Applause Moving and Storage

My experience with Applause Moving and Storage was by far the worst experience I've had with a business in my life. I feel that we were blatantly lied to multiple times, and had unjustified price increases after they had our non refundable deposit. They (or who they hired) also delivered our stuff 3 days late, with some of the material water damaged. In our initial call with Applause I asked specific questions to understand the process and avoid surprises. We were told that only Applause employees would be handling our stuff from pickup to delivery and the guy bragged that Applause has hubs in all 50 states and that with Applause we were dealing with an actual moving company not a moving broker. If we deal with nearly anyone else it would be a moving broker, we were told. When asked who I should call if there is a problem he said I could call him directly, 7 days a week and that there would be no other fees. Based off of his answers we went with Applause. This was a big mistake. There was no mention of possibility of doing a video survey of stuff to be moved via phone. About 2 days before the move my wife receives a call from another person (I'll call #2) asking for more details about stuff to be moved. He raises price but says don't worry the driver will measure and price could go down. There was no mention of possibility of doing a video survey of stuff to be moved via phone. He e mails an updated bill. I notice that although it still has the first guys name on it, that it was actually e mailed from this persons [email protected]. So from another company, not Applause. This after I was told I would only be dealing with Applause. So I try to call the first guy but it turns out the phone # we had used for him before is now out of service! I then try e mailing him and get a fatal error reply. So, I call another # on the contract and they refuse to connect me with the first guy. Eventually they connect me with a guy claiming to be a manager (I'll call #3). He claims that the first guy is on vacation and that is why the phone and e mail would not work (total Bull). When asked about the e mail coming from Top Tier Moving he says they used to do business with them but no more and their IT needs to update the e mail address. When directly asked he states the person who called my wife is an Applause employee not Top Tier. He tells me if I run into any problems I can call him instead of the first guy. Day before move, I have everything packed in boxes and in my garage. I wanted to make it easy for them and minimize opportunity for any unexpected added charges. I measured the volume of all the boxes collectively, all in one pile. This is pretty easy with everything together in one pile, not rocket science, basic arithmetic. It was only 174 cubic feet. So, less than original bill and about half of revised bill. Day of move driver is outraged that I bring up that volume is below what is on contract and that guy #2 said driver would measure and could lower bill, and driver tells me that the price can only go up, never down. He refuses to take any measurements or look at my measurements. I call the third guy/#3 and of course he will not get on the phone. I ask for a call back which of course never happens. Driver also extorts "lunch money" out of us after everything is loaded on vehicle. Not sure what would have happened to our stuff if we didn't give him this. I find the Top Tier moving website and see that right on their home page they disclose they are a broker (unlike the Applause website). I call up Top Tier using the phone # on their website and confirm that the guy #2 is a Top Tier Moving employee, unlike what guy #3 had stated. The day the stuff is to be delivered we receive no call, so we call the Applause customer service # on the contract. They don't know where our stuff is and say they will get a hold of the driver and after they hear back they will call us. We call back in 40 minutes after hearing nothing (we're stuck in a hotel paying every day until we can complete the move) and they will not pickup. So, we have our daughter call from her phone and they pickup immediately. So, it looks like they don't hesitate to not take your call and / or block it. At one point while on hold, we have to listen to their recorded advertising. It says "...with Top Tier Moving...". So, either Top Tier Moving is Applause or perhaps Applause somehow sold our agreement to Top Tier. Eventually the stuff is delivered 3 days late with some water damage. Oh and the price went up again and we were required to pay in cash. I asked the final driver what company he works for. It was not Applause or Top tier but rather his own company. Anyone reading this who has any doubts about whether Applause is a moving broker or an actual moving company with their own trucks, drivers and movers, I suggest you consider the following. - Do a google street view search of the Applause address. Their website lists the address as 135 Grove Meadow Dr Acworth GA 30101. That sure looks like someone's home to me, not a moving company headquarters. - Look Applause up on the government's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA website. Google fmcsa "search mover safety and complaint records" then on first hit, click on upper left link to "Search Mover Safety and Complaint Records" and enter applause in the name cell. When I do this, one of the tidbits I see is "Fleet Size: Number of Trucks: 1". A moving company with hubs in all 50 states, not a broker, yet they only have 1 truck? Yeah, right!

The movers were excellent, friendly, and performed with complete satisfaction. I would recommend them without hesitation.

We had a really good experience. The crew that they sent was efficient and stayed on schedule. The end amount was Slightly more then the quote but overall we were satisfied with the service provided.

The company was very accommodating the movers well very polite and respectful I’ve been searching for movers for a week and there price was affordable staff is very nice and call you to make sure everything went well if I need to move again I will keep them in mind

The movers were professional and they were quick. I am very happy with the rate I was quoted. Definitely recommend their service.