1-800-PACK-RAT® Reviews
Long distance move. Miscommunication and logistics issues on providers end resulted in late arrival, which in turn caused a juggling of other resources to complete the move. Disappointed, as this is the second move for which I've conscripted with 1-800-PackRat, and I'll likely shop around for options next time.
I am a female senior citizen, and the men at PACK-RAT did everything they could to help me, even going so far as to help me repack one of my containers when it overweight. They didn't cancel the move, they just stayed to help balance out my two containers. They went above and beyond their jobs to help me. I now recommend PACK-RAT to everyone I know.
Overall, our experience with Packrat was excellent. There were a few problems with communication with the dispatch centers, but all the operators I spoke with at Pack rat did everything they could to help us out. They bent over backwards to get permit issues sorted and refunded for services that didn’t go as expected. I would use them again and have already recommended them to others.
The company performed as promised. Everyone was helpful and very responsive throughout the whole process. I chose Pack Rat because they did not charge extra for the multiple drop offs and pick ups of our three containers. The containers arrived on time and were collected on time. The company provided locks for each of the containers. That was a real plus for me. I appreciate the fact that I did not have to pay any storage fee although there were two weeks between the time I moved out of my old home and into my new one. A full service moving company would have charged me a daily rental fee beginning with a first-day rental of $2000+ which would have involved unloading my belongings, storing them and reloading again for delivery to my new home. I loved that once loaded into the Pack Rat containers and locked, my things would not be disturbed while out of my sight and supervision. A relative who had a protracted move with a full service provider had valuable pieces broken, I.e. a custom-made cuckoo clock and 3 irreplaceable and expensive oriental rugs lost or stolen. We DID; sustain a few instances of breakage: one inexpensive chest of drawers was severely damaged, two ornamental pieces on a metal birdbath were snapped off, one leg on a chest of drawers was damaged so that it didn't stand and one wheel of a cabinet is missing. I think these casualties were the result of the way these items were packed by the loading helpers, for example, the chest of drawers was stored on its side in the container.
RECOMMENDED After several glitches with scheduling errors and administrative errors, and fuzzy price quotes, working with 1-800PACKRAT was great. The drivers on both ends of my move were on time, polite and good at their jobs. Given the condition of my belongings when I received them, I would also say that the storage facility did a good job taking care of my things. The $3000+ price tag was hard to swallow, my negotiation skills need improvement; and because the unit was stored 32 days I had to pay an extra months rental. But I knew that cost going in. All in all I can recommend PackRat for long distance moving and storage. Just be sure to be vigilant in the scheduling and pricing process. The employees who answer the phones are more like salesmen than service providers. And different representatives give different answers to the same questions. Not enough training perhaps. Your “estimate” does not include price breakdowns for the various moving expenses incurred, and pricing as a whole should be MUCH more transparent. This is part of where the moving industry gets its bad reputation. The move itself was relatively stress-free thanks to the guys who do the actual work. Great drivers, equipment and container handlers. Shout out to Hire-A-Helper for recommending excellent movers on both ends. Anybody want to come help assemble a house full of new furniture?
Company is incapable of scheduling and of communicating changes to their schedule on time. - Instead of agreed 12 days of transport, pods were delivered after 19 days - pods are neither delivered nor picked up at the agree upon time slot (don’t book a crew to unload at the day that the pod is scheduled!) - the pods were not not delivered in the order that was agreed upon - Packrat has difficulty to reach their trucking companies, so you wait on the phone just to learn that they don’t know where the pod is - Packrat puts you easily on the phone waiting line for 20-30min and never checking in whether you are still on the line. - Re-imbursement for extra cost of staying longer in a hotel are rediculously low to non-existent. In summary, a company that is not organized and basically doesn’t care. There must be better options out there!
Storage pod was not delivered on time due to the lone forklift being broken and could not get fixed sooner. Pod was delivered a week later and after many phone calls with service representatives, I was placed in contact with a customer service director who made things a little easier to deal with. In the process of waiting on reimbursements for expenses incurred during the week without my pod.
They missed the delivery date due to a truck malfunction. I was called at 7:30 PM by the driver saying he would be a no show but would have the container on site by 0900 the next morning. The container was here by 0900 and the packers arrived at 10 am. All's well that ends well, but, they lost a star for my late evening panic.
1-800-Packrat did a great job all along the process. Especially appreciated our shell transporter Mahendra in SF Bay Area. The one thing that prevents me from giving them an excellent is that they were not upfront on the choices I had on when the shells were dropped off. They introduced this in our last shell drop off when I asked why it was not there till 1 pm. They said that morning was a premium for an extra amount. This seriously effected our packing and our workmen who were there to pack. This should be explained upfront.
They have been great. Recently my last pod has been delayed due to truck issues - it was supposed to be here on Thursday- they moved it to Saturday and then to a Monday - so I have had to change my support labor around twice So I would have been done unloading on the weekend and now it will be by the end of the following week - and messing up plans They have been pleasant enough - I am just disappointed that they nicked my delivery around when it should have been the next available slot - not at their convenience days and days later- The container has been great and waterproof like they said. I would have given them five stars - if they had considered me and my needs instead their own first. The delivery guys have been great on both sides of the move