PODS® Reviews
I didn't book my POD through HireAHelper, but it was an awful experience all around. 1 week before my move, I called to verify that my POD could legally be parked on the street (I had called the City of LA to find that it couldn't, despite PODs telling me twice that it could), and the representative on the phone informed me that my confirmed delivery date was no longer available and then accused me of "hacking into their system" to claim that reservation date. I think he read his system wrong because, after cancelling my order and calling back, they were able to secure my POD size on the correct date anyway. However, this was after the representative on the phone was incredibly disrespectful for more than a half hour. I repeatedly asked to speak with his manager (something I've never done before), and he refused to put her on the phone, instead issuing a veiled threat that "just so you know, this call IS being recorded." To which I responded "good! You have been extremely rude this entire time." Overall, the system is clunky, requiring multiple parking spaces to deliver and pick up the POD. The delivery guy at my new apartment was also rude and dropped off my full POD off-balance, which, had I been moving anything of value, would have been extremely concerning to me. Now, I know to never use PODs and instead use a company like U-Pack, who uses a forklift to deliver their containers, so you don't need 3 consecutive parking spaces for delivery and pickup.
The PODS movers were friendly and polite, and also arrived on time if not early for the scheduled drop-offs and pickups. I had no frame of reference for the cost of this move but it turned out to be less expensive than the only other choice I considered at the time, and was much less of a hassle for me. I'd recommend this service to anyone. Just be aware that they won't ship the middle-sized PODS container long-distance; my belongings BARELY fit in the small one; the medium PODS would've been slightly better but the large one would've been far too much.
When we told the company that we had a storage unit and a 2-bedroom apartment, they said that one Pod would be enough room to fit everything. However, once the movers got to our apartment and filled up the Pod, we still had our entire storage unit and half of the stuff in our apartment left to be packed away. We were supposed to move into our apartment on the 9th and because of their mistake, we now cannot move in until the 17th. They also told us on the phone after ordering the second Pod that we would just have to pay for the Pod and that would be all, a week later we get another bill. I would NEVER recommend PODS and would NEVER use them again.
The pricing of PODS was reasonable considering I packed up and loaded the POD without knowing where I was moving, exactly. The only issue was the pickup after loading the POD. I was told they could pick up a day earlier, and that did not happen. I was told my POD would be picked up first thing on the original day assigned, then it did not happen and it was picked up last and over an hour later than they said. The concern for me was not the folks picking up the POD but the people scheduling that said one thing and then apologizing over and over for not doing what they said they could do. The incredible stress on my part was due to some legal issues and safety of my belongings. It ended up well, but not without a few days of worry and lots of phone calls to get status updates. There is not a quick turn around when getting my loaded POD delivered to my location. It worked out to the last day for a month's worth of "storage."
PODS Container services exceed my expectations of a moving company! My family is military and we move A LOT. PODS made this stressful time a little less stressful for me. They were very flexible when our dates kept changing and took exceptional care of our belongings from NH all the way to TX. Not a single item in our container was damaged over the 2,000 mile move! Thank you PODS!
Due to the nature of our move, we were forced to use a storage and transportation service. PODS website is rudimentary, and much of the communication must be done over the phone if you're moving a long distance. I have spoken to a few different representatives and never receive consistent information.