A1 Transfer Moving & Storage

Movers all depend on what your expectations are. My expectations are that nothing gets broken which, based on my experience with multiple movers, I’m now starting to think may be too high of a bar. I’d probably have given four stars, had my expectations been lower (realistic?) A1 ended up messing up a screw with my son’s bed, scratching a desk, stretching out canvas on a painting due to the fact they leaned a heavy wagon against it, and some other small things. However, with a $ 500 deductible, nothing could be done.
All of the movers were very professional, Peter came out personally to provide an estimate, when the movers over-​billed me for their time, he promptly sent a refund check the next day. Ultimately, based on this refund, the actual cost came in below the estimate.

Recommended by a friend and glad I used them, much less than others! Guarldo and Shanty pack my things drove it to my home from Daly City to Benicia!
One hour to pack up, one to get there and 1 + to drive up, one to drop it off. Efficient, hardworking and pleasant to work with them. Worth every penny!

We have moved many times through the years and it is hard to find good movers. This entire team was great. Peter came to quote the job and was responsive from the start. Charlie was our moving lead and Alfredo our packing lead. Both excellent. They took extreme care with furniture and for the few small nicks sent someone to repair them the next day. I would highly recommend.

Short and sweet:
We had some items to transport from my mom’s house first to my place and then to another house in Monterey. The two movers showed up early, were friendly, professional, and did a great job. On top of that, Peter was very responsive when I had questions about their pricing. And their price was better than the other companies we contacted. By far.

This move was amazing. Our goal was to move my wife’s and my stuff and furniture from our ground floor 2-​bedroom apartment across the bay into a 2^nd floor place in the mission. Peter A1 gave me a totally acceptable quote that included them packing everything up. That was one week before our scheduled move. He departed, warning me that come friday approximately 9 am, there would be movers, packing boxes.
We were excited and not a little scared. People touching our stuff! Would our things survive?
The day of our move, Peter called at 8:45 to confirm they’re coming in at about 9:30, and to make sure we were up and in the place. Sure, like we could sleep at all the night before (-:
9:30, six guys come in — my wife and I tell them which things are supposed to stay in the apartment, and what should go. We tell them we’re worried about this couch and that piece of furniture, the guy reassures us — «sit down and enjoy the show». And that’s what we did. And oh my did we enjoy seeing them perform their magic. They were amazingly careful with all our things, thorough and above all, fast. By 10:20, they were done packing that huge truck (less than an hour for our entire apartment!), and we were on the way across the bay to the other place.
We arrived at 11; and they started piling boxes and reassembling furniture. By 12:00, they were done. No scratches, nothing broken. It’s amazing. The price we ended up paying was a good hundred bucks less than the price Peter quoted, too.
Best of all, the movers told us about a fantastic taco place in the neighborhood, where we then went to get lunch. Best intro to a new neighborhood, or bestest intro to a new neighborhood?
To sum up: Before, we were apprehensive about moving. Now, were it not for the expense and the time it takes to unpack, we’d consider doing this every year. With A1, of course (-:

This is THE moving company you can completely trust. Peter and his crew are organized, on time, courteous, efficient, and very careful when they move things around. What impressed me most is Peter, who would go an extra mile to take care of you.
They helped me to move all my stuff from a house for 2.5 months, and when they move back and put everything back into it’s original place, we found out that there’re 2 screws missing from our dining table, and our bed. Peter immediately contacted the original mover who happened to be out of the country. He then called Design Within Reach (the furniture store where we got the table from) for us, and arrange to pick up the parts right away. When we were told that the parts will take about a week to arrive, Peter came back the next day to make a temporary table rubber feet so we can at least set up the dining table. He also helped to place a small device under our bed so it’ll be more stable in the mean time.
I highly recommend Peter’s A1 Transfer company to everyone. Peter is a very trustworthy and caring owner. Your precious furniture and items will be in safe hands. It’s rare enough for a moving company to not toss your stuff around like paper trash, let alone providing any customer service. A1 Transfer is just exceptional. THANK YOU PETER!!!

I’m coming to Unilocal specifically to write a positive review for A1 Transfer, they were that good.
We had a regular old moving type move, one house to another just 4 blocks away, bunch of stuff, boxes, furniture, etc. But then we also have our big Chicken Chalet, East Egg, which I’m thinking weighs about 1,000 lbs in total. We ended up cutting it horizontally in 3 pieces and moving the pieces seperately. That is the simple story…
Peter Breslin came out to our house in Half Moon Bay and looked at everything we had (including said chicken coop) to give us an estimate. He showed a lot of concern about our chicken coop, which I was in serious denial about how difficult it would be to move. I said I had a couple of friends who could help us out on moving day, no worries. He said he’d send 4 guys just to be sure. On the morning of the move, Peter called me to let me know he was sending 3 more guys because he wanted to be absolutely sure we had enough guys to cover the coop (did I mention it’s about 1,000 lbs.??) The estimate would be the same, he assured me.
The guys showed up at our house a little bit later and got moving on the furniture and inside the house stuff, which they cleared out with nice speed while we worked in the backyard to seperate the pieces of the coop. About an hour into the move, Peter shows up himself, just to make sure it all goes smoothly. Impressive. I’m pretty sure that as the owner, it’s sort of rare for him to actually help out at a move, but he totally dove right in, which made me feel really at ease. And he was right to bring the extra guys, it took about 6 to lift and move the bottom & middle sections. They did it all without making a single knick on either house or on the coop. We stacked it back up and nailed it back together and our little hens went right to work laying their lovely eggs.
In the end, they even moved the chickens and The Girls give A1 a big thumbs up (if they had thumbs). The time and guys actually went over the top estimate, but true to his word, Peter charged me only the estimate amount. I do love a business person with integrity, sort of hard to come by these days, no?
I posted a couple of photos from the Chicken Move, and I wish I could remember the names of all those strong guys, but thanks to Peter, Eddie & Freddie (one last comment… these two are brothers, and pretty young, maybe 19? They were so polite and respectful, even wiping their feet on the mat outside *every time* they came into the new house and one of them told me before leaving, that he hoped I’d enjoy my new house. How sweet is that?), Mark, Gerardo and the rest. You guys so totally rock the moving business.

We have used A1 transfer for moving exclusively over the last seven years because of their excellent and superior service. They stored our belongings when necessary and when asked, went above and beyond to accommodate our needs. We hope to never move again, but will use them if needed and recommend them in a heartbeat! They are awesome!

We used A-​1 and couldn’t be happier with our move. From the first meeting to the final box unloaded everyone was very professional and easy to work with. They even came back a couple days later to pick up any extra boxes and packaging! We will definitely use A-​1 again!

I am constantly amazing how consistent my experience is with A1 Moving. I have used them numerous times, not just for moving but also storage. Their communication is clear, prices are fair, their workers handle my possessions like it was their own. I can see why they are diamond certified!

Peter, Charlie, Simon and the other 2 – 3 guys that helped me either on the phone or at our apartment were great!
I first called the place looking for someone to move a couch from a house (on a crazy hill) into an apartment on the 7^th floor. When we moved, we did everything ourselves but we could NOT get this couch into the building. Our friends tried every doorway, elevator, entrance that they could find to get it in. It’s a brand new couch, what was I going to do?
Some friends suggested hiring professional movers to do it, maybe they knew how to angle it so that it would fit. I called 3 moving companies, Peter was so helpful, he had me email him pics of the couch, stairway, and hallway said it looked promising so I hired them to come out.
Bad news — they couldn’t fit the couch in the stairway or the elevator — too long and deep. Good news — they didn’t charge me to come out and try. I appreciated the fact that they tried to get it in, the couch just would not fit! They were nice and drove the couch BACK to where it was and told us we had one more option.
Our solution — take the arms off, then call them to come back and try AGAIN. Third time was a charm. We called them, they picked up the couch from the garage it was in, brought it up 7 flights of stairs into our living room and they were all extremely nice.
If you ever move and need movers — call these guys!

this is not about my movers who did a fine job and they’re employees who are not at fault. It’s about the management (specifically Peter Breslin) who has shady business practices. I was told ahead of time there was a $ 15 fuel fee (ok), I was told $ 100/​hr (ok), and 30 minutes or $ 50 for the return trip for the drivers (ok).
I was NOT told I’m charged by 30 minute increments. The movers arrived at 11:45 (15 minutes before our agreed upon time of noon) and finished 1:45 exactly. So that’s easy math…2 hrs! Right? wrong! I was told by Peter that 30 minute increments means 11:30 to 2pm, plus 30 minutes for the return trip is 3 hours. wtf?! So if the move began at 12 noon and finished 2pm, then I would not be subject to the rounding benefit A1 receives. wow, how convenient of him to make $ 50. Next time, just charge $ 150/​hour. It would make customers feel better!

I had them move a dresser, 10 chairs, 2 night stands 3 miles away.
They wrapped it nicely and were careful about the pieces.
The guys were big but a little under powered. I felt they were straining. Perhaps they were not trained properly. I fear if I had to move a large armoire, they would need one more person. Did not have traffic cones in the truck.
Arrived on time!
Answered my phone call immediately!
My regular movers were not available on last minute notice, but they were!
I’m a frequent user of moving companies. Perhaps 2 – 3 times a year.
The bottom line is everything arrived properly, and the guys were courteous.

Moving is stressful, messy and exhausting. This time I decided to hire someone to help me pack and unpack in addition to the obvious heavy lifting. A1 was great. They packed up most of my 2br home in a few hours and then did a rough unpack after the move. This got me out of boxes a lot sooner than I would have on my own. I rented reusable crates and A1 as willing to use them. I can’t say everything was *perfect* but moving never is. Thank you A1!

I hired these guys over the weekend to move me approximately 1 mile. Not far, but I have a lot of crap and the thought of doing it myself scared the bajeezus out of me.
Truly a great experience, from the moment I called to make the appointment, to the final minutes when signing the paperwork and forking over the cash. Mark and Simon were my men in shining armor that day, working tirelessly in the rain, climbing wet stairs, never complaining about my shitty packing job, always joking with each other, laughing and keeping me informed about every detail that could be of concern. They treated my items more delicately than I even would, ensuring that everything would be secure, protected and arrive in one piece. Very professional, courteous and just down-​right friendly, awesome guys.
In the end, I paid less than I was quoted in less time than was estimated. These guys are rock stars and I would recommend them to anyone!

A1 Transfer has moved me two times, once in 2006 and 2010. Peter came to my house to give me a quote. Some of the same staff showed up that moved me the first time. The crew was very fast, friendly and professional. I had absolutely no problems and would use them again.

I needed assistance unloading a PODS storage unit and moving my furniture into a condo building that is Very Particular About Move Ins. I used A1 Transfer for the job.
The man on the phone, Peter, was easy to get ahold of and was flexible in booking a time. The crew showed up on time and worked hard throughout the move in.
The one screw up was when a crew member unloaded a dolly in a way that left it imbalanced, which resulted in a number of my items toppling over, causing damage to a piece of furniture and shattering the glass in a piece of framed art.
Despite the fact that I had declined supplemental coverage, Peter sent his crew back to my place after getting the story, then paid for the repairs and had my stuff dropped back off good as new.
My verdict is — they’re not cheap, but I was impressed with their courtesy, hard workingness, and finally their willingness to take responsibility to fix damage resulting from an honest mistake.

We had a great experience with A1 movers! Getting the quote was easy, and working with Peter was simple and straightforward. We had two movers, Mark & Pedro, both of which did a fabulous job. They didn’t break anything, and managed to move all of our stuff efficiently despite the horrible heat.
I definitely recommend these guys for any of your moving needs.

I completely disagree with the review above. I was pleased at the beginning with the quote I was given on the phone. All good right? Until they finish the work and then present me with the invoice that was THREE TIMES the estimate. And when I called to question them they were insulting and rude — a complete 180 from my initial conversation. This is a total BAIT AND SWITCH — BEWARE!

Seriously awesome. The «big guys» all had to have a sales person call me back the next day. They also all had to schedule an appointment to come out and see what they would be moving before they’d quote me. I can see how that could be valuable, but come on… it’s a one bedroom apartment… don’t you have enough experience in this to know how much it costs to move an apartment? Okay… so there was a storage unit involved, too, but still…
The guy who answered the phone at A-​1 was pleasant and to the point. He asked all the right questions about what they’d be moving and gave me a very reasonable estimate right then and there. I wanted to shop around a bit, but after two more calls through the yellow pages, I had had enough and just called A-​1 back and booked the move. They personally delivered a bunch of boxes the next day, followed up to make sure I had enough, and a week later — right on time — the truck pulls up with three guys who HUSTLED! They knew what they were doing, worked great as a team, and were actually very courteous. At our destination home, they placed everything where we wanted it then hustled off to the storage unit to do the same. My husband actually got a speeding ticket trying to beat them to the storage unit, but they never complained about having to wait for him to meet them there, and continued working with the same courtesy. Once the job was finished, they drew up the paperwork, calculated the hours spent on the move, and the final bill was exactly where we expected it to be based on the quote over the phone. I highly recommend these guys!