S & M Moving Systems

We chose S&M to move my 75 year old mother after she was in the same house for 45 years. She was a bit of a hoarder and was way out of touch with anything to do with technology. We were impressed with Joaquin after he gave us a estimate including some packing and storage. My mother was demanding and asked a lot of unusual questions. We got a few other estimates but others weren’t as professional, didn’t care about our weird needs and were more expensive. S&M was patient and checked back with me regularly to get updates. I was surprised how little notice they needed to be ready. On moving day they were a bit early and were able to deal with a lot more packing than they had been told. It was impressive to watch them pack. Nothing was broken or damaged. Jesse and Victor patiently listened to my moms weird stories about plants and cats. They stored her stuff and delivered it a week later. The total charges were less than I would have expected. Pam and Debbie at the office would check in to make sure all was going well and explained any and all charges. Everyone did a great job and made the move as painless as possible. Thank you S&M

They did an excellent job on both the loading and unloading! Everyone was very polite and professional. The quote came in far below our actual weight, but they did not charge us any more. We would definitely recommend them!

I recently had a move across the country right before Thanksgiving using United/S&M Moving. The move went flawlessly. Pam and Joaquin were wonderful. The planning and coordination of the move was perfect and worry free. The move was timely and executed perfectly. Joaquin was always available even on weekends to answer any questions and it was truly a well planned and executed move.
Scott and Lee (the team that moved me across the country) were fantastic. They were friendly, professional and handled the details of the move fabulously. My belongings arrived in perfect condition. I will recommend United and S&M Moving to everyone I know. I will definitely use United again to plan another move.

Beware!!! I usually use a different company but had to use this one because they move pianos. They sent us 5 of the laziest guys I have ever worked with. These guys were terrible!!! They took so many breaks that they wasted a tin of time. They scratched 5 of the 10 pieces of furniture that they moved for us and we had a clear bucket of designer purses that they moved. The next day, I got in the bucket to use one of my handbags and all the designer ones were missing. Thank God I got the insurance. Do not use this company!!!

Despite a little hiccup of timing – which turned out for the best – our long-​distance move (LA to Northern Nevada) went swimmingly! Joachim (hope I spelled it right) was very up front and professional. Out of the 3 movers I got estimates from he was the only one who followed up with a phone call as his estimate and our moving date were pretty close! I didn’t get to talk to Pam Hicks, but my husband did and she did make a lot of calls to confirm our truck’s arrival and we were pleasantly surprised when she called to tell us our belongings will be at our new home 3 days after they picked it up (we agreed to wait for 2 weeks)!
The gentlemen who packed the truck (I’m SO sorry but I forget their names so whoever monitors these reviews please get their names up somehow!) were amazing! They packed our stuff in 4 hours and we were expecting them to be at our home from 9:00 a.m. until at least 6:00! My husband and I were doing some last-​minute packing, but the movers were going so fast we lost our «packing stations»! They were very professional and very careful despite how fast they were going. We could tell this moving team had many years of experience.
Then the gents who came to move us in were unbelievably accommodating. We had to keep our 2 dogs in check while all the dogs wanted to do is go play and get attention from the movers! Juan, the leader of the group actually transferred all of our stuff from one truck to his to complete the job for us – by himself! As tired as he must’ve been (after a snow-​storm delay and a blown tire) he was very polite, professional, but fun too. His team (Mike and Junior) were great! All of the boxes faced with the moving tag forward (made it so easy to find the couple of numbers I missed) and they made «rows» of boxes with walkways in between which made it really easy to get to ALL of the boxes. Thank you!
We were pretty organized and ready for the movers, which both sets of movers commended us, but we were nevertheless nervous. In the end we picked the right company to move us. We received a good price for A-​One service! I heartily recommend this company and if I ever need to move again, I will call them first – and consider them first too!
With sincere gratitude,
Laura Marsh

Perfect experience from start to finish!
We moved from Redondo Beach to Aliso Viejo which is considered a local move (50 miles). We chose S&M (not just because of the name… haha) after we received a thorough and informative quote from their rep Brandon Jeffery. He came to our house within 48 hours and went thru every room, garage, closet, etc to give us an accurate quote. i explained that we would be getting rid of some things before the move and offered to re-​quote if we were able to get rid of enough things. You can also ask for a flat rate for the drive, instead of the dreaded double drive time that every other local mover wanted to stick us with. They also can’t go over the quoted price (unless you acquire more items of course), but will rebate you back if the move takes less time.
Once we signed off on the quote he introduced us to Pam Hicks, the moving coordinator. Customer service at it’s finest. Felt like I was talking to Apple customer service. Polite, knowledgable, and outstanding follow up. She took the time to find the answers to questions I forgot to ask during the quote. We have a lot of stuff and required either 1 50′ truck, or two 26′ trucks. After deciding that two smaller trucks would be better, she was able to make that change with the team right away. She is awesome!
Then moving day. Four polite, english speaking movers showed up 15 minutes early to get their trucks situated. The leader’s name is Ricardo. I wish I could remember the other guy’s names. They deserve to be recognized as well. They protected EVERYTHING in both houses. We have weird white painted stairs at our new house that I had touch up paint ready for… didn’t need it. Not a scratch on anything! Nothing broken in the boxes either. They also finished 3 ½ hours early on one of the hottest days of they year! Thats for the rebate guys!
I would hire them again in a heartbeat!
Thanks S&M!
A few general tips from our moving experience:
1) If you are packing your own items in boxes… don’t buy the cheapest boxes at lowes, home depot, etc. Yes you save a dollar each box which adds up, but they aren’t meant to be stacked 8 high like they are in the van on moving day. These guys never complained because they had to be extra careful or spend more time with my shoddy boxes. Buy the heavy duty ones… period.
2) «TV Boxes» that claim to expand for a universal fit… suck. Get a furniture pad and wrap your tv before using one of these boxes.
3) Buy the «full value replacement» insurance from S&M. Since they are United contractors you can’t beat the price. We paid $ 255 with them, would’ve been $ 550 from a third party. Brandon did a great job explaining the insurance. Glad I didn’t have to use it.
4) Make sure you don’t water any plants going in the van for at least 5 days. Don’t think this needs further explanation.

These guys are great! We recently used S&M Moving Systems to move stuff from CA to OH.
Fernando and his team (Javier, Alex, and one other guy who called everyone Primo) showed up at our place on time and went to work on packing EVERYTHING.
They were super fast and efficient. Very friendly. I would totally recommend S&M Moving Systems. When we got to OH, everything arrived FAST. Everything was put into larger boxes so that not a single piece was missing or damaged.
I did not realize how well Fernando, Alex, Javier, and the other guy packed everything until I was unpacking everything.
Every single item almost was wrapped in packing paper. They even individually wrapped my shoes. And they were smart. They knew what we didn’t want to pack. like our trash can. Other full service movers have been known to pack that.
These guys were great! I would recommend asking for Fernando and his team. They get five stars!

The process was easy.
S&M was helpful in giving me an estimate and accurate in the evaluation. When I approved the estimate Armando (manager) showed up ahead of schedule to ensure there was no time lost. He directed his team to be as efficient as
The Team was curious and professional throughout, and very helpful in getting things to the right place.
I would highly recommend them to other people and I thought the price was fair for the amount of work they did.
Thank you

If you need to move from Northern California to Southern California or all the way to Vegas this is the moving company that you need. They were so professional and really cared about me and all of my things. My husband was working so it was me and the crew finishing the packing and unpacking. Moving is stressful and these guys gave me confidence in the ability to get things done. We inventoried the whole load and they would not leave till every box was accounted for. Later on, when I was looking for something, I knew it was here because we had counted it. I always eventually found what I was looking for.
I made sure that the crew had lunch both days and I was happy to tip them. This is how I move should go. I don’t want to move again, but if I did I would call them first.
Kurt Kraemer was wonderful to work with at United and made sure the paperwork was completed to my specifications. The staff communicated with me and followed through to my moving day. I am a happy customer. Moving isn’t cheap, but I’m glad I used this crew and company.

United Van Lines and associate S & M Moving Systems are top notch. We moved from Pasadena, California to Newberg Oregon and the move went extremely well. When arriving in Newberg they had two stops, one to a storage unit and the rest to an apartment. The driver and helpers were so accommodating. Everyone associated with the move were professional, conscientious, caring, and communicated with us frequently. They called or email us along the way to see how things were going and keep us informed of the process. They took excellent care of our belongings and went the extra mile to help us assemble things and placed everything in the appropriate rooms. The men that packed our breakables and other item were so hard working and diligent in their work. Everything arrived safely thanks to their packing and wrapping. A supervisor was sent to check and make sure the job was being done correctly during the packing and the actual move.
I highly recommend United Van Line, you will not be disappointed.
Dorothy Burns

S & M is the best by far. My experience with this company was flawless from the start. The communication from the company to me keeping me in the loop on when the driver would arrive, all the way to when my items were delivered to my destination. That was just flat out awesome customer service. I have used several moving companies and never had such a flawless experience like I did with S & M. I definitely recommend S & M for your moving needs!

S&M Moving Systems is TOP NOTCH! Their communication skills and efficient tracking of all my orders for my future hotel were nothing short of professional and they were a pleasure to work with (especially Jaime Catterall)!!! She helped make my life easier and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re ALL looking for right? Thank you Jaime and thank you to your team!!! I will keep you in mind on all future projects!!!
Best,
Nicole W.
Canoe Hospitality

I recently moved from Texas to California and my company booked S&M as my movers.
Firstly, I was charged for a shuttle van, although the street was wide enough to get the actual truck in. Plus I was clearly told by the agent (in an email and over multiple phone conversations) that the shuttle was cancelled.
Next, the movers who came to load my stuff, didn’t give me a chance to think about what all items to list on the high valued items list and kept talking me out of everything I thought was supposed to be on it.
When I received my luggage at the destination, I found out that I lost quite a few items and few others were damaged. I got refunded for a couple of them, but for some, I am having to contact another company for arbitration.
However, the worst experience I have had in this whole move is the hostility from the agent when I spoke to her over the phone, as I had several questions about the arbitration. I brought to her notice how difficult this whole move has been, when she just put me on hold while I was talking, and she came back after a couple of minutes and just said «Is there anything else I can help you with» completely disregarding my feedback and not answering my questions.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this moving company to anyone.

Very professional, friendly, and efficient. We’ve used S&M Moving Systems for several major moves and a large amount of long and short-​term storage. We couldn’t be happier with the outstanding level of care and service.

I’m sorry but this is the worst experience I have ever had on a move and I’ve moved 7 times in the past 10 years for med school/​residency/​fellowship/​work including across the country twice. This was a move from Los Angeles to San Francisco and I still don’t have my stuff a week later. It was scheduled to arrive today and I never got a call to say it wasn’t coming. I had to find a number and speak to someone not involved in my move to make a call for me and tell me my shipment was delayed. The entire experience has been negative, including the worst customer service you can imagine. The moving coordinator and the manager never answer their phones during working hours, don’t return emails and I have been given the wrong times and dates so far. The coordinator (Becky) is incredibly rude despite me being overly friendly to her (because I figured she was having a bad day). A manager (Garrett) seemed very nice but hasn’t been responsive to the substandard customer service I have been dealing with since I scheduled the move over 3 weeks ago.
Too bad, because I used Another United Van Lines company on my move from the NE to CA just 6 months ago and had an EXCELLENT experience with them (drivers kept us posted on their schedule, courteous, conscientious. And the coordinator kept me updated and was always available. This couldn’t be farther from that experience. These people just do NOT answer their phone. I’ve counted and in 3 weeks, of the 12 times I have dialed Becky or Garretts number, She has answered once and never returned a call and he has never answered and returned 1 call. I was calling for basic things like confirming they received my fax credit card authorization, attempting to get time frame so I could reserve loading lock, and to ask what time the movers were coming on the days they told me i was scheduled for. I cannot believe that no one has called me to tell me the movers arent coming today. I am just shaking my head in disbelief. Its 4pm and I haven’t heard from Becky or Garrett. I’m beginning to wonder if I will even get my stuff now.
Avoid this company. I dont like to write bad reviews but I don’t want anyone having to deal with this. It’s expensive and you get the customer service level of a budget mover– actually it’s WORSE. I will update once this nightmare is over.
Update: got my stuff, several items were quite damaged and when I pointed it out, he pulled out a black marker and made it worse. These are very expensive, high quality furniture pieces. One item is missing– said they left it behind and will bring it back to me. They made a huge scuff/​paint mark on the wall and put my bed back together very loosely and I pointed out that I could see a gap in the frame. My fears were confirmed. These people were not professionals in any way, shape or form. Forget United Van lines and S&M Moving. «s&m» is right. You are the «s» and they are the «m»