PODS® Reviews
The overall process was great. The only issue I had was misinformation due to moving to California. There was an extra form that wasn't explained to me. This caused a delay in pod transit. I was also not given proper information about SF street parking. Things like this should be explained well in advance so the customer has time to prepare.
Minus one star mostly because there was some drama about me needing to be rescheduled bc I would not be present to sign a waiver for a street drop off (very stressful). But I rescheduled to a week later (thank god it was available) and it went very smooth. The pod is in progress to be delivered to me in NY, so I don't have the other side delivery to rate just yet, but so far so good on the first half. The 16' container fit my 2 bedroom apartment, but I also didn't have a ton of furniture and only 1 bed. Though there still was some space left in the pod after all was said and done.
I found working with PODS service personnel very easy and simple. They were always accommodating to any changes I needed to make and provided the assistance I needed to assure a smooth processing of the job. Their service personnel were knowledgeable and courteous. I used their website frequently and found it easy to use.
PODS customer service kept me informed by email and phone regarding the times for expected delivery and pickup on both ends of the move. The drivers were respectful of the properties and very polite. I was able to obtain the original weight tickets - empty and full - which are needed for a military DITY move - by following the PODS driver to the weigh station. The POD was in good repair, clean, dry, and pest free. The small, 16ft, size was more than enough space to move my two bedroom household. I would definitely use PODS again for my next move.
Our belongings were dusty upon removal which we did not expect as we cleaned the POD before using. The charges for pick up/delivery/pick up were more expensive than we planned. Also the delivery driver to our new address was very new and he apologized for not getting the pod close to the curb. I was OK with the distance but it was problematic to our HOA.
Ordered one 16 foot container and one 12 foot container. Both cost the same. When I asked the dispatcher if there was any disadvantage to having extra space she said that things could move around if too much room. After all, we needed 2 16 foot containers and had to rent a truck to move the rest of our things. Our movers said there is no disadvantage to having too much room as they can strap things in so they won't move around.
This transportation/storage option worked very well for the size and distance of our move because we were in between escrows and had to move out of the house we sold 9 days before escrow on our new house closed. We used the largest POD for our 2 Bdrm w/ a garage condo and it worked although it was tight. Once it was loaded, they picked it up and stored it at their local storage facility until we were ready to move into our new home. The condition of the container was perfect - clean and in excellent condition. The customer service during booking, pick-up and drop-off was very professional, true to their word. We received a call with the estimated time of arrival to drop-off or pick-up the day before and they always arrived in the time estimated with time to spare. We also received a call from the driver when he was 15 to 30 mins away. I would definitely use PODS again and would recommend them to family and friends.
After speaking with several consultants at Pods, they assured me that their 12 foot container would be the ideal size for the move, I decided to get the 16 foot container based on my own instinct and it still wasn't large enough for our 2 bed 2 bath condo move. It caused a HUGE hassle on the day of the move to go get an additional storage unit, a U Haul and move the rest of the items ourselves because we had already kept our movers for 6 hours! Very displeased with their estimates.