Starving Students Movers
Reviews and Complaints

I was told that the move would cost me 650.00 Your company took my credit card and charged me one hundred dollars. At the end of the move I wrote a check for the remaining balance of five hundred fifty dollars. The movers talked to their boss and wanted six hundred fifty dollars and that the charge on my credit card would be would be returned. I wrote the check and then saw the charges weren't reinversed. I called your company and then you told me I would have to talk to the movers. (Prestige Movers) I have several texts from Ray that I can show you that he mailed my money and he didn't at all. This has been going on for over a month. I am notifying you and turning in both companies to the better business bureau . This is probably not the first time or last that Prestige movers are doing this to other customers. He is making good money out of lying to your customers and at one hundred dollars extra a move, he is scamming a lot of people out of money. Several of my friends were going to use your service, but now have hired reputable moving companies.

I was quoted $220 for the pieces of furniture I had to move explained exactly how many pieces of furniture 2 nightstand 2 dressers 2 mattresses, headboard, foot board, 2 couches, 2 small end tables and 3 bar stools this was it! Day of move 2 guys showed up at 11:00 sitting outside in truck then came to door at 11:30 first they were complaining of how tired they were that they were just woke up for this move, how un professional for first impression.They walked in and quoted they need $550 cash, I said no I was told $220 which that seemed to be a lot when it would only take less than hour to load and unload my few things and drive 7 miles so I called the supervisor to make a complaint before they began moving anything, I was told he would call back and never did. I gave them $240 cash on the spot. They were outside in truck on phone and smoking and listening to music then finally came in to begin wrapping the items listed above, well 1 guy the other guy was outside somewhere I guess he said doing paperwork that took 1 hour? There was only 1 guy in apartment wrapping which took hours they kept taking breaks. So they took apart my bed and didn't un screw the 4 side rails and busted all the wood rails on right side of bed, after loading everything we drove to Folsom from citrus heights to unload I had a friend helping me which we were helping them to make it go quicker as they were taking there sweet time and complaining the entire time. My friend heard them calling me a ### and saying lets just roll out man, because I said i wasnt paying $500 for a 1 hour move, they kept saying I pay from the time they pulled up and truck engine stops in the start of me being charged, no way Im not paying for them to sit in truck and listen to music take multiple smoke breaks, and approach minors in apartment complex trying to get a date. A resident made a formal complaint to The Oaks manager for one of the movers approaching her at her vehicle when driving out of property, leaning into her car touching her arm asking if shes single. This girl was 17 years old and will be making her own sexual harassment claim as she made one with the apartment owners and managers office. Which they tried to hold me accountable for the movers actions, I told them my experience to and they should file a claim and I m not responsible for there un professional behavior.. This is all ridiculous nobody should have to go through this BS! I was given a much higher cost at end of move which ended at 2:00 pm I decided to give them and additional $100.00 but didnt have any other funds to pay balance plus the entire drive and move was less than 1 hour loading and un loading so I feel I'm being taking advantage of. I spoke to a supervisor that day on the movers phone he had made the call himself and handed phone to me, I didn't get the name. Bottom line I feel like I should be getting a refund for over payment for what these guys did, they damaged 3 dressers and broke the wood on my bed my god they were the worst ever! I request the balance being asked for waived or I will have to settle in small claims court! Along with the apartment manager who witnessed it all and the resident who was sexually harassed by your mover. Im sure you get this type of complaint a lot according to all your reviews. I hope you will agree to disregard the balance of $157.17 for all the stress Starving Students has caused me and the major inconvenience and for the cost of repairs for all my damaged furniture these 2 men did. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to here back from you soon, Dayla Unden

On August 30th, 2012, I employed Starving Students Movers to help me move my possessions from an apartment to my newly purchased condominium, only six miles away. Starving Students Movers promised the following guarantee when I hired them:
1. Two strong, professional men would be sent;
2. A moving truck large enough to accommodate a 4 bedroom, 2000 square foot home would be provided;
3. Furniture pads would be provided free of cost to ensure protection of my large pieces of furniture;
4. The rate would be $84.99/hour, with a 2-hour minimum, plus 22% added to the total;
5. Driving time in Los Angeles is doubled (i.e., if it takes fifteen minutes to drive from location to location, the amount of time would total thirty minutes);
6. A guarantee that no additional or hidden charges would be incurred in the price; and
7. My possessions would be cared for with the utmost respect.
However, these are not the results we received from Starving Students Movers. Following is a list of our complaints with regards to the two charges:
1. One man took two fifteen-minute “restroom” breaks in the middle of the day;
2. The other man constantly kept making inappropriate advances on my girlfriend and making her feel totally uncomfortable and it was completely unprofessional;
3. Neither man brought any water or water bottle to drink from on a sweltering hot day in Los Angeles, to which I spent over $40 for several bottles of water and Gatorade for them for fear that they would collapse otherwise;
4. I opted to hire a third man to help with the unload at the condo but he stopped working 45 minutes before the job was done;
5. One man sat in his truck for over 30 minutes hand-calculating my total while only one man finished the job;
6. The truck did not accommodate all of the property within our apartment, which was only 1, 200 square feet and included no large appliances such as a washer/dryer, dishwasher or refrigerator. We had to rent a U-Haul truck the next day in order to finish our move, which included 2 dressers, 10 boxes, 1 vanity, plants, a sofa and a desk with a hutch as well as lamps and a few chairs;
7. Furniture pads were not offered. Instead, I was told by the two men that if I wanted my furniture protected I had to spend $29.99 to buy industrial plastic wrap and have each individual piece of furniture wrapped by them. This added an exorbitant amount of time to the overall move;
8. The rate was calculated at $89.99/hour instead of $84.99/hour which is what I was quoted;
9. In addition to the rate discrepancy and the $29.99 charge for the industrial plastic wrap, I was also charged three additional “hidden” fees: $18.40 for mattress bags, $3.00 for tape and a PUC fee (of which I am not sure it is) for $5.83;
10. During the unload, boxes that had clearly been labeled “FRAGILE, ” “CHINA” or “CRYSTAL, ” etc. were turned upside down and very carelessly placed about;
11. Boxes were crushed;
12. Furniture had scrapes and scratches that went right through the industrial saran wrap;
13. Boxes and items were tossed carelessly throughout two rooms and I was told that if I wanted the movers to put the boxes in the rooms as they were labeled, I would be charged additional;
14. Once the truck was fully unloaded, I saw a stack of furniture pads that extended from floor to ceiling that were never utilized for the protection of my furniture;
15. In the end, I was told my balance due was $565.08 but 45 minutes later (when the job was actually complete) was told that the balance was $622.35 because the “computer was now working and could accurately calculate the price”;
16. The man who gave me my bill couldn’t even verbalize a three-digit number, such at six-hundred-twenty-two-dollars-and-thirty-five cents. Instead, he had to say the amount digit-by-digit in order try to explain my balance to me.
I called Starving Students Movers the very next day, August 31st, to complain about the service I was given. I was sent to a voice mail of a woman in claims who has never called me back. That same night I decided to call Discover to question the charge and find what kind of protection I had. Since then, I have tried calling back to Starving Students Movers to get the “complaint department” on the phone but to no avail. I feel I have been completely taken advantage of and have no form of recourse.

I received an email today offering me $80 off of my bill. However, they accept ZERO responsibility for the actions of the men who did the job and claim EVERYTHING was up to their standards. You can't get ANYONE on the phone, can't get your way up to corporate and they ignore EVERY phone call.

I hired Starving Students to move me from my house in Chandler Arizona to my new house six miles down the road on June 25, 2017. After the movers finished the move it was discovered that they had broken the end base piece of a very expensive nine piece oak Entertainment Center. Instead of notifying me when the damage was taken place, they put the damaged piece behind all of the other furniture in the family room to hide it. The movers also moved two ceramic garden hose pots. The movers broke one of the pots by dropping it on the ground. I notified and filed a claim with the movers. They denied ever moving the ceramic pot and stated that they advised me that they would not be able to move it from one house to the other. They also denied ever damaging the entertainment center. In order for me to file a claim with the movers I was required to weigh the damaged piece. Because the piece they damaged was part of a nine piece set, I felt it was appropriate to weigh all of the pieces as they have to work together. The total weight for all the pieces is approximately 485 pounds. They're supposed to pay .60 cents per pound for reimbursement. Not only did they lie and say they did not damage any items but they would be happy to give me $45.00 for my troubles. I have filed a claim with the American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) and will have no problem taking this as far as I can take it. It is time these rip off companies get what they deserve.

I'm glad this site exists to warn people away from Starving Students. To make a long story short, they stole items out of a carrybag that I had already moved to my new place. This included an electronic organizer and a portable CD player. They also lost or simply didn't deliver boxes of personal memorabilia that are irreplacable. They even lost a bookcase composed of boards and bricks! How do you lose that? I consider havng used this company one of the worst and costly mistakes I've ever made. Whatever you do, don't use this company and pass the word on that they are incompetent and crooks.

Starving Student Movers quoted me $1600 to move my one bedroom apartment from Chicago to CA. They loaded all my goods, and then the driver said the load was larger than expected and would in fact cost $5000 to move. When I rejected that higher bill and demanded my property back, they refused to return my property. They locked the semi trailer and said I'd have to pay them to simply get my stuff back, let alone move it to the new location. I had to call the Chicago Police Dept, who forced them to unload my items. They didn't even move any of it back to my apartment - they simply left everything just inside the door of the apartment building and I had to call some friends to help move it all back up to my apartment.

The CPD said this was a common ocurrance and just about everyone simply buckles and pays the jacked up fee. Do your research and hire a reputable moving company, and if things do get ugly, don't cave in. Don't let these crooks bully you.

on april 1, 2011, the movers arrived however wouldn't touch my property until i paid them - before the work was done. I had previously spoke to a representative for 30 min asking questions etc and was never told that. I paid $300.00 in cash including $30.00 tip afterward. I was told they couldnt' put my bed together because they were already late for the next appt. I wouldnt' have notice the damaged the way the bed was placed against the wall. When my mom and I attempted to put the bed together that's when we saw the damage. the entire back of the bed was completely torn - all the stuffing and piling was coming out the bed. I had to put a mattress cover over it in order to be able to use the bed. I put in a claim and was told they only pay $.60/lb that came to $54.00 for a queen pillow top Sealy Posterpedic Mattress.

Words can not describe my frustration for Starving Students...Several issues arose at close of services:

1) Estimate (despite giving a complete run down of every unit in the household that had to be moved), the final cost was 3 times as much as the orginal quote. This was a hook, line and sink if you ask me.

2) Damaged goods - it was until after the movers left that we noticed damaged goods ( despite the obvious damage, they concealed it from us)...I found a completely damaged file cabinet hidden in my closet (from frame to drawers the entire thing was collapsing in on itself...our 65" TV had rips in the speaker screens - both items were in tip top condition before the move).

3) Stolen goods - brand new bottles of alcohol went missing. No where to be found. I can only suspect that the two homely movers (like scary ghetto - people you try to avoid on a dark city street) had taken them.

When I contacted starving students they told me that the two gentlemen said the items were already damaged and therefore they would not reimburse us. LIARS, THEAVES, AND RIP OFFS!

My friend recently used this company to help her move her belongings in a 1 bedroom apartment. She called the corporate telephone number,
[protected] for a local move. Give her a great quote of 91.99 per hour, minimum 1 hour time and 2 hours free travel time. She told them she does not need 2 hours free travel time since she is moving locally. No further discount but there is a 15% surcharge on total cost. Still it was a better price than any other movers. 1 day before the move, she was told the price again 1 hour minimum moving time with additional 15 minutes increments, and this time only 1 hour free travel time. She told them no biggie is only local move.
The day of the move came she was asked to signed for free insurance (initial) for the items being moved. The total moving time was only 1 hour & 15minutes. However, the driver started hassling her to pay for a minimum of 2 hours of moving time plus 1 hour of travel time in addition the 15% surcharge.
Big business at work again with employees lying to make a buck

I had a HORRIFIC experience and I would caution ANYONE to stay far away! I have used them before in the summer of 2007 and thought they did a fine job, and were very reasonably priced, so I tried again.

In my error, I left my wedding rings out on a shelf. It was a hectic day and I didn't realize until 3 hours into the move they'd been left on the shelf. By the time I got to the room where they were, of course, they were gone. The movers did not move that shelf. No boxes were shuffled around or packed/unpacked in that room. The only people in my house that day were the movers, my mother, my husband, and me. When I questioned the movers, naturally, they denied fault. I filed a police report and contacted the claims department.

Ok so I understand it's my word vs. theirs. I understand I have no proof. What I don't understand is how Melanie, the corporate claims adjuster, still has a job. She was absolutely rude over the phone. Raised her voice and told me to "stop accusing" her workers because I was offending her (EXCUSE ME?), and hung up on me! But the best part is that when I asked her if she had contacted the local Tempe branch (where my move was scheduled out of) to question the manager/movers she said no and that she hadn't planned to. What if this is a pattern of behavior from these men? They would never know because no one follows up on anything! Of COURSE they are going to steal my 2.5 karats worth of jewelry, they know they can get away with it because no one at this company trusts the customer or even cares that I am now missing jewelry that is completely priceless to me. What if my DVD player hadn't made it to my new house? Would I just have to go buy a new one? I think it is ludicrous to offer a service to a customer and blatantly refuse to follow up on problems. These people are thieves. They are rude and unhelpful. They are absolute cheats.

Pay the extra money and use a company that won't steal your stuff. The $4700 worth of jewelry I lost sure wasn't worth my $750 move.

2005 contracted with this SS Movers In New Orleans. They came to our home with a truck that was too small.They left furniture and belongings in our home in New Orleans.They were to follow us to Colorado which they didn't .They were missing for four days and would not answer the phone en route.They finally came to town called us and kept us waiting for over two hours when they said they would be there in 20 minutes while they ate their lunch. They unloaded the truck which they had disappeared with for over four days and had destroyed over 6000 dollars of family heirlooms where they couldn't be repaired. We were told to send the photos and estimates to the Tulane office which we did by registered mail. The packaged was refused four times. We have proof of this .They did not honor their insurance agreement and we still have the photos and estimate and also claim forms. We called an attorney in New Orleans at the time but the courts were backed up for over two years with major things..We are now seeking replacement cost of 6000 dollars in compensation for our losses..Also want to make people aware that these people took advantage of a disaster not to honor their insurance commitments and they never contacted us again although we spent a year trying to get in touch with them and get our replacement monies Here it is five years later and still looking for insurance compensation .The company has refused to take our forms and photos of the damage and
the estimates..We sent registered mail over and over and they refuse it.When we have called the told us that they never got them. We have all paperwork and the courts in New Orleans have been tied up with legal
cases for years..We have filed a complaint with the BBB in New Orleans and are awaiting word..These people took advantage of a major disaster . They damaged many of our family heirlooms and also many were never delivered to us..they just went missing.. USE this company at your OWN RISK..

We hired SS for the 4th time to move us here in Las Vegas. I really didn't want to use them again but convinced to do so. Team of 3 came, did a fairly good job, but left items still in our old location that "we had to move over 2 days in 100+ degree heat...not nice!

Problem is we paid in Cash + Debit Card at the time of the move, account Debited accordingly end of scenerio...WRONG! One week later I am checking our bank account online where I find they have charged us again. No phone call nor email or anything to the customer.

I called the Manager who said maybe my assistant did this, but found out NO it was the Corporate office or Store #8. We were promised that on August 15th the funds would be credited back to our account (they had a computer glich supposedly) then were told monies credited back Monday, Tuesday and still nothing! I sent proof ASAP from my bank directly to them showing where they had been paid already, but I could have gotten a better response from the wall. Phone calls refused, hang ups, etc.

This is NO WAY to run a 35 year old business in my opinion. We have a great bank that has not charged us the fees on overdraft, however our Insurance Company, the DMV (Nevada) aren't so kind! We are on a fixed income with my husband being 84 years young.

Someone needs to care about the public opinion and take care of business.

Very Unprofessional... damaged our stuff in the move by dragging if up cement stairs(rather than picking it up) and b/c they charge by the hour they take there time with the move(long restroom breaks, talking/texting on the phone)... when i call the manager(and it even got to the point where i talked to their branch manager) they denied everything and were really defensive. One of the damaged items was a suitcase, which ripped b/c they dragged it up cement stairs and the manager told me that it was only a suitcase and that it gets damaged in airports anyways(what a about the damn rip?... and when i told them that airports will repair your luggage if there is extensive damage, there was no response)...

My husband and i have moved 3-4 times in the past 3 years and this company was the worst... they might charge a little less but they are very dishonest... you really have to watch everything you sign... when they write up the inventory really watch what they write... they will try to write that all the items are scratched b/4 so that they are not liable for it after... my mover even modified the inventory sheet after the move, thank god i had the sheet from b/4 to show how they modified it ... the movers are not professionals... we had a skinny/scrawny guy as 'the driver' so technically speaking he directs the move and then you're given one mover... they claim they are giving you two movers and truck but really you get one mover, truck and driver... when i asked them to reassemble the bed stand they told me it's easy and i should do it myself... who says that?...

Don't go with this company... it's a big headache...

My husband and i moved a one bedroom apt ten miles to a new apt and we had to pay over $600. one of the movers was sexually aggressive to myself, mother in law, and sister in law. he purposely damaged lots of our stuff. they had many hidden charges that they brought up at the end. the head guy scott was so slow and rude and he even took off his shirt and opened some of our boxes and rifled thru our stuff. the guy even ran the truck into an overhang and put a huge hole in the truck while at our old apt. he was rude, sarcastic, and inappropriate. we have had a horrible time trying to make a claim for the damage done to our stuff. i was shocked when my family had to do most of the work. the two movers got into a confrontation and scott was cursing and yelling. i will say it was a terrible experience and there were many more things that happened that will take too much time to type but i would never recommend this company to anyone.

Company sold me an insurance policy offering blanket coverage for the move. The coverage was to cover actual cash value of the items.
Items were damaged in the move and the first insurance claim was flatly denied (standard practice in many insurance claims).

Second attempt to file a claim and the company started changing their definition of actual cash value as well as pointed out part of the coverage that was not explained to me when the policy was sold to me. (if i packed it and it gets broken, it's not covered).

Company has taken over six months to offer a low settlement.
Customer support and returned phone calls is non-existent.

The sales person estimated a move time based on my accurate description of the number of rooms, contents and items that was less than half of the actual time it took to move. Total cost of the move was 150% more than the original estimate.

Movers wasted time packing items in a manner that was unnecessary, costly and added an incredible amount of time to unpack. (the use of half a roll of packing tape to wrap a furniture pad around a chair - thus it takes 15 minutes to unwrap the chair).

stay away from this company

STARVING STUDENTS MOVING - LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA

I have just discovered I have been another Starving Student victim. I wish I had looked at this site before using them. I have been in contact with management (Robert Barns and Darrin Dougan). My complaints include over billing, failure to perform, damage to property, failure to resolve disputes, code violations and deceptive practices. Intentional and negligent delays to increase billing, Bait and switch contracts at start of move. Charging more than the estimate. They also walked out with a box of my personal property and would not me look at it. they said it was theirs.

On or about 2-20-07 Starving Students perform a move leading to this complaint. The problems are too numerous to mention here. I see they have had 234 complaints with the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau gave them an "F" rating " the worst possible rating" and they warn the public about using them. I have correspondence detailing all of the issues. First I was given an estimate of $2,100.00 for 4 rooms. They ended up billing me $3,900.00. The lead mover stated he knows how to increase billing and should get a raise. He kept telling the movers to slow down the move to increase hours. They did this to make more movers necessary an I had to pay additional charges for the 2nd truck to get them to the site. One mover was in the bathroom doing drugs and left his drug paraphernalia there. After over 8 hours on 2 rooms were complete forcing us to abandon 2 rooms of property. Next the movers pointed out damage they caused to some of my property. We were also billed more hours than actual. The movers said they had turned on their gps so we may get over billed. The company has not been cooperative.

Resolution Sought: Management said the hours and billing would be adjusted and the property loss would be resolved promptly(this is a common problem with their movers). 5 months has gone by and the claim is still not resolved. I respectfully request the billing and hours be adjusted and the personal property loss be adjusted promptly. They charged $149.00 for property loss insurance at actual value and said if they pay for the damage they only want to pay the per pound weight. They declined mediation.

Date Problem Started: 02/20/2007

Date of Transaction: 02/20/2007

Amount in Dispute: In excess of $12500.00

Complaint Type: Gen. Service Issues

Product or Service:

If you have any questions regarding your complaint, please contact the Complaint Dept. at [protected] at The Better Business Bureau, The US dept. of Transportation. Cal PUC etc.

Thank you, Complaint Dept. BBB of the Southland, Inc.