CMS Companies — Local services in Kent

We chose to go with CMS for our cross country move based on reviews we read on the BBB. We regret it. Initially we had a video chat with our moving coordinator who quoted us for needing 4 crates. We discussed selling several items (sectional couch, kitchen table, wine cabinet) to reduce the amount of crates needed. Before our move, our coordinator agreed that after selling so much stuff we likely would not need all 4 crates but he refused to change the # on our contract. He stated we would be refunded for anything we didn’t use. Issues on moving day: Movers expected us to move all of our stuff to our garage ahead of time. We were told to pack blankets & pillows into dresser drawers to save space with boxes.. when the moving crew arrived, they said that is not allowed and they proceeded to pack these items in large wardrobe boxes. (later on arrival we found out that each box was 1/2 full of wrapping paper.. to protect pillows? 2-3 pillows in each large wardrobe box.) The crew took our medium & large boxes from home depot put them into larger boxes. I still do not fully understand why they did this but it resulted in costing us more box space and extra expenses for the boxes. The movers damaged several walls in our house including a floor board that was so severely damaged that it delayed us putting our house on the market. We were also not aware of this ahead of time but the movers came with a large truck and then packed all of our stuff into the crates at a warehouse the following day. We were not able to see how the crates were packed.

The movers told us they predicted we only needed 2 and at most 3 crates. The following day we were made aware that all 4 crates were used (the 4th crate was 1/2 full). We contacted our moving coordinator and he told us, quote: “the boxes generated from the crew resulted in 28 sq ft of floor space and well over 3/4 of an additional crate volume.” He accused us of having the movers pack our clothes and other house hold items not previously agreed upon which could not be more incorrect. They packed 28 sq ft of extra boxes for pillows and blankets that were originally stored in our dresser drawers (which was allowed). We then were put in contact with he general manager Keith Engel who made our experience worse than ever. He was very rude and condescending. Keith blamed us on multiple occasions for having his crew pack our clothes although we packed and transported all of our clothes ourselves. We asked to come to the warehouse to see how the crates were packed and move things around to save on 1 crate. Keith told us we could come in to the warehouse but he would charge us $1,000 and that anything we removed from the crate would need to be thrown away in the garbage. Keith withheld our shipment for several days until we agreed to pay for all four crates. We didn’t have much of a choice and agreed that we would reassess how the crates were packed when they arrived to our destination. (At this point we were concerned they would not send our items to us at all).

When unpacking we noticed all boxes packed by the CMS crew were at least 1/2 full of wrapping paper.

We asked for 1/2 the price of one crate back and Keith only agreed to give us $200 to agree to disagree despite the fact that the extra packing generated by his crew resulted in at least 1 extra crate ($1910). The management (Keith Engel) were not easy to work with. He was rude, condescending, and had terrible customer service. He works remotely and clearly has very little insight as to what happens during the moving process. He also refused to discuss matters over the phone and would only communicate by hiding behind his computer and sending us ill-mannered emails. It is our impression that the moving company did whatever they could do in their power to use as many crates as possible and charge us the highest price possible. When they say they will refund you for the space not used… do not believe this because they will find a way to make sure you...

Do NOT hire especially if you are moving out of state. Beware of a federal law, called the Carmack Amendment that resulted in my getting ZERO COMPENSATION for the 10 boxes & totes that United Van Lines PERMANENTLY LOST. Despite our move being booked nearly two months before the load date, rather than the moving truck immediately departing from WA state for TN, United put my stuff in storage. (We did NOT ASK or WANT STORAGE.) Delivery to TN was over a month after the Seattle load date. Moreover, all the protective padding that was put on the furniture by UVL Kent movers had been removed sometime during the move. Moreover, a loveseat and coffee table were temporarily lost. United attempted to deliver to these items to another customer in another state! And, then it took United another two months to deliver them. Yet, United does not have to pay you anything for these delayed items. After MANY calls, I got a $300 goodwill check; however, that ended up being voided. It seems the guaranteed delivery date means nothing to United. Furthermore, United demonstrated a complete lack of control of our belongings as they commingled them with other customers‘ things. Because of Carmack, BREACH of CONTRACT and NEGLIGENCE ARE IRRELEVANT unless the person moving can PROVE every item in a box was in good condition before moving. How does a person prove that? Moving is expensive; who would pay to move broken stuff? Attached photo is one of the many furniture items United damaged during the move, and that I got ZERO compensation for. UPDATE: The Owner at CMS, Kent (United Van Lines agent) that loaded our Normandy Park load just replied to my Review. My response: United Kent knew or should have known when they booked our move on June 18th, 2021 for the soonest pick-up date of Aug 5, 2021 that they could not fulfill their contracted service. There is no reason why United should have accepted the load & put my belongings in storage instead of immediately transporting my possessions. (That is a breach of contract.) My PODs were delivered and the vehicles were shipped were delivered on time. It is just United that didn’t deliver on-time, loaded & loaded, used several storage units, permanently loss 10 boxes, and damaged most of our furniture. Yes, it was two years ago, but a customer has nine months to file a claim, and then I have been in the arbitration process - which just resulted in Unigroup’s lawyer arguing Carmack that supersedes breach of contract and which requires a Shipper to proof that items in a box, (that United permanently LOST with United’s inventory sheet proving no description of the contents or the room it was sourced from), that the items in the box were in good condition before they were shipped. That is crazy. I’m not claiming damage to the items in the box, I claimed the completely lost boxes. CMS Kent is United, and UniGroup is it’s parent. Again, do NOT hire United as UniGroup is the parent company, and their legal team can void checks from its subsidiaries when you attempt to get some remediation through the arbitration process. This is relevant CURRENT news. Arbitration decision was just handed down last week. The arbitrator sided with United’s lawyer because Carmack is the law that overrides breach of contract. I am more angry now than after the move. United LOST precious photos and mementos of ours as well as all of our Christmas...

It has nearly been 1 year since my family and I utilized their services to move us from Washington state to Colorado state. Moved September 2019.

I would NOT recommend them.

I was quoted and told by Rex Powell that my HHG's (Household Goods) would move start to finish easily in a 53' trailer. Having nearly two decades of professional experience working in the transportation industry. I knew that what I was told was true. Plus we had previously just moved the year prior from Alaska to Washington using a 53' (that was shipper load and count by us).

Moving day comes and their independent contracted movers showed up with ~15' of tail end trailer space in their 53' trailer. Needless to say it did not all fit in one trailer as they already had a trailer full. Panic set in. I still had had a bunch of my HHG's, I was set to check out of our rental and now I needed to arrange another mover and make new arrangements!? As prior to their arrival I had to clear it with the HOA and my neighbors as they would be blocking in driveways. So, in a panic, I called and spoke to the customer service manager Toni Reed. She arranged for a city crew to pick up our remaining HHG's. This was not part of the plan, but there were no other good immediate options. So, more handling of our stuff. Great..as they had to load it into a small box truck, unload it to their warehouse, pack it into crates, then load it into an interstate highway truck. Then unload it into the destination city's warehouse, reload it into a city delivery truck and deliver it.

We received our household goods in multiple different loads. The 1st load came and they wanted me to sign off that I received everything. I did not as I had not. The city workers were flabbergasted at the shoddy load work in the crates and took pictures to send to their dispatcher. They wanted me to sign off that I had received everything, but there were unaccounted boxes so I did not.

As I was unpacking there were damaged items. I know that my good were not handled with care. As I said, we had just moved prior to this from Alaska to Washington - over the land & ocean, and NONE of our goods were damaged. However, going over land only - things got lost and damaged.

I contacted the customer service manager, Toni, again via email (Oct-19). She replied that it "truly grieves" her to hear about our experience. She also said that she would get back to me shortly. I have not heard back from her since (now Sep-20).

So please use at your own risk.

EDITED TO ADD (Sep-22) - The Owner comments below are false. No one...