Metcalf Moving & Storage

Actually the "Move" went very well. But "Consumer Beware" their initial Quote was a SHAM ! Their Estimator initially showed up at the house with his Clipboard and started listed items that had to be moved. Room by Room. After a short period, he just stopped listing items and just walked around. Also, paid no attention to items outside that also had to be moved. Here's the Deal :( The original Quote was for 1 Truck, 5 persons, 9-hours @ 256.00/HR a Total of $2,400.00 DO NOT rely on their Quotes. When all was said and done, the move ended up costing me over $7,500.00 It required 1-Truck, 2-days, 5 people each day. This was a local move. 6-miles from house to house. Everything was pre-packed by us, (no packing other than a few small loose items put into a used box), ready to go. Turns out that the Moving Crew (and Truck) were not Metcalf employees but Contracted help. No "Heads Up" from the estimator that this was going to be almost 3 times his original quote. Why I say, DO NOT rely on their QUOTE. Total Cost included Contractor charging 2 days of Port to Port from St Paul, MN to Minnetonka area.

I would never use Metcalf Moving & Storage again. The estimator underestimated the amount of packing required and the packing and loading team was upset about that. By the end of the day they were fighting amongst themselves and complaining that they wanted to get out of there for personal plans. They were also not careful in packing some delicate, high value items which broke even though I told them how they had to be packed. Antique light fixtures were forced into boxes that were too small damaging them and destroying their value and for some reason they removed the finials from my bed, never to be seen again. On the positive side, the driver and the crew that did the unloading were excellent. I was also disappointed in the insurance claim dept. Even though the adjuster approved the claim for the amounts requested, the company discounted certain items for no apparent reason. When I contacted them, they requested more documentation. After the documentation was submitted, they never responded to my emails.

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Overall, they did a good job. They had a good team in Minnesota to load all our furniture on a truck, then had another local team in California to unload them into our new home. Both teams are very professional. We have a grand piano and I was a little concern that they may damage it or lost some pieces during the shipping, but they ended up did an excellent job on both ends and the piano was re-assembled smoothly and no damage and missing pieces at all. The only thing got damage during delivery is one of my boys' shelf. a corner was peeled off. But it was made using cheap synthetic wood. I feel they did a fine job considered this a 2000 mile shipment. My only complaint is that they delay the delivery for almost a week, so we had to live in a empty house for a while. Although they refunded us a few hundreds dollars based on the contract, honestly if we lived in a hotel, the amount of money would not even be able to pay for the hotel cost. The reason for the delay is because they cannot find a driver at Minnesota during the July 4th week to drive the truck all the way to California. To be fair, as there are too many uncertainties for the cross-state moving, I still feel they did a fine job overall.

The initial estimate procedure was swift and the weight of my belongings matched two other bids. Communication was excellent due to a central person being my point of contact, before, during and after the move - when I asked when are things being delivered. The loading the truck procedure was efficient, courteous and professional. I have no complaints and it was a good experience for me. Nowadays I understand that one truck does not pick up your things and it drives to your new location - this all depends on other jobs they get along the way, in exactly the same timeframe. So initially, they presented this as the best option to me but that it could go commercial freight if no other people were moving at the same time, but in the end commercial freight was the only way to go - so I reset my expectations and everything turned out fine. No damage, and the other company who delivered the crates and unpacked them for me was also courteous and efficient and professional. Freight is so expensive and I really could not get a significantly lower bid from other movers, and in the end chose Metcalf for their efficiency of operations and personal touch - they wanted my business while other movers never even contacted me again.

UPDATE 10/06/2014: The furniture was finally delivered. They did a good job of bringing the furniture in. The only complaint I have is that we went way over our delivery date. We have called them everyday and they just have excuse after excuse for why they haven't delivered it yet. They always say they can't find a driver. We've talked to multiple people at the local shop and even people at corporate. As far as this experience has gone, I wouldn't use them in the future and I'd advise others to not use them as well.

Just fine

I contacted several movers with good or excellent ratings. Of those contacted, two performed on-site estimates. Metcalf was one of the two. The representative Ron contacted me immediately following my inquiry for services. He arranged for an in-home appointment and arrived on time as expected. He was professional and thorough in his estimate. I quickly received the full details of my estimate via email. Ron / Metcalf followed up in timely fashions without being too aggressive in their efforts to get me to select their services. Metcalf is a large company, and aligns with Mayflower moving. As such, my items would be moved with other households. As a result, Metcalf provided a bid about $800 less than the other mover I eventually selected. I chose the other option because they were able to load my belongings on a dedicated truck. Although this resulted in a higher cost, it was a personal decision. A major difference between a national and local mover is their ability to guarantee a load time. Because my move was tied to the closing of my home, timing was critical. In order to guarantee a time, Metcalf-Mayflower would have been required to charge an extra fee, which would have ended up bring the cost close to the other bid. If I were in the market for the same services, I would recommend Metcalf Moving & Storage for a long-distance move. I felt confident they would have provided a good moving experience, with a cost-effective price.

We love them. We've used them several times. A part of the cost was paid by the company. They were very personable. It may be a company I don't know but the woman on the phone is always the same and the people they sent were always wonderful. Nothing got mixed up and everything ended up where it belonged. They were very professional. We just use them often because we like them. We've already called them for a local move.

Ron Bowen wins 5 stars in our house. Metcalf moved us to two different locations and both went great. Ron helped us with both our local and national move giving us quotes before and after the packing was done. Metcalf supplied us with boxes for the local move and helped with packing on the national move. The movers were all great.

We contracted with this company 1 1/2 months prior to our move. Our sales person told us that although they have a 10 day delivery window, we should expect it far sooner. We were also told that the benefit of Metcalf/Mayflower was that the team that removes the items from our house will load directly into the moving van and they are the team that will drive it. 2 days before the scheduled move date, they told us they didn't have a driver assigned to our account. It was far too late for us to do anything about it - we were contracted with them and leaving in just a few days. They still came and boxed up our house and removed everything per the contract but moved it all into storage where it sat for 8 days. We were told they were storing it for us "for free" ... like we should be grateful when we just wanted our things delivered to us. Eventually they loaded everything into 3 containers. 2 containers left days before the last one did. All delivered 4 days past the worse-case delivery date. Quite a bit of damage. Son's bed completely destroyed (in pieces), dining room table wasn't covered yet layers of items stacked on top causing a gouge and scratches, water damage (from our "free storage") to couch, love seat, and dresser (also cuts on back of couch and love seat), family heirloom damaged (room screen that they laid sideways and had 3 layers of boxes stacked on top), and additional minor items damaged. Now we need to wait 2 weeks for an adjuster to even call to make the appointment to start our damage claim. Horrible service. Communication was consistent, I will give them that, but never a sense of accountability for any of it. They seemed to feel all of this should be expected in a move.

The move was technically fine and on schedule. We did most of the packing, but some of what was done by Metcalf seemed a bit sloppy, though no damage has been noted so far. The problem was in cost. The major parts of the estimate were based on weight and time. Both were substantially underestimated, even though we were assured more than once that the estimate was very close. The weight ended up being 65% greater than estimated even though the items to be moved were thoughly discussed.

Metcalf/Mayflower packed the truck and moved my household items from Minnesota to Tennessee. They were very careful about preparing items for loading, especially the furniture, some of which were antiques. Everything was covered carefully and protected. The movers were professional and courteous. They arrived when they said they would. They called ahead before arriving at my new home. Those who unloaded were also careful and courteous. All my furniture arrived in good shape. All my items arrived. This was the best move experience I've had, and I've moved a number of times.

I was very pleased with them. I have had none of my belongings broken, they were very responsible. The staff is so nice! The drivers are fabulous and the people on the phone are friendly and helpful. They are a bit pricy but I believe the quality of service is worth the cost. I would absolutely use them again.