PODS® Reviews
Did what they said they would. Quick cross-country delivery (less than 2 weeks on road). Only thing was that they had the next month rent already included in my invoices even so we had more than 2 weeks left in the first month .. a little confusing. Company is responsive and seems to be flexible (they picked up my container) a day early.
Some drivers/delivery personnel/pick up personnel were much better than others. If you have a standard, straight driveway that's paved, any driver could probably do a good job. But if you have extenuating circumstances, like limited space, curvy hard to access driveway, some drivers shouldn't be sent. Insist on the veterans. In transit and with handling, the loads shift, and with the roll up doors, if the boxes shift under the roll up part, you can't get the doors open easily.
I saw Jerald Smith, the PODS driver, three times during the delivery and pick up of the PODS Containers. The day before my scheduled pick up I had trouble opening the PODS Container door. When Jerald Smith arrived, he willingly helped me open the PODS Container door so that I could store more items into the PODS Container.
The amount shown is just for the actual move. Storage starts at about $350 per pod and came down after a few months to about $125 per pod. Operationally, PODS was great. They were on time for pickup and delivery and all operations personnel were competent and personable. Everything we wanted to move fit into two pods. Because I closed down my office months after we sold our house, we needed to get into the pods twice after they were in storage, and that was no problem. We chose PODS because their units were strong and we liked the always-level handling method, and in fact everything arrived in perfect condition, pretty much exactly as we had packed it. (Note: securely tying everything down inside with adjustable straps and bungee cords also helped!) The only issue was with accounting. As soon as we called with the release to ship, accounting put through a charge to our credit card that was slightly above our limit. They sent us an email about it, but because we were en route ourselves, we didn't get it promptly, and we never got a phone call, or we could have fixed the situation. Instead, they just kept putting the charge through every day, leaving a long string of declined but "pending" transactions. Once we realized what was happening, it took days, and hours of our time, and several demands that I talk with the accounting supervisor, before we finally got it straightened out. At one point, it resulted in our credit card account being locked. It was a stressful experience that we really didn't need in the middle of a stressful cross-country trip. Finally however, it was all worked out. We would use PODS again because they have the best equipment and great operations personnel, but we would be aware of this potential issue and manage it more carefully.
They underestimated the amount of pods we would need and that doubled and almost tripled our original quote. We had issues with some of the drivers at our final destination not wanting to move the pods where we needed because they didn't want to make the effort to put them in correctly. They also messed up delivery and pick up a few times. If we have a choice in the future, I would not use them again. Their trailers are too small. My husband used to pack trucks for FedEx, so ours was really full and done well. There was no spare space. It was way too expensive for what it is and they don't discount months if you go over the month by a few days. By the way, we had to get 4 pods for a house that is 1460 sq ft with outdoor furniture and stuff in the garage. We were also never told that some HOAs, apartments and cities do not allow them to be delivered and left overnight. Some require them to be removed in less than 4 hours or prohibit them entirely. This limited where we could move. Never again!
We had a long distance move and were very satisfied with PODS. I would have given it an excellent rating except the day the POD was to be delivered to our new address, we did not receive communication regarding our POD. I had to call three times (the last time the customer rep was very helpful) before getting an ETD. Other than that, it was a good experience.
Using a POD was perfect for this move. My only disappointment was the delay between when it was loaded and when it could be delivered to my new address - about a week. Also, the driver who dropped off the POD originally told me I ordered it backwards. No one asked me what direction I wanted it when I ordered so be sure you specify. The only things in the container are a few O-rings on some beams. No other supplies are provided.
The PODS units did what they were suppose to do. Load, store, and transport household items to the next destination. The PODS drivers do a good job. They key is to get good loaders/packers. When you hire loaders/packers, you will need to provide all the pads, ties downs, etc. If you protect the furniture correctly, it should arrive ok. My items arrived in better shape than my friends who paid a professional moving company to do it all.