MOVING EXPERIENCE: From Bad To Good

NOTE: After painstakingly searching for the right moving company since June 18th (after we moved here in North Beach from Ripon) I finally found an excellent one that I could recommend here in my blog: www.shamrockmovingstorage.com Our moving company was SURVIVORS MOVING of San Jose and we barely survived their strategy to move our things from the suburbs to the city.

And at last- my upright piano has been moved from the ground floor of our flat to our second floor haven! I am delighted and since Saturday morning last week, have been brushing up with my Beethoven sonatas and Bach prelude and fugues on the piano. I missed this so much! Now I feel that our home is complete!

Here's my story...

I went online and found SHAMROCK MOVING AND STORING INC. After reading their website, I was positive about it. So I jotted down their phone number in San Francisco and called.

SHAMROCK's contact person was Jillian. I called her on the phone in her Third Street office address on Market, (financial district of San Francisco). This was Monday last week. I asked about the estimate and cost to move our piano from the garage to one flight of stairs (second floor). She gave me the details then followed up my queries with succeeding emails. I responded back then I got a call from their estimator, Jose Cervantes last Friday morning, around 8.30ish. It was quite early (moi husband thought so) since we were still asleep when he called but I thought it was all right. He said he would be coming soon~ to look at our place. After all, my piano has long been silent and has been sleeping in our landlord’s domain for three months now for which I wasn’t comfortable with. I never like asking favors but in this case, the space was offered to us out of our landlord's kindness. I thought it was time to move it~ after three months of waiting, after our moving company had failed us- this SURVIVORS MOVING.

So I said YES to Jose that Friday morning. “Sure, Jose, you could come.” Meanwhile, I gave him the name of the main street that leads to our place so he could come without easily getting lost in North Beach. Jose came half an hour later. It was chilly that Friday morning (55 degrees F). Husband and I were impressed in the way he presented himself - well dressed, neat, confident and very professional. He checked out the space where we live, the distance to bring the piano upstairs from the ground floor level. We questioned him, “Shall we need a crane?” He answered, “No. The crane alone would cost you $600. That is not necessary. We could have the piano brought to your flat passing through the stairs. The narrow passage won’t be a problem. We can do it." Wow, we couldn’t believe what we were hearing! The fee was a flat rate of $600.00 in cash, which we didn’t mind at all. For our piano to be moved from Ripon to North Beach last June, we had already paid SURVIVORS MOVING an extra sum for this service. Despite the extra payment dolled out in our pockets~they didn't do the job as expected. We were deeply disappointed and frustrated with SURVIVORS MOVING. Why? Because they have a lot of “hidden charges” that were revealed only on the moving day itself~ which was quite annoying plus- the crew was 2 hours late! How about that for a starter? Bad impression was what they have given us! Moreover, we were asked to sign a second waiver that stipulated that they won’t be responsible in case our piano gets damaged in the process of moving it. Mamamia! SHAMROCK MOVING AND STORAGE INC. was nothing like that. Of course, we were told the banister and wall might have scratches but they were said nicely and didn't sound offensive at all to our ears that husband said, “It’s okay. We’d be responsible for that. Our movers have already done a damage so far (*sigh*).”

Saturday came and by 8 AM sharp, Jose and his crew arrived on time. Husband and Jose went downstairs to the garage and back to our living quarters for the last minute details. Before I knew it, Jose’s crew was counting, “UNO, DOS, TRES!” By this time, Jose had left and said his crew can do it without his close supervision. And he was right! On the third count, they lifted the piano each step of the way up to the last step of the stairways leading to our home. They were very synchronized and organized. I was smiling and kept help saying, "I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THIS CREW!"

As for the SURVIVORS MOVING, it was torture to watch them do it because they were pushing the piano and were not carrying it! Can you imagine that? Ayayay! Whereas, SHAMROCK had five young men in their mid and late 20s and did the job well. SURVIVORS MOVING had four men and still didn't do it right and didn't do it in the final event of things. SHAMROCK 's crew was composed of five young men who are slim in built-who I thought at first might not be strong enough- to carry the upright piano we have! But boy, was I wrong! They did it fast and sweet! In less than 25 minutes they were done! Afterwards, the leader of the group talked to moi husband and asked him to sign the papers then husband paid him (Adan was his name, I remember now) and then it was finished. What a breeze!

In retrospect, husband said, we should have hired a moving company in SAN FRANCISCO and not from Ripon, Manteca or San Jose. Why? Movers based in the city are quite familiar with the architectural designs of apartments in San Francisco, they are well exposed to apartments located on the hilly part (like ours) and the narrow spaces along the hallways and staircase. Well, nonetheless, we learned our lesson the hard way, with extra expenditures on our part.

FYI dear readers, SURVIVORS MOVING lead crew who does not know how to speak in modulation and respect. The moment we asked him questions regarding the moving process, he answered in a very harsh manner that was quite offensive. His body language was repulsive as well. Two months after our move here in San Francisco, we were finally able to make them to drive to the city from San Jose to move our piano, which we were charged extra for, on the moving date itself- on June 18th. We were not told initially about this. Next, a second crew of four was sent to us last August. All this Israeli man could say were these:

1. “We cannot do this. This is hard."

2. "The stairway is narrow."

3. "The veranda is small. The sliding door won’t accommodate your piano."

4. "If you permit us to move your piano, we might damage it. You need to sign a waiver.”

Well, he had lots of bullshit to drag us on. At that moment when this second creature came to our place, I flared up. He started up with complains. Hello? Like I was responsible for the architectural design of our rented apartment???? Tired and exasperated, I yelled at this outrageous monster who said nothing positive about moving our piano. I lost my grace, yes-indeed, as I was in combative mood! I was so sick and damned tired of him- of them, his crew, his company! Darn! I need my piano! I am a pianist you see! I haven’t touched the piano since June 18 and that was hard for me. Anyhow, I was happy husband drove back (after 2 hours on a business trip, he was obliged to come home as I raised hell with this Israeli man and his crew). Husband knew the hell’s door was opened wide and it would be a riot (laughs).

Anyhow, we were happy with the SHAMROCK crew. They were fast, very professional, sweet and kind, too. If you are moving from San Francisco, within San Francisco or elsewhere in the USA, try SHAMROCK MOVING AND STORAGE, INC. it’s worth every penny you pay to move with ease and comfort!

PLEASE: Never avail the services of SURVIVORS MOVING and beware of this company! They’d rip you off your pocket!