Complaint Review: Shleppers Moving & Storage Co. Inc.

We needed to move our entire world from NYC to LA. We decided to go with local movers who, according to their literature, had a decent reputation around Manhattan. The President of the company is a woman named Louisa Benjamin-Bohm. Although, i'm sure she's a nice enough person, she is the type that went to a lot of trouble to put her entire PERSONAL bio into both the COMPANY brochure & onto the COMPANY website (I'm not sure but it seems that maybe somebody missed out on what she really wanted to do in life). It's lovely that you were voted the Avon Women of Enterprise Award. According to the guy who came over for our quote, that was a long, long time ago. It's also comforting to know that Richard Gere was a celebrity endorser! Senator Alfonse D'Amato was too! I make jokes because it pains me to say that it worked on us. We bit and signed up with Shleppers for their moving services and man, did we get serviced. Apparently though, long distance moves were not a Shleppers specialty. Hell, I bet that local moves weren't their specialty either. We learned this the hard way. Shleppers charge by the cu. ft. We were quoted and after going through what I can only assume is the usual back & forth hassle, finally settled on a price. This naturally changed a few times, as did our move date. We had set a date we were comfortable with. Then we got a call from someone in their "long distance moves" dept. I should have known. They wanted to know if we'd like to move the date UP a few days, that way, we wouldn't interrupt our Thanksgiving holiday! Great idea! The trouble is, an important issue with Shleppers that I'm glossing over is that there is ZERO communication btwn any of the employees. No one knew what the hell was going on. Phone calls would get hung up on, they'd go unreturned, etc. It's a business and that's one of the most simple business practices there are. Communication. They don't have it. I mention the move date, because when we cut the extra 5 days off our prep time and sped everything up that we hadn't planned for, the purchasing of additional moving insurance went by the wayside. real. bad. things. Moving on (so to speak), part of their outlined deal in the literature is that the movers professionally wrap all electronics & furniture. We packed everything else, and a lot of the smaller electronics. 4 movers managed to cause a current estimate of $7k in damages to the hallways of our manhattan apt. building. They forced an armoire down the stairwell before deciding (and not telling us) to take off a door and some molding (did I mention it's an antique?). They also shattered a light fixture, dug up wallpaper, chipped paint, and my favorite: managed to not only chip hard pine wood but DENT it so badly that the wall boards need to be replaced. It turns out they "wrapped" our lamps in nothing. They were just in the truck. Free standing with the light bulbs in them. They had managed to take the shades off and stuff them onto someone else's belongings (also in the truck. Long distance moves. They pack in LOTS of things. Get ready to lose your stuff!). They also taped the cords onto the neck's of the lamps and somehow managed to smash the concrete bases. They didn't bother to wrap my $1k Bose speaker(s) & stands. Just, didn't do it. Well, I take that back. There was a box taped over the head of one speaker. Unfortunately that was the one that was broken. Perhaps if they'd just been as moronic as they were with the other one, it would have been fine? A few pieces of Pottery Barn furniture are also ruined. One has a 6" gash out of the leg. Why? wasn't wrapped. At all. Just took the table, and put it onto a huge mother fxxxxxx truck. Eh, it'll be fine, right Bob? Morons. Somehow the other Pottery Barn piece, which also suffered many bumps, nicks and scratches, has a huge pierced hole in it. It looks like someone shot it. Yup. Shot it. It's not what happened, but who the hell knows what went on before they showed up? I could tell you all about the Armoire, but there's too much to tell. Let's just say I had to leave my wife in the room to watch the unveiling. I couldn't do it. I knew it was going to be bad. It was real bad. 2 pieces of crown molding FELL OFF when they took the blanket off. Chunks, digs, nicks, scrapes, and whatever other adjectives one uses to describe a massacre done to fine precious wood. There was (and continues to be) lots of back and forth with Shleppers to make things right. It's all wrong. They do carry proper insurance but are doing everything they can to NOT use it (for the record its: The Dorfmann Organization Ltd. 28 Old Folton Road. Brooklyn 11201. 718-564-6411). They tried to give the Manhattan building mgmt company $200 for the damages (who, incidentally, are holding my deposit as ransom until this is settled). It was sent over on the same letter head Word document that I received for the damage waiver they sent me. I lucked out though! Mine was for $345. It goes to show you how disorganized and unrealistic this company is. The Manhattan building had a professional estimate done AND Shleppers sent someone over to look at the damages. Then they send over an unofficial "here's $200, let's call it even" letter? Now, let's compare that to our damaged possessions: Armoire $1200, Tables $600, Lamps x3 $120 (hey, they're cheap), speaker bracket was already replaced $0 + the intangible denomination of mental anguish for late delivery, being threatened (much longer story) and a varietal of chipped, dented & scratched "other" items. We've got $1920, but since I neglected to take out an additional insurance policy, federal law on a Bill of Lading limit of liability is $0.60 cents per pound. Somehow, based on the declared weight of my items, $345 dollars is what Shleppers deems a fair settlement. My point is they have a very unbalanced system at work here. For once, I seem to be on the positive side of it, but really, I'm taking it in the rear on every side of this scenario anyhow, so it doesn't really matter, now does it?

If they used their insurance company, like they're supposed to, this wouldn't be an issue. They're making everything a fight. I've even tried contesting the charges with Amex based on their Purchase Protection policy, but Shleppers provided this very scenario as their vindication (still fighting it though).

In a nutshell, that's why Shlepper's doesn't deserve your business. I can not implore you enough to stay away from this company. Use any other moving company you can. Really, they were that bad. I'll even spend time on the phone with you to convince you if you still need convincing. That's how bad this experience was and continues to be! I've filed with the Better Business Bureau. I've even filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (when you've had 2 dudes throwing your expensive belongings off a overly PACKED semi, with NO ramps, 4' off the ground, in the rain, and one of the guys weighs 125lbs... talk to me about safety then).

Oh, and it turns out that Richard Gere moved the Dalai Lama's f***ing pillows. to a new office space. a few blocks away. easy job even for those idiots...

Hersheysgotshleppedbad Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.