Starving Students Movers

10 october 2017, 17:45

Absolutely terrible - we moved from the Bay area to Boston last year, Starving Students outsourced our contract to Elite movers. Not one piece of furniture arrived without it being damaged, a few pieces were completely demolished. Elite has done nothing about the claims process - in the begining they responded but now have gone quiet and it has been a year. Starving Students have completely brushed their hands of the matter as they say our contract is with Elite. On top of this, when they quoted and "sold" the move package to my husband, they claimed that the move came with insurance, for which we paid a premium, but it turned out just to be a right to claim against the mover, which is completely in their favour as they are in control of the whole process and valuations. Please DO NOT hire these guys, they are a waste of money - anything saved has been completely lost in the damages. Also they try to get you to sign with them by quoting a lower number and will come back saying actually your shipment weighs more than what they expected. If you do not pay, you will not get your things back. It's a no win situation.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:45

I do not recommend this company.What started out as an "easy" local move of five items, a bed (which was already dismantled by the time they arrived, two tall bookcases, one 27" wide drawer case and a 15" wide pedestal drawer set from my office desk.I was told that the clock starts ticking once we completed the paperwork which took about 20 minutes. I gave them instructions on the order in which things should be loaded in the truck since it would be installed at the other end in reverse order. While doing paperwork with one guy, the other started moving the largest bookcase down the stairs on his own. This was to be the LAST item moved since it was the first item in at the other end. He got stuck and made massive gouges to two textured walls, the stair header and an oak railing. After signing the paperwork, we assisted him in removing the 6" legs on the bottom which gave him the room he needed to make a turn down the stairs into the hallway. The damage was already done.When I watched them load the bookcase, they laid it on the truck FACE DOWN and slid it into the truck, rather than put it on it's back.When I went back to look at the wall, there were grease marks from top of stairs to bottom. Thirteen steps of black greasy marks. One mover said he had problems with the truck engine and had to fix it on the road. I told him he had to stop and wash his arms and hands at the kitchen sink with soap and a scrubbie. He did so.They then took the drawer pack and wrapped it in plastic, securing the bottom with duct tape. They proceeded down the stairs with the TOP END of the drawers facing down the steps, as I hear everything in the two top drawers falling out of the drawers, pinging like a slot machine. Grrrrr. I asked them why they didn't bring it down feet first, and they said they knew what they were doing. Grrrrr.When finally on the road, they drove EXCEEDINGLY slowly. They were going less than 20 miles an hour on surface streets (I had to pull over four times from house to freeway), then went 50 miles an hour on the highway to the new house.At the other end, things went a bit more smoothly as it is a single story.However, I have been collecting bobby pins, earrings and loose change off the driveway since they were falling out of the drawer set. I lost one gold earring.When complete, I received a bill for almost $400 when the estimate was for $240. This was the OTHER guy signing me out. He said the clock starts ticking when they pull up. Classic bait and switch. I asked him if they needed to document any damages and he said that I had signed a waiver for any damage to either contents OR the house. At that point, I just wanted these guys out of my house. I have puttied the gouges on the old house walls. Will have to paint the entire wall after using TSP to wash down all the engine grease. I hired a handyman to come in and sand down the bannister and add some wood filler to the two gouges. Never again.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:45

This is a belated review but it was such a bad experience I thought it was worth posting. My roommate hired Starving Students for her November 1st move - she secured the date more than a month in advance and was happy with the initial customer service. They called the day before to confirm and she was told that they would be there between 8 and 11am. On moving day we waited around until 11 before calling. The manager said that his crew was stuck in Santa Cruz but would be there by 2pm. When they still weren't there by 2pm we called back. The manager was extremely rude and told us they would be there by 4pm. He made us feel like we were inconveniencing him by calling and sounded annoyed in general. When they still weren't there at 4pm I called the corporate office and was told that they had received several complaints about this particular manager and someone higher up would call me back. When they still hadn't show by 6pm we called the manager again as well as corporate. After going back and forth for another 2 hours the manager himself finally showed up with one of his employees. He was horribly rude and clearly had no idea how to actually move things. It took them 4 hours to move about 6 pieces of furniture and several boxes. Not to mention that one of the legs on our washing machine was damaged. When they finished (after midnight), he wouldn't give us any kind of a discount, and refused to give us an itemized receipt. I called corporate back the next day to file an official complaint and, again, was told that someone would call me back. We're still waiting for that call. All in all, it was a HORRIBLE experience. If you're looking for a hassle free moving day I would highly recommend using a different company.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:45

The only reason these guys are getting 2 stars is because the movers them selves were extremely fast. However, trying to get them to my house was a huge hassle. I called a few days ahead and they gave me a time slot of 8am-12pm. So around 11 I called the guy who was supposed to be comming and he said he would be there at 1. Didn't show up. I was at work while my girlfriend was waiting for them, and around 2 she told me they still haven't come. So on my break at 3:30 I called and he said they would be there in 30 minutes. She waited and they still weren't there. So I called customer service and the lady said she will get into contact with the movers and call me back to discuss what happened, never called me back. An hour later I got a text message saying they were on the way. And still we had to wait another hour. Finally around 5:30 they showed up. Over $300 for them to move 5 pieces of furniture, definitely not worth it. I do not recommend using these guys unless you have all day to wait on them.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:45

2.5 stars.  I thought a lot about what rating to give for this.  Yelp says 3 stars is "A-OK."  To me 3 stars is average, not A-OK, and this experience is closer to the Yelp 2-star "Meh. I've experienced better."  This is my second experience using Starving Students.  The first time was a few years ago and was a 5-star, perfect experience (moved from SF to SJ), which is why I was planning on being a repeat customer.Scenario for today: last Sunday of the month (always a busy time for moving companies), truck for my move crapped outMechanical failures happen.  It's not the fault of the drivers, nor, necessarily, the fault of the company.  There's never a good time for it to happen.  But today it happened to me.  I was scheduled for an early-morning move but the truck for my move stalled and ended up having to be towed so since the SJ branch didn't have any spares The guy in charge (Greg or Craig) did try calling every other office in the area ("area" = Oakland to Sacramento to Stockton) to try to find something available.  But, alas, no luck.  I appreciate that he spent much of the morning trying to get me moved.  I also appreciate that he offered a $100 discount if I could do the move first thing tomorrow.  He tried.Factors that resulted in the 2.5-star rating:My first phone call received was at 8am (my window was 8am to 12pm).  Greg/Craig explained the situation (stalled truck, mechanic en route) and said he would keep me updated.  To me "I'll keep you updated" means, at a minimum, hourly updates.  I had to call at 11:30am to find out the status that the truck needed a tow, that SJ had no spares/backups, and that they were trying to find a backup at another branch.  I shouldn't have had to wait 3.5 hours for the update.  People waiting for movers can't go anywhere on the chance the movers might show up while they're gone.  And when you're planning on moving out of a place you don't exactly keep extra food on hand, perishable or otherwise.I understand and appreciate that it's the last Sunday of the month and that it's a busy day for moving companies.  But where's the pre-planning that should include maintenance checks and a spare truck for emergencies just like this?  Maybe on any other day of the month they would have a spare truck.  And even if there is a spare that isn't a 100% guarantee.  But it seems like there was a failure to plan for contingencies on what they know is their busiest day.$100 discount to be moved the next day?  That's nice but I think that's what should have been offered had they found a backup *for the same day* as the move would have occurred outside the scheduled window.  $100 might be 15-20%, which is nice.  But a lot of people move right at the end of their current lease/rental/living situation, have utilities shut off so they're not charged for time while they're no longer living there, etc. -- and they can't wait until the next day as they're supposed to be out of their home/apartment/rental by EOD that day.  I *could* have waited until tomorrow but it would have meant additional headaches, including missing at least half a day of work.  I think in this case the company could have and should have offered something more (maybe $200 off or not charged mileage -- something significant).So what rating should I give?5-star = can't think of anything they could do better and would gladly recommend them to anyone and everyone4-star = amazing job but something could have been better even though expectations were exceeded3-star = mission accomplished but average, expectations met2-star = mission not accomplished, expectations not met1-star = total failureIt's not a 5-star nor 4-star experience.  It's not a 1-star either since my contact there did try calling other branches and did offer something to help make up for it.  So that leaves 3-star and 2-star.  Can I give 2.5?  "Meh.  I've experienced better." sums it up a lot more than "A-OK."  Had there not been a stalled truck it could very well have been an awesome experience!  But I can give a rating based only on the experience I had.  So I'm selecting 2-star that's really more like 2.5.@StarvingStudents take this as a learning experience.  I'm not mad.  I do want to see you do better though.  If I move again and need movers I might look elsewhere first.

review from yelp.com