As of today, September 14, I have sent via UPS my claim form to them claiming nearly $ 2,000 in damages that I've been able to spot; others may still be undetected. These stemmed from a totally indiscriminate disregard for personal belongings. It's because of companies as this one that movers in general get such a bad rap.
After requesting quotes from several movers online in late June for a move from California to North Carolina, an Air 1 Moving & Storage account manager named Holly called me with a quote, which was initially $ 1,800 for the goods I claimed. Only after I verbally went over all of my belongings did the price jump to around $ 3,300. Still less than others, I contracted to do business with them.
Holly assured me of how I would "love her company" because they are such professionals (the on-hold messaging states how they're experts in piano and antique moves... We'll get to that in a moment). I called her a few times prior to the date of the move to follow up on some things, and she never remembered who I was, where I was moving, and I ALWAYS had to leave my phone number again and again; they're terribly disorganized. I expressed frustration and concern that they never remembered who I was, and again it was, "Oh, I'm going to make sure you love us so much, etc."
Move date arrives: I've already paid $ 672 of the cost on my credit card as a downpayment. They wanted half of the remainder, so I give them an official check for around $ 1,300. The original moving team did a pretty good job, I must give them credit. Air 1 stored my goods for a month in their warehouse (presumably) in CA until I called for them.
They then hired a separate company — a red truck from NJ with an Allied Van Lines trailer behind it to come cross-county. The driver was an older gentleman who spoke some Scandanavian language I couldn't understand. His partner was a very VERY slightly framed youngster (maybe 130 pounds) who spoke in an Asian tongue, and I'm not sure they understood each other... I understood neither of them! In any event, my goods were in the middle (front-to-back) of this 53-foot trailer. They couldn't put a ramp and unload my things with handtrucks, etc. Like normal people. They unloaded everything totally by hand, furniture and all. Oh, they demanded $ 1,500 in cash before opening the doors, by the way.
All told, I have substantial damage to the legs on my brand new grand piano (I haven't yet unwrapped the actual piano), bedroom and office furniture, mattress, there is a box totally missing. Plus, first thing that happened when they opened the trailer door is that a full box of expensive books from all over the world fell on the asphalt and busted the spines on all of them.
There is some nonsense on this "bill of landing" (I swear, it's spelled that way, it isn't spelled "bill of lading") about there being a maximum of a $0.60 per pound liability exposure they have on goods in shipment. I want to make it CLEAR that I did NOT agree to that; the original driver wrote that on the document and I was not briefed on what that meant. Holly kept assuring me over the phone they have "a million dollar minimum" of coverage from their insurance company, etc.
Finally, when this move took place, cash or certified check was demanded at the outset, and I was asked to sign all these documents in haste. Consider the inside of your house when you move: the furniture is in disarray, boxes litter the floor, nothing is in the place it "normally" is, and you don't have adequate time to read and understand these documents. Further complicating matters is that the initial movers / driver ALL spoke Spanish and extremely little English at all.
I would NEVER recommend this fly-by-night operation. Ever!!! I had to call THREE times to get a claim form sent to me. When it arrived, it looked like a copy of a fax of a copy of a blank claim form that they had been using for 20 years; barely legible. Anyhow, the claim has been forwarded to them via UPS today. Check back soon, and I'll have an update on the status.
No one should ever have to contend with this. Please do yourself a favor and stay far, far away from Air 1 Moving & Storage!
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