Estes Express Lines

More of the same poor service: I ordered a Kayak from Austin Canoe & Kayak, and they used Estes Express to ship it to me. Austin Canoe & Kayak told me in an email to contact the Mobile, Alabama Estes Express office in order to schedule the delivery of the Kayak (it was required that somebody be present and sign for the delivery). On June 17^th, I spoke to a lady at the Mobile Estes office and she scheduled the delivery for June 21^st between 1:00 and 5:00 pm. So, I took a half day off work and waited at home on June 21^st until 4:50 pm. At that time I called the Mobile Estes office to check on the delivery. The lady confirmed the scheduled delivery date on their books, but then told me that they didn’t even process the kayak thru their Mobile warehouse until noon that very day, and that it couldn’t go out for delivery to me until tomorrow (the 22^nd). So, I asked her why nobody called me this morning to let me know so I wouldn’t waste a half day of leave from work. She didn’t have an answer, and didn’t even offer an apology. So, I had to ask her: if I had been her mother, would she have called me to let me know, or would she have let her mother waste half a day of leave as well? She didn’t say anything… …and that’s it people; a company that treats it’s customers the same way it would treat family deserves 5 stars. Companies that don’t care aren’t worth poo-​poo! The only reason I gave Estes 2 stars is because the Estes truck driver was nice enough to help me carry the kayak from the street to my house, and that was nice of him.
As far as Austin Canoe & Kayak goes, they had the kayak that I wanted at the very best price. And they had a great instructional video on what to expect, and how to handle the shipment, etc. But, I hope they use their power to influence the business practices of Estes, or else use a different shipper.

Worst shipping company ever! I am so fucking furious I can’t even begin to explain to you my fury! My bed that was ordered was suppose to be here on May 31^st according to what Walmart told me. Well it’s now the 13^th of June. After countless tracking issues and calling the company We finally get a call last Thursday saying that we could schedule our delivery but the truck is only in the area Monday’s and Wednesday. I told the girl at the Modesto terminal that I need this bed asap because it was suppose to be delivered on the 31^st. She gave her apologizes and Did my delivery for today between 11am-​1pm. Called my grandma at 1:30 ask her if the bed had arrived she says not. I call the 855 number for the company and was placed on hold for 45 min. I hang up that call and get ahold of the Modesto terminal. Ask them where is my package well guess what they can’t find it. After another 30min on hold we found out it was on a truck for delivery but would be late and wouldn’t be delivered untold 4−6pm. Bed shows up to my house at 4:30 and grandma signs for it. I get home at 6pm to find the bed destroyed by the trucking company. Holes in my mattress, black grease on my mattress, the package held together by tape and completely destroyed. Needless to say this was my worse experience with shipping ever and I am beyond furious. I will never recommend this company. I have left bad reviews here in Unilocal and their Facebook page. And now it’s a bitch to even return this bed. Done done done.

I used SureMove to ship my items across the country. The customer service was fantastic. They provided a quote that beat everyone else and promised the fastest shipping time.
The truck dropped the trailer right on schedule and picked it up on-​time. They said it would take 6 – 8 business days, but it made it in less than five. Estes had no problem holding the shipment until the agreed drop off and even picked up the trailer early after unloading took shorter than expected.
Only recommendation is to securely pack your items. The trailers aren’t air-​ride so things can bounce a lot. I would definitely use again.

I would give them 0 if that was Possible! You can’t get in touch with them without waiting on hold 20 minutes. I was promised 24 hrs after it arrived. Took off work. Then they told me it would be 48 hrs. another day off work. Now they call me and say their truck doesn’t fit through a bridge and their are no alternate routes? Really I live in the center of Chicago! Now they are saying another day!!! WTF! Don’t EVER use this company!!!

horrible company, rude drivers and delivered a safe to my house twice and both times they came damaged, and not just a small dent, but complete damage where the product couldn’t be used. Avoid this company with all measures.

WORST SHIPPING EXPERIENCE I EVER HAD!!! They were to deliver a large aluminum custom made fuel tank. When it arrived, half of the pallet was missing and the bottom looked like it was dragged for an extended period of time on a concrete floor. The corner of the tank was half gone and the tank was not usable. There were also gouges in the top. After contacting Estes Express Lines numerous times they sent me a denial letter and when I contacted someone higher up, they sent me an email to say they still deny the claim but will reimburse at the price for scrap aluminum.

This company is dishonest and irresponsible. I’m so frustrated that I don’t think I can even go into the play-​by-​play, but suffice it to say, I would absolutely NOT recommend them. I’m honestly just surprised they’re still in business; I can only assume that it’s because they’re cheap and their customers don’t mind f-​ing over the people trying to get things delivered to them!

This is the worst delivery experience I’ve ever had. You would think that setting a delivery time and delivering furniture during that time window without an attitude would be pretty simple, but apparently, it’s more than this company can handle!
The appointment setter called me and set a two hour time window for the delivery the next day, Wednesday between 3:30 — 5:30 because I told her I would not be home before 3:30. The next day, the driver calls at 1:20 and says he is on his way. I missed the call because I was at work, but I called him back and left a message since he did not pick up after I tried calling 3 times. He never called me back. I waited for 2 hours during my appointment time and when he did not show up, I called the office, and they said the driver had attempted delivery but no one was home, and he was done with deliveries for the day. They said the only option was to reschedule. I was irritated and rescheduled for the same time the next day, Thursday. I said to the person on the phone a few times that the point of an appointment time was for the delivery to come during that time and to make sure that the driver came during the appointment time because otherwise, no one is home, and they just wasted two hours of my day. The next day, Thursday, the driver calls at 3 pm and says he wants to deliver the furniture right then. I told him my appointment time was 3:30 — 5:30 and that I wasn’t home. He just said he’ll come by later and hung up on me rudely. At 4:45, the delivery guy dropped off the furniture in front of my garage without ringing the doorbell or calling me ahead of time. Luckily my pest control guy was there and told me i had a delivery. I went outside and was able to catch him and asked him if he was going to bring the furniture inside. He said he was not allowed to bring it inside. My husband was out of town (that’s why I needed the delivery on Wednesday) and I was 5 months pregnant so I couldn’t move the heavy boxes myself. Lucky for me, my sweet pest control guy was there and moved all the heavy boxes into my house. The rude delivery guy didn’t say a word to me except that I needed to sign the paper and left. My experience with this company is that the employees are Incompetent and rude. If I had a choice, I would never ever use them again.

I don’t have many nice words to say about Estes, but I would like to say they are very disrespectful, take advantage of their employees (especially the sales people), lie, play games and corporate seems to keep these people employed. I have never met nuttier people than at Estes… aka the weight and review group, district sales managers, and other staff. Many people working here are very angry and it shows. There is constant damages, losses, thefts, and other mishaps, yet the motto still seems to be «Service is what our people deliver.» I think it is time for Estes to be bought out and rest in peace. Don’t do business here if you can help it. I do agree with the other reviews on this page… it just confirmed what I was thinking all along!

As a follow up to my review, they came the next morning & called me at work in which I asked them not to Bc I left directions on where to park & obviously no one gave them to the driver, they had cut the lock & didn’t tell me (which they had the code) when the movers came to unload they took pictures Bc all my crates were busted & stuff had spilled out. Looks like they had pressed thig up next to my section & a lot of my furniture was damaged even though it was wrapped in blankets. I left 2 messages & didn’t hear back. I will be disputing it on my credit card Bc it wasn’t delivered when promised much less damages. My movers said the bulk head wasn’t sturdy. Very disappointed in the company.

Most reviews on here are for residential services which estes is NOT known for. They are an LTL dock to dock company mainly dealing w/​industrial behind the scenes companies. Ive dealt with them for years and can say that they have good people working for the company. Just like any other service provider, you will find bad service points in the country, but they are a multi billion dollar trucking company for a reason. They take care of you if you reach out for concerns. Some ppl just dont understand the complexity of the LTL industry and our quick to jump the gun. Not all shippers are perfect. Overall though, if you are a 1 or 2 time shipper looking to move a pallet here and there, I think you would be better off at UPS or Fedex.

*No stars awarded
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH NORDICTRACK /​ICON HEALTH OR ESTES DELIVERY SERVICES!!!
Here’s my follow-​up with my BBB complaint, and the latest incompetence:
I received the return box and scheduled a pickup with Estes for ³⁄₆ between 12−5p. The NO SHOWED once again. I called the following day questioning why they NO SHOWED for the 2^nd time, and the rep told me she wasn’t sure if I had received the box. I explained to her that I was well aware that I COULD NOT return the treadmill without the box so of course I had it. I scheduled the pickup only after receipt of the box and I reiterated to the scheduling rep the first time around that I HAD THE BOX! Thus, another rep named Taz (with no last name allegedly) rescheduled a pickup for today, ³⁄₁₃ with another 5 hour window, 12−5p. I received a message on ³⁄₁₁ from a man named Chuck who wanted to «confirm» I had the box or he was not going to send out the delivery folks unless he spoke to me. I called him back, waited on hold for 20 mins, and ONCE AGAIN, explained I HAD THE BOX and that their company is incompetent if they cannot store these SIMPLE notes in their system. Now, it’s 4:45p on the 3^rd failed pickup scheduled & they NO SHOW again. Suspicious when I hadn’t heard from the company by 4:15p, I called Estes, waited another 20-​minutes, spoke to another incompetent rep named John, & heard the newest excuse for today’s NO SHOW is that «ICON» didn’t send them the proper paperwork so it’s «not their fault.» I am so frustrated that 20+ hours have been stolen from my life to wait for this incompetent company, who doesn’t even have the minimal amount of professionalism (and respect) to contact the client if they cannot make the scheduled pickup time?
Both companies are greedy, incompetent, and gross. In this economy, it’s surprising that either one of them get away with this behavior.

This was a horrible experience. They were 3 hours late and did not contact me to let me know their new time frame. They then expressed complaint about my being on a second level and said it was my lucky day, sweetheart… very offended with how they treated me. Highly unprofessional all around.

Estes Express are institutional thieves.
A company I work with had a skid of copper wire STOLEN under their care — no delivery BOL was ever signed. Despite over a dozen calls and legal threats, they only offered to pay ¹⁄₃ of the value of the copper. Only when threatened with a police report and calls to upper management we we able to recover 75% of our shipment value.
I can only recommend Estes if you are trying to actively dispose of hazardous waste. Simply wrap it on a skid, write «copper» on the side, and wait for the crooks that work in their terminals to steal it. Simple!

Agree with the rest of the bloggers. The shipment was one week late. I suspected the truck was delayed to «fill up» the trailer. I was glad when the truck is finally reaching a «break-​point» 60 miles from the final depot location and would arrive next day. When I was going to pickup, I was told that the trailer was diverted to a location which is 400 miles north. I am sure it was for efficiency reason. I will NEVER ALLOW my vendor to use Estes. Use a more predictable carrier such as UPS-​freight.

Worst. Shipping. Company. Ever. I knew I was in trouble when the truck showed up with my 157lb truck bumper. I had to help the guy get the bumper off and when I pointed out freight damage he just shrugged his shoulders. I signed the slip (my fault) and filed a damage claim with the company. Just got notification today that my claim was denied because «delivery was made clear, complete and without any exceptions, and with no indication of carrier mishandling» WHAT? My brand new truck bumper shows otherwise… not to mention the ripped packaging and exterior freight damage. FWIW… this is a $ 400 repair bill to fix the damaged package.

How do I give them 0 stars? What a bunch of a**-hats.
They called to arrange delivery. I called back, 4 times over four days before I got a return call.
The original delivery was to be at my office suite, but on their delivery dates, I’d have someone at the house. I asked how I could have the delivery made to the house. The rep got all kinds of attitude. When she finally agreed to check the price she said she’d have to call back. Yup, never herd from her.
A day later I called again, getting the same message line, so I called the main number and reached someone. She had the hardest time comprehending I wanted a different delivery address. Once she understood, she told me it would be a $ 65 charge (my office is 23.3 miles from the warehouse, my home 21 miles.) Forget it.
When the item, light enough to pick-​up with two fingers, palm up, arrive, the trucking company stopped at the loading dock and insisted this is as far as they would deliver, even though the delivery address had a suite number on it. I’d had NO notification I’d need access to our building’s loading dock.
I’m writing to the company I purchased the product form and complaining; I’ll never use them again because of this experience with Estes.

Horrible experience!!! Just like all of the reviews so far! We purchased a Sofa Sectional from Calligaris in High Point, NC. We scheduled a delivery from High Point to New York, NY. The shipment specifically requested NO DOUBLE STACKING! When the shipment arrived, the sofa sectional was stacked 3 boxes high. When it came to asking the driver to open the boxes to verify any damages, the driver exclaimed that opening the boxes was not necessary and if there were any damages to the product, to simply call them and a claim will be submitted and they would take action. The only action they took when the claim was submitted immediately after opening each box and noticing significant damage, was a denial for refund. They simply do not care for Customer Service and I hope that everyone who is considering hiring this company for their shipping needs does not do so… You will have a horrible experience…

One of our vendors used Estes for a delivery, and boy am I glad they won’t be anymore.
They needed to delivery a pallet of keyboard trays — these things go for more than $ 150 each. The driver completely ignored the dispatcher instructions to call before he got on site because it was a tricky basement delivery. My first warning that something was wrong was that the guy showed up in our 5^th floor lobby with a dolly-​load of trays. The driver was really slow (not a language barrier) I couldn’t get him to follow basic directions like «Stay here» and «Follow me.»
We get downstairs, and it turns out when he got here, he broke open the pallet, loaded a third of them onto the dolly and left the rest of them blocking the elevator — free if anyone wanted to help themselves.
The dispatcher was fine, but their delivery guy left a lot to be desired. Would not use again.

This company just shipped 5 very large pieces of furniture to me. They called me twice to let me know that I was to be home between 2PM and 6PM for delivery. Fair enough. At 1PM, I got a phone call from a neighbor letting me know that there were 5 large boxes blocking the entire sidewalk in front of our house as well as blocking the garage so it could not be opened. We live on a city street with lots of cars and people walking by on the sidewalk… Well trying to walk by. I called them to let them know that my wife was going to be home at 2PM (when they requested we be there) but could not move the boxes. They refused to send the drive back to move the boxes inside. The boxes sat outside until my wife could finally get someone to move them enough to open the garage and then help her push them inside.