Square Cow Movers

9 Reviews: Add Review

1. Repeat customer, NEVER Again!

   I hired Square Cow Movers to move me back to Houston after having had a wonderful experience with them moving to Missouri over 4 years ago. This move was the extreme opposite of my previous experience. Within less than an hour of arriving the driver was telling me my things wouldn’t fit in the truck, that I’d need to start deciding what went and what didn’t – something that both movers said happens a LOT in Houston, but getting a second truck is “easier” in Houston. He called his manager (O***** ) who informed me that they had based this move on my PREVIOUS move – from a 2-bedroom condo to a 3 bedroom house-information that was unavailable! If that were the case, then that alone leaves everything that happened after SQUARELY on their shoulders. Despite saying repeatedly in my booking call to error on over estimating needed space, I was left with 25% of my home left to move and had to hire another truck at an additional cost of $3581.53 over the $7950. Because my stuff is in storage I won’t know what damage is waiting inside the crushed boxes shoved into storage – and was told my another mover I called that to ensure I have resolution at that point I would have to hire them AGAIN.
   
   I was told during my call when I booked the move that my information wasn’t in the system (system change/upgrade), so had to give it to the young lady all over again; no problem at that point. We did an inventory of my house, she reminded me of patio chairs/side table I hadn’t remembered, explained it was a 3 bedroom house, but not 3 bedrooms of bedroom furniture – but lots and lots of boxes related to my studio and repeatedly stated that we should over estimate rather than underestimate the size of the move. As the loading progressed, the mover was continually on the phone with O***** and the story began to change that I said I was moving TO a 2 bedroom apartment (moving to a one bedroom apartment while awaiting completion of a home here, the rest to storage), still not true and never happened. He repeated that they had based this move on the previous – again, if that were true, the error is entirely on Square Cow Movers. I was so distraught my brother called to speak with O***** who told him he’d call back “with good news.” O***** called me back and said I’d have to get a U-haul, which they would load, but my 79 year old mother or I would have to drive (I’m not physically able to drive long distance). With about 25% of my things still sitting in my house they said the truck was full. He also told me that the patio chairs in the garage were not included – false, 2 patio chairs were listed on the original inventory list of the first move and had been discussed on the call he repeatedly reference. I had paid about 50% more than first move – gas prices and larger space made perfect sense, but they are telling me they based the truck space/number on 4 year old information that is either a lie or a monumental mistake on their end as I wasn't in the system when I booked second move. I had to hire friends to get another truck to drive the 860 miles to bring the remainder of my belongings to me – at an additional cost of $3581.53. When we got to Houston the movers stuffed things into my storage unit – I could see already that furniture was scratched, dinged but no way of knowing what damage exists to the crushed boxes until I move to my home in December. I had planned to use them again for that move, but not after this disastrous experience. I spoke with another mover today and, to add insult to injury, the only way I’d have any recourse on damage lurking inside the storage unit is to REHIRE the company that has caused me so much emotional anguish and cost me so much more money for bungling the move from start to finish.

2. Hidden cost.

   You pay for drive time no matter how far away they are. They don’t tell you this. Their facility is 40 minutes away from me! You would have thought they might have mentioned that. Stay away from this business.

3. The worst of the worst.

   This company does not care about their customers. The damage that was done to our home and furniture was extensive. A sconce was ripped off the wall, floors were left with gaping hole in them, a bannister was destroyed. Glass coffee tables were shattered. Wooden furniture arrived with gaping holes all over. They make you go to court and they refuse to take responsibility for their horrible blunders. The managers are dishonest and outright liars. The promises they make are blatant lies. The “settlement” they offered is a joke. Square Cow does not care about you nor your property. Do not consider using them. You will be sorry.

   

4. Recent moving experience.

   We recently had Ben, Chris, and Damien move us into our new home. Not only were they efficient and courteous they were very respectful of our belongings.
   
   They were on time and went right to work after explaining all the details of the move. They even had to go to two locations to move our belongings.
   
   If we ever had to have to move again Square Cow would be at the top of our list.

5. Not the greatest experience.

   Aside from the usual scrapes and dents on my furniture that I've come to expect when I move simply because the movers just aren't careful enough, I had a worse than normal experience in this case. First, they dropped a piece of heavy furniture down the stairwell and it punched holes in 2 walls. Then, they dropped my Big Green Egg, shattering the porcelain smoker. After filing a claim for the damages: $200 to fix the holes in the wall, and $97.50 for the Egg (based on their standard liability of $0.60/pound) I received a check for exactly $50. I had to go through several more back and forth calls with them, telling them I refused to accept this amount and what amount I expected to receive. Finally I got a check for the correct amount. I understand accidents happen. But it just shouldn't be that hard to get reimbursement.

6. Musical chairs with couches.

   I can't say enough in this space to praise Kenny, James and I don't remember the third name, but he was just as awesome!! These guys moved a couch around an impossible corner and stairway, not to mention perfect handling of multiple other pieces. They were polite, energetic and oh-so-careful despite the late hour and the previous jobs of their day. No one could want more of their movers. Thank you, guys! You're the best in your business that I've encountered.

   

7. Low integrity company weaseling out on damages they caused.

   Knowing that things can go wrong with contractors and servicing companies, we researched and obtained 5 different quotes. Square Cow had a good number of positive reviews and the second highest quote, but we wanted to ensure a smooth move, so we went with them. Should any unfortunate events arise, we assumed it would be handled professionally and amicably based on the reviews we read. Our experience with this company has been one nightmare after another.
   
   We provided Square Cow a full list of items we needed moved, which included our refrigerator, bedroom furniture, and a few other items (we left most of our furniture to stage our old home). Square Cow quoted us a 3-5 hour job. It sounded a bit too fast at first, but the salesperson assured us they do this all of the time and that they would send three experienced men.
   
   Square cow sent one experienced mover (he was the lead), the other two movers were neither efficient nor effective. It was noticeable the three movers had not worked together previously. One mover admitted he had just started working for the company - he had to be shown and instructed every step of the way. The other mover said he was running on fumes with only three hours of sleep from the night before. The move took almost 12 hours to complete partly because they left behind our bed frame, which we had made a point to mention before they left for the new house. Due to their lack of experience, they had a hard time moving certain furniture items. Like our son’s toy shelf that had cubbies inside. At first they could not figure out how to carry the item up and said it was not possible. Then we suggested they take out cubbies, and then it was moved upstairs easily.
   
   The following are examples of their careless actions that lead to the damages our new home sustained (I have included a few photos with this review):
   1) The movers proceeded to forcibly push our refrigerator through the front hallway without paying attention to the walls and baseboards. They managed to cause severe indentations, deep scraps, and nicks on the drywall, baseboards, and several dents on the refrigerator. When placing the refrigerator on the dolly, the movers took many attempts to make it work which caused large indentations and deep scratches on the hardwood floors. The newbie had the dolly turned the wrong way and had a hard time coordinating with the other mover. The refrigerator was leaned on one side many times and left indentations and scratches on the hardwood floors.
   
   2) As they moved larger pieces of furniture they would lose their balance and/or gripping which resulted in the items being placed down abruptly and unevenly or rested against the walls - this left nicks in the hardwood floors and black smudges/scrapes along the walls.
   
   3) They would hit large furniture pieces against the walls as they were moving through the house - this left scratches, nicks, and damages in the walls throughout our home.
   
   4) Furniture was not properly wrapped, padded, and secured properly which resulted in dents, missing chunks of woods, and scratches/scraps.
   
   We contacted Michael, Square Cow Manager, immediately after the move. Michael instructed us to complete the claim paperwork (which we did). We provided over 30 photos of proof of damage. Michael dodged our phone calls and texts for a week. When we were finally able to get a hold of him we inquired about the who, what, and when in regards to the repairs. He said it would be best to hire our own contractor and we would be reimbursed thereafter.
   
   After receiving a quote from a reputable company we put down a deposit to start the process, but Michael was dodging us again (each time we would schedule a sit down, he would cancel at the last minute). We had to show up at the office to get answers and that’s where we met the area manager, Chris. Chris came to our home a week later with a furniture repair person to assess the damages. Unexpectedly, Chris needed to come a second time with a different repair person for a second opinion. Three weeks go by with no resolution; finally they send a person out to repair the furniture only. As for the major damages to the walls, baseboards, doors, and hardwood floors, we were shoved a settlement check for a tenth of what it cost to repair on our original contractor’s repair quote to escape responsibility. Chris and Square Cow conveniently blamed the high repairs on pre-existing damages. We knew they would pull a fast one like this so we had all the areas damaged by Square Cow blue taped and asked the contractor to only assess these areas. To justify the quote our original contractor gave, we obtained several more quotes from other contractors – and these quotes are around the same price range and all the contractors said the same thing - our new home is a custom home and the materials used were of high quality. The lowball settlement offer from Square Cow is not enough to properly repair the damages sustained.
   
   For them to deny those damages were caused by their movers is very upsetting. On the day of the move, we were in contact with Michael and brought the damages to his attention right after it happened. Michael spoke with the lead mover who confirmed what we already told him. He apologized for the bad job their movers did, their poor planning and offered us a discounted rate on our move as we were originally quoted 3-5 hours. Michael told us to file a claim and that their company would pay for the repairs. Square Cow is now weaseling their way out of responsibility with an unfair settlement and responding with low integrity throughout this process. If you use this company and damages occur, be ready to spend a lot of time and a lot of money to cover their failures.
   
   We are trying to be reasonable and have given them ample opportunity to rectify the situation but now it has been 8 weeks and we are unable to repair the damages their movers caused and finish unpacking.

   

8. This company, Nic on phone and Chuck and Jack, movers, was outstanding.

   This company, from  Nic taking the first call for information, and Chuck and Jack as movers, was outstanding.  They were prompt, efficient, careful, easy to work with, and very polite.  We would use them again for any further move.  They completed the work in the estimated time, cleaned up after themselves, and placed objects where we requested.  They were careful to place furniture in the truck with least amount of movement possible and used wraps when needed.  They also had given good instructions from the beginning about how to prepare boxes, etc., and we had forgotten to wrap drawers on two objects and did with ease and no comment. Once again, this company was truly service oriented.

9. Outstanding in Every Way!

   I must say they have an excellent  service. They did a very good job plus the price is very reasonable. I also found out that they are very fast in service and they really care about there costumers. They are very proffesional. I knew my things were safe and that they would do as promised. I would definitely recommend them to everyone.