Santa Rosa Moving and Storage

Ryan and Miguel did an awesome job moving our stuff into our new apartment. They were very professional and made our move quick & easy. We will definitely use this company again for future moves.

I am presently in the 20^th home of my life — so needless to say I have moved ALOT! Some were corporate moves where our household belongings filled an entire truck. Some were local (friends and family) moves. Some were short in-​state professional moves. The ‘smaller than a full truck’ moves are relatively new to me – have done only 2 before this one.
I had to have the contents of my son’s storage unit in Sebastopol, and a few of his belongings from my house moved to him in Boulder, CO. Kim from Santa Rosa/​Sausalito Moving and Storage gave me a prompt ‘not to exceed’ estimate (actual cost was lower than estimated) — and she and everyone I contacted at the company were informed, efficient, friendly, helpful and accommodating. (And I’m a ‘worrier’ — so contacted them a number of times to make sure we were still on target!)
They arranged his items to be picked up on the day I requested (a Monday) and informed me at that time that the ‘big’ truck to Boulder would pick it up on Wednesday.
Everything went according to plan (with only a small snafu in that without a specific delivery window for the HOA on the Boulder end — unable to deliver on Sunday as planned) — and the GREAT driver delivered everything to him intact on Monday.
The company was recommended to me by someone who had used them for an in-​state move. Not as complicated as this one. Yet — my experience too, was virtually effortless, smooth, and efficient. I’m super grateful for the professionalism of this company!

Santa Rosa moving picked up my belongings in Mountain View CA 9÷24÷12 and placed in their storage facility. Items included a new (15 month old) pillow top queen bed set and separate 2 inch memory foam topper. Both were in perfect condition (no smell, NO exposure to odors or moisture) at the time they were picked up. Items were taken out of storage by SR moving and delivered to my new residence 8÷5÷13.
After the mattress set was removed from boxes, a strong odor of mildew/​dampness was noted. All of the stored cardboard boxes also smelled but the contents were removed and successfully washed or aired. I called and reported the mattress smell ⁸⁄₅ (the *day of delivery*) to the mover’s office, I was told that Jay (VP) would call me back that day. I slept on the mattress that night but spent the night sneezing and the smell was intolerable. By morning, my pillows and pajamas reeked.
The next day ⁸⁄₆ I called the movers again, again I was told that J would call me. Apparently, he refused. Instead, the office person called back to advise that she was mailing a claim form, as I had purchased replacement value storage insurance with $ 500 deductible. On ⁸⁄₆ afternoon, the day after delivery and two phone calls later, I could not tolerate the smell from the mattress and memory foam in my small apartment, so called a hauling company who took it away for $ 40.00.
I received the claim form 8÷7÷13 and filed immediately, filing value of $ 900 for mattress set, $ 80 for memory foam pad, $ 40 for hauling away (plus another small furniture damage claim). I expected the $ 500 deductible to be applied.
I received a letter ⁸⁄₁₄ from the VP denying all claims as «the smell couldn’t have come from us, it must have been in the mattress before storage». I called and insisted that the odor to stored boxes and bed was a result of his storage facility and requested payment of my insurance claim, minus deductible. He was unwilling to discuss and stated that I had visited the facility prior to storage.
Per the BBB complaint:
Regarding the pre-​move visit: «I spent less than 15 minutes in the storage facility, which does NOT preclude the later possibility or claim of odor/​damage caused by nearly 11 months in storage.
The company is apparently self insured: the vice president, who denied the claim himself after failing to return my phone calls for two days (after his staff had twice promised), did not submit a claim to any insurance company. He denied the claim himself. He knew the issue was urgent as it was an unusable mattress, but delayed his response. Had he returned my calls, as I was told he would, he could easily have done an inspection. My apartment is a 15 minute drive from his office.»
«Additionally, If I had known that I was purchasing insurance directly from the storage company and not a third party insurance company, I would likely have gone elsewhere. The VP, who handles the claims himself, can arbitrarily deny with no recourse, which is a conflict of interest.»
Santa Rosa Moving and Storage does NOT have a climate controlled facility. They are responsible for the mattress set/​memory foam moisture damage and should pay the claim per the insurance policy.
Bottom line: the clerical folks are very nice. The VP will not honor your damage claim even after buying (from them) storage insurance for ten months. Just another rip off. Go elsewhere.
There are now 3 posts, all complaints, for this business (1 filtered).
Caveat emptor

I was moved by this company from Sonoma to San Francisco on August 1. They damaged two pieces of furniture, including an antique table that belonged to my grandmother and had recently been refinished (it now has several gashes in the side). They knocked off part of another table and didn’t even notice… I had to ask them to find the missing piece in the truck. Neither of them apologized or really even acknowledged that there was a problem. I’ve moved a lot and I know things get bumped and dinged, that just par for the course, but this was pretty shocking.
When I got the ‘not to exceed’ estimate I assumed, based on my previous moves, that there was no way it could take that long. It didn’t take quite as long as the estimate, but it was close. I think the guys may be given directions to make the move take as long as possible. They were slow and pretty inefficient. At one point, I was in the new apartment, and a long stretch of time went by without either of them bringing up a load. So, I went down to the lobby of the building to see what was going on. I didn’t find either of them, but I did find all of my belongings strewn around the lobby, the door to outside open and the door to the truck open (with a few small boxes sitting right near the opening where anyone walking by on the street could have grabbed them).
Maybe I just got unlucky with the crew that moved me, but I definitely would not recommend these guys.