Stevens moving and storage reviews and complaints

1. They estimated the move would cost us around $700 and guaranteed it would cost no more than $1000. The total was $1800 at the end.
2. They told us twice that a cashiers check would suffice as cash because they gave a 7% discount when you paid with cash. On the day of the move they told us otherwise and would not honor this.
3. It took them 4 1/2 hours to drive from Sacramento to Half Moon Bay and we were paying by the hour. (It DOES NOT take that long.)
4. They told us it would be a 3 person job. Two of the guys were great. The third guy acted like he was taking a stroll on the beach when walking to and from my apartment, all the while carrying the lightest item he could find. (I carried more, and heavier items to the truck than he did.)
5. Without prior notice, he made me pay for packing materials for certain items of furniture and told me he would not move them unless he "packed" them. (This would have been okay if it were factored into the moving price when I told them EXACTLY what items I was moving.)

These people are thieves and I would definitely NOT recommend them to anyone looking to move.

I had a similar experience with Stevens Moving company. It was the worst moving experience in my life. I will tell you in short otherwise I'll have nightmares about it.

I got a comparatively cheaper quote. The customer service was very good. The main person (Ruben) was so friendly that I thought I made a good choice. I forgot that all the scams look good from outside.

The moving was supposed to be done on a Saturday at 2 pm. They didn't arrive on time. Whenever I called Stevens company, I was told that they were just on their way. At last at 4pm the actual movers called and said that they had to do another job before coming to our place, so they should reach our apartment at 10 pm. What? Considering that I was suffering from flu and I had little kids, I re-scheduled the appointment the next day at 2pm again.

The next day they came at 7 pm instead of 2. Within that time they never answered my phone. Suddenly the great customer service did not look so good anymore. I sat in the middle of the packed boxes and wondered what would happen if they never come today.

When they arrived at 7 pm I thought my good days are back again. Among three movers, two started loading boxes and the fat foreman started talking to me about the paperwork. What he told me with his terrible english accent was --

1. Whoever gave me the quote does not have any clue. Movers dont care what I was told before.
2. Most of the items have to be unpacked and then they will repack them again with their own material.
Whichever item is not packaged by them is not going to the new place.
3. The packaging materials are not cheap. A tape would cost, say $24.
4. They will take 2 hrs to pack, 2 hours to unpack and 1 hour to drive (within the city 3 miles), so total 5 hours at least
5. The original quote was $300+, but the new quote is $1000+.
6. If I pay by cash they will give me 10% discount (you know why they want cash)
7. After loading the truck, I have to pay, otherwise they wont unload.
8. I have to obey all of their conditions I mentioned above.

After listening to this and arguing with him for some time I realized that I got scammed. I along with my family were surrounded by a bunch of cheaters (and what not) on the last day of my lease in the apartment. I had to agree with his conditions.

To save some money I wanted them to exclude a few items. Also I didn't have that much cash, so I said I would pay by credit card. The foreman insisted us to pay by cash. After he learned that I cannot withdraw that much money via ATM, he was visibly upset and his behavior became very rude.

They loaded all the items very sluggishly as if they were on vacation. It took total three and half hours to pack, load items and drive to the new location. That means we still had one and half hours remaining (out of 5 hours of contract) -- is that right? Well, I thought so.

After going to the new apartment suddenly the foreman declared that it was getting late, so they would dump all the boxes in our patio or leaving. They would not unpack anything (without any real explanation). We moved a lot of times before and we knew that's not what movers do. We argued with him. Then he went to the truck and started smoking and chatting with his other mover mate (he was in hurry.. o yeah). In other words he ignored our requests.

Out of three movers only one unloaded the boxes from the truck when other two (including foreman) were engaged in smoking. He unpacked only the beds. He dumped the packages in the appropriate rooms though after we requested him again and again. All in all the move was completed by them in four hours if you call it "complete".

We breathed a sigh of relief after they left. It was the worst experience so far, but we knew that it could have been worse considering the type of people the movers were.

After a few days we found out that my portable car GPS was missing along with some bank checks. I kept them in a box by mistake instead of carrying them with us. When we called and asked about it, they totally refused the claim and said that without evidence we cannot claim anything.

Am I going to recommend this moving company to anybody? Not even to my enemies! I believe if somebody gives them a good ratings he must be their inside man.

Worst mover ever.

On moving day, I waited for entire day for them to arrive. Every time I call, they say, someone will be there in 10mins. I waited till evening 4pm and then cancelled the move and then hired few guys locally and moved. Not even a sorry call afterwards. Pathetic people. I would never ever ever ever use them for anything.

So am I the only one who had a positive experience? Stevens showed up 30 min. early and didn't charge untill we were ready to go. They moved all my possessions in a timely manner, and didn't' charge me a higher rate for the extra weight I hadn't accounted for. The only complaint I had was for the extra charge for the moving materials because I didn't provide my own, but overall the experience was quite reasonable.

These same criminals, I believe they are Russian mafia, extorted $1268 from me when I was quoted $407. Thats more than 300% the original estimate which seems to be the going rate for these moving scams from the research I've done now after I was scammed. I paid $600 in cash and $768 on a credit card. Of course I'm protesting the credit card charge. It was a total illegal extortion. I called the police and they showed up, but told me it was a civil matter and left. I had to pay in full and sign everything they told me to sign or they threatened to hall all of my possesions off and put them in storage and sell them off to pay the $1268. I had about $50, 000 worth of goods and irreplacable documents, photos, etc. on that truck, so I paid up and signed everthing they told me to sign against my will.

Call your congressperson--PUC and BBB do no good--We need to change the laws against these people

I had a similar incident occur with them involving some very interesting business practices. I also had to sign my life away and they would not give me a copy until I insisted that they drive to Kinkos with me. They quoted me $300 and charged me $1500. We had to pay CASH ONLY or they would not unload our things off of the truck. These people are abusive and they need to go down.