Alliance Relocation Systems, Inc.

AWFUL. In every sense of the word. One star is entirely too generous.
Where to begin… let’s start with the basics: I am trying to move from Gaithersburg MD to Clearwater FL. I say trying because I can’t exactly move when I have no furniture or belongings at my new residence. At least in Maryland, I have friends I can rely on for couch-​surfing. So, here I am, almost THREE WEEKS after they’ve picked up my stuff and still here.
Now, let’s recap this exciting ordeal in detail…
For starters, the date they were supposed to come and load up the truck changed three times. Why? I was told that it was to minimize the amount of time I would be without my stuff. Sadly, I actually believed that since I trusted Mike, my «Relocation Specialist.» I repeatedly stressed the importance of not being without my stuff for an extended period of time, since I work from home and actually NEED many things that are packed up. He assured me everything was going to be fine. I point out that their contract states it can take up to 10 business days for my stuff to arrive, which was a cause for concern on my end. And my oh-​so-​caring Relocation Specialist assured me that it wouldn’t take near that long.
I was told the day they came to pick up my stuff (a Sunday) that the dispatcher would be calling me «tomorrow» to give me an ETA on when my stuff would be arriving. Unfortunately, «tomorrow» came and went, yet there was no communication whatsoever. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt since it’s summertime and I know moving company’s are busy so I reached out on Tuesday morning. I was then told the dispatcher would be reaching out to give me an ETA in another day or so. I then asked when he realistically thought my stuff would be delivered and was told «at the end of the week.»
On Thursday, I reach out again since I’ve not heard anything from the mystery dispatcher — and am told that there is a delay in the truck getting to this area from the West Coast due to the weather. Say what? 4 days prior, I was told my stuff would be headed to FL THE FOLLOWING DAY, so how in the world is there now an issue in a truck arriving to the Maryland area in the first place? Clearly something doesn’t add up, which I point out. Of course, there are crickets chirping… absolutely no response to that.
I then find out my stuff is just sitting in a warehouse somewhere. I ask if it’s climate controlled. No response. I demand that someone meet me there to make sure all of my stuff is OK and told that it’s «not open to the public.» Funny, I didn’t know I was «the public.» I thought I was a paying customer. But I digress…
Another 4 more days pass with no communication whatsoever. I am then told that the truck is still hung up but will be here «soon.» At this point, I’m about at my breaking point and ask if they can just return my stuff to my residence up here so that I can make alternative arrangements to get my stuff down to FL. Again, crickets chirping.
On Friday — ten business days after they pick up my stuff — I’m told me belongings will finally be loaded onto a truck and on their way to Florida. I remind him that I need to know 2 days in advance of when they will be delivering my stuff so that I can make the drive down to meet them there. And then… you guessed it. Silence yet again.
On Monday morning, I reach out and ask what’s going on. Yes, this is now two weeks and 1 day after they’ve taken everything I own. I’m told that my stuff is on a truck, that it will be arriving in 2 – 4 days and that the driver will be calling 2.5 days before he’ll be arriving. OK, great. At this point, I just want my belongings back and to live in an apartment I’ve been paying rent on for the past 3 weeks.
It’s now Thursday. And I got an email stating that the truck is in SC and has a «mechanical issue» — and that my Relocation Specialist is waiting on the dispatcher to get back to him with details. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Tomorrow will be 15 business days and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if my stuff is still sitting in a warehouse somewhere. God only knows if or when I’ll ever see my belongings again… and what type of shape they will be in if they ever show up.
This is an ATROCIOUS company, if you can even call it that. If you value your sanity — and want to try and keep your stress levels in check — stay away.
PS: I wouldn’t rely on the pictures here on Unilocal or their website to accurately describe their trucks. They certainly aren’t branded as Alliance Relocation Systems. The one that showed up at my house was white and beat to hell. Looks like a truck from another moving company that they just painted over the letters.

I would think twice and shop around before using this service. I have been working with the claims department manager, Natalie Smith, for over a year and yet to get resolution. Where to start with their issues: scheduling, lack of respect for your time with the coordinator Lenny, cost associated with the move and lack of response.

Don’t use this company, unless you want your boxes smashed. Car keys packed when the movers weren’t supposed to pack anything. They also packed the cloths I left in the kitchen away from everything that I was going to use the next day. When I call Lenny the agent I spoke with, as soon as I said something was wrong he got frantic on the phone and wouldn’t let me talk. They are very hard to get on the phone unless you threaten with lawsuit. After all this my shipment got here late. Don’t use this company it’s cheap for a reason. There are many hidden fees as well when the movers show up.

I dont want to repeat what everyone else already said so i will leave it at this… Stay far away from these scam artists. If i could leave negative stars, i would!!! Worst customer service ever. Lenny said to me «you must have rich parents with your sense of entitlement» after i called to inquire about the whereabouts of my items (that is two weeks late so far and i paid almost 4,000 to move)!!

Don’t use this people. I had somebody name Joseph Cadet that was a total jerk. When needed to make changed he didn’t want to do it. Then when wanted to go over everything he refused said he didn’t have time. The guys got to my house to pack everything they didn’t have the correct information. Even though Joseph said he already gave them the updated version so he was lying. I was charged additional $ 1400. I was also charged an additional $ 75 when the furniture was delivered damaged because they were saying it was over 75 feet to the front door. I was told this didn’t matter by Joseph in the beginning because this was a house. Also they will leave all the garbage for you to clean. I was told this was our problem by the movers. All of my boxes and bends were smashed. Brand new elliptical, nightstand, tv stand ruined. Trust me use someone else. Stay away from these people unless you want horrible customer service, rude movers, over charged and damaged furniture. I am highly pissed because most of these items were brand new. Called them about the damage of course no answer and no return call. If I could give these bastards a zero I would. I had to stop them from giving me someone else items. They have a D rating from the BBB and are not listed as being apart of the BBB because of their rating. Please use another company.

Stay away, run away… They were three weeks late, often promising my home articles were «on the way». Then the driver wanted to deliver at 10:30 PM on a Sunday night!!!
Bad news…

Alliance Relocation Systems was AWFUL. I don’t mean to repeat what EVERYONE else has written about them, but yes. They’ll quote you one thing, then you’ll end up paying an insane amount more. I was moving from DC to Chicago, and they said it would take max 7 days. It took 14 with absolutely no communication about when it would arrive.
My bookcases and dresser were both broken upon arrival. When I emailed about how i was reporting them to the BBB, they said they would give me a 10% discount on my services. Once everything was delivered, they conveniently stopped responding to emails. If I was more strong willed, I would have pursued even further, but I didn’t want to deal with these scams.
SUMMARY: DO NOT USE.

if i could give negative stars i would, 1 star is grossly overrated. i moved from Arlington, VA to Los Angeles. Lenny sold me on this being a discount company specializing in DC/​Virginia/​Maryland moves to California, and that’s why it’s so inexpensive. i asked him all the tough questions from what I’ve read about with other horror stories. he lied right through all of them and got my business.
i double checked the estimate and time of arrival. the final price was 3x’s the estimate. the movers were supposed to show at 8am, they said they were double booked and didn’t show until the afternoon, and didn’t leave until almost 7pm. all the while, Lenny was no where to be found for assistance, and the office was closed. it was only by luck of pushing any button we could that Lenny’s coworker called back. «did someone call this number?» yes! please help!
when the movers arrived in California, my boxes came from a subcontractor, which Lenny swore they didn’t use. so that whole time, all my worldly possessions were in the hands of someone, whom I had no idea. BTW that company is United Relocation Services. the movers were EXTREMELY rude, down right mean. i was charged an extra $ 350 (on top of my 3x’s inflated moving cost) for them to place my boxes on a smaller shuttle because a semi truck wouldn’t fit on my street. and like the move out of Arlington, they said they would show in the morning, didn’t show until late afternoon. since they had to rent a UHaul, they were in a mad dash to return it. they refused to place any boxes where they needed to be, they refused to set up anything (both services i paid for), and they were manhandling and tossing all my things furiously. they also refused to call out the numbers to double check my inventory, despite having moved my boxes several times along the way. to that i said, tough shit. they literally dumped all my things fast as they could, boxes came crushed, crumpled, upside-​down, and had holes smashes into them, furniture was broken, and so many items inside the boxes were broken because they were so mishandled. no tip for them! they stomped their cigarette butts out in the driveway, drove through ours and the neighbor’s yard, and raced off to return the UHaul.
and where’s Lenny through all of this? no where. he won’t return my calls or emails. so i got the worst service ever, and screwed out of utilizing my insurance to replace my items. next step may be small claims court.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. I BEG YOU! I’M SORRY I DIDN’T HEED THE WORDS OF THE OTHER Unilocal REVIEWS. PAY THE EXTRA MONEY FOR A REAL MOVING COMPANY. YOU’LL SAVE MONEY AND HEARTACHE IN THE END!

This company is terrible. It’s been 5 weeks and I haven’t heard anything about the status of my move. I have been trying to get in touch with an agent for the past two weeks, but they’ve been ignoring my phone calls and telling me to email someone who doesn’t respond. I have no idea where my stuff is or who to contact about it. Don’t use this company.

My move was interstate and I read reviews prior to hiring this company and overall they were positive, but my experience is less so. My furniture was picked up on December 12^th. I hadn’t received any information from them so I sent an email asking for delivery information on December 18^th. I finally wound up calling on the 20^th to get information. When I told them that I had sent multiple emails before getting a response I was told I should have called. I told them that I was busy and email was easier to keep track of and was told that I must have used the wrong email address, to which I said I used the email address they wrote me from. I was speaking to Joseph and when I told him I was getting frustrated since it was 8 days since my furniture had been picked up but had no idea when it would be delivered. He said of course it would be delivered, did I think they wanted to keep it? He was such a jerk I hung up and left a voicemail for someone in sales since that was the only other number I had. They finally decided to respond to the earlier emails and said that my stuff was being loaded from the warehouse and would leave soon. Since I didn’t leave my boxes in a warehouse I wanted to know where it was — they never bothered to respond to that. The delivery was made Christmas Eve in a huge truck that was clearly crammed with belongings of multiple people. The boxes I sent were almost all new and in excellent condition, the boxes I received were bent and split from being poorly loaded. The delivery man had hired a local mover to assist him. When they started unpacking they placed something that I suspected was my screen leaning on the truck and started putting stuff that was associated with a different move in front of it. I tried to tell him that I thought that it was my screen and he said ‘Lady, I’m a professional and know what I’m doing.” My bookcase was unloaded and when the blanket was removed it was clearly damaged. My bathroom storage unit had been taken apart (not in my presence when loaded), and a shelf on the screen had been removed but the screws were not there. His comment was that he didn’t load it, it wasn’t his fault. The two movers moved everything in the garage and didn’t give me a chance to look things over. When I asked the driver he was going to mark down what was damaged, he said yes, which I assumed meant he would go over the boxes to mark down damage, but he got in the cab of his truck and drove off. He did not put anything taken apart by your movers back together and did not mark down any damage I found. I called them after the delivery regarding the damage and left a voicemail and they didn’t respond. I finally sent them an email on the 31^st to follow up and was told that the move was insured and I needed to file a claim. I filed a claim on December 31, 2012, the movers called and requested that I send them pictures on January 29 — I forwarded the earlier email to them again. On February 2^nd I was notified by the insurance company that their agreement with the movers had been terminated and they would no longer be handling the claim. They indicated that the movers would be responsible for the damage. It is now April 25^th and I still haven’t received any additional information from Alliance despite multiple requests for status.

They charged almost double the estimate. Added on charges for every little thing. They were late to pick up and late to deliver. They damaged multiple items, damaged the walls at our new home, delivered a lot of items dirty, and we think their storage infested our furniture with bugs. When we tried to contact them to claim insurance on our damaged items and walls, they were completely unresponsive. Did not return our calls or emails.

Please do not hire this company unless you are more than prepared to pay more than they quote you. They swear «this never happens», but from seeing the other reviews, I assume that it is common. I will give them one star because the people who actually moved my stuff were very professional and courteous and my furniture all made it in one piece with minimal damage. However, charging someone $ 700 more when their furniture is already on the truck is completely absurd. I ended up getting an $ 85 discount after I complained. I would never do business again with someone who does business like this company. Buyer beware! Be prepared to pay a LOT more than they quote, so if Alliance seems like a great deal… think again. I did not see a lot of bad reviews when I hired them, which is why I am writing this one.

The estimate was much lower than what they actually charged us, so be careful.

DO NOT IN YOUR LIFE CONSIDER THIS MOVING COMPANY! Incredibly unprofessional and they are CHEATS. I write this to you as they are moving my stuff (finally) to its destination. First, they gave us an estimate about how much it would be to move our stuff. Then, when they pick the stuff up from the pickup location, they say it’s going to be $ 1000 more! WHAT! Then they take our stuff put it in storage until we are willing to pay it. So I FINALLY get these people on the phone and after my husband mentions he’s an attorney, they decide to give a $ 300 discount which is NOTHING. Fine, we give them the money when they finally get to the destination and then they try to charge an extra $ 75 for having to walk up the driveway! WHAT! I am like are y’all serious? I refused to pay it so then I had them bring it through the front door of the house (mind you, it’s just boxes!) and they wouldn’t even bring the stuff INTO the house. Right now my husband is working like a rent mule bringing all these big boxes in the house which is what we paid these people $ 2000 to do themselves! I’m so fed up with this place and their bait and switch. That little $ 300 is doing nothing for me. So here is their review.

Highly recommend people look elsewhere for their moving needs.
I thought my move would be very simple as it was not a lot of material, I packed most of my own things, and it was a short distance. Accordingly, I decided to go with the lowest estimate that came in, out of three companies I contacted.
I really regret that.
My movers didn’t show up until 12:30 pm on the day I was supposed to move. Phone calls saying they were «on their way» began at 7:00 am, preventing me from getting anything else accomplished that morning.
They apparently didn’t eat on the way… so they took a 25 minute lunch break (after I had to pay the tip to their delivery driver as they couldn’t locate cash and were arguing with each other over whose turn it was to pay the tip).
Naively, I paid the driver before the move was completed. He estimated 7 hours total move… it took 5. It has now been 1.5 months since my move, and multiple phone calls to the company have been ignored, messages not returned, the manager hasn’t had «time» to look at my file, and I am still out the extra $ 160 dollars.
If I had only gone with the next bidder up, I still would have saved more money than with this company. The lack of professionalism and poor customer service has only further grated on my nerves.
Oh, and even though it was a 3 mile move, they still managed to break one of my chairs somehow. Thanks, Alliance Relocation Systems!