First Priority Movers

Here’s one more of ‘BEWARE’ reviews about these ‘Movers’, if you can call them that! I agree with every single reviewer here, esp. Stacy P. They are YOUR WORST MOVING NIGHTMARE come true– they’re DISHONEST, RUDE, UNAPOLOGETICALLY UNETHICAL, will give you SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, almost hold you to ransom, return DAMAGED stuff if they do even decide to let you see it again, and possibly not even return all of it!
My complaint runs back to Aug, 2011 when we suddenly needed to shift from Houston to California due to work relocation. We were just few months old in the U.S.A and had neither moving experience nor much idea of reviewing online. We ended up with First Priority Movers because they offered the lowest quote and the fastest delivery (between 3 – 5 days!) compared to all the others who contacted us. We needed complete service from disassembling and packing to reassembling. There seemed nothing to make unsuspecting folks like us suspect them. A uniformed member even visited our newly furnished 2 bedroom home for an inventory, and all went off fine till our our entire ‘home’ was with them. Chris was the phone agent we’d dealt with and Jason was the one who’d headed the packing team. We thought our furniture wud reach almost as soon as we shifted into our new home. But when I called them from our CA hotel as per original plan to give them our newly finalised address, I got the 1^st shock. Their entire attitude had changed. The manager (I think his name was Jacob though I can’t recall with surety) curtly informed me that our stuff hadn’t even left their warehouse and had no chance of even doing so for yet few more days! I intuitively knew by his arrogant manner that he was well aware I had little power now except to be polite and patiently do their bidding! Everything we’d brought to the U. S and everything we’d bought in Houston worth thousands of dollars was in wrong hands and we cud well loose all of it! I’d a horrible sinking feeling in my gut which was to continue for many more days to come. We were to make many calls to Chris, Jason and this manager which were answered only at their whims. E– mails were unanswered, ambiguous answers given about the delivery status of our stuff. Never once did they initiate communication. We cudn’t stay indefinitely in the hotel and had to move to our new place with only the few clothes, utensils we’d got with us. We and our little kid slept on a make shift bed with a bedcover and a blanket spread on the carpet. We didn’t know for how long we shud wait before knowing that we will have to buy essential stuff again. In any case, we definitely cudn’t have furnished an entire home again after just 2 months of having done so! Finally after more than 3 weeks, our stuff did arrive and trust me, it was nothing short of a miracle! The driver didn’t once update us himself even during the entire 2 hour time frame given by him for his arrival, keeping us on edge. When he did arrive he was rudeness personified and ordered his men to load back some of the stuff they’d unloaded and threatened to leave unless we paid him $ 75 extra for the few stairs he said were extra distance. While assembling, one of the men almost tripped with our flatscreen T. V right inside our living room! A small scream escaped from me and my husband who happened to be standing there caught him in time! We were never more pleased to see a set of people gone from our home! There was more in store. They’d left the railguards and ladder of our kid’s new bunk bed in Houston, and the driver was very grumpy about letting me put that on his copy of the delivery inventory. Our new coffee table had ugly scratches coz they’d packed its nuts and bolts on top of it; the T. V cabinet & bunk bed had chips, a tiny part of the new sofa was torn, and our king bed’s headboard had a solid gash more than a feet long on one side, apart from many other scratches. Some expensive clothes were badly soiled coz they’d packed them with liquids; and few small things were missing. Many mails, and pictures later no response and obviously no refund happened. In any case, we never expected it too, we were thankful enough for all that HAD come back to us! It wud have been too much to expect them to deliver the railguard and ladder. My l’ll daughter had been so excited about a bunk bed and she can’t even use it fully. In fact, this is the immediate reason motivating me to write this review today. If this account wasn’t enough, there’s one straight from one of their own employees who ended up taking my husband’s calls about our claims. Once when my husband gave him a hard talk down on their ethics, he almost broke down; heartily cursed his employers saying that they mercilessly exploited customers and made people like him face all the daily grievances. He said his conscience troubled him and he was looking for another job! Moral: I’d give them ZERO STARS if I cud! Don’t refer them even to your worst enemies!

The movers were great but the office people suck. I got ripped off. I needed my 3BR home moved from Houston to Connecticut. They gave me a quote and a promise to hold my stuff in Houston for 30 days. I’m a national consultant so wasn’t sure if I had to reroute my things. I ended up staying in Houston but they still charged me for fuel costs to CT. They said they would send me the paperwork to file a claim. They never sent it. They are huge frauds and deserve to no longer be in business.

I wish I could give these ripoff artists an even less than a star rating. They don’t answer the phone and when they finally do, they give you the run around.
I dealt with Chris and Jason.
Original quote, a joke. $ 989, but turned into $ 1835. The 60% I had to pay up front was more than the original quote.
They were more than 2 hours late. Packing was to be included in the quote, since they were so late, I had time to do it myself.
Movers kept talking about smoking weed and making fun of the cleaners I’d hired (who were waaaaay more professional!)
They picked up my items from Houston going to SF on 6/4…I got a call on November 2 (THAT IS NOT A TYPO!!!) saying the movers were going to arrive tomorrow to deliver my stuff.
After repeated calls and emails I spoke to the owner late October who told me my items were in storage in Los Angeles. I’m in Northern California, why would you possibly think I would need storage 8 driving hours away?!
When my stuff FINALLY arrived, «Pay me cash lady or we’re not taking your stuff off the truck!» I’d been forewarned by someoone else they ripped off (after reading a post on the internet I called him) There were taking items off of the truck that were NOT mine. Chairs and photos that weren’t even in boxes! So whowever’s stuff they had, it wasn’t protected. Gouges in furniture, missing boxes that I just finally gave up trying to find. The majority of the items I packed are the things I really needed/​wanted.
I try to find the positive in everything, but there was NOTHING positive about these movers! There is a special place (where it’s eternally hot) for these people.
Run in the opposite direction from these guys. DO NOT HIRE!

This is pretty obviously a shell company. They are not registered with the FMCSA despite having their logo on the website, (this is by the way a $ 25,000 fine though they’ve surely made more than this off their scam.)
My friend (who is a M.D. by trade) has been totally ripped off by them. Her goods (about $ 25,000) where picked up, and she too was charge double what the original quote was.
Now they seem to have disappeared, no response to either messages or email.
Does anyone want to pursue this legally with a class action suit?

Jacob and Aaron came out to give me a quote and told me it would be binding — that they would not charge me more than that, but the written quote was not binding, and I did not notice. They bid much less than other movers, but once they got my stuff on the 26′ Penske truck (which only holds 1680 cu ft per Penske), they didn’t return my calls for 10 days in a row while I was left to wonder if my stuff had been stolen. When they finally called to say they were on their way to our new place a thousand miles away, they told me I owed them another $ 800 because our stuff took up 2040 cu ft, and when they showed up, in another 26′ Penske truck, there were at least five feet of empty space at the end of the truck. They admitted verbally that we only had 1400 cubic feet, and yet still refused to deliver our belongings unless we paid them as if we had 1900 cu ft. During the delivery, Jason and Randy informed us that they could not be bothered to put our things into the rooms we were specifying, nor could they hook up appliances or assemble furniture per the contract, because they were suddenly in a rush once they had our money. I strongly recommend against using these movers!

UGH!
* before they picked up, they said they would deliver in 3 – 5 days
* the day they picked up, they said they weren’t sure when they would deliver it, but someone would call the next day to tell us when
*
…
* they did not return calls or emails, but they did answer the «dispatch» number for a couple of days, during which time, they refused to give an estimated delivery date
* the «dispatch» number gave a tone and said it was disconnected after a week of no returned phone calls or emails!!!
* they finally called and said they would deliver the next day, but the price had gone up even though the original estimate was supposed to have been binding
* they refused to deliver for the original estimate price even though they had no proof of the «overage» cubic feet, and in fact, when the truck arrived, measuring length x width x height proved there was no overage.
Groan!
Save yourself the headache and find someone else.

I had a similar experience to y’all except everyone was nice but no answers and I got the run around for weeks. Has anyone received information on how to file claims? The driver notated the inventory documents however I am not sure how to move forward. Legally they have to have a claims department. Also, did anyone get any where with the legalities they contacted. Please let me know if anyone has. I know on another website I saw people were trying to get together to file a lawsuit.

As of my writing this review, 10÷3÷11, there is a video on their website that seems to show why you shouldn’t consider their Better Business Bureau rating as reason for concern. I caution you to research their business thoroughly, as their practices seem to be aimed at getting the most money from you in any way possible.
II worked with Chris at ext. 106 on my move. I was promised a door to door move with an estimated 361 sq. ft. costing $ 1050. For the items I had, this was much cheaper than anyone had quoted me previously. Along with that, the verbal promise that my move would take 3 – 5 business days, as well as a written «guarantee» (which I will touch on later) that the move would take at maximum 14 days (the text actually says to MOST states) had me excited that I had found such a great deal. I couldn’t have known how wrong I actually was.
On the day of the move, 9÷12÷11, I was not completely ready and had not been contacted about the time I should be expecting the movers to arrive. I called First Priority as soon as they opened, only to find out that I was not in the pickup schedule in Dallas, but was somehow in their delivery forecast in San Jose. The dispatcher/​owner, Jacob (I have been told by multiple First Priority employees that he is the owner, yet he denies it and says another man, Jason, is the owner. However, I have a voicemail where Jason called me, where he described himself as the dispatcher…), made haste to get someone to me «as fast as possible.» That turned out to be around 8 hours later.
When the movers arrived, without any true measurements being taken, or any weighing being done, I was told that I had much more than the estimated square footage and that my move would cost «around» $ 1800. First Priority charges you $ 2.88 for all costs estimated, but $ 4.20 for any square footage that they find additional once they arrive. I couldn’t understand how they even calculated the figure and I was completely against the overage, but was in a bind and knew my stuff needed to get moving that night. I spoke with the Jacob who said I had to at least pay the 60% of the total move cost for the job to be done and the items would be checked later for their true size. I figured since the 60% was basically what I was initially told my move would cost, I wouldn’t have to pay much more, if not anything additional once things got squared away. Trust is key, and I would later find out that I should not have trusted this company with my belongings.
Once I was reading through my contract, I saw the limited liability insurance that was available and requested the additional insurance. The mover didn’t know how to handle that, so Jacob was called to get answers. Jacob told me that I didn’t need the additional insurance because my stuff was going to stay on the same truck and would be headed to California as soon as they movers arrived. My girlfriend and I questioned this, as the mover had already told us during conversation that they still had to go to Louisiana before dropping our property in Houston. They figured they’d be there in maybe two days, completely shooting holes in the «guarantee» of 3 – 5 days to San Jose, or Jacobs claim that it would stay on the same truck.
The actual process of moving my home, a total of less than 50 items, was not completed until almost midnight. I won’t blame them for the fact that they had no supplies to complete their own wrapping of my couch, tables, and bed (supposedly part of the complete move) which led to me having to leave to buy the needed supplies, at which time I was involved in a hit and run accident in the vehicle I was driving to California, but I just wish that they’d taken the time to get what was needed.
It gets a lot worse, but Unilocal doesn’t allow you to post much. But you can find my reviews elsewhere if you want to see the whole story… In short 4 boxes went missing and a coffee table was broken.

DO NOT HIRE THESE MOVERS. Read through the reviews here. Your quote will not be binding (they will drastically raise what they quoted you before they deliver your stuff), they will damage your belongings, they will be late, they will be rude… these men are criminals. Keep away!
Edit: Thanks to everyone who has contacted me based on this review! Hopefully, First Priority Movers continues to lose business based on their inability to be honest men! :)
By the way, check out their «F» rating from the Better Business Bureau here:
Original Review:
Do yourself a favor and call someone else.
I had First Priority Movers move some furniture from Houston, Texas to Denver, Colorado. The individuals I dealt with were Jason and Chris.
Upon delivery, nearly every item they had moved was broken. Legs were completely broken off desks and tables; a buffet had a giant gash out of the side. Boxes VERY clearly marked «FRAGILE» showed up crushed. All contents lost. Do not trust Chris or Jason with your move.
The individuals delivering apologized, and said I should contact their claims department. I contacted my rep, sent him the pictures, and never heard a thing back. There is no «Claims Department.» Go figure.
Call a reputable mover. Jason, Chris, and everyone else at First Priority Movers are criminals. I’ve reported them to the DOT and the FMCSA. If you’re here because of a terrible experience with Jason, file your complains here:
You can also email these folks:

So far this is the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with. They make promises they don’t keep. They tell you one thing and it does not happen. I have been promised my furniture for a week and still no furniture. The worst service I have seen.