did not have time to re-assemble any of our furniture or other items that had been disassembled and they left. Our contract clearly states that the movers would disassemble and reassemble all furniture.
   This is where the real disturbing problems began to become evident. These movers, had destroyed much of our belongings. This was not the normal scrapes and small dents from moving (we have moved ourselves many times and know that there is always some small damage that occurs), but significant damage to furniture, appliances, boxes, and more. Additionally, we determined that there were multiple items that were just missing. The amount of damage and overall disregard for our belongings seems to move well beyond minor moving damage to a level that I would regard as gross negligence. When they disassembled items, like our air hockey table, they just ripped things apart instead of removing screws etc.

   

5. Move.

   I've moved seven times and used five different moving companies. Empire Moving and Storage is not only the worst moving company I've experienced, but also, arguably, the worst company of any kind. The comments posted by Murali Ramesh are spot on.
   
   Before posting a review, I waited until I received my claims check ($153) for the furniture Empire broke or damaged, including my grandfather's antique hat rack, which was snapped like a toothpick and had to be thrown away. (I posted, below, a photo of a company worker holding the bottom of the broken hatrack. He wore a T-shirt that read: "I'd help but I don't want to," which should be the company slogan. (I was, by the way, reimbursed $6 for that antique hat rack.)
   
   Altogether, five pieces of furniture were destroyed or damaged. It's not only that they were damaged, but the manner in which they were damaged. A handmade maple bookshelf, pictured below, looked as though it were smashed with a sledgehammer. Even one of Empire's movers remarked that it looked like someone intentionally kicked it.
   
   The company bid $4,000 on my job, and charged me nearly $8,000. I don't know exactly how moving companies calculate charges. But I do know that I provided exactly the same information to two other moving companies that bid roughly $6,0000, which was $2,000 closer to the real cost than Empire's bid. I hired Empire based on its low bid. HUGE MISTAKE.
   
   At the pick-up, when the movers told me the price, I almost told them to unload my stuff and leave. But the employee talking to me told me I would lose my deposit if I did. Two days later, however, another Empire employee told me that I would not have lost my deposit if I had told them to unload the truck and leave.
   
   The worst aspect, however, was the customer service. I could not get my moving coordinator, Allen Kingman, to call me back, respond to my concerns, or give me updates. The only time the company got back to me was to tell me when the rest of the money was due. My moving coordinator, and anyone else I spoke to at Empire, seemed indifferent to what I was going through. I finally found out my delivery date when a driver called me from Dallas and said he would be there in two hours, which I wasn't prepared for.
   
   I'm a grown man, but on two occasions this company practically reduced me to tears. That's how frustrated I was, with no recourse. On delivery, one of the movers even complained about putting my bed together, until I told him the bed was assembled when they started the job. STEER CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY.

   

6. Absolutely Pathetic Company..Pls avoid at all costs.

   We had to move in a hurry due to professional commitments from Minneapolis, MN to Hartford, CT. Despite the bad reviews this company had which I discounted as one-offs and the limited time I had I booked Empire moving due to the nominal cost that was quoted. MY BAD MISTAKE!
   
   Everything seemed fine with the move co-ordinator Mark Chase until they received the first payment for about $518.34. After this everything was downhill. We had our flights booked on 28th Sep and had clearly requested for a 27th Sep move. Till the 25th Sep I did not receive any updates regarding the timing of the move. On following up on 25th I received an update late in the night saying the truck driver would arrive at 9am the next day on a very short notice. I was out of town and had planned to be back on the 27th as per our original move plan. Despite requesting for an alternate time my request was declined by Mark Chase. The truck arrived only at 3:30pm after waiting all day.
   
   The quotes went up from the binding quote of $2591.70 to $3850 saying I had additional boxes and the sofa was very heavy. We paid up the balance as we had no other option at the last minute of our interstate move.
   
   This was bad enough but my real nightmare started after we moved to our new apartment in Hartford, CT. The original planned move date was Oct 3rd but I did not hear back from the company till date (Nov 1st). We have lived out of the suitcase for more than a month now. We have an infant who is 1yr old and parents who are 60+ years old. We have been sleeping on the floor assuming that our stuff would arrive soon. But I have not received any update from the company regarding when my goods would be shipped, Every time I call up the customer care number a person by name Mara/Vanessa pick up and tell me that a supervisor is working on the schedule.( its been 30 days since the original planned date and I don't have visibility to where my goods are.) I have repeatedly asked them to connect me to the supervisor but he seems to be on eternal vacation every time I call. There is no one to provide me an ETA or return my calls. I call them up everyday but have still not got an ETA. Its been more than 40 days since my goods were loaded on a truck I don't even have hope I will see my stuff ever again. I plan on refurnishing my entire house again and taking some legal action against the company
   
   Please take my advise never book from this company despite getting low quotes as the quotes will automatically go up after the first installment has been made. Clearly this is no customer service and visibility to goods that this company has.

7. 2 weeks to receive our stuff, $3K of tools missing & broken furniture.

   What a nightmare. The movers were very unprofessional and inexperienced (only a few items wrapped appropriately). We received our stuff 2 weeks after promised. Our tools (chain saw, multiple bags with hand tools) disappeared. Couch and tables scratched. Shelving unit and a dresser completely destroyed. It has been 2 months since we filed our claim for the crappy $0.60/pound insurance they offer. Have yet to get a response and no one is answering our calls. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Other positive reviews likely from their own employees.

8. Great moving experience.

   WOW ,what a great company ,mark chase was my sales rep ,every single time I called he answered,quick delivery awesome loading and unloading highly recommended!!ask for mark. thank you empire for making my move a smooth and pleasant transaction.

   

9. Fraud and Deceit and Lost in Transit.

   I received an internet quote on-line from Jacob Reed at Empire Moving and Storage. I asked for an in-home binding estimate and Empire Moving and Storage sent an employee to our home to take an inventory and provide a binding moving quote. The binding quote to move our goods from Renton, Washington to Alexandria, Virginia came in at $4624.60. We signed the contract and were given a date to pick up goods and a verbal estimate of two weeks in transit to Virginia. The movers showed up late in the day on August 24th, our back up move date. Immediately upon arriving, the mover, the same man who came to our house and did an in-home inventory, accused us of adding goods to the shipment and jacked up the quote an additional $1600. Of course, he didn't even have the contract with him and had to ask me to pull up the contract on my computer and send it to him. Yet he knew I had more than he quoted, without having the contract. We had not added any items, and had taken 5 loads of goods to the Goodwill since the in-home quote. I told him that one of two things was going on here, either he was very bad at estimating or they were doing a classic bait and switch. I would not sign the increased price and they continued to load our furniture and goods anyway. He said we would get a call in the morning to give an approximate date for delivery in Virginia. We never received a call and made numerous attempts to speak with someone who could tell us the progress of our move. Finally on 9/11, day 18 since picking up our goods, I was told by Shaul, their supervisor in Denver, that the truck had never even left Washington, and that they were thinking it would leave by Wednesday, 9/13. I called again on 9/13 and was told the shipment was in transit and would arrive in their Denver facility on Saturday, then join a shipment to the East Coast. Today is 9/18, day 25 since our goods were picked up in Washington, and Shaul says that they can not contact the driver and do not know where our stuff is. I am doubtful now that I will ever see my furniture and household goods and am contacting the insurance company for the move.

10. My move.

    All of my things are with this company they seemed great until they got my money but nine days later my things are in the originating state I cannot get a hold of anyone nor does anyone call me back they are holding my household goods hostage for whatever reason upon looking at the paperwork it is incomplete and very unclear and my moving estimate just about doubled in their defense I probably had more things than I thought but double?? the company who brokered this deal is coast to coast I can't seem to get in contact with them either! do yourself a favor use someone else!
    I REPEAT DO NOT USE COAST TO COAST OR OR EMPIRE MOVING UNLESS YOU LIKE TO BE SCAMMED.

11. If only I had paid more?

    My husband and I are teachers. We moved to Germany two years ago to teach overseas, and while we sold most of our things, we kept a little bit of stuff that we held dear (family heirlooms and things like that). Upon our return, we decided to move to Oregon, but we needed to get our things from Colorado that we’d kept in storage. We called several moving companies, and in the end we chose Empire Moving and Storage. They told us that they were locally owned and trust worthy.
    On the day of the move, we were notified that the movers would arrive between 9 and 10. They actually showed up at 1:30 (but, yeah I know, that’s a common thing). My husband and I were ready for them. We’d purchased 300 cubic feet of space in their truck (The man who booked it told us that they prefer to itemize it and know exactly what’s being loaded, but since we hadn’t seen it in years we told him we weren’t sure, and he assured us that as long as it fit in the space, everything would be okay) and we’d already and measured out the space in my in-laws garage. We knew everything would fit. We waited, and when they arrived, they loaded half of our things. Then they told us that the rest wouldn’t fit, and that since the small pieces of furniture weren’t all itemized, they couldn’t take them without charging us more money. We refused, and were left at a standstill for over an hour while we tried to get ahold of a supervisor, when they did finally reach someone, they accepted that they made a mistake, and they loaded all of our things.
    One week later the delivery driver attempted to make a delivery at my parent's place in Oregon where we’ll keep our things until we move into our home next month. My parents just moved here as well, and they had not had problems with their movers delivering their goods, driving up the road and into the driveway (they live on a dirt road (see the picture below)). Our drivers arrived and parked at the end of my parent’s road. They walked to the driveway and told us that they couldn’t pull in there. We were surprised, but told them that they could unload at the end of the drive and that we would move everything the rest of the way. Then they went to their truck and told us that that they couldn’t make it up the hill to my parent’s house (mind you: not only did my parent’s driver made it up, but several semi trucks do it every day). They said we could either meet them at the end of the road (1/4 of a mile away from the driveway), or they would charge us more to get a smaller truck to get it down the road.
    At this point, I called their office in Colorado and spoke with a supervisor. The first supervisor I spoke with assured me that his team sent pictures, they couldn’t make it up the hill, and I had ten minutes to pay them before they left, took my things, and locked it up in Washington where I’d have to go pick it up if I wanted it. I called my husband, who was waiting at the end of the road with the drivers, and told him to pay them. He did. They took the money and drove away. in the mean time, I was told that another supervisor would be calling me. He did, and he treated me awfully (I have a recording of the conversation if you need it). At one point he told me that if we’d paid more, they could have delivered it all the way. At another point, when I told him that I’d call the police to tell them that the movers had taken our money and our things, he told me to go right ahead and call. He said they could legally hold our things for two weeks. He spoke over me, and didn’t seem to care about what I’d already gone through with their company (I did ask for a partial refund after all of the crazy things that had happened and because we were now going to have to get all of our things from the end of the road). After speaking with him and getting nowhere, I went to meet my husband at the end of the road, and was pleased when the truck returned.
    The boxes in the truck weren’t stacked well. We had several broken items, some that were not replaceable like a chair that came from my husband’s grandmother. We got it to my parent’s house after the truck was long gone, and now we’re going through our things, adding up the broken items (more pictures below, and even more of the damage should you need them).
    That’s where we stand right now. Hopefully you can share and investigate this concern so that others are not subject to the same treatment (though, find the pics of a review below that shows others have unfortunately had similar things happen).

    

12. Job Well Done.

    This company was professional and did a great job moving me. The only issue was a scratched dresser. The claims department already sent me my check. So I am happy..

13. The Worst.

    Called and got a bid to move my girlfriend from Colorado to NYC. The rep I spoke to was experienced and did a good job of quoting me.. I thought. Was quoted $1350.00 total charges. Not bad for a cross country move. We packed everything up so all the movers had to do was load and go. The movers who showed up were great. They were loaded and gone in about one hour.
    
    Several days later I received an email from Empire's dispatch department alerting me to the additional charge of $300 for a "shuttle" because an 18 wheeler could not come into my neighborhood. The goods had to be unloaded from the 18 wheeler and then reloaded onto a smaller truck to be delivered.
    
    Here is my issue. The rep I spoke to told me how he used to live in NYC growing up, lived in one of the five boroughs. Do you not think that he would have known that a large truck would not be able to come into my neighborhood? Do you not think he should have advised us at the time we hired this company that there was going to be a "shuttle charge" which would add an additional $300 to the bill? Do you not think that a moving company would educate their customers about this especially when delivering to NYC? As if they do not have Google Maps and could not verify where my address is at and at that moment determine that a "shuttle fee" would need to be added to the charges. Oh but the "shuttle fee" is mentioned in the fine print.
    
    As any educated and concerned consumer would do I emailed the company and advised them that I wanted to speak to a supervisor or manager about this fee. No response. I waited for several days until finally on the day before the delivery was going to be completed my girlfriend called to request a supervisor. The guy she spoke to was a complete a**hole. Absolutely no willingness to hear her or even understand our perspective. Basically told her that if she did not like it we could either pay the additional $300 or not get our belongings and they would see us in court. When she told me what had happened I immediately jumped on the phone and requested to speak to that same "gentleman" to which I was told that "he is not in but we will have him call you." Can you believe that I never got a call back? Shocking..not really.
    
    Look, it was never about the money as we were completely okay with paying the "shuttle fee" and making this a smooth drop off but the unprofessionalism and lack of courtesy by those who are allegedly "leaders" of this company is alarming. They have no clue what customer support is. Once they have your belongings loaded you are at their mercy and they play it that way. So here's to you Empire Moving and Storage.. you are the absolute worst company I have dealt with in years and I cannot wait to let every social media platform know about you and your sh*tty group of supervisors and managers. I will never recommend you to anyone and hope that this review deters even one more person from using your services. Thanks for the awesome support and courtesy you showed us.

14. Moved from South Carolina to Texas.

    Everything from beginning to end was perfect. The office staff were amazing- both Vanessa and Karen were great. My moving consultant Allen was very honest and gave me realistic information no other moving company did. The 4 other quotes I had received were well under the cubic feet and weight estimated by Allen which worried me greatly. The day of the move, my end cost ended up being less that the estimate. I was elated. The movers showed up promptly at 8am when we had a window from 8-10am for our move. They were Super Fast! Efficient. Respectful. And overall amazing. I will absolutely be using these professionals again for all my moving needs, and would recommend them 100% to anyone looking for movers. These guys will put your mind completely at ease.

15. Fantastic service.

    I was sceptical at first about using a moving company but allen was so helpful with all my questions an concerns. When they came they handled all my belongings with care an were true professional's. Definitely will use them with any future moves!