soberelocation.com

Moving Nightmare

To Anyone Considering Hiring a Moving Company:If you’re planning a relocation and thinking about hiring professional movers, I urge you—based on personal experience—to avoid using a broker and never hire a moving company that doesn’t own its own trucks or employ its own drivers. These details matter more than you might think, and I hope this message spares someone from going through what we did.Here is our story.We hired Sobe Relocation, a broker based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At first, they were friendly, responsive, and offered a quote to move us from Indiana to Colorado that seemed like a great deal—too good to be true, as we would later learn.Sobe Relocation subcontracted the move to Best Moving Service, a company supposedly based in Denver, Colorado. In hindsight, this should’ve raised immediate concerns. The company has no website, no verifiable presence online, and uses a generic Gmail address. It is nearly impossible to find legitimate information about them, which should’ve been a major red flag.On moving day, the crew spent hours at our Indiana home wrapping our belongings carefully—including two large patio sets and a 1,500-pound gun safe. We were offered one month of free storage, which we initially appreciated. When we needed to extend for an additional two weeks, we were charged for a full extra month with no option for prorating—even though we didn’t use the full 30 days.Scheduling delivery became another challenge. They could not provide a specific delivery date and instead gave us a vague 14-day delivery window.When the delivery day finally arrived, things took a dramatic turn. That morning, I received a call—not from the moving company, but from an independent semi-truck driver who informed me that he couldn’t deliver our belongings to our mountain home. He claimed the 18-wheeler couldn’t navigate our road and demanded an additional $600 “transportation fee” to complete the delivery using a smaller trailer. If we didn’t pay, they would hold our items.We felt we had no choice but to pay the fee.Our belongings were then transferred from the semi into a box trailer—completely unwrapped—and transported to our home. When the trailer doors opened, what we saw was shocking. Nearly everything was damaged. Our patio furniture was in a tangled, dented heap. The gun safe had been flipped multiple times, destroying the interior shelving. Glass and fragile items were shattered. It was heartbreaking.When we called the moving company, they told us we had to file a damage claim through a third-party claims company. After spending many hours taking photographs, weighing items, filling out paperwork, and submitting documentation, we waited nearly two months—only to be offered $90 in compensation. According to the contract’s fine print, they would reimburse $0.60 per pound of damaged goods. Somehow, they calculated our total damages (including a 1,500-pound gun safe) to be worth about 150 pounds.We declined the insulting offer. The claims company said there was nothing else they could do.When I attempted to follow up directly with the moving company, I was met with extremely unprofessional behavior. Calls were ignored, and in multiple instances, I was hung up on. This included both Sobe Relocation and Best Moving Service.In short, this experience has been devastating, stressful, and completely avoidable. We will never use a broker again and will never trust a company that does not operate its own fleet and employees.I share our story in hopes of protecting others from the same experience. Please do your research, ask tough questions, and make sure you are dealing directly with a reputable, licensed, and accountable moving company.

Date of experience: Feb 12, 2025