Movemaster

Nice, but unreliable. $ 600 move, $ 300 in damages.
I really liked Move Master until a few days after our move when I started unpacking and I began to find damaged item after damaged item. Expensive things too. My advice to you would be to put down more than necessary with the deposit because that’s the only money you’ll ever get back from them in the case of damage. The cash that you give the movers is gone, gone, gone.
To their credit, George did refund me my entire deposit ($ 145) for the damages. Only problem is that it was $ 300 in damaged items. A steel stock pot that was wrapped in bubble wrap and in a plastic bin was cracked through and through. It’s as if they threw it out of a third story window. For the life of me I can’t figure out how they did that kind of damage.
Many plastic storage bins cracked and broke. I don’t think they strap things down in the truck so when they drive the boxes go flying from side to side.
I’d say if you’re going to use them, only have them move non-​breakable items. Anything you really care about, move yourself.

The movers were super nice initially, and very fast. However, they left my TV in the courtyard of my old building. I didn’t even notice until after they had left. Thankfully, security in my building informed me it was still in the courtyard and no one had stolen it. I called the movers and they promised to use a company car to pick it up and deliver it that evening. Okay, fixing your mistake, I can forgive you. However, they never showed up and after finally reaching them hours later they mention they don’t have time to do it that night and would do it in the morning. Are you kidding me? I end up retrieving my TV that night and still no word from them the next morning. While I appreciate that they were very nice and efficient, it’s unacceptable to not right a wrong. But I guess I had already paid/​tipped them so what obligation did they have to finish the job? I HIGHLY recommend not using this company if you want all of your stuff.

The moving guys are really friendly and efficient. George was really easy to reach and organized up until the move, accounting for every single box and miscellaneous unboxed items to be tallied up for additional charges. That much was totally fair and respected.
HOWEVER if anything goes wrong with the move, you’re out of luck. Our wooden drop leaf dining table almost broke in half during the move. We tried to contact George and after finally getting in touch with him he offered to repair the table for us. It took him WEEKS to finally pick up the table, and when we got the table back, it was still in an awful condition. I could have super-​glued it better myself. When we tried to get back in touch with George with complaints, he was totally MIA.
We paid what we thought was a premium for reliable movers to move our small list of belongings ($ 500+ to move a 300 sq ft studio, a queen bed was our only large furniture because everything else was built in to the room). I paid to have my belongings moved from point A to point B in their ORIGINAL CONDITION. Not to end up with broken/​damaged items at the end of the day.
NOT WORTH IT. Not if you care about the condition of items being moved!!!

I’ve given this company SO much money over the years and each time something shady is done. My storage unit was packed in the worst way I have ever seen — in such a way that it was guaranteed the furniture would be damaged. In addition, they packed my partner’s storage in such a way that the leather was ripped clean off the bed. Icing on the cake, after paying them thousands of dollars for a move, they left things of mine in their truck, including a very valuable table that I was promised would be shipped to me. More than two weeks have gone by since the promise, no table and total silence from the otherwise quick to respond George. They destroy and break your things with ABANDON. Communication breaks down when it most matters. Will NEVER use them and recommend that you do not either.

First off, I never give anyone 5 stars. Like, barely ever.
But these guys are AMAZING and so unlike typical NYC movers that I had to let the world know.
I found these guys via Craigslist and have used them twice now. Once in 2010 and once again just now (Aug 2014)
George, the owner, will work with you over email to come up with a very detailed inventory for your move and give you a flat rate based on that. It can come off as a little stern and anal-​retentive at times, but rest assured that he’s doing that so he can give you the lowest price possible.
In reality, George is a really friendly guy and is very thorough about explaining their processes and policies and — this is such a rarity in the moving world, I’ve found — he is an excellent communicator. His emails are all written in complete sentences, with proper spelling and punctuation, etc. He also responds to your emails quickly without a long wait for response times. I don’t know how he does it.
The crew arrived on time and moved everything quickly and carefully. They were very considerate about not making a mess, following our instructions, etc. They actually seemed like they were happy to be doing our move instead of going through some hated chore.
I would recommend them to anybody without reservation.

I am a REPEAT CUSTOMER.
I have now used MoveMaster twice. Once 4 years ago to move a low-​level amount of boxes and furniture to a new apartment. The second time was 2 weeks ago, when I had to move a HIGH level amount of boxes and furniture.
Not only are these guys thorough (get ready to measure everything, and count your boxes!) but their rates are pretty good comparing to other movers out there.
They were prompt both times, quick!, nice, polite, good with handling my furniture, and again THOROUGH which allowed for them to properly plan for my move. Even when I had about 20 more boxes than I thought (WOOPS) they didn’t get mad — they were professional about it, and figured out a way to make it work in the load (and while they did charge me extra for 20 more boxes, I of course expected it…)
I really can’t say enough great things about them. They communicated well, were nice guys, and did the job well. I’ve used them twice — and would def go back again for my next move.
BTW — They accept credit cards for deposit — but the balance needs to be paid in cash. Just fyi.

I was referred to Movemaster by two friends, one of whom has used them four or five times, and they were absolutely as good they had said. Movemaster did both my packing and my move, and they did a great job.
The guys on both teams were on time, efficient, and very careful. They were also really friendly and pleasant to work with.
My move was a little strange because I was moving for a friend overseas. George in the office was incredibly patient as we gathered the details necessary for a quote.

I had SUCH a great experience with these guys and recommend them regularly to any friends who are moving. Very affordable and detail-​oriented. You have to be prepared to give them very detailed information about the amount of items you’re moving, but it’s worth it as they are then able to give you an exact amount that doesn’t change when they show up. There is great communication with the company owner before the move. On time, very friendly and helpful guys. Not a single thing broke during my move from NJ to NYC.

I recently moved from a second floor walk-​up to a fifth floor walk-​up with a rather winding set of stairs on the first floor. They were able to pack up the truck and move all my stuff with in a few hours. Nothing was damaged and the movers were unfailingly nice. I’d definitely use them again.
It’s bit of a challenge to estimate just how much stuff you’ll have before packing it all up, but the guy running it is very responsive to email and I was able to update him when I had three more boxes than I thought I would.

The devil is in the details. The fine folks running Movemaster definitely know that. And so does my inbox. I swear, you NEED to get in touch with these guys just so you can see the level of information they pull out of you. Down to the exact number of stoop stairs, everything is meticulously analyzed to give you a pretty fair price.
On the day of the move, there was an extra mover (which I guess you can say was thrown in for free — until I had to tip more) and things went like clockwork. They disassembled and reassembled my ikea bed quickly and efficiently, and everything was good except for some very noticeable scratches on the bed and the shelves.
I’m not inclined to completely blame them about that since it’s ikea and their finishing is crap/​nonexistent.
It was a relatively painless and affordable move, and the emails were both frustrating and fun.

I found these guys on Craigslist before I knew about Unilocal.If I’d read these reviews, I definitely would have stayed away, but actually I didn’t have any problems with these guys. It was a last-​minute move, but they arrived on time, loaded my stuff fast, and unloaded it just as quickly, with no gripes or add-​ons.
It seems like the people who had problems with them were moving furniture; maybe I got lucky because I was just moving 12 boxes/​suitcases. They quoted me a flat rate of $ 155 to take my stuff from Morningside Heights to Inwood, and that’s exactly what I paid. I underestimated a tiny bit, and they loaded two extra boxes without charging me extra.
That said, there are two reasons I wouldn’t use them again:
— Though the movers were nice, their van was a rickety old thing that was practically falling apart on the Henry Hudson Parkway. I rode with them, and I had to sit in the middle of the front of the van on an oil-​covered swivel chair bolted to the floor. Kind of scary, and my stuff was sliding around in the back, so if there’d been anything breakable, we would have had problems.
— No insurance, as people have noted. Here’s how they account for that in their confirmation email:
«Insurance: We do not carry insurance against damage that may occur. However, if any damage is incurred by our movers during your move, we will take care of it on the spot (this does not apply when a client is assisting instead of utilizing 2 movers as we can’t fairly determine who caused the damage). We will either send our furniture repair division to satisfactorily repair damage. If damage cannot be repaired we will reimburse up to 50% of the present value of the item. All items must be inspected PRIOR to the movers’ departure to qualify for compensation. This coverage does not include poorly packed items in boxes. We are so confident about the level of service we provide that we can make this guarantee.
Certificate of Insurance: We do NOT hold a certificate of insurance (movers who do charge 40−60% more). However, there is a loophole that almost ALWAYS works. Tell your managing agent that you have decided to move yourself with help from friends/​family/​hired helpers. Your agent may require that you leave a deposit before the move actually starts if they want some assurance that no damage will occur to their hallways or elevator (even though it’s padded for the move). By law, they cannot refuse you to perform a self-​move without using professional movers. USING THIS METHOD WILL ALWAYS ALLOW US TO PERFORM YOUR MOVE. To this end, our vehicles have no markings and our movers do not wear uniforms. If you’d like some references of clients we have moved utilizing this method, just ask. If your agent tells you that you are not allowed to perform a self-​move, you should immediately call 311, state your complaint and you will be directed to the correct city agency that handles these matters.»
So yeah, there are probably better options out there, but my experience wasn’t quite the horror story everyone else had.

Wish I’d read these bad reviews before getting involved. Recently moved to a 1br and researched all over for a good moving company. Movemaster seemed very professional and reasonable. Well, it started rough… they were an hour and a half late with no apology whatsoever. As soon as they saw my stuff they noted that I had more stuff than I had mentioned (you know when i was looking for a moving company before even packing and had to give number of boxes and their dimensions.)
Anywho, I apologized and agreed to pay a little extra. What I received was a whole lot of attitude and the comment «well now we’re going to be late for our next appointment, but we always are because people want to pay as little as possible.» (no shit shirlock; maybe investigate the way you do business.)
And still I ignored that comment and all the other sarcasm that was thrown my way. When they arrived at the destination, they had no record that it was three flights, even though I had sent that info in an email. So Mr. Grumpy, the apparent boss of the operation had a hissy fit, and sat downstairs on the phone with his manager the entire time his partner was moving my stuff.
In the end, he said that his manager was charging me $ 50 extra because I had more than I had noted. Because I’m awful at these situations, I did as they said, now realizing I was charged extra for 1 mover instead of 2, waiting an hour and a half, and a whole lot of attitude.
Somehow they still made decent time and only broke one thing. So if you want to pay a lot of money, wait around a while, and have to explain yourself to a couple punks that YOU are paying, these are your guys.

wow, reading the two existing reviews it’s like i used a completely different service! i got a quote from these guys for a move from park slope to williamsburg, one bedroom apartment. i was in a duplex so there were a number of pieces that needed to be disassembled and reassembled to get them up the stairs. their quote was significantly lower than anyone else’s (and a flat rate) plus i had a friend use them last week with good results so i booked them.
they showed up early and got right to work, fast, efficient, super careful. they dealt with the difficulties presented by my layout with ease. i ended up with ten or so more boxes than anticipated and they managed to fit everything into the truck. they unloaded even faster, put everything back together and were super polite the entire time. it was easily one of the best and most cost efficient moves i’ve ever made (and we’re talking like 12 moves in the past ten years. i would use them again in a heartbeat.

purchased an item from someone on Craigslist. I arranged for Movemaster to pick up the item from Greenpoint, Brooklyn and move it to my apartment in Woodlawn, Bronx.
Originally I scheduled the move for 10am because the person I was purchasing the item from needed to leave for an event by 12pm. The owner of the company, George Marengo wrote me the day before the move to tell me he had scheduled a move before mine and had to move my pick up time to 11:45am. I told him that was not going to work as the owners of the item had to be gone by 12pm and nobody would be home to let the movers in. He assured me in writing that the item would be picked up by 12pm, and that the movers should even be early.
At 11:15am the movers called to tell me they would be an hour late. I told them that the owner assured me the elliptical machine would be out of the apartment by 12pm. They said that the owner never conveyed that information to them, and that if he had, they would have done my move first. After they informed me they would be arriving past the scheduled 11:30am pick-​up time, I called the owner to try to understand why he did not express the time sensitivity to his movers, and countless phone calls to him all day and voicemails yielded ZERO response.
In fact, during the 11:15am call from the movers, they told me they would be there for the pick-​up at 12:15pm. After explaining to the owner of the item that they would be late, the owners agreed to stay a bit longer to wait, even though it would make them late for their event later that afternoon. 4 HOURS LATER, the movers arrived after not being in contact with me since 11:15am. The owner of the item was long since gone and I had been waiting on the stoop of the apartment for the movers the entire time.
When the movers got the item to the van, I asked if they needed to follow me to the apartment. They said they did not as they were familiar with the area I lived in. So, I told them I would be waiting at the apartment to let them in and urged them to get their quickly as I had been waiting so long for them already.
2 hours later I had called the movers and had no response. Finally after hanging up and dialing over and over, I got through to them and they told me that they had stopped to pick up storage boxes. I was furious and asked them why on earth they would stop to pick up storage boxes that had nothing to do with my move when they had already made me wait for 4 hours before picking up my item. They told me that they would «get there when we get there» and promptly hung up on me.
The movers arrived at 6:30pm to deliver the item, a full 7 hours past the pick up time. This companies clear disrepect for customer’s time and the fact that they made no attempt to contact me to try to apologize in any way is unacceptable. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OR KEEPING CUSTOMERS WAITING FOR HOURS. You may save some money by using them, but the don’t care about making you wait for 7 hours!!!