Caren Yglesias

Review of ARA - American Relocation Alli...

Under no circumstances should you hire this compan...

Under no circumstances should you hire this company: they are dishonest bordering on criminal. First, they reneged on their proposed 10% discount and $528.00 "coupon" offered so that we would sign with them. All moves are impossible to precisely estimate, and they took advantage of the extra weight to charge $.80/pound, which was a higher rate than quoted, and of course, no discount or coupon. They wanted to charge $1225 for packing materials, having packed only 21 boxes, but did discount that by about half because even they recognized it was an unreasonable charge. The movers damaged my front step, and the claims department argued that there was no proof that they were responsible even though I sent cell phone photos that day, which clearly showed the concrete chunk sitting right there, and the movers all agreed that they were responsible - extra cost to me: $350.00. Then, THEY LOST A BOX. There were 77 boxes and 1 is missing. Their offer: $.80/pound, but how much do linens and family heirlooms weigh? And they actually said that having "1 missing box would be considered a successful move by almost any person doing a cross country move." I certainly do not consider losing a box of my belongings a "successful" move. While the packers were acceptable in a anti-social sort of way, and the unpackers were quite friendly, the home office staff is friendly until it's time to pay. And what can you do? They require payment in full before they will unload your things. Any disputes go to a claims department to be resolved later, and then the tone changes. It has proven to be impossible to resolve this in any way that does not leave me feeling exceeding sorry that I dealt with them. They will cover NONE of the additional costs to me. The only bright thought is that my review will save someone else from making the terrible mistake that I did.