Ayer Moving & Storage

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This was the worst move experience we've ever had. The movers at our origination were lazy, careless, and showed up 6 hours late. They complained the entire time, took shots of alcohol, and were on their phones regularly. Worst of all, they ran out of boxes, tape, and brown moving paper. We had to purchase these items in order for them to complete their job. (I'm sorry, but I can't take your company seriously if you run out of supplies...Note, we were never reimbursed for this, and I estimate we spent at least $70 on 10+ rolls of tape and plastic crates to serve as "boxes.")



I was finally able to speak to the apparent owner of the company, who was completely unhelpful when these issues were addressed; instead she was disrespectful, rude, and told us she could not do anything to help us. By this point, it was very late and there was still a lot that needed to be packed. We requested that the movers leave and come back the following day to complete our move. However, she told us if the movers left that night, no one would be able to come back and complete our move for over a month. (What?!) So, we had no choice but to continue packing...and we didn't finish until well after midnight. (Insane.) Also of note, we are a military family, and this was supposed to be a full service move. Instead, my husband and I packed alongside the movers all night. I think I packed far more boxes than any of the lazy movers. (But at least the boxes I packed were properly packed.) And if we wouldn't have helped, they wouldn't have finished until 8:00 am the next day, no joke.



Our belongings were not treated with care, and as a result, many of our things were damaged upon the receipt of them at our destination. An example of this was our 3-month old mattress, which was packed only in a cardboard box (no mattress bag or plastic wrap) and then left out in the pouring rain for 30 minutes before it was finally loaded on the truck. As another example, we had artwork that was not boxed, instead just thrown in the crate completely unprotected. The list could go on and on, but I'll spare you all the gory details.



After they finally left our apartment complex, our night just kept getting better. When we went outside, we noticed several of our important documents that they left scattered in the driveway of the complex. Well, remember how I said it was pouring? Yeah, they were completely destroyed due to the rain. They also left behind trash (plates/cups/pizza boxes) in the lobby of our luxury apartment building. Disgusting.



The words disrespectful and reckless do not even begin to sum up our moving experience. All I can do at this point is urge you to find another moving company. Please, learn from our misfortune and find a company that values and respects their customers. As you read other negative reviews, you'll note the owner of the company responds to comments and tries to justify these negative reviews. Instead, she might spend her time training her employees, ensuring they are fully prepared (i.e., have adequate supplies), and perhaps running some background checks.



Lastly, the delivery men at our destination were appalled at the way our belongings were packed. They repeatedly asked with shock and horror on their faces, "Who in the world packed your stuff?!" I think that says it all. Consider yourself warned.

2 employees from Ayer M&S walked through our home and gave us an estimate of how long the move would take and how many men needed. The original quote was 3 men for 6 hours. I explained that I needed to be out of the home that day as we were closing on it. I did reply back that I only had enough funding for 5 hours. As time went on we had more things to move and I communicated this to Tim on 6/20.

Arrival: The crew arrived 1 hour late. I had filled the garage with all of the boxes that I wanted them to put on the truck and instructed them to move all of the large items on the truck and all of the boxes, totes, bags in the garage. We had 4 trash bags full of clothes /Linens in the garage, maybe another filled with yard toys. At no time during the loading process did any of the movers indicate that the trash bags were an issue when loading the truck. We made many trips in our own vehicles during the move process and would have been able to take any trash bags that would have been an issue. It was during the load in process that I realized the crew had no experience moving as they has already dropped several boxes and broken a glass lamp by tripping over it in the truck. When 12:00pm came around they had the truck packed with only half of the items and there was a lot of empty space on the truck, but the driver said that he would come back for a second load.

Incompetent employees/management: The crew members stated that is was too hot and they wanted to go home early and it is my belief that they purposely did not take all of the items in the first load as they thought was would just cut them loose and they could go home early that day. The crew did not measure any doors, had no knowledge of how to use a tape measure or angle furniture through doorways to make it fit. I had to coach them on how to do that. The crew members arrived to the job with no food or water on a very hot day. I went out to buy them water so that they would not dehydrate. It was not until the job was past 5 hours that a supervisor from their company came to bring them something to drink. When the 5 hours were up Ayer Moving and storage called and tried to remove the crew even though they had only completed 40% of the job that was estimated and book. The time was completed, but not the amount of work that was agreed upon being completed. I argued with the company to have the crew stay until completion. The entire job took the crew 10.5 hours. Keep in mind that there was Kate (my Wife), my brother and myself, who were constantly making trips back and forth, and the three movers so 6 people total and the move was only approx. 1 mile away and it took 10.5 hours vs the estimated 6 that Ayer M&S quoted.

Damages: because of no knowledge of how to lift heavy furniture, pack a truck properly, use a tape measure or follow instructions several items were damaged. The list of items include; 2 glass bowls, 2 wine glasses, a butter dish, scuff marks and severe gouges on doorways, broken lamp, damaged 300 lb desk, damages oak dining table, gouges on new hardwood floor, tear in couch fabric. I have pictures of damage and I personally walked their rep Tim through my home to show damages. The only thing they said they would pay for was $90.00 for the desk (I’m not sure how they came to that number). The other damages they said in writing that we should have the builder of our house fix, but originally told me a man named “Phil” would fix them. No one ever came over.

Added time: I asked them to reimburse me for the extra time that the move took due to lack of experience, extra breaks, and not packing the truck full on the first run. Their response was that; “it was hot that day, they have been super busy and short staffed, we had trash bags full of items which caused damages because they stacked things on top of them. So because of this they would not pay me any money back.

I recently moved my business to a new location in Leominster and my experience with Ayer Moving and Storage was excellent. With everything else I had to be concerned about, I felt that I could leave the details to Karen Strickland and Ayer Moving and Storage.

Ayer Moving and Storage crew members Jeremy, Brian, Shemar, and Gary were kind, courteous, careful and friendly. Excellent crew!

Ayer Moving and Storage was very cautious and careful with everything. We would use them again in the future.

We appreciate the good service from Ayer Moving & Storage

Thank you Ayer Moving & Storage for a job well don!

The Ayer Moving & Storage movers were courteous, friendly and very helpful

My parents recently sold my childhood home and Ayer Moving and Storage moved some special belongings given to me by my parents. They treated my treasures with care and respect. I was very impressed with the job they did and will use them again in a heartbeat. Thank you Ayer Moving and Storage.

"My parents recently sold my childhood home and Ayer Moving & Storage moved some special belongs given to me by my parents. They treated my treasures with care and respect. I was very impressed with the job they did and would use them again in a heartbeat."