Tippet Richardson

We chose this moving company because the sales rep that came to our home, who did a detailed itemized quote, stated that they had considerable experience moving and storing pianos. We have a baby grand and wanted to make sure it was handled correctly. Our furniture was being moved into storage for 3 months while a renovation of our new home was taking place.

A week before our move out of our old home I called and spoke to Fred the dispatcher again to confirm that the crew coming to our home knew what they were doing with pianos, and he laughingly told me they would take an ax to the piano and I would not need to worry any more. I guess he does not understand that moving is a stressful experience and his sense of humor may not be appreciated by everyone.

We had booked for 4 movers, 2 and 1/2 men arrived (the half being a trainee who wandered around our house aimlessly not knowing what to do and I had to give him directions to move the furniture onto the truck because no one else was). They were short staffed and the 2 1/2 men were there from 9am, backup arrived very late in the day after repeated calls to their offices, many of the calls were not returned by Randy who apparently owns the company. We had requested clothing boxes to transport our clothes to our new location. They were not on the truck and were brought later that day. Insufficient mattress covers were on the truck so our main bedroom king mattresses were uncovered. The driver was not advised that the furniture was going into storage, so he had to wait for an inventory list and stickers to arrive before he could start the move. After the move we received an invoice for considerably more than we were quoted, about 35% more and contrary to the Consumer Protection Act, which states that they cannot vary a quote by more than 10%. We called the owner and his staff and he said he was very busy but would get back to us, which he eventually did. The bill was adjusted after they realized we were not going to pay their inflated bill. It seems that the representative had under quoted on not only our move but on those of other customers and had since departed the company. Surely Abbeywood Movers would have a method of checking quotes in order to see if they are realistic. That being said the quote did not differ very much from other reputable companies that had quoted at the time.
Prior to us moving into the new home I called and asked to use the wardrobe boxes again and I was refused the use of them, being told I would have to buy them. I declined and made other arrangements, I was not prepared to buy used wardrobe boxes for a one time use. I had already spent several hundred dollars buying boxes from them.
When we were inspecting the bill on the day of the final move into our new home the driver became impatient and intimated that if we did not pay prior to them unloading, that he would close up the truck and drive off. From what we understand from the Consumer Protection Act, you cannot hold a customer’s good ransom for payment. Only after we paid the inflated amount of the quote plus a further 10%, did they begin unloading our goods. The move then went without incident and was done in the expected time frame. The only hiccup was that our 3 piece sofa was not on the truck, it had been placed in another storage pallet and was not loaded with the rest of the furniture, but the receptionist was very helpful in locating it and delivering it to us a few days later.
I would not recommend the company at all, you cannot operate a business where you don't return messages, charge what you like and think people will just pay up in order to get their furniture from storage.