Columbia Moving Systems

I scheduled a very last minute move on a Sat afternoon from the Bronx to Yonkers. Spoke with Mr. John and Mr. Mike to help me (since Available Movers co. left me stranded) — they set up a 4 guy crew with a big truck for a Sunday morning move.
The movers were friendly, handled each item (big/​small) with such care. The 4 movers were led by Mr. Fazli and really did an amazing job. They never complained once during the move like others that I’ve experienced.
Good hourly rate. Especially for a 4^th floor walk up, no elevator. So imagine how hard these guys worked. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this company. Call them!

If I could give these guys zero stars I would. I was warned by a friend of mine who used Columbia Movers that they go very slowly, taking forever to disassemble, move, and reassemble so they can walk away with more money at the end of the day. While I hoped my experience would be different it wasn’t.
First they told me they would be at my apartment to start moving boxes at 8am. By 8:45 no one arrived, and when I called to find out where they were the man on the phone was extremely rude. The guys were in the lobby of my building and didn’t bother to tell me that the door man wouldn’t let them up until 9.
They took about two hours to drive a 45 minute distance, adding to my bill. A bunch of things came broken and although I was told that I would be sent claims forms, they were never sent and the guy who moved me has been giving me the run-​around to avoid giving me money they owe me.
Definitely use someone else and save yourself the stress and money.

Quite unprofessional, but they got it done.
Things they did right:
— got all of my stuff to my apartment mostly undamaged
Things they did wrong:
— packed cheap things in boxes that cost more than their contents (and charged me for the boxes) despite me telling them not to
— took almost 2.5 hours (time which I paid for) to travel 1 hour of distance
— packed and unpacked the truck very slowly
— took frequent breaks while unpacking
— left my bathroom a mess
— refused to leave my apartment until I tipped them for a crappy job
— refused to accept credit cards despite advertising that they would

The saga continues. I have since received two emails and a phone call from this company asking/​telling (depends on your POV) me to remove this review. In fact, the man I spoke with said that the other poor review could be a fake as people do that and businesses do that to each other (but the same can be true of good reviews, no?). Well, my review isn’t fake. This was my actual experience with these guys and now they are threatening me with lawyers if I don’t remove the review. Nice play. Instead of responding on Unilocal and apologizing or if you believe me to be wrong, writing your view of things, you threaten me. Doesn’t NYC beat all?
Especially as the man who helped us move our items into our current residence did so BY HIMSELF and IN ONLY 2 HOURS and without dollies!!! Yes, we were blown away as well after all of the poor service we have received in NYC over the years. He never complained once and, in fact, told us that we had less stuff than a lot of people he had come across. The guys from Columbia Moving Systems definitely didn’t hold back from complaining even though they had dollies and mostly packed boxes to move and an elevator to move it in.
So, seriously, you are going to complain that boxes were heavy and that your movers smelled something bad when they drove up to my building?!? And you are going to say that you only charged me what I was quoted? That is only as it should be if I received the service that I paid for — should I applaud you for this? And might I add, in case you missed it in my earlier review, MY HUSBAND, MY MOM AND I, WITH THE HELP OF THE PODS TRUCK DRIVER HAD TO FINISH MOVING THE REMAINDER OF OUR STUFF SO THAT WE WOULDN’T GO OVER THE FOUR HOUR TIME LIMIT AS THE COLUMBIA MOVING SYSTEMS MOVERS WERE STANDING AROUND AND TAKING A SMOKE BREAK. Can I make it any clearer??? You charged me what you quoted, which I paid upfront, and then I had to move some of my own stuff. That is not why I hire movers!!!
And you are offering to return the tip that my husband gave to your movers? That is totally missing the point of my review. Why don’t you try to hire people who will do their jobs and do it well and then you will have a multitude of good reviews rather than spending your time fighting legitimate bad reviews?
The situation is as simple as this: I experience something and I review it as it happened to me whether it be a restaurant, store, doctor, hotel, moving business, etc. I will give you a good review if my experience is good and a bad review if it is bad and a mediocre review it if is mediocre. I was kind in giving your business two stars instead of one as my husband says that if he were writing the review he would have been much more harsh and unforgiving, so please refrain from harassing me into removing my review unless you have a legitimate grievance, which thus far you have not shown that you do.
(One last note: We had requested only 3 movers, not a moving truck, which they showed up with and parked where our PODS container on a truck bed was supposed to park. If there hadn’t been a parking space open by a fire hydrant there wouldn’t have been enough room to park the PODS truck, so add everything that I have said in my two reviews together and don’t give me the we-​gave-​you-​everything-​you-​asked-​for-​why-​are-​you-​giving-​us-​a-​bad-​review line. Also my apologies to Murat whose name I must have mistakenly heard as Burat as he only reluctantly gave it to me somewhere in the earlier half of our move, perhaps because he knew that by the end I would have reason to complain? Who knows, but I am done with these movers and done with NYC, thank goodness!)

These guys moved me in February 2010.
I was moving out of a 3^rd floor apartment and into another 3^rd floor apartment about 20 minutes away.
They arrived right on time and even helped me finished packing the few items i still had out.
They wrapped all of my furniture, and rebuilt everything in the new apartment. There was not one scratch on anything, and the walls up the tight staircases remained unmarked.
There were 4 guys who were very friendly personable.
Price was very reasonable as well. This was the first time i had ever used movers to relocate, and i have moved about 13 times. they made the whole process quick and worry free for me. I will definetely use them again as well as recommend them to anyone who is looking for movers.