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NEGLIGENT MOVERS

Submitted this review about Blankenship Movers
Review made Live: 1/10/2015 4:04:00 PM
DO NOT USE THESE MOVERS.If you have already made the mistake of contracting them, take out the additional insurance. Eric, the manager, will tell you it is not necessary: that the basic insurance will cover any incidental damage; this is not true. If anything happens during your move, he will tell you that he is not liable for damage; that you signed a contract and declined the additional insurance, even thought he told you verbally it was not necessary.We moved the end of September and I chose Blankenship because they supposedly specialize in moving pianos. The lead on the job was not in control and really didn't know how to manage his team since everyone was taking orders from one of the other workers. Every large piece of furniture had some level of damage, they lost the hardware to our queen size bed frame . Most distressing were the scratches and and chips to the gloss black finish on our piano. They had done significant damage to our new walls. We're talking gouges out of the drywall, not only from the piano move which went to the first floor, but damage on the stairwell going to the second floor as well. I contacted Eric after the move to let him know about the damage. He said that he would take care of it and send out his contractor to fix the walls, WHICH NEVER HAPPENED.The major wall damage came from moving the piano up one flight of stairs.Movers were tired, it was late, and everyone wanted to get home, that's when they decided to bring in the upright piano. Moving out, they strapped a dolly to the bottom of the piano; coming in they were too lazy to take off the wheels and re-wrap the piano. they had to lift the piano an extra 6 inches with each step and dolly cut down the space to make a turn at the top of the stairs, taking deep gouges out of the drywall and stairs. Eric might reply that Blankenship is not liable because I declined insurance. When I booked the move,he told me that I could decide on the insurance the day of the move, that the insurance is for major damage and the company would take care of any little knicks and dings that the crew might do without the insurance. When the team arrived the lead said I could take care of payments at the end of the job; at the end of the job, he asked if I was happy and if so I could decline the insurance. I said there was damage to the walls, he said that that kind of damage the company would take care of. I declined it, feeling assured that the damage was "normal" and the company would take care of it.The next business day, I contacted Eric. He said he would have his contractor call me. No calls back. I called again to all kinds of excuses about the contractor being sick etc. I sent Eric photos, he said he couldn't believe how bad the damage was and would get his contractor out. Never heard from either of them again.Finally, I told Eric we would get the work done ourselves. He agreed. I had the work done and now Eric says he didn't agree to the cost and won't pay the lousy $440 for the repair. When I sent him the invoice, he never responded at all. I had to follow up again; no response. My wife called him a month after sending invoice; he was absolutely rude to her saying he was not ready to have the conversation and hung up. He might respond to this saying the contractor wasn't real and that the invoice was fabricated. He is real; he is a working handyman, a friend of our family; no, he doesn't have a website, but he is well know in the chain-of-lakes area. he is not expensive, a bit below average for an 8-hour job to repair, finish and paint damaged drywall. We have nothing to gain from writing a BAD review. We expected good service and did not receive it. UPDATE: We spoke to Eric yesterday and he refused to pay for the damage his company is responsible for. He says he is not liable for his negligence. He was rude and hung up. He won't do a good faith effort to even try to settle this dispute. He has never returned phone calls, ever.