10/01/09

FLAT RATE - WORST MOVING SERVICE

by ka10016

FlatRate is the worst company you could hire, bottom line. Below is the email that I wrote them after my move-in process went completely awry. It has gone absolutely unanswered. Yet, another reason why EVERYONE should steer clear of this company.

"Dear FlatRate,

Unfortunately, I'm writing to you to express my sincere dissatisfaction with the FlatRate moving company. Never in my life have I been more compelled to send a letter of complaint. I scheduled your service for a move on ___ and was assured that the service would arrive within hours between 8am and 10am. At 9am, when a truck and movers had not arrived at my apartment and, more importantly, I had not been communicated with, I called your offices and was told to wait until 10am and surely a truck and the movers would arrive by then. At 10am, the truck and movers did not arrive and I had heard NOTHING. I understand that problems occur and in Manhattan drivers are sometimes faced with traffic or issues that are beyond their control. HOWEVER, at the very least, there should be communication of anything that comes up to customer so they are not left wondering and waiting aimlessly. It was not until I called back SEVERAL times (literally 4 or 5 times) that I was able to speak with someone that could tell me what the problem was, though at that point there was NO solution. I did not receive a WORKABLE solution until 11:15am, when I was told that another team would have to cover my job because the truck that had been allocated to my job had mechanical difficulties. The service was to arrive between 12:30 and 1pm. The service arrived at about 1:10pm. After the movers arrived, they were able to complete my move, BUT not without hurdles. As I had been promised that my move would occur between 8am-10am, both buildings (the one I moved out of and the one I moved into) were unprepared for the move and had to recover the elevators and one of them had even scheduled moves during the afternoon because my move was SUPPOSED to be completed by that time. So, my FlatRate moving service had to share elevators with other services and this caused a significant delays. Overall, my job took 2 hours. Probably 30 minutes of which was wasted as a DIRECT result of the service being LATE. 3-5 HOURS LATE!!!!! With little communication and a complete lack of customer consideration.

I also did not mention that I was supposed to work in the afternoon. Had my move occurred within the allotted time, 8am-10am, the move would have been well over by noon. I was supposed to work at 1pm and had to call out of work as a DIRECT result of this problem. That is an opportunity cost of hundreds of dollars, not to mention my lack of professionalism as I had to explain to my superiors that the service I chose was not adequate.

Your lack of consideration for my move affected me negatively in SEVERAL ways. As I mentioned in the opening of this letter, NEVER have I been more compelled to send a letter of complaint.

For the mistake that the company made, I was offered a mere 10% reduction on my move. That's a mere ~$50 compensation for an entire day of agony. I have never been more dissatisfied with a company or service.

I am well aware that things happen that are beyond a company's control. However, the manner in which this situation was handled was neither professional nor accommodating. As long as I can ever remember, the customer should always come first. In this situation, on more than one occasion, I felt as if my needs came last."

Do yourself a favor and hire another company. FlatRate is the WORST!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Late, Lack of Communication, Expensive

09/29/09

good experience

by serins

I was extremely satisfied with my move using Flat Rate. The crew was on time, worked quickly and was extremely helpful. My relocation consultant, Robin was on top of things and made sure that everything was in order. She was also very patient with whatever changes there may have been. I will definitely think about using Flat Rate again in the future if the need arises...

Serina

• Pros: Efficient, Courteous and on Time
• Cons: a bit pricey

08/17/09

Worst Move Ever!

by laurelzabel

Don't use Flatrate, which should be called Fatrate / FlatFurniture. They were very nice on the phone and they were on time for the move itself. But unfortunately everything else was a disaster. They broke my bed in their storage facility. They broke my dresser. They broke my bedside table. The bed and table are beyond repair. They packed all of these items themselves. Now they want to pay me $0.60 per lb. They "included" extra insurance for my move into storage and then tried to charge me for it again on the way out. The storage prices were outrageous and the moving fees were a moving target. They even wanted to charge me to throw away the furniture they destroyed.

I have moved cross country 4 times - I have moved 9 times in the last 10 years and I have never had to work with such an incompetent and gouging moving company. I had heard horror stories about movers in NYC, but the last 4 moves here have been no problem. This time I was moving from NY to NJ so I wanted to use a company licensed in both states. Big mistake! Flatrate is the epitome of the bait-and-switch dirty moving company. Everyone you speak to sounds so "decent" and yet your stuff arrives broken and you pay more money than you ever thought possible.

• Pros: On time
• Cons: Price, insurance scam, storage fees, lack of moving skills

08/07/09

Inexperienced movers and irresponsible management.

by Keka23

Save your time and money and DO NOT use Flatrate. My move was a rather small one (moved from a studio into a 1 bedroom) and STILL they managed to lose 2 boxes and break some of my dinnerware which they packed. I paid for this service since they told me if I pack it the wouldn't be responsible. They were reckless, rude and SLOW!!! My move was supposed to be done by 5pm but they finished close to 7pm for which the building charge me and when I complained to Flatrate they told me that they weren't responsible! Even though I told them about my hours. Its not worth the money OR aggravation! A total disgrace! And also the claim is not going through because the damage is less than $500. I don't know how they got away with this for so long.

• Cons: Cost me so much money

08/05/09

No respect for my belongings!

by lisa341

I was recommended to FLATRATE MOVING and I was reluctant to pay top dollars but than in the end I did. They also told me that it would NOT exceed the original cost that they gave me but then to my surprise it did. It is just so frustrating that after all these confirmation emails and also after they did the inventory survey in my apartment and they still charged me about 20% more. It says on the truck FLATRATE??????? My stuff was going to my storage and they threw my stuff the quickest they could WITHOUT ANY protection after I was assured by the a very charming sales guy that it would. I was trying to reach him to help me before it gets any worse and they kept switching me to the dispatchers who apparently couldn't help me. After seeing what my furniture went through they had the audacity to tell me that the gratuity was mandatory. I thought going with the company that has been around for quite some time I would be OK, but I guess not. FLATRATE proved me wrong. The overall experience is a sadly regrettable one and please stay away.

• Cons: Unprofessional and Rude

07/25/09

Finally, a moving company that is both affordable & reliable

by shillard

My previous move (not with Flat Rate) was terrible! Not only did they increase their rate once my stuff was all loaded on the truck but they damaged and lost a bunch of my stuff. I filed a claim and was awarded a settlement, but by that time the company was already bankrupt and out of business. Sooo, I was very skeptical of moving companies but went with Flat Rate based on a friend's recommendation. I dealt with Craig Yettra who was EXTREMELY helpful. He was friendly and professional and answered all my paranoid questions with remarkable patience and understanding. He assured me that my rate would indeed be flat, and it was! The crew who did the packing and moving (Sam and Sophian, I think) were also amazing- very fast, friendly, and careful. I could not have been more pleased with this move and will use Craig and Flat Rate for every move I have going forward!

• Pros: Excellent customer service (thanks to Craig)
• Cons: NONE, honestly!

07/20/09

Moving done right ! ( I have done it too many times )

by CityMouse

Spoke with representative Robin several times and readjusted quotes as needs, items and dates changed. Painless process. Great customer service and communication. Movers came on time, got right down to business, moved 1 bedroom apartment ( boxed up already by me except a few pieces of furniture ) from Brooklyn to Paterson NJ, had to take Manhattan Streets to GW bridge because of Triboro bridge closure. They where still done by 12:00 noon. Items arrived safe and unharmed. Movers took care of my mediocre belongings as of they where antiques. NIcely done flat rate team.

• Pros: Quick and efficient crew
• Cons: quote process a little tricky/same as all movers though

07/13/09

Amazing ! Patient and AWESOME !

by gamblej21

During the move I had to e-mail a number of times to change my order, Dean Hadzi was one the best customer service rep's I have dealt with. They turned up early and helped me move a number of things ready for the move. They wrapped everything with care, no damages, and SO FAST. From UWS - Hoboken it took them 2.5 hours to move a full 1 bed apartment to a house. They also took storage items. The team who turned up were the sweetest bunch of guys and it made the move actually fun !!!

• Pros: Quick, Patient, competitive rates, awesome staff
• Cons: NONE

07/11/09

Top Notch Moving Company!

by arodin

Wonderful experience from beginning to end. I worked with Matt Ockers who was incredibly kind and helpful. He answered all of my questions and did everything he could to ensure the price stayed within my budget. The moving crew was professional, skilled and quick. A+ service all in all! Will definitely use them again for my next move!

• Pros: Professional, friendly, helpful, efficient
• Cons: None

07/10/09

very professional and quick

by jflatrate

Flat rate is very responsive prior to move and very professional and quick at the actual move.

Jody