I posted earlier about the “Move From Hell“. The following is the email I sent to the company on Oct. 15, 2015, detailing the whole thing. I am posting it publicly since the company has as of the date of posting this, not responded to my email except with a confirmation of receipt and a promise to respond to it within 15 business days (Which would have been Nov. 5.) 

Re: Sunday Oct. 4
To Whom It May Concern:

On Oct. 4th, 2015, I had a scheduled move with your company, Metropolitan Movers, for an in city move of a 1 bedroom apartment to a 2 bedroom apartment.

At the time of booking the move, I informed the person with whom I was making the booking that we had 3 large aquariums as part of the move, as well as a deep freezer. I described that our building had a loading room connected to the elevators.

I was quoted an estimate of two to four hours, but was warned that it could also take up to six hours.

Your movers arrived promptly, and got to work right away. I want to be clear that their first impression was of professionalism. They also made a point to make me aware of any existing damage right away, which I appreciated.

Despite the fact that the movers appeared professional, their actual work was completely incompetent. To begin with, they did not use their available equipment to complete the move. They carried every box with their hands rather than loading several on a dolly or flatbed, to speed up the process. When they arrived, almost the entire apartment was already packed up and ready to go, with the only exceptions being items which needed to be packed at the very last minute, such as food in the freezer.

It is true that some of the boxes were not yet fully taped, however, I do not think that this was a significant enough deterrent to justify how long the move took. Altogether, it took them 16 hours, at the end of which, the move was not even fully completed.

Despite the mover’s claims to the contrary, I did not have more stuff than fit in an apartment. It always looks like more stuff when it isn’t stored in cabinets but is instead piled in boxes on the floor. Moreover, I do not believe that there is any quantity of items that could fit in a one bedroom apartment that would justify 16 hours.

I have previously moved several times, both moving myself and with professional companies. Even before the fire in which I lost all my possessions, and when I was living in houses rather than apartments, it has never taken that long. Even in the past when I was moving myself with the assistance of one or two friends, and was completely unpacked at the time of moving, it still took less time. This despite the fact that both I, and my partner, suffer from physical disabilities that make heavy lifting difficult or in my case impossible.

Moreover, the movers basically demanded my partner help them in carrying items to the truck “in the interest of saving time”. When I reviewed our building’s security tapes, with regards to missing items I will mention later, I noticed that they were carrying in single items at a time, regardless of size, which may explain how they managed to make it last that long.

In addition to drawing out the total time of the move, they told me that they needed to do a second load, despite the fact that the truck was huge. I was prepared to believe this, however, when I looked into the truck it turned out that the items at the very back were barely stacked halfway up the truck. I took a picture of the back of the truck to show the point at which they told me that, after loading the tanks, the truck would be “full”. Please find it attached below.

When asked why they didn’t fill the truck, they told me that they couldn’t pile things on top of the bags that they had loaded first. When asked why they loaded the bags first, they provided a series of excuses, one after the other of which ended up being proven false. For example, they said that they had to move the bags because they were in the way. However, when the bags were unloaded, it turned out that they were the bags that were in the pantry, a completely separate room which were therefore not in the way.
We told the movers multiple times that the tanks had to go in the first trip because the fish could only survive in the travel buckets for a few hours. Despite this however, they loaded the truck full without packing the tanks. When we pointed out that it was essential to take the tanks on this trip, they had to unload part of the truck.
Our items were left behind in the loading room, which the movers neglected to lock when leaving. As a result, my lift-top coffee table for which we paid $260, was stolen. In addition to the coffee table, we are also missing an office chair ($90), as well as a jewelry box filled with jewelry ($150). Please advise what needs to be done in order to be reimbursed for the cost of these missing items.
In the end, I paid over $1000 for a move that wasn’t completed. $930 through credit card, and a further $170 in cash. Shortly after we gave them the cash, the movers claimed they were too sick to continue packing up my apartment. We were told that they had to stop the move so they could take one of them to the hospital. I offered to drive the man to the hospital, however, I was then told that they would be unpacking the truck first.
Both my wife and I were confused as to why they were sick enough to need to stop packing the truck with the rest of the stuff, but were somehow well enough to continue the second half of that move. Not only did they leave behind items that they had brought into the hallway, they also left behind a large couch which they were supposed to move out to the loading area, and for which I had to pay someone else to move.

In addition to leaving behind items in the hallway, they also left behind all the food that was taken out of our deep freezer. This after originally telling us that it could be left in the freezer for the actual move. As a result of their negligence, we lost nearly $100 worth of frozen food.
We hired professional movers because both my partner and I suffer from disabilities. I am on ODSP and so have to budget my money very closely. As a result of their incompetence, these movers cost me money I don’t have, both with the outrageous number of hours and in the cost of items that now need to be replaced.
In addition to the lost items, and outrageous timing, the movers misgendered my wife throughout both days. They did this despite being corrected frequently with regards to her pronouns. This is discriminatory and unprofessional, and is a matter that I hope you will address with your employees and contractors.
Please note that I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau unless this claim is resolved to my satisfaction. Moreover, I will be posting negative reviews on various social media sites and company rating systems.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Please note, that if I do not receive a response within two weeks, or 10 business days, I will be filing a claim with Small Claims Court.
Sincerely,