FlatRate Moving

I can't recommend FlatRate Moving less. I'll group this into two parts, the lack of professionalism and the incompetence or lack of care. For the former: would not wear masks in a masks required building; they taped lit incense sticks to the hallways (in a smoke free building) and when I removed those, one of them kept spraying perfume everywhere; when I pointed out problems the lead guy would get belligerent. As for the incompetence or sloppiness: despite the website saying they protect floors and walls these guys only did so after I yelled at them at the new apartment. They had already damaged the Marmoleum floor in the apartment I was moving out of, by dragging large cabinets, a stove, and a refrigerator across the unprotected floor. How many times did I tell them which items were being moved? Numerous - they never paid attention. They tore the expensive mattress bedbug protective cover (and then yelled at me!). They damaged a printer cart beyond repair but actually glued on the large piece they broke off the drawer - did they think I wouldn't notice the crack? Or that the same drawer front was hanging off its hardware? The boxes - put into the new apartment with zero attention to categories or size/weight. Heavy boxes on top of lighter ones. Books mixed together with kitchen boxes, with clothes boxes. They mixed in items I wanted (like my pillows) with items I said would go to the Salvation Army (only by luck did I catch that the "upcycle" boxes contained important items). The overall attitude was that they were doing me a favor by moving my stuff. Some favor - $1775 to move from a studio to a 1 bedroom (albeit lots of boxes), 2 blocks away. I'm still shell-shocked by the sheer ineptitude or rather, disregard. Oh, and two of the four complained the entire day.

Move size: Studio flat Service cost: $1775

Flatrate returned to us a 1700sq ft home worth of soaked, destroyed furniture and belongings following the hurricane Ida. They had moved our belongings out of indoor storage unit in Manhattan and put it into outdoor containers in a parking lot in Jersey. They still charged us $1200/mon forb4 months, and for the move costs. They arrived at our new home with two trucks full of water and fungus. Destroyed our baby's things and family heirlooms. Make sure your stuff is safe if you choose to trust FLATRATE! We lost 95% worth of our stuff, they didn't honor their guaranteed "indoor climate controlled storage". They didn't try to salvage our stuff near the storm. They ignored it from 3 months til the day of the move.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $14000

Avoid this company at all cost.  We hired FlatRate to move treasured family heirlooms.  When the shipment arrived, items were damaged and some were missing altogether.  Attempts to follow-up with the company regarding the missing and damaged items were more or less ignored until legal action was threatened.  Instead of trying to help us resolve the problems, FlatRate simply denied all responsibility.  FlatRate provided what was perhaps the worst moving experience of my life.  Shame of FlatRate for their abysmal performance and service.   .

Service cost: $3000

DO NOT USE FLAT RATE unless you want: all your belongings & your new home permeated with a strong musty odor for months on end after using their NJ storage facility;  a couple of broken pieces of furniture;  & a laughably small 'courtesy' reimbursement for your troubles, after their citing a policy of only one claim per move (not documented anywhere).
My furniture/boxes were moved from Queens, NY to a Manhattan apt, after 6-month in their Newark, NJ facility. They were delivered to a pristine, newly renovated, freshly painted & empty apt. The musty odor was definitely not there before the items went into storage. The 1st items brought into the empty apt were 2 large cartons packed by Flat Rate. As some as they came in, a very strong musty smell was released, acknowledged by the head mover. As more items came in, and as upholstered furniture was unwrapped from FR's moving blankets, the odor increased. I naively assumed this was temporary & would air out in a day or two. For the 1st week, the odor drifted into the common hallway.
Over the last 3 months, I have: researched corrective measures extensively on-line; vacuumed, cleaned & laundered the apt, the upholstery & all the stored contents many times over;  aired out the apt & all the items with fans for hrs. on end;  air-conditioned & heated to remove any humidity;  used over $95 worth of of mold/disinfectant/deodorizing/air-sanitizing sprays, odor absorbers etc. in repetitive and labor-intensive cleaning of every item; washed down furniture;  & discarded many items.  As each carton was opened, more musty smells were released & more items had to be cleaned, aired or discarded.
My expensive Tempurpedic mattress & boxspring, as well as some upholstered pieces still retain some odor, although not as strong;  I cannot afford to replace them. I threw out a costly foam mattress topper, since, even after cleaning, after sleeping on it one night, I had a severe reaction (coughing, sneezing, throat closing up, etc.). 
I could not live in the apt for 2 months, although I was paying. I finally moved in but still smell an odor, although much reduced, but I am worried about the quality of the air I was & still am breathing. (After hrs of unpacking & cleaning each day at the beginning, my clothes retained a faint musty odor brought into my temp quarters.)
When I wrote Flat Rate about this, I was sent a 'courtesy' check for $150; they said I was only allowed one claim, which is not documented anywhere. As to that one claim, the head mover took full responsibility for a broken chair leg, sent the office a photo of it & FR had me fill out a claim form; they reimbursed for that damage (kindly waiving the deductible). At that point, I still thought the odor would soon dissipate, not realizing the extent to which it permeated my possessions. Also, I had not yet discovered a 2nd broken chair. And one does have 90 days to make a claim. I paid FR close to $6,000, with $3,000 of that for storage (described as 'climate controlled' on their website). Why not reimbursement of my storage costs instead of the $150 "courtesy" check? (Be aware: mid-way through, FR increased my monthly charge: I had no choice but to pay.)
Also, be aware that when you do cash a claim check, you are signing a legalistic statement releasing FR from any future claims/responsibilities.
 UPDATE: FR agreed to review my situation & invited me to submit a new claim. I am awaiting a response.

Service cost: $6000

Avoid at all costs.
A laptop and PlayStation 4 were stolen from boxes marked "electronics" and "games". I handed the laptop (in carrying case) to the packing mover, he placed it in a box, sealed it with clear tape and wrote "electronics" on the tape.

When I received the boxes, a different kind of tape was covering the original (and the word "electronics"). After I opened the box, the laptop and charger were missing from the case. Same deal with the "games" box -- I opened it and the PlayStation 4, controllers and games were missing. Everything else that was in the box before was there.

A grand piano was also severely damaged, as well as a floor-standing speaker and other various items. Estimated cost of loss and damages is around $7,000.

A police report was filed for the theft.

Service cost: $5900

My wife and I used FlatRate Moving Company for our move from NYC to Connecticut and couldn't be happier. The crew was on time, polite, efficient, and worked non-stop in 90-degree heat to move us out of our third-floor WALK-UP apartment into a single-family home in Connecticut. Everything was handled with care. The crew worked independently but asked for input where necessary and even set up and staged everything in the new home. GREAT experience working with this company. Would definitely use them for any future moves.

Service cost: $1885

They stole, smashed and misplaced over $10,000 worth of personal items
[EDIT]

It's entirely outrageous!

If you treasure your belongings DO NOT HIRE FLATRATE!

In addition to this they charged more than $1000 fraudulently to the card on file with NO AUTHORIZATION.

The customer service in non-existing entirely!

I can not stress how bad this experience has been and there have been absolutely no communication - if you are missing or have broken items they'll just ignore you.

SAVE YOURSELF THE AGONY AND STEER CLEAR!

Horrible, horrible, horrible!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

RE: FlatRate Moving 16501 NW 8th Ave, Miami, Fl 33169 TEL: 305-622-5262 - contact Ian O'Reilly
I can only speak for the Miami office of FlatRate that I dealt with, I am sorry for everyone who had a bad experience with other branches.  I moved from Miami, Florida to Portland, OR in 2009, two weeks before Christmas.  I was totally unprepared for how stressful the moving experience could be.  I had done a lot of the preliminary packing myself, since I was considered with treasured items getting damaged, as the old adage goes: "if you want something done right, do it yourself" so I spent a couple of months prior to the move packing all of my family heirlooms and breakables in bubble wrap and boxed it all up myself. So all that was left was the heavy stuff, my antique furniture (which I was very concerned about any damage) and my home office. The movers arrived up exactly on time, called me to say they were on the way, and suddenly 6 guys were in my driveway. As soon as I opened the door I burst into tears. The crew chief was a big russian guy, he immediately calmed me down, told me everything was going to be alright, and to just leave it up to them.  I was hysterical. They immediately got to work loading up my pre-boxed boxes (which they did advise me to do and I suggest everyone should do) and carefully wrapped all of my beautiful antique furniture with furniture pads, put my mattresses in huge boxes, carefully wrapped glass shelves, mirrors..I was freaking but did start to calm down when I saw how well and professional they were, and the time they were spending protecting all of my items.  OK, so that's all the good part.  The only "surprise" was when the big russian dude takes me aside and explains to me - very calmly, not in a threatening way at all - that the price which had been quoted to me, which was already expensive (over $7K) did NOT include a tip for the crew. Well, imagine my shock. I was already in shock to begin with, now I'm thinking "if I don't tip these guys, my stuff will end up in Kansas or arrive in pieces".  Luckily I had taken some cash out of the bank the day before getting ready to leave town, and I counted out $100 for each guy ($500) plus $200 for the main guy - so my "tip" came to almost $700, which was 10% of the total price. I think the crew chief was appreciative that I didn't argue and I did respect that they were doing a great job, it would have just been good to know this going in, from the salesman who quoted my "flat rate" price.  Also, I did underestimate much of my belongings on the original inventory, and they ended up boxing them up for me anyway, without any extra charge.  So in the end, you get what you pay for.  It was a big hit to peel those $700 but the crew chief was very nice and ensured me my things would be taken care of in their warehouse and in transit, and the entire crew were very pleasant throughout the pack which took a good 6-7 hours (8am-3pm).  Everything arrived intact, nothing was missing nor stolen, the inventory checklist was reviewed thoroughly before they left and again when they arrived. I hope Ian is still at this branch and would highly recommend anyone moving from Miami to deal with him and try to request the "big russian dude" who was a total professional.  All of the other local companies that I had called sounded so bogus and too cheap to trust.  So other than the "flat rate" not being a flat rate, just ask upfront about gratuitites and don't argue about it if you value your possessions, just be gracious about it, that's life in the big city I'm afraid.  Lulu.

Service cost: $7200

This was the worst experience ever. Every contact with company representatives were dishonest. The move ended up costing $2,600 more than the original quote. We contacted the sales person to change the inventory list and we were told not to worry since we had a guaranteed price quoted.

The movers were late outside the guarantted pick up date. WHen we called representatives we were promised a return phone call and never received a return phone call.

We were told the delivery would be at least 10 days. Due to the increase in total cost we figured we had the 10 days to come up with the extra money. The company then called 3 days later to communicate a delivery the next morning. Alex Bell was argumentative, yelling, and would not provide the name of his supervisor or manager. He claimed the owner was an 80 year old woman who was out of the country and he refused to provide her phone # or the FIN of the company. This company is dishonest and cheats customers. They need to be shut out of business. I have reported this to the BBB as well as the local news company "on you side" to investigate and provide a public news report so others will not be impacted and ripped off by this company.

Service cost: $2000

This was my fist time moving and I had to move from Florida to Colombus,Ohio and I chose Flat rate moving based some of the good reviews in internet and some were not that good also.But I had a very good experience in using their services.The relocation specialist Bob was Polite ,courteous and good in understanding my moving needs and was able to accommodate my requests for adding additional items to the inventory and also changing the moving dates due to my new job.He had a good understanding of the relocation and how it needs to be done in a professional manner.


The Truck Guys-Uvan and his associate ,who had brought the goods were also polite and made sure that there was no damage to any of our items.Very Polite Guys and Good in doing their job.

I will recommend Flat rate movers for Moving .They are simply Superb..Good Job ..Keep it up.

Service cost: $1800

FLATRATE MOVING – NYC REVIEW Move date Friday 28 August 2015  UNPROFESSIONAL LAZY STAFF WHO FAILED TO COMPLETE THE JOB ON TIME – DO NOT USE 
PACK & PREP  2 female “packers” turned up instead of 3-4 “movers” who were supposed to also prep all of the furniture ready for the move the next day. Hours later after we insisted, they sent some movers in the afternoon. So a half day job turned into a full day job – not good if you had only planned to take a half day off work.
MOVERS
The building’s Super said he had never seen such LAZY movers and would take note to never use FlateRate Movers. Took 4hrs (10-2) to move out of a fully packed and prepped 2 bedroom apartment with elevators. We purchased them lunch then they disappeared for 45mins between apartments (it’s a 5-minute drive) leaving 1h15m to move into the new apartment. Obviously, they failed to move into the new apartment on time. We asked if they needed more people earlier in the day (when it was clear to us that they weren’t going to move in by the deadline and they said no).  Careless – broke building elevator sensor and damaged two pieces of our furniture. Hopeless – could not assemble the basic furniture such as a bed, crib. This required supervision by us to ensure the task was completed correctly.  
CUSTOMER SERVICE
When the movers disappeared for 45mins leaving 1hr15m to move in – I was frantically contacting FlatRate customer service to try and get more men to get the job done on time. I spoke to 3 people all who failed to assist and merely advised that the movers are entitled to a lunch break. None of the 3 people called me back as I asked with a solution (being more people to complete the move on time) to the quickly approaching deadline of moving the furniture in before the building cut off time. I also phoned the agent that had done the assessment on my apartment and who had been my contact in arranging the move, and he failed to answer the three times I called.
OVERALL
Extremely stressful day and FlatRate did not help one bit in trying to make the day run smoothly. Whatever you do, steer clear of this company.

Service cost: $3000

I have nothing but high praise for this company. A very professional and courteous employee conducted a thoughtful in-person visit to my home first to take an inventory (good job, Lewis), and he then followed up within 24 hours -- on a Sunday, no less -- with a quotation. The price was competitive: not the cheapest, but unlike many of the company's competitors the number I was given was a solid quote, not a slippery "best estimate." So I decided to give them a try.

As it turned out, I couldn't have been more pleased with my experience. Blake and his team of movers showed up on time and worked diligently and carefully for several hours on each end. The move was conducted on schedule and with tremendous care. Even the heaviest items (including a piano which had to travel up to the fourth floor of an elevator-less building at the destination) were moved gently and safely.

High points: the predictability of the "flat rate" quotation; the *excellent* courtesy and professionalism of the employees; and the attention and care with which the job was done. Not a glass was broken.

Low points: not much to speak of. Perhaps including one more person on the team at the destination would have made the process a little faster. And the move-in process started a couple of hours behind schedule. Nothing that would warrant kicking the rating down from five to four stars.

Overall: great job, would use again, would highly recommend. Bravo.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Flat Service cost: $4300

I wish I could give this company a zero star review. We selected them for a last minute move from San Francisco to NYC, paid for by my husband's company. Our things are still in storage, so I can't even review them in terms of delivery timeliness and damage.

What I can say is that the move out process was horrendous. Booking was easy and quick, and we selected the white glove service for a full move and pack, with insurance. For the price we paid ($10k+ for a 4BR), I expected them to treat our things with care and be professionals. Instead, out of our four movers, three spoke no English and one spoke broken English but enough to get by. Two of the movers seemed to be underage. Again, not a huge deal if the move was done well and they understood instructions.

We had fairly simple move out instructions -- pack everything except one drawer clearly marked "DO NOT MOVE" and one box, which we asked to be packed with a few specific items to take on the plane.

There were several issues: the movers forgot to pack items throughout the house, including a whole drawer in a closet, several things on the wall, a vacuum cleaner in a closet, etc.

They packed our DO NOT MOVE drawer, which included jewelry I had taken off to not ruin while moving, medications, and toiletries.

The box that we asked them to pack to take on the plane was packed with an assortment of items from three different rooms. None of them were the items we requested in the box.

To make things worse, we called the company's LA office to complain several times and the issue still hasn't been resolved. Our move was 5 weeks ago now, and I'm honestly not sure if I'm ever going to see our stuff again, or in what condition. We paid over $10k for the move, and I regret every penny of it.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000