First United Moving & Storage

Buyer Beware – Dishonest and Unprofessional Company I had a terrible experience with United First Class Moving and Storage and strongly advise others to proceed with extreme caution. This company operates more like a scam than a legitimate service provider. My initial contact was with Grant, who made the offer sound like a great deal. He assured me that 932 cubic feet would be more than enough space for my 5-bedroom home, which turned out to be completely false. I trusted his professional-sounding advice, only to find out later that 932 cubic feet barely covers a small bedroom. I had already moved most of my belongings myself in a 1700 cubic foot U-Haul, which cost $2,500—significantly cheaper and more spacious than what this company offered. After I paid, I was told that because my reservation had an “open date,” it was non-refundable—a crucial detail that was not disclosed by Grant during our conversation. Only later did a supervisor clarify this. It felt intentionally deceptive. I also spoke with Brooke, who repeatedly confirmed that the space would be sufficient, despite my concerns. Unfortunately, she also seemed uninformed and unhelpful. After everything was supposedly arranged, I was told last minute that I needed to pay for an additional 400 cubic feet—costing $2,000 more—because “prices had gone up.” This was after I had already paid thousands and had most of my items moved independently. My total with them came to $4,000, and they attempted to increase it again to $6,000. When I refused, they told me that anything that didn’t fit would be left behind. The movers who finally arrived were not part of United First Class Moving and Storage at all, but a third-party moving company they contracted. My belongings were loaded haphazardly and unprofessionally, and the communication between the broker (First Class) and the movers was clearly lacking. Items I had explicitly excluded were somehow still included, leading to further cost disputes. When my items finally arrived—faster than expected, in about 10 days instead of 3 weeks—several boxes and totes were damaged, and it appeared that my items had been transferred to a different truck at some point. In summary, this company: Misrepresented cubic footage needed for the move Failed to disclose non-refundable terms Raised the price after I committed Provided unprofessional third-party movers Damaged some of my belongings And was dishonest throughout the entire process I rarely leave reviews, but I felt compelled to share this in hopes of helping others avoid the nightmare I experienced. Please do your own research and don’t rely solely on what their representatives tell you. There are reputable moving companies out there—this is not one of them.

This is this most crooked company I have EVER dealt with in my life!!! The woman that works in the “quote” department is stupid and doesn’t give anything close to what it will cost to move ALL of your belongings but will gladly give you a cost to move “whatever can fit in the room we have in the truck”. The lady that answers the phone in the main office when you find out that you’ve been s****** and call to try to fix it is a snarky smart mouth b***. I don’t care if you are moving garbage to the dump 2 miles down the road I would NEVER use this company. They aren’t worth the 1 star rating that I gave but no stars wasn’t an option.

My mother hired these people last minute to help her re-locate out of state. I wasn't able get enough people to help and I have bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Osteo Arthritis. My mother is older and cannot help move. She spoke with a guy named Steve who promised her all kinds of discounts and quoted her a price of approximately $5000. A date was set for pick up, which was supposed to be two days before closing on her house, so that we could get another vendor in the following day. He told her they had green "Box Trucks" and that they would send a crew of 5 people. Great No problem, Right? During the call, my mom expressed concerns about her 120 Year Old Antique China Hutch with the original glass. Steve assured my mom that her people were professional and would take good care of it. Note - I was present during this conversations and I was asking specific questions to Steve as well as my mother. It was obvious we were on speakerphone. Steve had said the movers would tear everything down, and set it up the way she wanted it at her new place. Sounds good right? My mother had to go to her new place in South Dakota and she asked me to meet the movers since I knew her biggest concerns. When they arrived, I knew immediately there was something not right. There was no green box truck, and there were no five guys. Instead, it was a 26 foot Uhaul and three guys. Only one spoke English. My mom spoke with the driver over the phone and asked them to start with any carpeted room since we had carpet cleaners coming in. After saying yes he would do that, guess what, he didn't. Upon arrival, I walked the driver through the house to show him the location of 4 Table Leaves and more specifically my mother's beloved China Hutch that is a family heirloom and has been in our family for 120+ Years. I informed him it is very delicate and expressed my mother's concerns about it being damaged in the move. This China Hutch not only had the original glass, but fully assembled, it had two legs under the glass cabinet that stood on the surface of the hutch top. Behind it and screwed in place was the original mirror, When I pointed it out, it was fully assembled. I did not want to disassemble or touch anything they were moving to avoid confusion. As a result, this was fully assembled and required the movers to disassemble it. While my mother was in South Dakota, First United asked my mother for a room by room inventory. Since she was unable to be there, I did the inventory. I placed a hand on every furniture item to be moved and listed it room by room. After listing everything, I walked back through and ensured everything was on the list. I sent the list once I confirmed it was correct. My inventory list had changed from the original list since my mother had sold a couch, a coffee table, two end tables and a golden colored glass top cart. There were four items removed from the original list but three items added in their place. In other words, except for about five boxes, everything my mother said was going, had been the same. So the movers begin their move, virtually ignoring my mom's request. I then had to work with the Carpet Cleaner and reschedule while the THREE men continued to work. Once the truck was loaded, I signed all the paperwork. I noticed immediately that things Steve said to my mom was untrue. For starters, the obvious. 1) Green Truck 5 Guys - UHaul and 3 Guys. 2) Steve stated that all packages and furniture would be assigned a "Bar Code Number" and scanned electronically into their system to ensure nothing gets lost. - These were stickers with numbers printed on them. There were no barcodes or Inventory Scanners used during the move. 3) I wasn't allowed to see the paperwork until it was time to sign for it and the movers would leave. 4) They did not do a final walkthrough and they did not review my original inventory list to ensure they left nothing behind. 5) They left a mess. They roll away and I find the Four Table Leaves I pointed out to them. Fine whatever, I would bring them to my mother's on my next visit to SD. No problem. I called and informed my mother that the Table Leaves got left behind. She informed the driver of this. The Move - After they were loaded, the price had been doubled from what she was originally told. A mess was left at the house I had to clean up for the carpet cleaners and the buyers since they were supposed to close the following day. I took pictures. During the move, they put a scratch on one of the walls that had been where her hutch was. This had not been there previously. After the truck pulled away, things got real shady. My instincts were right. I had previously snapped a photo of the Uhaul License Plate as my own insurance policy, but I had no idea how shady they were going to get. My mom would close on her house a few days later and it was arranged she would send payment as soon as funds were available. No problem. But then, it changed AGAIN. They were demanding payment in cash or Postal Money Orders. I knew something was up and I spoke with my mother and my brother. My brother who resides in SD was with my mother. My brother and I immediately thought it was a scam. My mother agreed and informed them they would receive an ACH when her money from selling her home was made available. They got extremely upset. They tried to insist on cash or postal money orders, and threatened to hold her stuff. After my mother said she would only do it ACH, they decided it would be good enough. They didn't like the waiting period, or the fact that the ACH could be tracked. They were due to deliver 12/21/24 and continuously stated that DOT Dictates that they have a 2 day window in which to deliver. They arrived and delivered on 12/24/24 and continued to justify themselves by saying DOT gives them a 2 day window. No problem, it was 3 Days late. They did NOT set up the way my mother wanted it, instead moved everything into a single area in the basement and brought the few upstairs items, upstairs. There were a few items going into storage that were put in the garage. Remember that Hutch? They bring in the cabinet and the base, with the two legs in the drawer, but no Mirror. It cannot be assembled without the mirror. Because I was not present for delivery, the mover tried to say that the hutch had been disassembled and there was no mirror with it. I told my mother that was absolutely not true and I personally pointed out the assembled hutch when he arrived. So now the Mirror is missing. The driver placed the cabinet onto the surface of the lower portion of the Hutch and said "See it still works". This hutch is worth anywhere from $4000 to $8000 depending on condition etc. Now it's missing its vital component to assemble it. The Moving Company was AMB Movers. The driver even spoke to another individual in Spanish. While my brother didn't fully understand the Dialect, he did get the gist of the conversation. My brother heard the two trying to blame my mother for the missing mirror. My brother is a big white guy who took Spanish in High School and had been previously married to a Mexican Immigrant, so he does understand some Spanish. Like they did when they moved the stuff, they left all of their scraps at my mother's house. My mother said something and the AMB Driver stated they do not take garbage with them. They used Bait and Switch sales tactics and nothing Steve promised even happened. I hate that I have to give One Star and that I can't give negative stars., They deserve negative stars. Both of them do,

Short version: Do not use First United Moving and Storage. You will regret the decision for the duration of your move and for months afterward. This is the worst company I have ever worked with in any capacity. Do not use their services. What First United sold as a product was miles away from what was received. There are some positive reviews of the company, especially for local moves in Florida, I cannot speak to that, but as a long-distance mover, the only advice you need is to stay far away. The key service a broker should provide in a long distance move is arranging the transit and hiring good local teams---First United fails on both fronts. They ended up charging 150% of the original quote ($3000 vs $2000) and the contractor they used (Energy Moving) was horrible (look up their reviews). As I said, this is the worst company and worst service experience I have ever had---worse than cable companies, worse than used car salesmen, worse than any customer service experience you've had. It is actually difficult to find reviews for First United on google. You may wonder why this is. They recently changed their name from "Pure Moving Company," a moving company listed at the same address. Look up Pure Moving Co on BBB and you'll see why. The Yelp reviews and My Moving Reviews for First United Moving are available if you want more confirmation to stay away. If I could only preserve one review on the internet, it would be this one. Working with this company is the worst consumer choice you can make. Additional Info: I was initially sold the product by a “manager” Travis Scott. If you read the reviews on other sites, you will see his name come up elsewhere. Below is the letter I sent to him describing my issues. In addition to what is discussed below, he also did the trick on me of promising it would be by weight then charging by the sq. foot instead. I assumed that was a confusion on my part, but it seems to be his standard practice based on reading other reviews. So, I probably gave Travis too much credit for honesty. The email is attached as a picture if you want more information.

This company participates in elder financial fraud. They will not return money when provided with evidence of this. Do not use this company by any stretch of the imagination.