Van Gogh Movers

This is a very difficult review to write.  Let me start off by saying the person who came to take an inventory to prepare the estimate was amazing.  He was also on the crew.  Four men showed up on moving day.  They were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Professional, careful, and did a great job.  They worked very hard.  This was by far the least stressful move of my life.  These guys were incredible.  When they arrived, the foreman of the crew went over my prearrangement.  There was a guarantee not to exceed as I negotiated, even if the job ran long.  That gave me piece of mind.  Around 5 hours into the move, the foreman informed me that we would reach the maximum.  I was comfortable with that.  It didn't matter as I had a guarantee not to exceed price and he confirmed that guaranteed not to exceed  price with me again.I had such a great experience I decided to tip the guys 20% rather than the customary 15% for a move.  This came out to $100.00 a man.  The job ended up being 11 hours.   A long but easy day.  Everything, including some crappy IKEA furniture made it in perfect shape.The problem came at the end.  The foreman told me he had to call the office to run the credit card for the agreed on amount, but once he reached the owner, Jimmy, my stress free move turned into a nightmare.   Jimmy informed him that the job took longer than he expected and insisted on charging me hourly, plus materials.  This was truly "Bait and Switch".  I couldn't believe it.  I want you all to know this problem had nothing to do with the crew.  Eventually Jimmy came around after I argued with him for 45 minutes and said he would "keep his promise".  Are you kidding me?  So he admitted he had made a promise and was willing to break it.  Remember I had a contract and would have taken legal action.Bottom line, this is a 20+ year old company.  New owner, Jimmy,  about 1.5 years ago.  He is going to kill this company with a great reputation.  He asked if I would recommend.  I said yes.  This was based on the first 11 hours.  The last 45 minutes was uncalled for and unprofessional.  He said I added 2 pieces and took away 1 large piece.  He is right.  The 2 pieces I added were small and took maybe 10 to 15 minutes.  The piece I took away was custom furniture.  It would have taken him 3 man hours to dismantle it.  I know this because the furniture maker dismantled it and moved it and it took them that long.  They were familiar with the piece since they built it.  So.... all I can say is if you use these guys... make sure you have a guaranteed price in writing.  Also make sure that you have them do an estimate before the move.  Don't throw any surprises there way.  I am sure if the move took the amount of time they thought, then none of this would have happened.  Whose fault is that?  I am not the professional mover, they are.  That's why they do estimates.Next time I will use Moishe's

review from yelp.com

We had a great crew for our move to a fifth floor walk up.  They were on time, polite (even funny), careful and very efficient. They handled everything very carefully and respectfully.  We couldn't have asked for a better crew - they made our move that much easier.

review from yelp.com

I had to check to be sure this was the same company that the previous reviewers who gave such bad reviews had used to do their move.My experience was totally different and really A # 1. I used Van Gogh for a full house move last fall and then again recently to move a huge armoire that I sold on Craig's List. Both times I found them professional, knowledgeable and willing to do the little extra.On the full house move, Jimmy, one of the owners, talked to me on the phone and then came out to my apartment to do an estimate.  Even though it was only a short distance move, we have some nice antiques, mirrors  and "fragile" things that required special care. He went over everything down to how they would pack our 4 crystal chandeliers in a way so that we did not have to remove all the glass bobbles. Very thorough and detailed. Gave us a comfort level that 2 companies that were a bit cheaper did not.Our move out building had a lot of restrictions on times, service elevator use, etc. Van Gogh handled all that with them and on moving day had their crew leader meet with us before anything was started -- just to go over how everything would work. A nice touch and definitely calming . Basically, it was just for us to get out of the way and let these guys do what they do.On the other end, things went just as smoothly and  about all we had to do was watch.When it was all done I went out and got Pizza and treated the crew and ourselves for a job well done.Now fast forward a few months. Recently I had sold a large very heavy armoire on Craigslist, and with the buyer in my apartment, I  called Van Gogh and again talked to Jimmy (really nice guy BTW) . We worked out a price over the phone and he said that it would need to be a flexible time for just 1 piece which was fine. We were thinking 1 or 2 weeks... Within 2 hours he called and said he had a truck that had finished early and could do the move. After texting the buyer and working out the details, they picked up the armoire and delivered it to the buyers that same afternoon. Now how good was that?Moving is stressful and quite frankly a pain. The Van Gogh people have their stuff together and know what they are doing. If we ever move again, we will use them.

review from yelp.com

VGM is not the cheapest, but many of their employees have been there for years, so I did get high quality workers who seem to care about your stuff.  That said, they weren't perfect.  I used them for a move into their storage facility and then a move out of storage, and somewhere along the way, a big box went missing.  The owner said he was really sorry, but his inventory said that I'd received all boxes.  Since as a practical matter, they are in charge of the inventory list, that wasn't very responsive.  I know I'm missing a few large items that were in that box, and unless I want to start a long distance small claim, I'm stuck.  They also had some inexperienced movers who taped furniture improperly and folded up a sisal carpet, so it now has permanent creases in it.  Again, the owner was really sorry, but not interested in making a payment to back up my unhappiness.  Would I use them again - yes, probably, but they don't get a 5 star review, and I'd certainly consider others.

review from yelp.com

Note: This review is for pickup only. Van Gogh Movers were so easy to work with! I gave them a detailed list of what I needed moved for my friend who moved out of state and we worked out a price through email. They were on time, efficient, and very professional. The whole moving process always seems daunting, but at the end of the day they made it simple!

review from yelp.com