PODS Enterprises
reviews and complaints

We used the PODS shipping containers for a military move from Hawaii to Missouri in April 2010. The company gave me a quote of $9969.60 which was supposed to cover the moving and storage of 2 8X8X16 containers for the months of April and May. Since I use a credit union for my banking, I needed specific dates and amounts in order for the card to be processed. I should have known there would be issues when my credit union representative called to tell me there was an attempted charge of over $9000 to my card. The first amount of $5212 was not due for another two weeks, so I didn't worry about it. The following day I was driving across the country from Los Angeles and was unable to use my debit card for gas. When I called my credit union to find out why I was told that the daily withdrawal amount had already been met. Apparently PODS decided to try to debit $1000 a day from my account once the figured out that anything above that amount would be denied. This would have worked out fine, but the money was in my savings account, not the checking. When I called they denied having told me the specific dates for withdrawals. They CLAIM they record all phone conversations, but I could not get anyone to review the phone recording to see what had been told to me. Also, when I called today to schedule a delivery I was told I would pay an additional $486.83- an amount NOT included in the original quote - for the second months storage and insurance fee. When I questioned the legitimacy of the charge I was told that it was listed in my contract. The contract is in 6pt type PDF file that I was unable to completely print because the type went outside my print area. I never though it would be anything but what I was quoted since it was for a service member. We were also told we would not have to pay for the first months storage fee since we were military - also a lie. The concept of PODS is fantastic; however, the customer service is horrible. If I had it to do all over again I would definitely NOT use PODS. I have also told everyone I know what happened to us.

Well, We tried PODS for our latest move from Milwaukee to Texas. After 12, 000.00 paid to pods, we have realized this was a major mistake. The things they do not tell you, 50.00 a month insurance that only covers them but you pay, Delivery charges, The worth customer service in the world, Bad Drivers, and etc...What a pain in the A! to deal with. Everything went great in Milwaukee, even in the middle of a snaow strom, things arrived on time and where we asked.

At the Texas end, Fort Worth terminal to be exact, what a pain. The worst drivers, did not follow instructions, placed PODS in wrong locations, Charged me to come back out and move after they placed wrong, delivery charges on top of Delivery charges, Fort worth to my house !

What a joke...Please someone start up a company that cares about the customers, offer good service for the money...Great idea, Poor execution on PODS behalf.

I called pods to get a quote to move from Seattle Washington to phoenix Arizona, the price was unbelievably high so I decided to shop around. I found plenty of other moving/storage company's who's prices were all lower. I had decided to go with one of the other companies, but then out of the blue pods calls me up, asking for my business and promising to give me the lower price. I then decided to go with them and gave a prepaid credit card for the deposit, and asked for the card to only be charged the one time, and asked for a contract, they said it would be in the mail in 2 or 3 days. The pod came, I loaded my belongings, and still no contract. When pods came to pick it up, I asked them where is the contract, and the gentleman said, what I thought was jokingly, we are just going to keep your stuff. I laughed and watched my life drive away in a box! I drove to phoenix and immediately called with an address for my pod to be delivered to and make the remainder of the payment. The agent on the phone said that it was going to be the same price as the original quote, from when I called them originally. I was furious, and confused because I only had the money to pay for what our agreement was. I now had zero belongings or my tools of the trade which were in the pod. I could not afford this extra expense and could not find employment. I ended up breaking my lease and found a ride, thanks to CRAIGSLIST back to live at my parents house in Washington. Since then I have made many calls to pods and spent many hours on the phone with them trying to get my belongings back. Now they want for me to pay monthly storage fees in order to get my belongings back.

PODS sounds like a great idea, and it was helpful rather than renting two uhauls, storage space, and having to lift everything 4 times. I was unsatisfied with the company policies. First of all... I placed my order and then came across a 10% off coupon. The company refused to honor it at any point during my involvement. The company also charges you a month fee of about $250. They will not agree to charge you a fraction of that cost should you have your pod for less than a month. In my situation we were trying to close on a house while my things were in the pods storage. My monthly cut off date was the 21st of the month. We closed on the 4th of the month, had the pod dropped off, unloaded, and had the pod picked up on the 7th. PODS still charged me for the entire month as though I had the pod until the 31st (because I could have "had the option of the pod sitting in my drive way for 21 unnecessary days"). There has got to be a better way to please your customers. In addition, they throw in multiple fees you are unaware of. My drop off invoice had a $50 charge for unpaved surface fee. Mind you, the pod was placed on my paved driveway. I assume they also charge you if there are too many trees or power lines nearby. PODS really needs to re-evaluate their customer satisfaction policies. It would likely bring them more business during this economic crisis.

As other PODS users said, making arraignments for pick up and delivery is not easy. There were problems with their so called book keeping from the beginning as well. I must have a half a dozen emails I saved documenting problems with their accounting as well. When I made arraignments to pick up their last POD I told the lady give me the final bill as I am sending a check to pay my account in full. I told the lady in accounting do not charge this to my credit card.

So What do they do? They not only charged my credit card but cashed my check. I then went through the drama of contesting with Capital One on PODS double dipping charge.

So what happened next is that PODS gave false info to Capitol One essentially making them believe that their, PODS, charge was legit.

So user beware. I moved my house hold items 65 miles, and yes I did not have to cart my goods in a moving van, but PODS charged me over $2, 000 to move 4 of their containers.

A huge expense not including the $755 the double billed. PODS and Maydoff must be related.

We stored our property with PODS in Riverside, CA for two years during a move from another state. We purchased our own insurance for the property as it was equivalent to or better than the insurance that they offer through one of the great insurance companies out there. USAA We paid them to take our property from our home store it in what they said would be secure, dry, and a temperature controlled environment. We agreed to the normal indemnity clause and storage at your own risk clauses. However, two years latter when we opened up the unit, it had sever smoke damage due to industrial smoke from trucks or the equivalent, heat damage to items and property near the top of the unit, and had clear signs of water damage to the unit that was not there when we started the contract. Also many items even though protected had just been banged up severely beyond normal storage and transportation. Personal insurance does not cover for industrial smoke or transportation damage only fire and accidental or theft. They see those issues as fault with carriers and service providers. Nonetheless, we sent them pictures of the sever damage to our POD outside unit which clearly shows they mishandled the unit. There were holes on the outside of the unit that broke and cracked the inside wood walls. Structural beams were jarred out of place. The roof had water soiled depressions over 3 feet in size and the spring system on the roof was crushed and bent. The rivets that secure the insulation around the top of the unit were popped out, broken or missing. They are not forthcoming about what happened to the unit as well as where it was really stored. We had black soot like material coating everything that seeped under protective plastic on the furniture, wood furniture had signs of top fading where exposed and heat damage to legs, tape virtually melted and cracked on top boxes and articles, candles distorted and twisted like oak trees and the dents and scratches to the furniture even though protected by cloths were out of the normal. We sent them photos, had insurance adjusters come out and look and sent the reports. The conclusion of all investigation is that they did not store the unit as promised in their contract with us and are now standing behind indemnity clauses to say they are not responsible when clearly they do not handle people’s property in the manner and care in which they advertise and promise. They never bothered to come over and look at the damage why the unit was with us for over a month and during our complaint. Customer service did not seem interested in solving the issue. They did not return calls the first or second time and had to be contacted several times before any response. Finally a month later they just asked for some photos. In the end all they had to say was they are not responsible and deny any claim that we have and have offered no reasonable relief to help cover the cost of repairing or even cleaning our property.
We are very disappointed. They took a of $187.00 a month for two years and we were stuck with damaged property due to their negligence and ability to properly store our valuables the way they said they would. Very dishonest, irresponsible, and unwilling to help or show they even care. Renters and movers BeWare!

We made a FaceBook page with all the photos and complete complaint.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=208073&id=646659501&l=3635c68d1d

Pods call center employees are completely unable to help with anything. I ordered a pod for storage on a commercial jobsite, and was told it was not a problem to set up an account and be invoiced. At that time, I requested a w9 and an invoice. After 3 requests, I finally got each after several delinquent notices which started from the day the pod was delivered. When it came time to remove the pod, they would not schedule until payment was recieved, and would not provide an address to overnight the payment to other than the local branch. However, you can not call the local office to verify that they recieved it because they will not provide the number. But they did say that they would make a note on my account-well that really helps!

After paying them THOUSANDS for storage and pick up, they are unable to deliver the POD to my new home. Their response? Either 1. Get a city permit to park the POD on the street. This will take weeks and weeks. My movers are scheduled for the day after tomorrow! 2. Have the POD delivered to a parking lot. So then I have to find a parking lot near my house that will allow 3 spaces to be taken up for days. Yeah, right. Or 3. Get a rental truck and come to the PODS facility and empty the container myself. So I have to pay for a rental truck on top of the ridiculous amount of money I have already spent? Get real. PODS has failed me and now I am screwed. Their customer service people gave me a laughable 5 days grace period to scramble and figure out what I am supposed to do now. If I can't figure out another plan, I will get charged another $300 for a month of storage. Hopefully the movers are willing to drive out to the facility and empty it into their truck, drive back and move it into my house. Guess who has to foot the bill for all of the extra hours that will take? PODS is a joke and a scam operation.

I could not believe the price they quoted to get our POD shipped! $4K to move a 12'x7'box from NC to CA! It took only $1K to ship my Forester door to door. How can it cost 4 times more to ship a similar sized box, they did not have to pack it either!

Well, they have us hooked, and we can't do much about it. Our stuff is stored in a POD and we have already relocated. :( I feel ripped off and cannot do anything about it.

I will not recommend this company to anyone.

I got my POD and found out the size I ordered did not move out of state! I was told only the largest container left the state. I need the smallest one so now the whole pupose of a POD is lost. I will have to move my stuff out a POD or spend extra $$ for a larger POD which includes a move also. Franchises can get away with pulling crap on you !

The concept sounds great but if you don't ask questions you get screwed. These questions may not come up until it's too late!

And the storage facilities are not like the add! Be prepared for the same issues of mildew and critters you thought you were avioding by getting a POD. In big cities it may be better but beware if you are in the country!

Pods central has no control over the local pods sites to adjust delivery schedules and won't give out the phone numbers to the local pods handlers. The local pods sites have total control over delivery schedules which puts the consumer at considerable risk as each individual pods site schedules as they wish. For us that means the delivery date we were promised by pods central wasn't honored by the local pods site. We hired movers and now will have to pay a cancelation fee and try to find new movers as the others are booked up for weeks. We are very angry that pods won't even try and honor the original delivery date. They said they'd review our phone conversation where they told us we would have our pod delivered and then give us $100 for our trouble if they did give us the wrong date.

Recently I had placed an order for a POD because we were moving. The Pod was delievered to our home and picked up and moved to the Stockton California wharehouse to be stored until we found a place to live in the surrounding Sacramento area. So far so good. After we had moved into our new house in Sutter Creek I placed the call to have the Pod delivered, to my surprise I was told that the stockton office does not deliver to Sutter Creek, only the Sacramento wharehouse delivered to Sutter Creek, which meant the Pod would have to go from stockton 50 miles to Sacramento 43 miles to Sutter Creek a 93 mile one way trip, which made no sense to me because the Stockton wharehouse deivered to Jackson California 46 miles from Stockton a stones throw away from Sutter Creek, actually Stockton is a mile closer to Sutter Creek. The Pods rep said this was the only way our furnishings would get to Sutter Creek. OK I say, what's it going to cost?, I'm thinking a couple of hundred, wrong brother, the rep said it would cost a 1, 100.00! Has to do with crossing franchise boundries. So she is now sending my complaint into corporate and someone would be calling me soon. Oh yea, she did inform me that I could come to the wharehouse and unload the container if that was easier, EASIER WAS THE REASON WHY I USED PODS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Hopefully they do the right thing and deliver the POD to my house.

We stored our property with PODS in Riverside, CA for two years during a move from another state. We purchased our own insurance for the property as it was equivalent to or better than the insurance that they offer through one of the great insurance companies out ther...e. USAA We paid them to take our property from our home store it in what they said would be secure, dry, and a temperature controlled environment. We agreed to the normal indemnity clause and storage at your own risk clauses. However, two years latter when we opened up the unit, it had sever smoke damage due to industrial smoke from trucks or the equivalent, heat damage to items and property near the top of the unit, and had clear signs of water damage to the unit that was not there when we started the contract. Also many items even though protected had just been banged up severely beyond normal storage and transportation. Personal insurance does not cover for industrial smoke or transportation damage only fire and accidental or theft. They see those issues as fault with carriers and service providers. Nonetheless, we sent them pictures of the sever damage to our POD outside unit which clearly shows they mishandled the unit. There were holes on the outside of the unit that broke and cracked the inside wood walls. Structural beams were jarred out of place. The roof had water soiled depressions over 3 feet in size and the spring system on the roof was crushed and bent. The rivets that secure the insulation around the top of the unit were popped out, broken or missing. They are not forthcoming about what happened to the unit as well as where it was really stored. We had black soot like material coating everything that seeped under protective plastic on the furniture, wood furniture had signs of top fading where exposed and heat damage to leggs, tape virtually melted and cracked on top boxes and articles, candles distorted and twisted like oak trees and the dents and scratches to the furniture even though protected by cloths were out of the normal. We sent them photos, had insurance adjusters come out and look and sent the reports. The conclusion of all investigation is that they did not store the unit as promised in their contract with us and are now standing behind indemnity clauses to say they are not responsible when clearly they do not handle peoples property in the manner and care in which they advertise and promise. They never bothered to come over and look at the damage why the unit was with us for over a month and during our complaint. Customer service did not seem interested in solving the issue. They did not return calls the first or second time and had to be contacted several times before any response. Finally a month later they just asked for some photos. In the end all they had to say was they are not responsible and deny any claim that we have and have offered no reasonable relief to help cover the cost of repairing or even cleaning our property. We are very disappointed. They took a of $187.00 a month for two years and we were stuck with damaged property due to their negligence and ability to properly store our valuables the way they said they would. Very dishonest, irresponsible, and unwilling to help or show they even care. Renters and movers BeWare!

Caveat emptor! First, make sure your driveway is wide enough, long enough, and level. The wonderful staff at PODS neglected to inform me about these potential problems. I even asked about how much space was needed and was told that a PODS container will fit in a parking space. While this is true, the unloading mechanism on the truck requires a lot more width than just a single parking space (15 ft wide X 15 ft high). When my driveway proved too narrow, the enterprising PODS delivery driver decided to just drive off with the container rather than leave it curbside. Apparently, PODS requires that a permit be obtained for this, which they didn't mention. I would have been glad to arrange for this had the driver arrived at the scheduled time, between 8 and 11am, which he did not. Thus, at 4:15pm on a Friday, I was already 15 minutes too late to get to my town's municipal building. Customer service was apparently powerless to help me, and wasn't remotely apologetic or concerned. They re-allocated my container and canceled my order without telling me. I spent much of Saturday morning on the phone with a string of unapologetic customer service reps who told me the soonest they could arrange another delivery was Thursday. At this point I utterly lack confidence in PODS to do their job, so I've arranged for storage space and a moving truck from a helpful, local, inexpensive company.

Thanks, PODS, for making our move, which is never easy, that much more stressful!

PODS really sucks. BEWARE! I thought the convenience would make the cost worth it - I could not have been more wrong. First - the company was supposed to pick up our load on the 18th of December - the guy ran off the road on the way to pick up and subsequently the load was picked up on the 30th of December. I called PODS to ask them to please not charge me the $500 storage fee - which they agreed to... and charged me anyhow. They were delivering to Salt Lake City and I informed them I needed curbside delivery which they agreed to. Once the PODS arrived - I scheduled delivery at which point they informed me that they could not drop off curb side - and wanted to know when I could arrange to rent a truck and pick up my stuff at their warehouse - WHAT? I asked them to have movers bring my goods to me - it went all the way up to their corporate - with a resounding NO being their response. I had to get permission from the city for the drop off on the 20th of Jan . Bootom line - they SUCK!

I had a couple of PODS and had no issues with one. But my second one was first, picked up before I was ready. So much for 'keep it as long as you like in your driveway'. So when it was delivered to my new location, half the contents were knocked over. The biggest was a 6" solid wood equipment rack. In order for this to have fallen the entire POD would have to been tilted 45 degrees or more! Half the items were damaged including a custom framed huge original movie poster.
PODS says the damage is my fault because I did not properly secure contents. Kinda hard to secure them when I wasn't done loading it!

The second issue, was when I went online and made a payment with my credit card. PODS charged me 3 times and took a month to refund the money.The next month I paid my bill online and the same thing happened again! TRIPLE CHARGED! So I called them, furious and this was a check card and not a credit card! They took a week to refund my card but I never got it. They refunded the wrong card. The wrong card, was the one I opened the account with and was stolen. I never replaced the card on file. Good luck trying to figure that out on their web page! They then refunded the proper card.
So all is good right? No! They billed me for the refund they gave a inactive card I DO NOT OWN for over a year and a half! They are holding me responsible. Their attitude was "Well the card went through so..." I have been dealing with these issues for a couple of months and then I get my debit card charged for their mistake and without authorization! Out of the blue they just charged a debit card a made a few payments with!
I had it! I finally closed that card with my bank and filed a claim with the bank fraud department.
I have about $2000 in damages and they will not even return calls.
This has been *the* worst experience I have had with a professional company. I have had better breakups from an ex!

Do not use PODS. They do not care. Oh yea, they will also charge you a higher price on a POD because the one you had them keep in their warehouse was moved to a warehouse further away. If I had not had 2 PODS at the same location I would have never known they moved one and tried to charge me $45 more to deliver it!

Jason

Pods has the worst customer service I have ever dealt with! Every person I have spoken to has done nothing but lie! I haven't even gotten my pod delivered yet. When I first agreed to use their service I was told by their representative that that the billing was going to be as follows; that they would be taking $500.00 before they would deliver the pod on august 11, 2009 and the balance would be taken out on august 18th before they delivered the pod on the 22nd of august. On august 12th I noticed there was money missing from my account and when I checked with my bank they said the pods was taking money out at $500.00 dollar intervals when I inquired with someone at the pods office they said someone made a mistake and the money taken was to cover the balance, this wasn't any real problem I owed the money and it should be paid. The representive should have just told me that was how they were going to do it instead of lying. Now on friday august 21st I called the pods company at 1:30pm to make sure that thay would be delivering the pod on saturday august 22nd being I had hired two men a truck to unload the pod, and they told if thier was any changes to call them before the end of the day on friday or they would have to charge me the minimum of two hours if I called them later then that. The reprentsive from pods said everything was ok and the pod would be there on saturday. When I got back to the place we're staying at and opened my email at 5:30pm. Pods sent me a email stating that the pod would be delivered on monday august 24 and it was going to be picked up on tuesday and a invoice for $1, 885.98. Not a phone call or an email! Now i'm really stuck! I'm suppose to start a new job on monday I have two movers coming on saturday and no way to call anyone because of a email and not a simple phone call which could have probable prevented some of this nightmare. When I called the pods company again I was lied to, when I asked for someone in charge, they transferred me to a lady in texas. She made a note of the incident and told me no one would be available until monday to deal with my problem! 7:00pm I get a phone call from a lady whom claims to be a representative from the pods company, the rudest person I have ever dealt with, this person wold not let me finish a single sentence, kept cutting me off no matter what I said no matter how I tried to explain my situation! She could care less and all she kept repeating every time I spoke was all any pods representative would do for me was refund me $200.00. I couldn't even inquire about the $1, 885.98 invoice because she wouldn't let me speak. Now i'm out a days pay, the minimum for two men and a truck, and I haven't even received my pod yet and every person that I have spoken with the at the pods company could care less. I could only imagine what my furnatue is going to look like when and if I ever receive it, if the people in their offices don't care about their customers how could their drivers care about what their doing! By the way, we wanted to be in our new place not only because I was supposed to start working on monday, but my 9 year old son starts school then also!

Being in sales myself and coming from an office that was numder one in sales and customer service last year on the east coast I truly know that this is no way to treat any customer.

Sincerely,
Karl landherr

I was laid off and with the economy being what it is I applied for jobs in my hometown of Indianapolis as well as my current city of Chicago. When nothing seemed to be happening I decided to take off to stay with a friend in Ireland for a few weeks until something came up. PODS seemed like the perfect solution because I was not sure where I would end up. I put everything I owned aside from what I could fit in a suitcase into a 8*8*7 container.

Now, when I called to order the POD they were most helpful and I thought was just so convienent and perfect for my situation. I explained my situation and said "Now, if I move to Indianapolis you can move it there right?" he said "Absolutely, it would just cost more due to milage." which I expected... just like a moving van right? I ordered the POD a few days before they delivered it and they were able to pick it up and deliver it in a timely and efficient manner without a lot of notice. The cost for them to deliver and pick up was very reasonable and the rent was just slightly what it would be at other rental faciliies, which I assumed was due to the ease of PODS use.

So they picked it up and put it in storage at their facility in Carol Stream, IL right outside Chicago.

Three weeks later I started a job I landed in Indianapolis. As soon as I was able (I had been staying with family) I found an apartment and promptly called them to deliver my POD.

They told me that they, the people who say right on their website "We move it across town or across the country." were a different franchise in Carol Stream then in Indianapolis (which is only approximately 200 miles apart) and they would have to go through a third party to move it. This would cost me $1, 100. $1, 100 to move 200 miles!?!?!? A third party? To move a POD that they themselves advertise THEY can move across the COUNTRY?

Naturally, I was a bit taken aback as I had expected to pay MAYBE half of that.

NOT TO MENTION that they said they need like 14 days notice PLUS 5 days for delivery. Which is ironic considering it took them about 2 days to get me an empty POD and now that my stuff was in one and I was paying RENT for them to hold it...suddenly they needed all this time?!?!?

After I spoke with the first person who quoted me I was in shock and told them I'd have to figure out another plan. I then thought it over and called them back to tell them how unhappy I was about it. They transfered me to "Platnum Services" which was a joke and got me no where. THEN they actually had a person CALL ME later that day to ask how my experience with PODS was. I explained everything I was unhappy about and they said "I will forward this on to Platnum Services and we will review the inital phone call to see if you were perhaps mislead and someone will call you back today."

No one has called and it's been 5 days.

My stuff is in their POD and I have yet to figure out how I'm going to have time (after starting a new job) to go get it when it was something I never planned to have to do.

I am VERY unhappy and feel that I was completely blindsided. I feel that they are completely misleading on their website and with the whole operation. People need to be made aware of this..it is a complete rip-off!

I went online to obtain a quote for a pod for 3 months and while the rates seemed reasonable, $189 initial and then $139/month, I noticed they had a section for a promo discount code. When I put one in I didn't notice the rate change so I called. I started out by asking the rates and was given a quote $70 higher ($255 initial with $148/month) than the online rate with no promo code. When I explained this and asked for a Triple A code, I put that in and got yet another rate. The initial rate was lower, $170, but they jacked up the monthly price to $148. I was told by the very rude customer service rep the site is totally misleading and to not go by those rates. A ridiculous comment to make to a customer. When I kept questioning how the rates keep changing and that is unethical, I was told no it isn't the site is just misleading. This went back and forth and the rep kept getting ruder and more snippy with "comebacks" to legitimate questions. I also find it interesting that the site only allows you 10 trys for quotes before it shuts you out and forces you to call.