Federal Whalen Moving and Storage

A nightmare from start to finish

We interviewed five large movers for our out of state move. Paul Rubinsak convinced us that the move was in good hands with Allied: all employees were background screened, the replacement insurance would cover any minor damage without any issue. The balance of our things were packed by a crew and loaded onto a truck, which then proceeded to sit in a warehouse in Chicagoland. The delivery was assigned to the last day of a four-day window (our stuff was already on the truck for a week). Then we were delayed a day; driver was sick. Then we were delayed another day because Allied booked the driver for the wrong date. Our delivery driver called us the day before the delivery; she was coming from St. Louis, driving to Chicago to pick up the load, then driving out to Iowa. The unloading crew of four was coming from Omaha, about 2 hours away. Driver doesn't arrive until almost noon. The unpacking crew is literally three (not four) random guys that the driver called up from a Native American reservation; no background checks, no drug checks. The crew didn't have any supplies (e.g., carrying straps). The driver Attempted to put down plastic in house to save the carpeting but then didn't tape the plastic edges down (think slip and slide) before starting to move stuff into the house. One guy spent most of the day chatting up anyone who would listen; another guy asked my mother-in-law for a beer. The beer guy attempted to pick up a round coffee table and put it width-wise threw the rectangle front door, which was framed in brick…what was a new table was no longer a new table. These were NOT experience moving guys and had no idea how to unload and move furniture, let alone put it back together (first crew disassembled EVERYTHING unnecessarily). Our family ended up reassembling the furniture properly after the crew left. The packing done by the first crew – where to begin?! Two mattresses (including one that was 3 weeks old) were not in mattress boxes, but shrink wrapped and stood up on their sides in the truck with stuff stacked on top of them for over a week. Not in shrink wrapped. Doubled over. They were crumpled like accordions. Pictures in expensive frames were packed without paper around them like sardines. A bar table was packed without padding around the base – just stacked in the truck – so the wood was chewed up but the time it was unloaded. The packing crew used tape to wrap plastic around a leather bed frame – and taped the bed frame in the process stripping the leather. The packing crew used wardrobe boxes for EVERYTHING. Why? Because 1) they cost more, and 2) monkeys could have packed better than these guys did. A 3' santa and reindeer was set into a wardrobe box without packing material around it, then leather coats laid on top of the reindeer antlers (scratching the leather). Everything from the garage was thrown into two wardrobe boxes that are now too heavy to move. We took out full replacement value insurance. We've spent months dealing with furniture and leather outfits hired by Sirva, only to have not a single piece appear as it did before. It's nine months post-move and our claim is still not resolved. Well, Sirva thinks it is, since they already cut us a low ball check (which we won't cash). I had to request an itemized breakdown of the dollar amount, and discovered that they omitted a 55" TV that no longer works (documented by Sirva's third party repair outfit) and only provided an appearance credit on the scratched treadmill. Don't worry, they don't pay for delivery charges or tax for the replacement furniture either!

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