1-800-PACK-RAT® Reviews
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
I initially rated as excellent on original drop off for loading. I requested to have trailers delivered before noon, and paid $50 extra for each trailer. One trailer came at 2:30 and one came at 5:00p. Fortunately the moving company was running later, so they were able to accommodate the change in times. I had asked for a refund of the $100, but I have not seen it reflected in my charge.
We were pleased with the cost for our long-distance move and the logistics of drop-off and pick-up worked well. There were a few issues with the dates as they appeared on the website because we had 2 containers, but our questions were always resolved by our phone calls. One of the containers was in rough shape and was put out of service after our move, but our belongings all arrived in good condition. One complaint was the blankets that we rented from Packrat.com. They were old, smelly, and flaking - which caused additional cleanup for us. Also, there was no way to get a good estimate of the number of blankets needed. (There was a very accurate tool on their website to decide what size containers we needed.) Customer service was good whenever we called, but if the status of the move on the website had been updated more frequently, fewer calls would have been needed. All in all, the move went well and we would use them again.
Delivered the pod on time, picked it up and transported it. It did get scheduled for 2 weeks out. Which was a good thing as we filled a small pull behind trailer with immediately needed items giving us time to set up and prepare for delivery. NOTE: one 16 foot pod could not accommodate our belongings so we had to rent a 20 u-haul and hire a driver. The pod company could not deliver a second pod in our time frame. The whole moving experience was not good. That is from trying to hire a moving company to settling on a pod. Everything was miss-calculated costing us more money than it should have cost.
I have mixed feelings about 1 800 PACK RAT. Their sales department is top notch (in getting you to sign up). Our 2 containers were dropped off and picked up at our original home without a problem. Getting our things delivered to our new place was a different story. Some advice to future customers: don't wait until your items are picked up to arrange a delivery date (I called the day our second containers was picked up and the earliest delivery was over 2 weeks later; I think I could have avoided this if I arranged things sooner). Our original delivery was scheduled for a Saturday (again, 2 weeks after our second container had been picked up). I called around 2 p.m. to verify we were still on the roster because I had movers scheduled for Sunday and needed to provide 24 hour notice for cancellations. PACK RAT informed me that we were still on the roster and could have our units delivered **up until 11 p.m.**. I didn't realize how wide of a window they had. They called me back around 6 p.m. to inform me that our containers never left the origin facility and were still sitting in Virginia, 500+ miles away! It took an extra week for all of our stuff to arrive from the original scheduled date! The problem appeared to have been in finding a truck driver from Virginia to Georgia. PACK RAT did not charge us any additional storage costs, the delivery people in Georgia were fantastic, and PACK RAT ended up refunding about half of our transportation costs. While I am irritated at the delay, I do feel that PACK RAT did right by us in refunding ~half of the costs.
I had this container in "temperature controlled" storage for over a year. I'm a little perplexed though, as it appears that the container had dust and rain marks on the exterior. We haven't had any rain in the time I'd arranged for delivery and the container being delivered. It was convenient for what I needed and for the time frame I needed it.
They were not very timely at all and promised pickup times that they simply did not keep. They were two days late on picking up their containers which held up the family moving in to the home we sold. I went with PackRat because of the low cost but you truly get what you pay for. I would not use them again at all and would not recommend them.
Pack Rat was a challenge to set up. It took loads of time on hold, and then they were more than an hour and a half late! When the job was done they had over charged our credit card and added additional fees to their cost. After several phone calls, emailing them, and providing PDF's that they requested, they finally did refund the overage but what a hassle! It's also very confusing to choose between Pack Rat and Zippy Shell which they also own. They told me that Zippy Shell was less expensive but that I could not book - whatever reason they gave didn't make sense to me. Often I got a nice representative on the phone but they could not tell me basic information without transferring me, consulting other people, or telling me they would call me back and then not calling me back :( Also, I had to confirm with them as nobody every confirmed with me up until the day before; after confirming they were late anyway. Thank God for the guys from Mooney Moving as they really worked around all the problems with Pack Rat and made it work.
POD delivery and purchase order very expedient and well handled. Website grossly underestimated POD needs (16 ft) - recommend a mover visit site for more accurate need assessment in future! Pickup delayed several days due to miscommunication and truck problems but handled very smoothly when accomplished. Price very reasonable and would use again. POD is excellent condition (only 1 exterior ding). All service personnel most polite and professional
Pack rat has very good customer service. I'm not an online type when it comes to certain things, I like to talk to a human and they were there for me.I liked their container door, its double door style. Its not on rollers and allows more room for packing and less shifting of items. The delivery person was friendly and was conscientious. They have a lift system to lower the container which gives less chance to damage your driveway! However, just one thing that annoyed me, the container could be a little cleaner! I easily took care of it and hosed it out! I'm storing inside climate control for 3 plus months, so a review for this will come later.
For the amount of money spent, this company does a very poor job of scheduling. From 8 am to 6 pm you have to be available and you will get a call an hour before the driver will be there. You can't receive a call the day before or an email. This is the same type of scheduling cable companies do and its absurd.
As an aside, recommend Pack Rat. They deliver where we are moving to in west Tennessee. PODs would only deliver to Memphis, where we would need to rent a truck, unpack the container, load the truck, drive 1 1/2 hours, unload the truck, etc. Will ask for them for the 4th / final container. Also, Pack Rat has a much better system of loading / unloading containers than PODs. I say that having observed our new next door neighbor's PODs deliveries and as a retired Navy ship / amphibious officer with just a tad of cargo handling / loading.
Rat Pack stayed in touch with us throughout the process even though our delivery was delayed due to unforeseen mechanical problems with the trucks on the delivery end. The local transport of Rat Pack, was also professional with the updates to when delivery could be made. Things happen that are out of your control, but the honesty the company provided was reassuring and I could not express my gratitude enough for keeping me informed.
There were problems with getting our pod delivered to our new address at the right time. This could’ve been due to traffic out of their control. It was very frustrating at the time, but at the end of the day they came through and it all work. Our stuff came through in amazingly good condition and that was an across the country move.
My container was scheduled to arrive on Saturday. It did not. Left a voicemail on Sunday and Sunday night I was told the truck was broke. I was informed the soonest it MIGHT arrive would be Tuesday. I told them to cancel my order. Contacted PODS and they delivered a container on Tuesday with no problems.