J. N.
United Express Moving & Storage - Don't do it!
Don't use United Express Moving & Storage! They are a broker. They play a game of bait and catch. You are promised a low rate for a long distance move. Their estimate includes a charge of 3.40 per cubic foot, a fuel surcharge, and tariffs at 200% of the estimated cost per cubic foot. Then they tell you if you sign within 24 hours you get a discount. The discount is about half of the trumped up tariff charges. You are still getting robbed! Then you are asked to tell them what you need to move, how many and what size boxes, etc on the initial call. Of course you haven't even started packing yet! Of course you will forget many things and you can't know how many boxes your things will fill or what size the boxes will be. You pay a deposit which is about half of their estimate. It is non-refundable after 72 hours. Of course you need to book your move long before 72 hours prior. About a week before your move you are asked if you have any more items than you originally mentioned. Of course you do! In my case, i had less. We estimated 30 boxes. I had 28 but some (most) were bigger than what they estimated. Of course they were. Plus things like a treadmill I thought I'd be moving, I decided not to. So you are feeling good about things. Since I was pretty much packed. I took measurements of everything including boxes and sent them a list. I got a call back from Ryan in "Quality Assurance" saying my estimate was now about twice what originally was quoted and I was asked for an additional deposit bringing my total paid to them of the full amount of the original quote. Don't worry, Ryan said, your things will probably take up less space than the new quote. At this point, they are done with you because they received all their money. The company to which my job was brokered gets paid the rest. That's how they get paid for the job. Don't be fooled that the job will cost less than the new quote. It cost more. I got a text (not a call as Ryan had indicated) on October 30, saying the movers would come on November 3rd between 12pm and 5pm and that I'd get a call when they were 30 minutes to one hour away. By 2 o'clock I hadn't heard anything so I called United Express to see if they could get me an eta. They said the movers got delayed picking up another load and wouldn't be coming until the next day. What???? At 4pm the dispatcher from the actual moving company, told me they would be sending a U-Haul to pick up my load between 9 and 12 the next day and would transfer my things to one of their trucks. What???!! One of the questions I asked Andrew at United Express before committing to them was whether my things would be moved between trucks. He said absolutely not. When I called Andrew & Ryan at United Express about this neither answered and neither returned my call. Why would they? They had their money and they were done with me. On moving day, November 4, two trucks arrived around 11 to 1130am. I was told they would be loading my things on two different trucks and then putting them all on one truck heading to Florida. I was not happy, but again, at this point I had no recourse and no money would be refunded. As it turned out, the two trucks left and transferred things from one to another so that my things would fit on one truck. Thank you! They collected 1/2 of the balance after loading my things and the rest at the destination before they unloaded. By the way, United Express says that Zelle is a payment option. It is not! Gratefully, I had cash available. My advice is that you dont use a broker. United Express should be out of business. If you look at the reviews on Trust Pilot, they have 1's and 5's with nothing in between. The 5's are written by company employees They are not real. Even if a real moving company, not a broker gives you a higher quote, trust it. Don't be lured by promises of $1200, or the like, for a long-distance move form a broker. A broker has no stake in your satisfaction and no liability after they get your money. Just don't do it.