Safeway Moving & Storage
Reviews and Complaints

This company is NOT AUTHORIZED by DOT per 03/10/2017:
http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/query.asp?query_type=queryCarrierSnapshot&query_param=USDOT&query_string=2780116

But even if they were, I would advise to avoid them at all cost. My impression after dealing with them is being scammed.

Unfortunately the company name bears a striking resemblance (intentionally?) to other better renowed companies in other states.

Make no mistake however: The company operation out of www.safewaymovingandstorage.net, telephone [protected] is nothing of the kind.

If you call them you'll be greeted with a generic "moving services" once you are put through to one of the employees (I count 3 so far).

All written (email) communication does not contain the last name of the employees (just initial), I guess they are not too proud of the service provided.

The owner is Vaknin Yehoshua who appears busy starting moving companies (from https://www.bizapedia.com/people/yehoshua-vaknin.html):

MY MOVING SERVICES INC
SAFEWAY MOVING & STORAGE INC
UPLINE MOVING & STORAGE INC
U S MOVING SERVICES INC
US MOVING & STORAGE INC

If you deal with them, here is what to expect:

You'll receive a "binding estimate". Yes, rather odd to put those two words together... The binding part is for you only.

Their estimate will be low to lure you in and will lack a number of items. Don't worry, they will add these after your goods are loaded and held ransom.

By dealing with them, you will end up having paid the same as elsewhere in money and a lot more in time, frustration and worry.

How they get you:

* No packaging included. They will charge whatever they want and you do not know before pickup day. If you don't agree, your belongings are held ransom.

* You WILL need shuttle service. The driver will rent a generic Penske truck or similar and then charge every customer on the way the $300-$500 shuttle charge. Even though you might have parking space and live in the city, the truck driver will call too late to arrange permits or simply insist there is no room for his 100 ft truck.

* Non-professional movers. The truck driver finds freelancers on Craigslist for the day, so random people off the street will be handling your goods. Try to ask who they work for - our's were instructed to say "5 Star Movers" by the driver!

* No liability for goods beyond $0.60/lb. Unless you are transporting water or dirt, this is useless. Their "binding estimate" will give some options for full value protection, but on move day they will inform you that they do not offer this service and suggest buying 3rd party insurance. A bit late for that.

Some of the above is in the fine print, but a lot is left open to interpretation and their discretion after they "get" you on move day.

In conclusion, my worst moving experience by far. DO NOT USE THEM.

Arrived a day early, over charged by 1500, delivered my items 3 weeks late. Over 8000 worth of damage to my items. Nasty consumer service and literally the worst consumer experience I have had in 35 years. Offered me 70.00 to compensate. It cost 40 to print the pictures, they will not work with me to resolve this. They offered more then reduced the amount, this company should be out of business. They are nasty, unethical, and liars. Others wish to file a class action lawsuit and they should, i'm in with that. They have an f bbb rating and don't care about the client at all. Pay more go with anyone other than this fly by night, careless, terrible company.

Do not use this company. . . It is a scam, they break all of your items and suck you dry moneywise while holding your items in an undisclosed warehouse

Let's see. . . I do not even know where to begin with this company

I plan to write a review on every site to warn consumers because these people's practices are unfair and borderline illegal

I hired them for my move from coral springs to orlando. I did it in good faith because I wanted a stress free move where they would handle your things with professionalism and care. . . Well this was absolutely not the case!

They arrived a day late, (First red flag) inconveniencing everyone because we were moving from an apartment which we had to be out of. I was confirmed for april 3, noon and no one showed up or called. Daniel who was the sales rep called me from a wedding to say that the truck broke down and they would reschedule pick up the following day. My husband and I had both taken the day off from work under the impression that this move would be done and we could resume the next day. We were at the end of the lease and had to be out of the apartment. Now we had to take an extra day off from work.

They were punctual the following day arriving at the promised time, the movers were very professional and handled our items with care. However, they came charging $2000 more than the original quote, and this was after they loaded the truck. Said it would be an additional $750 to unload after I had paid them if I didn't use their services. The closing on my house was delayed but we had to get out of there regardless so I had rented a self storage, I told them to just deliver me to the storage. Daniel advised me that it was free store with them and once everything was a go with the storage, just call them and let them know. I cancelled my self staorage and sent my items with them, not knowing that they would be held in an undisclosed location in miami somewhere.

One month later I get an email saying "storage due - $980". I contact them like there must be a mistake. . . I know what daniel told me. The manager a woman named julia basically said "well I don't know what he told you but these are the fees" and "this is the moving business honey, you shouldn't have signed if you didn't want to pay". I was yelling and she basically told me they would auction my stuff if the bill isn't paid / . I guess she was tired of speaking with me because she sent my call to a line that eventually went to voicemail.

The invoices contain no address so I don't even know if this place is in orlando, for all I know they could be operating out of someone's basement. When I asked how to pay, since there was no address they sent an email with an account number for chase to deposit funds. I made the deposits, kept note of dates etc. When asked the location of my items samantha told me they are not allowed to tell me, only that they are somewhere in miami. This isn't even the good part. Susan was somewhat helpful, especially when it was time for delivery and I was told that I owed $2775 in storage fees. I asked her how, and broke down the dates I made my deposits comparing to my receipts and check drafts which I thank the lord that I kept track of because I think this is the only reason they applied the funds to my account. Otherwise they would have tried to suck more money out of us.

After getting the account issue settled, delivery date comes, and the driver gives me a total different price than what was owed. First off I was told that they would see if they can waive the last month of storage, never got an answer until the last minute. I just paid it. At this point I just wanted my things. Driver states I owe $1400. Luckily I requested an account update and prunette emailed this to me, driver had to adjust accordingly. There seems to be a huge disconnect within this company altogether, or these folks just do what they want to do.

Continuing with delivery day, we got four guys, very professional, however when they opened the truck it was a nightmare. The guys who initially packed from the apartment did a fantastic job, but when I received my items there was multiple broken and missing items. My couch was unwrapped and we had wrapped these things ourselves in shrink wrap, the couch totally ruined like it was burned and the back was broken. My mom was in tears. I don't know why my things were unwrapped, perhaps they were going to try to sell it who knows. They broke the lamps, threw things in the boxes marked as "fragile" so many glass items are broken and destroyed. For all the money we paid I thought that they would handle our items with respect instead they totally disregarded everything, and there are so many things still missing. The movers advised that there are different people who load the truck from the unknown storage location. My tables are scratched up, chipped, my couch looks as if it's been burned.

Please avoid the mistake that we made using these people. Thousands of dollars thrown away. They are crooks and need to all be investigated. It's a shame to do this to people. The good reviews that I read I am still trying to figure out where those came from. Please take this as a warning. My husband and I work hard for our money as I know most of the consumers on here do, otherwise you wouldn't be seeking reviews. I could write more but I think you all get the gist of my experience. Please please don"t use this company.

One month before our planned move, I called and talked to Mike Burns who went through a specific piece by piece inventory of my home so I could be given a quote. At this time, I was guaranteed a two-day pick-up window and two-day delivery time frame for drop-off. We were selling our house on a Friday and closing on our new one on a Tuesday (two states away). The delivery date was very important to me as I have a small child and a pregnant wife. Both the price and the pick-up day and drop-off days ended up not being legitimate. I signed a ‘binding contract’ and gave them a credit card to pay a deposit.

The day before my scheduled pick-up (one month after I signed the 'binding contract'), I receive a call from Daniel saying that the quote was incorrect as I was given the wrong season’s quote. I talked to the general manager, Liz as Daniel wasn’t giving me any solution that I was satisfied with. She was told me we'd have to pay the overage because I was given the wrong season price (basically repeating the same thing Daniel had said). When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she said he was the owner and didn’t talk to customers. We could also cancel and get refunded our deposit, leaving us with no movers for the next day. She was dismissive and left me feeling more frustrated than before. She was also supposed to be my contact for the move moving forward and I never heard from her again despite numerous voicemails and emails regarding when we would actually get our items.

In this pinch, I agreed to a new 'binding contract', despite the other one being supposedly binding before.

When the truck shows up, I notice it is an Enterprise truck (I was told that they had their own trucks and employees) with three guys to pack up our items. The truck ended up being too small and my stuff ended up being loaded on the lift gate and in the back of the Mario’s truck. Mario was the man that brought the actual contract for me to sign. He told us we were way over our allotted space and that we’d end up having to pay more than we were quoted (per our second signed ‘binding contract’). He agreed to knock off some money and we ended up paying $1700.00 more than we thought we would.

On the day we were to receive our items, I called the main number to see what time we were to expect them and was told that they’d arrive the next week (despite getting a verbal promise from Mario when he picked them up to begin with). We finally ended up getting them a week and a half later than we were told we would.

The truck that arrived was the same size as the initial one and was packed up with about ten feet of empty space to spare. Obviously I overpaid to begin with since the items did end up fitting in the truck to begin with (had they been packed correctly/efficiently). Our grill was missing wheels, one of our tables’ legs was broken off, we are missing two boxes, and we received a table that wasn't ours. This experience has been very maddening. Their customer service is sorely lacking and I’ve yet to receive a follow up from anyone there about my missing and damaged items.

This is by far the worst costumer experience I have ever encountered. I was given a guaranteed and binding quote for my move by a salesperson, Calvin. When the movers came to pick up the job they were 2 hours late, broke a $75 bottle of wine (didn't apologize) and said that they wouldn't be able to deliver on Saturday or Sunday (as I had been promised). Essentially, I wanted the move done before I had to travel for work for 3 weeks. Like most people would, I wanted to be settled in my new city before I went abroad for nearly a month. This didn't happen. The guaranteed delivery (at no extra price -- I asked) DID NOT HAPPEN (and apparently doesn't exist I later learned from customer service). As a result, I was forced to put my belongings in storage for 30 days, where they now remain. I then received and invoice for DOUBLE the cost of my estimate with no explanation. When the movers picked up the job I signed two forms, one for the original estimate, and one for a "worst case scenario" if the job was more than my estimate. However the difference between my "worst case scenario" and the invoice was over $700. A $1200 difference overall from my original estimate. Now my belongings are being held hostage as I refuse to pay.

I have had multiple phone calls with my original sales guy who promised to remedy the situation, he stopped answering my calls. I moved on to the customer service department who said that Calvin hadn't recorded anything on my account and that as a sales person he has no authority over the account after pickup. Customer service did nothing but say that I now need to talk to billing and that they would call me. No call yet. Being abroad this has been more than a frustrating situation that shouldn't have existed if my belongings were delivered, like promised, prior to my departure.

WARNING DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. UNPROFFESSIONAL.