I don't have any horror stories about my belongings smashed into a million pieces or chewed apart by mice. I'm simply offering a warning to anyone consdering using PODS for their next move: your PODS container, which you will pay thousands of dollars to transport and store, may not get delivered to your new address. Seems like a pretty critical part of the moving process, right?
As a return customer, I expected more from PODS. Our first move using them was easy and hassle-free, and I took every opportunity to recommend the company to friends and relatives. No more. I'll be going out of my way to discourage anyone from using PODS.
Simply put, PODS would not and did not deliver our storage container to our new residence, because the zip code of where we were moving to was "out of the delivery zone" and "not in the system" for the warehouse where our container was located. So then why was it delivered there in the first place? I never found out, but what I did discover was that this was MY problem, not PODS'. Our new zip code was a mere six miles - a ten-minute drive - from the zip code I gave when I placed the order online and yet each time I contacted the company, no accomodations could be made. (One customer service representative, Roger, actually had the audacity to tell me that I would have to drive 80 miles to the warehouse where my container was located and unload it myself. "I've seen it happen." I wish I knew his extension to pass along, as he was a pretty entertaining character.) I called every day for a week to get some kind of resolution, and each CSR who answered was more and more inept and unwilling to offer any solution other than to transfer me to "Logistics" (the irony there was not lost on me), where I was instructed to leave a message and someone would call me back (not surprisingly, no one did). So essentially, my container was stuck in limbo (which I was paying for) because PODS could not get in touch with their own warehouse/storage center to see if it was deliverable to my new address.
Finally, after a week of waiting in frustration, I told PODS to deliver the container to a relative's house, which was evidently in their designated delivery zone (again, despite being only six miles away from where I actually needed the container delivered). The container arrived on time (and by a very friendly and professional driver, Rick) and everything inside was intact (if a bit dusty), but I had to spend an additional $125 on a Budget rental truck to transfer the contents of the POD to our new residence. It was a completely unnecessary and exhausting hassle, all because PODS refused to deliver my container to an address that they deemed "undeliverable" for reasons apparently not even known by their own employees.
Bottom line: PODS did not deliver on what they promised. This company has taken a serious nose-dive in customer service since we last used them two years ago, when I was greeted by cheerful and helpful customer service reps each time I called. Each person I contacted this past move (with the exception of the drivers) was not only unhelpful, but their only only resolution was to transfer me to an empty voicemail extension. Considering the astronomical cost of what PODS charges for their "service, " there isn't the slightest chance I will ever be using or recommending this company again.
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