Berger Allied Van Lines

WARNING: DO NOT USE THIS MOVING COMPANY!!! Berger Allied Van Lines did the worst packing, moving and storage job for us. We moved from Austin, TX. to Denver, CO. In the past 26 years of living in Texas we moved several times throughout the state, and by far, this was the worst experience!!! Steve Sprow was our relocation consultant. We needed some storage time while we were remodeling our new home in Denver. We arranged with Steve Sprow for Berger Allied to store our belongings at their Austin warehouse for a few weeks. There is where our furniture got damaged, fabric furniture got dirty, clothing boxes were open, a fire-​pit got lost, our belongings were mistreated, several heavy plastic totes were mishandled and broken, we received dented boxes and lots of damaged items. My husband’s Triathlon bike (over $ 4000) bike was mysteriously misplaced. The bike was packed, by Allied, and left my house in Austin with the rest of our belongings. Four weeks later the bike was missing. The bike has not been found and we filed a complaint with Allied Van Lines on November 24, 2015 and we are still waiting for answers. The packing of the lamps was a disaster! Lamps were broken, lamps shades bent and damaged, leather furniture scratched, desks dented and scratched, pictures and mirhrors were NOT packed well and of course we got a lot of broken glass. Wardrobe boxes were used to pack miscellaneous items, just piled up inside the boxes, lamps were packed with heavy items, so the lamps broke. It is so frustrating and sad that you work so hard to be able to buy nice things and in 30 days we got so much damaged items and furniture. On top of that they delivered a large bag of Little Tykes that is NOT ours. The delivery driver said that he could not take it back, that it was not his responsibility, so we had to keep it. When we asked our delivery driver about all the damaged boxes, clothing boxes cut in half their size and what had happened with them, he said that he found everything like that at the warehouse. That every thing was piled up, in the middle of the floor, like if it was a dumpster. He told us that none of our furniture was wrapped in blankets, and that he had to close all the open boxes to be able to load them into his truck. The delivery driver said that he did NOT want to take this load in Austin because he knew that he would be in trouble due to all the damage items. He didn’t want to be blamed for the open boxes and damaged furniture and he took photos for himself to be on the safe side if he was questioned later. We asked him about the box with triathlon bike, and he said that it was NOT at the warehouse, that he looked and couldn’t find it. We called our moving coordinator Heather Malan on the same day our belongings were being delivered, and told her how unhappy we were with the service and she told us to file a claim. We asked her to check with the warehouse about the misplaced bike and fire-​pit, and after 2 weeks she said that more than likely they were lost. I also contacted Steve Sprow, my agent in Austin, Texas and he said that we needed to follow up with Heather Mallan and file a claim, We were told we have 9 months to go through our boxes and file a claim. When we contracted the service we were told that all our belongings were going to the warehouse and that they were going to stay in the truck container that picked them up from our home, and it was going to be locked. That is what we thought and we were thinking that our furniture was going to be wrapped in the same blankets for the whole move and storage time. Our belongings were moved from our house onto the truck, then at the warehouse they were unloaded, unwrapped, kept there for 4 weeks, then moved back onto another moving truck and delivered at our new home. Apparently Allied hires different local movers and each company has their own blankets, that was the excuse that the delivery driver told us. I am not sure what happened at that warehouse, but I will never use Allied Van lines again.

This is a review of the packers that Berger Allied in Austin TX used, as the move itself was ok except for the fact that they left the screws and bolts for my indoor and outdoor dining tables in another truck.
The packers packed horrendously! They used large wardrobe boxes to transport more than clothing. So I found at the bottom of the wardrobe which had my good clothing in it — a toilet plunger, my toilet brush, with nothing between my clothes and these disgusting things. Light bulbs were thrown in among the clothing without being wrapped in any paper or protective material.
My items which were well-​organized in my bathroom drawers — and most of them were in small storage containers –were just thrown into large boxes, completely mixed in together and disorganized. Imagine having to go through 2 boxes of hundreds of items to reorganize them.
In addition most of the boxes were mislabeled as to where they needed to go in the house.
This was just the worst experience.
2 stars for the movers, minus 2 for the packers.

I used Bayshore Moving who contracted Berger to actually pick up and move my stuff cross country. The movers were a little late showing up but not a big deal. They were very friendly and timely in loading up my stuff. My stuff arrived very quickly on the other end and was unloaded just as timely. The same guys who loaded the truck also unloaded it so they were super friendly again. Nothing was damaged and there were no hidden extra fees. This was my first time with a cross country move and it went very smoothly!

This is the worst move I have ever had!!!
The packer only packed about %60 of the house after I was told they would pack it all. They also forgot to pack several cabinets. The movers had so many little things just thrown around the truck sense so much was not packed. The San Antonio Berger office told me well they packed 159 boxes and we had estimated 160. I have the paperwork showing they only packed 121. My husband kept having to ask the packers aren’t you going to pack this after they were just leaving things behind and then when the clock hit 5pm they couldn’t run out of our home fast enough! They also said they could not pack any liquids, which it only said hazardous liquids on the list, yet they packed all kinds of liquid but wouldn’t take body lotion or heresy’s chocolate syrup all unopened. I have so many more complaints about the packers but it’s to much to keep writing.
Now for the movers, they wanted my husband to help them load in the truck so they could get out of there fast. I think for a $ 6200 move he should not be asked to help! Also we had our stuff clearly labeled what goes to storage and what goes to the house and they messed that up greatly. Once they were at the new home they did not set up anything. They left my bed and baby crib in pieces. Also because there were contractors helping unload the driver was unable to communicate with them sense they did not speak the same language. I paid more for the move sense we had stuff going into storage so they could organize it and well because they couldn’t do that I had to rent a second unit.
I am so unhappy with this move and I cannot believe the service that I have received during this move and then the horrible customer service out of the San Antonio office after the move is even more disappointing and upsetting. Once they are done you can’t get anyone to help you with this.
Do not use this company!!! I would give zero stars if it would let me.

AVOID THEM!
I used Berger San Antonio for three separate moves. There was some damage associated with the first — but they made good on the repairs. No damage with the second move. The third move involved very old and very valuable antiques. When packing them — the lead packer wanted to use only a light brown paper wrapping as padding. I asked for — then insisted on – use of the customary blanket padding. The lead packer was irate and insolent about this — and acquiesced only when I called Christine Hindsley (the Berger rep who had sold me the move) and threatened to cancel the entire move if my 100+ year old walnut, ebony and rosewood dining set was not wrapped in blankets. Christine talked to the lead packer by cell phone and instructed her to accommodate my request. Well — I won the battle but lost the war. The lead packer reluctantly wrapped the beautiful antique furniture in blankets at the San Antonio point of origination — but the blankets were nowhere to be found when the furniture arrived in Rhode Island. The lead packer had obviously removed the padding after leaving my home and before transport to the East Coast. There was a lot of damage. The professional who did the repair work on the three chairs which were the worst damaged said he was certain they had been intentionally broken. No doubt about this in my mind! Ms. Hindsley never returned my phone calls and never responded to any of my e-​mails. My complaints to Ben Villareal (the San Antonio manager) fell on deaf ears. His position was that standard wrapping was brown paper — that no one should have or did authorize wrapping in blankets — and «oh so sorry for your misunderstanding». I have moved all of my household furnishings 16 times. Blankets had always been used previously — with minimal or no damage resulting. The people at Berger were incredibly dishonest in promising to move my antiques with blankets — then removing them. Worse yet — they were vindictive in intentionally breaking three of eight matched antique chairs. Allied should shut them down.

I have never used a moving company before as I have always moved myself. I chose to give Berger Allied a try. They were the first company I called. A gentlemen named Steve Sprow came out (very professional) and after assessing my situation he broke out his I-​Pad and began tallying my house hold goods. By that afternoon (couple hours later) I had my quote and was very pleased. I was expecting it to be a hole lot more so we scheduled my move.
On the day of the move, the truck pulled up with 4 movers on board. Jerry (the lead mover) introduced himself and I showed him around. Then they began packing up and loading. All four me. Were very professional the entire time, if they had any questions about anything, they did not hesitate to ask nor did they if I had any questions or concerns. A court times throughout the day, a very nice lady by the name of Heather called me to ask how everything was going
and to ensure I was pleased with the way things were going and give me my delivery time for the following morning.
The next day at my new home, the truck showed up right on time. Jerry came in and as to look around and see what the lay out of the house was and ask whose room believe need to who so that way he could be sure to put the right beds, night stands etc in the right rooms. They began unloading and everything flowed very smoothly and was performed in a very timely manner!!!
A particular pice of furniture that I have is over 74 years old as it was part of my grandmothers bedroom set when she got married back in 1941… with that being said, it did not even get a scratch on it!!!
The crews attention to detail was beyond reproach!!!
I would highly recommend Berger Allied to anyone!!!
Sincerely,
Joe

Had a very good experience with Berger/​Allied on a recent move from Austin to Seattle. Everyone I dealt with was very professional and courteous. My belongings arrived within the very short window that was quoted originally. Things were packed well. We did have a chair get broken, but it was repaired such that you couldn’t even tell it had happened. This was actually my second experience with Berger/​Allied, and I’d be happy to use them again for a move.

STAY AWAY! THEY WILL PURPOSILY UNDERBID TO GET THE JOB AND THEN CHARGE YOU MORE AFTERWARDS! I have moved numerous times and never had an experience like this. Not only did they charge me $ 2500 more, they damaged many of my furniture pieces and boxes. I paid for full insurance which was an additional $ 900 to have everything covered because it was being deliverd to storage. I tried filing a claim to recover such damage and they have denied the claim, saying I wasn’t there to sign my receipt and find all damage at the time of delivery! The sales guy Troy, told me I had 9 months to go through my items and file any claim! BEWARE, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, THESE GUYS ARE CROOKS!

Moved from Austin to San Jose August 2014
Inaccurate estimate or what I thought was an estimate. They estimated 6000 lbs turned out to be 3500 lbs. I asked if they weighed the shipment and was the estimate adjusted. Salesperson told met that was the case. That was before I signed the contract.
Turned out not to be the case; the 600 lb estimate was the final cost. So paid to move 600 lbs and they only moved 3500 lbs. They offered to refund $ 250; but then didn’t do it because I filed a BBB complaint.
Also waiting to resolve a claim with them. Two boxes were initially «lost». They showed up 10 days later looking like they had been dropped off the truck. $ 300 worth of damage. Claim is 2 weeks old without resolution.

The secretary doing the communication was great, and the movers who came to move our things were really fast and careful with our stuff. We’re not nit-​picky, but nothing seemed to be damaged in the move (knock on wood for the future). The driver from Allied was a 5-​star dude, seriously, but that is an Allied employee, not a Berger employee, so that doesn’t really count.
Mostly the whole experience was alright, except that I saw the quote for the real cost of moving on paperwork marked «PRIVATE: DO NOT LET THE CUSTOMER SEE THIS» or something similar, because it contains internal real costs versus the number you’re given in a quote. I always negotiate, but this guy must have thought we were rich kids or something. The first quote the guy gave us was TWO TIMES the real cost of the move, and then he was kind of an asshole negotiating down, such that the move cost us about 33% more than the real cost. Like, dude… I’ve had a pretty hard life. I really do wish I was a rich kid, but I’m not, so please stop trying to steal my money.

WARNING!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR YOUR MOVE… Here’s why. We recently relocated from Austin, TX to Denver, CO. We were told that we would have a moving coordinator in charge of our move once we committed to Berger. While that was true, the coordinator was not very proactive about contacting us about the details of the actual move. Our move was on a Saturday and I still have not heard from anyone about the details at Friday 5pm. So I had to call and find out exactly when the driver would be showing up and what exactly to expect. We were told Sat 8am-​10am. The truck did not arrive until after 11am and they did not start loading until after 12pm. The 3 men took a very long time to load up our house. The truck was not ready to leave until about 8pm.
Not only was that frustrating but they packed the truck in a very inefficient way, and all of our items did not fit. They told us that they would put them on a second truck that would be just 1 – 3 days behind the first truck. Our first truck of items made it to Denver on time, and only 1 item was damaged. The second truck of items however, took over 3 weeks to arrive and a majority of the items had been damaged in one way or another. They were damaged because the contents of our second truck load were just stored in some warehouse for weeks. So being moved from our house, onto a truck, off of a truck into a warehouse, moved within the warehouse, then moved back onto a truck, and finally off of the truck at our new home after 3 weeks.
The claims process was a NIGHTMARE!!! Berger Allied in Austin HANDLES NONE of this. They source it our to their national company whose policy is to NOT ACTUALLY TALK to any customers. They handle everything over email and SNAIL MAIL. It took weeks of back and forth only to be reimbursed only a fraction of what our items were worth.
Save yourself the time, effort, headaches, and money and run far away from this company.

YOO-​HOO we finally moved our adult aged son from the house, oh happy days! Son, how can I miss you if you won’t go away?
Well we were contemplating moving him ourselves and then my neighbor across the street broke both of his arms (wooden ramp collapsed) helping his sister move into an appartment and that was a sign from God as far as I’m concerned! Besides, I’m not looking for a hernia at my age.
At the recommendation from a friend we contacted David Barber and he came out to price the move and it was ONE and DONE. They showed up on time, were courteous and no broken/​chipped/​damaged items. The movers even moved a few items around for us while we sorted out where some furniture was going. The price was VERY reasonable and we were SO glad to have found them.
Moving soon? Call Berger Allied and let those strong young backs do all the hard work for you! They do commercial moves too.

I used Berger Allied for a move from Texas to North Carolina. We got a binding quote and used both their movers and their packing service. The quote was a bit less than another company we had previously used with great results (affiliated with United Van Lines), so we decided to change and try Berger this time. If I could do it again, I’d probably go back to United.
The packers did a fantastic job — they were incredibly efficient and professional. The movers arrived on time and got everything on the truck quickly. The unloading went smoothly. The workers were all very respectful, friendly, and focused on their jobs. Unfortunately, a few hours after the driver left, we realized that one item (an expensive guitar) was missing.
After this, our experience wasn’t so great. We were able to contact the driver, who checked the truck and confirmed that he had the guitar. We emailed our «move coordinator» at the Berger office on the next business day to inform her. Then we went through 2 ½ weeks where the driver repeatedly promised to ship the guitar, then just stopped returning calls. The move coordinator basically left us on our own to figure it out — she was no help at all, just telling me to call the driver on his cell phone, and emailing me occasionally to see if I’d heard anything. She described herself as «out of the loop» despite the fact that her job is… well, to to be in the loop, coordinating everything. The only action she took was to give my contact information to two other people who worked with the driver in their Houston office (without my permission), at which point I had to tell her that I expected HER to handle internal communication with HER company’s employees, to find HER agency’s driver and get him to fulfill his responsibilities.
The guitar finally arrived. Although I had listed it on our high-​value inventory before the move, told the driver twice that it needed to be carefully packaged, and emailed the coordinator saying the same thing… it was sent parcel post, no signature required, with the guitar case simply covered in brown paper. No padding, no signature required for delivery, nothing — a $ 2,000 instrument just dropped in the regular mail. The guitar was left by the mail carrier in the hallway of my apartment building while I was out of town.
Thankfully, it wasn’t stolen and there was only minor damage to the case. However, if you use Berger I would STRONGLY recommend standing there with the inventory list and checking off every single box while they unload. This is difficult to do, a bit impractical since multiple people are carrying in multiple boxes constantly… and you’ll be distracted, wanting to start unpacking and needing to answer questions about where to put stuff… however, it’s worth the effort. Clearly if something is lost or damaged, you’ll be on your own to figure it out. You want to make sure you have all your stuff and document any damages before the crew leaves.

We chose Berger to move (June 2011) from Texas to California. The company representative who gave us a quote (Wayne) was very professional and helpful. He provided us with a breakdown of the services and answered all of our questions. Even after the binding quote was given, he lets us make adjustments necessary as to what stuff we need to move.
The packers came fully prepared and they were very polite. They handled and packed all our things with care. The movers were also great. They came to our house on time and we didn’t have any issues with them. The driver even told us the exact date as to when we can expect our things to arrive in California. They will call you when they get close to your house. The driver called me 4 hours before. I felt bad though that our movers had to wait for us for ½ hour outside the house because we had to do some errands but fortunately, they didn’t give us a hard time. I would suggest to be nice to the movers (offer them water =)) because they will be nice to you and your things. Make sure to check everything when they load your things, so they won’t leave any of your stuff behind since the truck is so enormous and your things are not the only ones there.
Overall, the move was smooth sailing. We didn’t incur any extra charges after the binding quote was made. No damages on our things after the move. The price was reasonable and their service was up to par. I would recommend Berger to everybody. I don’t mind paying extra for packers. They’re very efficient and experienced. The next time I move, I will use a reputable and professional company like Berger. Beware of other companies tha will give you lower estimates but will hassle you later and call you a million times to bother you.

Used Berger Allied from SoCal to NorCal. Pieces were damaged and my 3 tool boxes were stolen.
CHECK, CHECK, CHECK off every thing on your packing list.
So the the movers who stole my tools, F#@! U! Absolutely pathetic.

Moved from Lakeland Florida and we used Berger Transfer and Storage. Everything from the salesman to the driver was great! I would suggest using Berger to all if my friends and family! A+++++

STAY AWAY!!!
This was our 3^rd major move with Berger. The first two went fine but this one is an ongoing disaster, even 8 weeks later.
They lost a box, damaged several pieces of furniture and made several large gouges in the hardwood floors at both our origin and our destination. 8 weeks later they still have not paid the claim and are giving me the runaround. I will never use them again and I hope, for your sake, that you choose another mover.

Excellent Service. I would recommend to anyone. Moved to Dallas from Austin. Driver and his crew were the best we ever had, and we have moved many times.

Recently moved from Round Rock TX to San Antonio TX and used Berger Transfer. Everyone from the salesperson Steve to the driver Gerry (?) was very professional. No damage, and the price was cheaper than the other estimates I received from North American and United.