Do Not Hire Intense Movers

shredder · May 2010

Since people occasionally ask for advice on here about which local moving companies to hire, I wanted to share my super disappointing experience with Intense Movers. http://www.intensemovers.com/

In brief, Intense Movers lost and damaged some of our belongings, took six hours to move us one mile, and then blamed me because I had underestimated the number of boxes we would have!!

Intense Movers asked me to itemize in advance the furniture, appliances, etc and estimate the # of boxes being moved. I underestimated the # of boxes we had -- told them 20, it ended up being more like 60 counting some trash bags of clothing. Anyone who has ever moved must agree that once you start pulling things out of closets and drawers, it's amazing how much crap you have in your tiny apartment. Therefore, the movers had to go back for a larger box truck and the move -- for which they sent only two guys -- took about six hours.

They charged me for the extra boxes. Fine. Disappointing that it took so long and that we had to pay more, but that's not really what I'm here to complain about.

Intense Movers did a sloppy job. First of all, they LOST MY COFFEE TABLE. They were piling too much of our stuff on the sidewalk between the apt and the truck and someone must have walked off with it. Our new landlord got upset seeing so much stuff all over the sidewalk and in front of the neighbors' building. They broke my lamp. And they left behind a piece of our bed hardware so that we had to go back to the old apt at midnight to find the piece that would hold our bed together.

The worst part is how unaccommodating the owner was when I called to complain. He begrudgingly offered to refund us $40 -- hardly the cost of the coffee table -- and insisted that this wouldn't have happened if we'd been more honest about how many boxes we needed moved.

Really?! I've hired movers in the past and they never relied that heavily on my estimation of how much stuff would be moved. They just showed up ready to work and prepared for whatever needed to get done. And it's not like I didn't do my share of the prep work -- I'd spent days boxing and bubble-wrapping in preparation. I tried so hard to prepare for a successful move, which makes it all the more infuriating that Intense Movers is throwing the blame at me and not admitting that they just did a sloppy job regardless of the circumstances.

I am not a professional mover -- I am not experienced at estimating spacial relationships and how my stuff fits into boxes, or your truck. I hire movers to deal with that for me! I tried, and I'm sorry I failed, but now it's Intense Movers' turn to own up to their failure -- getting my stuff carefully from one apartment to the next.

I explained the entire thing in detail on my blog too, if you want another version: http://homesweethomewrecker.blogspot.com/2010/05/intensely-disappointing.html

Please pass along the word to anyone moving -- don't waste your time with Intense Movers.

bkchickie · May 2010

20 to 60 is a HUGE increase (3x what you originally said!). Why didn't you call to inform them of the additional stuff when you realized that your initial estimate was way off?

ETA: Did you really find their name on one of those lightpole flyers?! Come on! What were you expecting?

nearnostrand · May 2010

Sorry you lost your table and are down a lamp. Where was the bed hardware? Did you box it with other things or was it just in a little baggie or something alone?

I must concur with the above post. 20 to 60 is an extremely large difference. That to me sets the stage for problems. Your 20 box move may have been the responsibility of individuals who could manage a small 20 box move, not 60. Maybe other movers you have used didn't require the box information (although I can't understand how they could prepare to schedule a move without knowing how much they were moving) but this company did and you gave them the wrong information, by 40 boxes.

People steal, things get broken, smaller things get misplaced. It's unpleasant, but it happens. I understand seeking reimbursement for your lost and stolen items. I even understand your wanting to vent. But, it sounds like you brought some of it on yourself and like the move could have been a lot worse. Instead of trying to totally shut them down, be happy that you got the vast majority of your stuff moved successfully even though I am sure that they were probably pissed about being mislead about the size of the move - whether you did it accidentally or not.

sweet tea · May 2010

any mover who believed a customer's estimate is an idiot.

seriously, everyone underestimates the number of boxes. a good mover will have a way to compensate -- by asking you about the size of your apartment, the number of bookcases, etc. this is basic stuff.

these guys sound like unprofessional nitwits.

(also: this thread title cracks me up.)

ishtar · May 2010

sweet tea wrote: any mover who believed a customer's estimate is an idiot.

seriously, everyone underestimates the number of boxes. a good mover will have a way to compensate -- by asking you about the size of your apartment, the number of bookcases, etc. this is basic stuff.
these guys sound like unprofessional nitwits.

(also: this thread title cracks me up.)

The bolded is exactly what I was asked when I moved. They didn't ask anything about the number of boxes.

jeffrey · May 2010

sweet tea wrote: (also: this thread title cracks me up.)

shredder · May 2010

I did mention to the owner two days before the move that I may have underestimated how many boxes I was going to have, and he said something to the effect of "ok we'll see when we talk tomorrow" which made me think he was going to follow up with me or something. And since he didn't I figured we were good to go. Also I didn't find them on a flyer, I hired them on a recommendation from a friend. Plenty of people have been happy with their service from Intense Movers, but I am not one of them.

nearnostrand, your expectations for movers are low if you think getting the majority of your stuff moved is worth being happy about. As for the bed -- one of the movers dismantled it for us, so I wish he had said something or taken note when one of the four metal pieces holding the corners together wasn't in with the other hardware.

Thanks sweet tea for backing me up on this one. I really did think I gave them enough info based on other times I've hired movers and what info they required. # of rooms, pieces of furniture, etc.

Thank you everyone for listening to me vent.

At the end of the day, it's just stuff. It's not that important. But I really was so disappointed and offended that instead of trying to apologize or make good on the bad service, the owner decided to argue and blame me. Also the two guys who moved us were totally nice dudes, but as I point out on my blog "nice a good mover does not make."

sir_eccles · May 2010

You may want to repeat this story on http://www.movingscam.com/

nearnostrand · May 2010

Shredder wrote: nearnostrand, your expectations for movers are low if you think getting the majority of your stuff moved is worth being happy about. "

You're probably right about that. I generally don't trust people to do anything right, because I have found that they usually don't. I guess I am a little jaded at times. And, though I don't think any one should be expected to know without a doubt the precise size of their move, to think that 20 boxes vs. 60 boxes isn't significant is odd to me. I'm just saying...

It still seems a bit heavy handed to rally the troops to shut a place down, especially now that you have said that you got a referral from someone who was pleased and that other's have been happy. I say yes complain, but warning someone to be careful if choosing a certain company, and telling them don't patronize this company at all, are very different to me. But then again, maybe your stuff is just a whole lot more expensive than my crap, so take what I say about losing items with a grain of salt.

Above all, I do think you were right to expect to be fully reimbursed. I do think that we all have a right to have professional services provided when we are paying for them. Believe me, I hear you. Always feel free to vent away! It clears the soul!

shredder · May 2010

nearnostrand wrote: Always feel free to vent away! It clears the soul!

Right on, thanks

I was really mad at them at first, but now I've simmered down to just irritated. I don't really want them to go out of business, I just want them to be better and for people to proceed with caution when hiring them. Maybe someone will at least know that if they hire IM, plan on having a pretty accurate idea of how much stuff you own :P

shredder · June 2010

Hello again. I just wanted to add to my previous posts with this note: Matt, who is the owner (not Alex, who I felt was rude on the phone), called me to talk about what happened. He owned up to the mistakes they made or things they could have done better, which is really all I wanted and I appreciated his call. He also stood by his opinion that my fiancé and I could have done things differently to help the move go more smoothly, and I agree with this. I'll reiterate the importance of making a fairly accurate estimate of the size of your move when hiring flat rate movers -- which I did not realize was so key since I've only hired hourly movers in the past. Additionally, tensions ran high that day because our new landlord was getting upset. This led my fiance to shout at the movers to pick up the pace, which contributed to Alex's defensive attitude on the phone when I called later.

I wish things had gone differently, because it was such an unpleasant experience. Missteps were made on both sides, but I hope by sharing my experience others will know how to avoid the mistakes we made, and that Intense Movers will also learn how to avoid another bad day like ours. I apologize for all the bile I've spewed. Moving is SO STRESSFUL.

filipioyo · September 2010

Subject: silliness

I agree with BKchickie:

i'm not a statistician, but I think that's like a 300% increase.... let me ask you this-- did they charge you 300% more (or anything approaching that?)

What's interesting as well is how you seek pity by saying you don't have the spatial ability to estimate boxes, and other comments indicating your lack of experience with moving.... but then seem to be an expert on how "professional" movers should act.

Which is it?

yes, moving is frustrating. I bet it's frustrating for MOVERS too!

I'd love to learn how much time you spent blogging about this (do you have a job?) because I find it fascinating that you *admittedly* brought on problems for yourself by grossly underestimating the number of boxes in a job (regardless of whether it was in good faith), which is THE most material factor in estimating: time of job, size of truck, cost of job, and size of crew and then complain when there are problems.

And looking at your most recent post, it would seem that Matt was very understanding and helpful after your complaints.

Assuming you do have a job, have you ever had issues come up that are not your own fault?

How would you like it if someone affected by the issue(s) started papering the internet with DO NOT HIRE SHREDDER!!! or DO NOT GO TO SHREDDER's PLACE OF BUSINESS?

Let's be adults and deal with our problems directly instead of trying to ruin someone's livelihood over some stupid s*** that is largely your own fault.

pitu · September 2010

Subject: Re: silliness

filipioyo wrote: I agree with BKchickie:

i'm not a statistician, but I think that's like a 300% increase.... let me ask you this-- did they charge you 300% more (or anything approaching that?)

What's interesting as well is how you seek pity by saying you don't have the spatial ability to estimate boxes, and other comments indicating your lack of experience with moving.... but then seem to be an expert on how "professional" movers should act.

Which is it?

yes, moving is frustrating. I bet it's frustrating for MOVERS too!

I'd love to learn how much time you spent blogging about this (do you have a job?) because I find it fascinating that you *admittedly* brought on problems for yourself by grossly underestimating the number of boxes in a job (regardless of whether it was in good faith), which is THE most material factor in estimating: time of job, size of truck, cost of job, and size of crew and then complain when there are problems.

And looking at your most recent post, it would seem that Matt was very understanding and helpful after your complaints.

Assuming you do have a job, have you ever had issues come up that are not your own fault?

How would you like it if someone affected by the issue(s) started papering the internet with DO NOT HIRE SHREDDER!!! or DO NOT GO TO SHREDDER's PLACE OF BUSINESS?

Let's be adults and deal with our problems directly instead of trying to ruin someone's livelihood over some stupid s*** that is largely your own fault.

say, do you realize you just bumped a three month old thread out of oblivion?
filipioyo, I'd like you to see something from the site rules. There's more there about businesses discussed here, but this came to mind when I read your post:

Brooklynian wrote: Sometimes we hear from people who don't like negative opinions that people write about them or their businesses here. We advise that you develop a thick skin and learn to accept (and learn from!) what people say about you, whether it's at the laundromat, on the street corner, or on a neighborhood message board. If you don't like something someone says here about you or your business, the best thing to do is register for the site, join the conversation, and explain your side of things (note: if you are going to post about something you have a business interest in, you MUST disclose that in your post; please see the section on shilling in our site rules for more information on why this is important).

The Rules
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

shredder · September 2010

You know I may have gone overboard on my reviews writing, but it was only out of frustration when my attempt to contact them directly didn't yield results. I always prefer to work things out directly first. And eventually we did. We both made mistakes with this move. Anyway thanks for assuming that I only complained publicly because I have no job. I actually work in social media and spend all day reading complaints of frustrated people bitching at brands on Facebook, so I know what it's like to be on the receiving end as well. For better or worse, the internet has become our go to place for customer service.

Do Not Hire Intense Movers

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