Atom Moving

Great experience with them. They are reliable and nice. They move fast and protect the furniture very well. Strongly recommend!

Moving is stressful, you deserve better. This company is despicable, atrocious, vile, corrupt, deplorable, shady, and villainous. Is that enough for you to move on? I hope so. If not, read on.
I hired them in 2009 for a move from Boston to DC. My belongings were 4 days late for a local move. Reason: The truck was impounded in NY because they drove it on a parkway that prohibited trucks and their driver had a suspended license. In DC, the contents of the truck were held hostage on arrival, and I was threatened repeatedly on the phone by the owner/​manager of the company who extorted 3X the original quote in cash for the driver to release my belongings.
The owner refused to accept a credit card, despite this assurance in the contract. I was threatened by the owner both during and after this episode.
The owner goes by fake names when communicating with customers. I ended up contacting the MA Attorney General, and after the company refused to mediate through their office and ignored certified mail requests to do so, I ended up taking them to small claims court in Brighton, MA. After the owner did not show for two hearings, I hired Chris Waites, a MA Constable (
…) to take him into custody and escort him to Brighton Court where I won my case against him. I filed jointly with another Unilocal user, (Chris D) who had the same problem. The constable we hired was armed. In order for the owner of the company to comply with the capias filed it took an armed sheriff to get him into court on the third try. But the sociopathic behavior continued. The owner of the company made inappropriate comments and gestures toward me in front of the judge. The owner won’t disclose his name and keeps removing this review through Unilocal when I reveal it.
These scammers change company names before negative information catches up with them. There are also now (as of ¹⁄₂₀₁₅ 280 filtered («not recommended») reviews of this company on Unilocal that are resoundingly negative. Pretty sure the company does its work to flag bad reviews to demote the hundreds of reviews that are in the filters.
The fact that there are a majority of filtered reviews also implies that there is some kind of a financial arrangement with Unilocal.i.e., perhaps this business pays Unilocal to filter negative reviews? I’ve queried support at Unilocal but they deny this and insist that the filtering is just part of their algorithm. Considering the disproportionate number of negative reviews continuing to accumulate in the filter, I remain skeptical.
If you haven’t had enough of this yet, read the filtered reviews.
Please do your due diligence and do not hire this company. If you’ve used them and are reading this review to get validation, write a review.
Check out reviews on BBB, look at corporate filings from the MA Sec of State website for Moving Explorer and Boston Quality Movers.
Other fronts for this company include:
If you want to pursue legal action, do it. They deserve to be OUT OF BUSINESS and management IMPRISONED for all of their impropriety.
If you are still searching for a mover, do yourself a favor — find another.
Keywords: fraud, shakedown, extortion, theft, racket, stealing, scum, scam
Update:
I was contacted by the «new owner» of the company via phone on 4÷29÷15 who requested that I remove my earlier review because, while not disclosing his name, he assured me the company was under new ownership and he was determined to put it on the right path.
I gave him the opportunity to propose a solution and offer proof of the company’s new ownership via email. The following day I received an email from a Relocation Consultant at the company.
In the email they offered $ 750.00 for me to remove my review.
I have serious doubts that the person I spoke with on the phone was in the person who contacted me via email. Given that this behavior was familiar to me (masking real names, lying, etc) my suspicions arose.
I wanted to verify my suspicions. MA active business filings for the Owner of the company that I sued in 2010 are currently mapped to Boston Flat Rate’s physical address. Even though I was assured on the phone that the company was under new ownership, the corporate filing did not support this claim.
I wish my story could have a better ending, but unfortunately their despicable practices continue — almost 6 years after my move.

I wish I could give zero stars.
Look for another company to move.
Their drivers taking their time watching soccer while on my time.
They misrepresented to me what the service was going to cost.
They lost my lamp shade.
And on top of that, when I contacted a manager to express my concern, they didn’t care. They don’t know the first thing about customer service.

I absolutely recommend them. They helped me move my furniture, store it and then move it back to another apartment. They were 3 people, Armando was there both times and he’s fabulous. They were very punctual, took care of all my things and were very efficient time wise. Would definitely use them again!

I absolutely love Boston Flat Rate Movers. I have used them three times and each time, my move was fast and easy. They always send a friendly team who takes special care of fragile items and ensures everything goes where it should. They are always on time or early and I am always very satisfied with their work. Thank you for making moving a little easier!

Do not use this company. Flat rate only means that they price according to some software program, not their quote. When they showed up, we had about 12 more medium size boxes than our initial quote (about 40 medium and large boxes, couch, lamps, bed, etc.). However they charged almost 30% above their quote. When I complained to their «dispatcher» his response to my complaint was, «we can just leave the additional boxes there». We moved all our boxes and furniture to the garage so they didn’t have to go farther than10 feet to pick up and put in truck, yet we got no consideration on cost.
Repeated emails asking about delivery to out of state go unanswered. These guys are incredibly rude, and don’t care at all about your move. Their 21 day delivery commitment is «business days» so actually it is over a month before you can force them to do anything. Hire someone else if you’re going more than next door. These guys suck.

I had a really great move with these guys and am so glad I chose them. The three movers were extremely polite and friendly, both to me and my neighbors. They loaded my stuff extremely quickly, and did a fantastic job carefully wrapping my furniture and TVs. They kept me well-​informed of their timeline, and made sure to update me when they ran into unexpected traffic delays. The move itself was as stress-​free as I could have possibly hoped for it to be, and when you add in the personalities of the movers themselves, I can’t imagine hiring anyone else for a future move.

These guys are terrible. They quote you way less and then once they have your stuff in their truck they will more than double your quote.
I scheduled a full service move from them for a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo and they charged me over $ 2k to move my stuff into storage. I had sold the couch and dinning room set and all the beds in the house so there was not that many big items left even for them to move. They didn’t even let me know until the day I was moving that they wouldn’t pack and store any food or liquids whatsoever.
They then increased my storage quote from $ 175/​month to $ 400/​month. I had told them when I scheduled the move that I wasn’t sure how long I would need the storage for since I needed time to look for and buy my next home so we scheduled a tentative move with no address for two month from the original move date. Two months past and no phone call or email notice and the day before the tentative move date they call and email me frantically trying to get an address. I let them know I am still house hunting and they charge me a rescheduling fee of $ 340 on top of my monthly storage rate of $ 400 a month.
I am so disappointed with this company. I am reporting them to the BBB. And from looking online they have already been taken to small claims court. Which I may peruse once they don’t’ have my stuff in their possession.
Don’t do business with these guys they are creeps!

They grossly underestimated my moving costs, which turned out to be $ 500 more. The worse part was after a long day of moving, I was too tired to challenge them, felt cornered and paid their outrageous price. I initially went with them because of their low quote, compared to their competitors. The other aspects of my move were satisfactory: movers arrived before their scheduled time, moved my things across statelines in a timely fashion, and didn’t break anything. They scuffed up some of my furniture, which was inexpensive to start so it’s not bothersome. However, if you have pricey items, you may want to pay extra attention to their work.

This is a great and very reliable business and I would recommend it to anyone moving in or out of the Boston area. They have unbeatable prices and great people.
My move date was pushed forward by 2 weeks and they changed my appointment free of charge.
The three-​man team was very understanding of my situation, and handled fragile items with special care. They showed up on time and moved fast! I mostly had boxes packed, and for furniture they brought big plastic blankets to cover and tape up all the furniture so it would travel safely.
Details:
From: House shared with roommates (in Nashua, NH)
To: 1 br apartment (in Boston, MA)
Time taken: 830am — 1245pm
Rate: $ 92/​hr
Team: 3 men and 1 truck
Note: The only thing I would recommend is to make sure you buy a set of Clear Tape (4) and mattress covers for all your mattresses ahead of time. They provide these for you but at a pretty high cost.

I’m going to do my best to write an objective review that will be useful, but I expect that will be somewhat difficult given the hell I’ve been through with this company. Like many other reviews posted here, I’m considering legal action against the company – or at the very least filing a complaint with the BBB. The following is a brief summary of my experience:
1. I engaged the company in Nov./Dec. 2013. Lauren answered the phone, and was very polite and helpful. The movers arrived on time on Dec. 28, 2013. The move was from Boston to Tampa, FL.
2. The movers worked quickly and efficiently. They refused to use tape I bought, saying it was the «wrong kind.» That ended up costing me an extra 150 dollars (they tape everything 800 times unnecessarily), but beyond that they seemed professional. *****This company uses flat rate per sq foot, not weight. This calculation is done by a foreign worker with limited english. Everything is based on estimates. Whatever your «estimate was,» it will no doubt be much higher. There is no way to really verify or audit anything he is doing. He essentially sits there with a sheet of paper counting the hundreds of boxes you have and estimating their sq footage. As I will show below, nothing about this company is «flat rate.»
3. I was originally told there would be a 14 day window before delivery. What I was not told, and what you will find in the boilerplate language in the contact, is that this number is 14 BUSINESS DAYS. The company took its sweet time, and did not deliver my items until mid-​late January, despite giving me verbal assurances that it would be there Jan 3^rd or 4^th.
4. While awaiting delivery, I was completely in the dark as to where my stuff was. I was only given a call as they were «leaving Boston» and was given a call the day before delivery.
5. The delivery was nothing short of a fiasco. They showed up later than promised. When they arrived, I was told that I lived «too far» from the delivery point. ****the contract only guarantees 70 feet from delivery truck to unit/​house/​apt. In apartment buildings with delivery zones, this is essentially no one. I was then charged an extra $ 350 because they had to move my stuff down 2 long hallways. All this was hidden in fine print in the contract and was never explained.
6. The delivery manager was an agent of Boston Flat Rate but is NOT an employee. He is a contractor, and a moody one at that. He whined the entire time and had a horrible attitude, making us feel like we owed him for moving our belongings in.
7. THE COMPANY LITERALLY DIDNT HAVE ANYONE ELSE TO HELP WITH THE MOVE-​IN. That’s right, they hired two people OFF THE STREET. These individuals even expressed to me that they had no experience with the company and were off the street. They were not experienced movers, and dropped a ton of stuff right in front of me. They would try to move too much and boxes were falling off the push carts left and right.
8. The company, which contractually promises to put back together furniture, gave us an attitude when we asked for things to be put back together. It was a rush job and was not done properly. It was also difficult to find which boxes had disassembled items because the original movers in Boston had failed to label anything. I ended up having to put together multiple pieces of furniture that they were obligated to reassemble. The «manager» literally rolled his eyes at me when I asked him to put back together a table.
9. A family heirloom bookcase had water damage on top. The wood was molded and buckling. I was told by the moving manager not to worry because «it would probably dry out.» The company’s HQ simply referred me to their third-​party claims department, which will «negotiate» your claim and at most will reimburse you cents/​lbs if you waived insurance. Query how that helps anyone with, say, a damaged TV.
10. The following was also observed during our unpacking period:
–things were dissembled in Boston without permission.
–Books and other items were ruined from WET BOXES. Boxes that looked like they had been exposed to high doses of water.
–Broken dishware, despite it being triple bubble wrapped and still securely in bubble wrap and tape ball. We feel this implies they were rough and careless with the boxes at multiple points in the trip.
–Screws and other hardware were taken from items taken apart and thrown in random separate boxes without labels. Some were not recovered.
–some pieces from disassembled furniture were and still are missing.
–TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, they straight up lost and did not deliver our little Nino’s cat scratcher.
All in all, the move cost almost 4k for a two bedroom apartment with no bedroom furniture. This company is COMPLETE SHIT. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

We were moved Saturday December 14 in the middle of the coldest, crappiest weather. Boston Flat Rate Movers did an AMAZING job.
From Lauran in the office to the 3 movers provided, all staff was professional, kind, patient and wonderful to work with.
The movers especially worked fast on this freezing cold day, yet carefully. Boxes were clearly marked and put in their proper place upon arrival. My old antique bed was put together for us and had to be jerry-​rigged because it is simply falling apart. The movers did a great job.
We originally hired BFRM because their rates were incredibly inexpensive and very competitive. They performed above and beyond our expectations given the relatively inexpensive price.
I would hire these guys again in a minute. The next time I move (hopefully not in a long, long time) I would hire Boston Flat Rate Movers again. Thanks Lauran and movers. You were fabulous.

I had a great experience with Boston Flat Rate Movers. I would definitely recommend them to anyone else that needs movers in the Boston area. They were very friendly and extremely fast. My move took under two hours including travel time!
The movers called ahead to let me know they were on their way and even helped me move a couch outside that wasn’t being moved.
My move was pretty much stress free and I credit that to the movers.

Hi all. This is a close one between 3 and 4 stars.
First, they aren’t a scam. We used them, and they did the job. What I noticed was that there were two websites with the same logo when I was ordering. One was
, the other had the same logo but clearly looked like a scam. So keep that in mind.
Good things: They came and packed up everything and didn’t steal anything or do anything wrong. They did a very good job packing everything; at this point doesn’t seem like anything we shipped broke (haven’t tried all the electronics, but it’ll probably be fine). They came and dropped everything off. They had 3 people for the packing and shipping, 2 on the drop-​off. The people were nice; took apart the furniture and put it back together.
Where they get you are if you go over in size, and aren’t fully prepared. We had misjudged how much we had by about 50% and they hammered us on that. Each extra little box then cost a fortune in just the new cubic feet alone ($ 500). We were law students moving out of our apartment so we didn’t have that much. The packing costs weren’t too bad (they discounted us the packing costs as the end, contingent on us giving them a tip — which was fine since we were going to do that anyway), but then all and all it was $ 2000 for the move, when we were quoted $ 1000. Tips and all may have made that higher. Still was cheaper than the others, that have perfect Unilocal ratings and are really good but are pricier, but only by $ 500 or less.
Also, they came early for packing, which of course screwed us since we weren’t ready and so had to have them pack things for us (they were getting annoyed we were so unprepared; well they shouldn’t have come over an hour early). They said they would get to our place between 8 AM and 12 PM but didn’t arrive till 4PM. And they’ll only let you know the day before when they are coming. So that’s a little annoying.
In sum, if you are prepared (have as much packed yourself as possible but the fragile items) and know exactly how much you have, and can be flexible on delivery, then they are good and the cheapest we found. If you need help or flexibility then they are less good.
For reference, we moved from Boston to Virginia.

A team of 3 movers came to the house, did everything quickly, quietly and professionally. Disassembled and assembled everything and without any hesitation or remarks. Didn’t scratch a thing of my stuff or the walls. They finished in 5 hours and I paid a very good price. The best movers I had so far !

Extremely prompt, showed up right at the time they quoted.
Very quick and efficient. Assembled everything and asked for feedback about where to put items in the new house.
Overall, very friendly and polite! No complaints here!

I used Flat Rate movers several years ago when moving from NYC to NJ, and had an amazing experience so I decided to use them again with my move from Roslindale to Allston. Ill admit, I was nervous when they showed up an hour late. But it was a crappy day — raining like cats and dogs — so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad I did! Even starting an hour late, they finished my whole move in the 3 hour window I originally booked AND they got my massive couch up into my new place. It was touch and go for a while with the couch, but they got it! Amazing.
Between the price and the service, I couldn’t have been happier.

I had an excellent experience with this moving company. I recommend them to all of my friends and anyone else that needs movers in the Boston area. Everything was delivered well and fast and on time!
In addition to this, the moving company was incredibly accommodating to my personal circumstances. They were very sympathetic to the difficulties of moving.
If I had to move to a completely new region again, I would use this company again and again.

We used BFRM’s for our local move last year. We were only going down the street but had them make a stop to pick up additional furniture at my mother’s house. They arrived on time and packed everything up safely and securely. With all of the stuff we had and the additional stop I thought the move would take longer but I was surprised when they got everything done so fast.

Do not use! Avoid! They will offer a low-​ball estimate then hold your furniture hostage until you’ve paid much more (in my case, 60% more).
Disreputable scumbags.