Moving Equipment from Garage into Basement
I contacted this moving company to move a metal lathe and mill from my garage to the basement. In moving the equipment down the stairs they used a dirty piece of plywood to drag it down the carpeted stairs and did not cover the carpet in advance. As a result there is now dirt that I can not remove from the carpet on the edge of almost every step. I've tried carpet cleaner to no avail. When I saw this I immediately mention it to them and they laughed an said it was my problem and that it's a machine and had grease. However it's not the machine that dragged on the carpet, it was their piece of wood!
They also got machine grease on the walls which has left marks due to the acidic nature of the grease. I mentioned this and was told what did I expect, it was a machine with grease on it and that "I did not tell them it was greasy". Not only did I tell them it had grease on it, anyone with eyes could see that from 10 feet away and I specifically told them to leave the plastic on it so grease did not get anywhere. They also told me they moved another lathe and mill the previous week, so they obviously have experience with machinery that is greasy.
When I called them to complain after I could not remove the dirt with rug cleaner I was told they would not cover it and that it was my responsibility to cover the carpets and clean the machine before they moved it. Last time I checked, movers were supposed to cover your carpets. They even had the moving blankets there at the front door, but never used them on the stairs! They also nicked the wall in the workshop with the edge of the metal stand. A wall I JUST painted not two days ago. The stairwell was repainted 2 months ago. As far as professionalism, this company is suspect at best. The fact he was telling me a story about how he just came from a job where he overcharged a customer to move a cabinet and seemed proud that he screwed them over should say everything.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $364.00
- Company Response
Very tricky move - he said we should have left the plastic on the lathe. Small 600 lb lathe that was covered in grease moved to a basement, and he complains about grease on the wall. I noticed he did not offer to pay for our laundry bill - we were all covered in grease when the job was done. In his own words, you could tell it was covered in grease from 10 feet away. I should have walked from that job but I don't like to turn down a challenge, and this certainly was.
Try to get a grip on greased steel through a plastic bag and you'll know why we took the plastic off. We got it down in place - it was no easy move - with minimal problems - got to love the gratitude. We did not cover the lathe with grease - and then he blames us for getting grease on the wall??