PODS® Reviews
Everything with PODS went extremely smoothly until I attempted to schedule pick-up of the PODS after delivery to our final destination. I called on February 26th to schedule pick-up for March 2nd or that weekend, and was told the next available day for pick-up wasn't until March 8th! The PODS were delivered on March 1st, so that meant they would sit in our driveway for a full week, completely empty. I had to ask if there was any sort of waiting list for sooner pick-up (this was not offered to me) and I was told yes, PODS would contact the local manager and they would get back to me. I did not hear anything, so called again on February 28th, and was told they would not call me unless something opens and they can add me for an early pick-up. The PODS were delivered March 1st, emptied by that evening, and sat completely empty in our driveway until March 8th. I never received a call for an earlier pick-up.
Super convenient and worked really well with my needs! They were very pushy when I called to get a quote but when I expressed reluctance about the price (it was out of my budget by a few hundred), the gentleman on the phone said they could take off the liability insurance that's automatically included and he offered to discount the shipping for me. That put it right at the high end of my budget so I took it because the service came recommended to me by a family member. Be aware though that it takes 6-8 days NOT including Sundays for your POD to reach you which didn't work as well as I was hoping with my move schedule but I was willing to make that sacrifice because of the reviews of the durability of the container and reliability of the company.
This is my first experience with PODS. So far everything has been positive. The 16 foot POD was delivered on time and placed exactly where I wanted it and was clean. After it was loaded PODS came back and picked it up on the appointed day and time. It has not yet been delivered to my final destination in Florida so I can't evaluate the whole move project at this time, but everything to date has been great and as promised.
The person who delivered the PODS was very helpful, friendly and customer-focused. The person who picked up the container to the storage facility was not very communicative. He left a voice message asking where the container was located (I had my phone on vibrate). I called back in 15 mins and continued to call/text to find out the status, he did not set up his voice mail. I called PODS customer service and they said they do not have the driver's information (which is odd, and useless if there's an issue).
I had very mixed experiences with PODs. Moving from NYC, I had to work with The City Team, but the could not give me a direct phone line, so I had to wait on hold to get through to customer service, go through my account info and explain that I needed the city team then wait on hold and give my account info again... Every time! They could not give me a direct phone number, and I was not able to manage my move online even once I was out of the city! Plus, if I called in with a question or request, the could not call me back with an answer or confirmation, so I'd have to go through the whole call and wait process again. I thought it was a horrible user experience and I don't think I would use them again. However, the phone reps were great once I got to them, both drivers I worked with were fantastic. The pod itself was great and none of my stuff was damaged from transportation, so maybe using PODs outside of a city would be worthwhile.
Would’ve given it a 5 star review but furniture in one of our three pods got stained by something, maybe water? The other thing that wasn’t good was it took six days to get our Pods from the storage center one hour away from our new home delivered to our new home, pretty much the same amount of time it took for them to travel cross country. This put us over the thirty days and cost us another month’s fees. Still better than a moving company I guess, but not real happy.
This move was accomplished within a very short lead time. We were combining two households (one moving from California, moving to the other in North Carolina). Tons of "stuff" to go through with several trips to the POD unit parked outside the home (and mountains of stuff going into two very large dumpsters). We used HireAHelper to move the big stuff (heavy furniture) into the POD unit. After about two weeks, the POD was ready to move to North Carolina. The unit arrived in excellent condition per the estimated timeframe. We again used HireAHelper to unload the POD. While it was a time-consuming move, it was relatively stress-free. I would highly recommend this method of moving to anyone having to pay for an entire household long distance. PODS is an amazing concept! Thank you!
The POD Container company was recommended to me by two friends. Booking on their website was a seamless process. I received a written and automated voicemail confirming time of arrival as 9:30am-12:30pm. So, I scheduled helpers through Hire-A-Helper to arrive at 1pm. At noon on the date of arrival, I checked the website, only to discover, that they had changed the time of arrival range to 11:15am-2:15pm. This threw my entire schedule off. I was moving my things due to a pipe burst, so the contractors needed the space the next morning. Based on the unexpected change, I had to reschedule the helpers for the following morning which caused a day delay. Also, when I called PODs Container to explain my dilemma due their change of schedule and to request pick up the following delay, they were unaccommodating - although they caused my initial issue. Regarding the pod delivery, the person who delivered the pod was friendly. The pod was clean and the estimate of how much it holds was accurate.
My pod was delivered on time and the drivers were very courteous and professional and answered all my questions about both the equipment and my rental. I would definitely recommend using pods again! Note that if you pay extra for same day delivery and pick up, it is touchy to hire movers as you don't get the times the pod will actually be ready for loading/unloading until the day before.