Irish Express Moving & Storage

This moving company came to me on a very reliable and outstanding recommendation, from someone who has used them four times and absolutely raved. I was stoked because movers can be so hit and miss. Working with John, the owner, was initially great. Three movers showed up on time, were congenial, careful and seemingly very conscientious. We bought them lunch, tipped them generously, but once they left we discovered that property was missing. We hated to accuse any of them of stealing but the circumstances were just too compelling to ignore. It wasn’t anything irreplaceable which was stolen, and it was only a single item, but it still felt icky. We discovered that this item was missing as soon as the truck left so we called John. He then met the truck as his warehouse, inquired about the item, and believed his crew when they denied any knowledge. Okay, I can accept that. Our property did not walk out of our garage by itself, and we know it was there only 12 hours before the movers arrived, because I placed it there myself. No one else was in our garage on the day of the move. We found a metal hangar from one of Irish Express’ wardrobe boxes in the exact location where the property «disappeared» from, even through this was in the garage, under the stairs, where no wardrobe box would ever be placed. When John came to pick up the wardrobe boxes, we again discussed the issue, not because we wanted any sort of monetary compensation, but because we felt it important for him to fully understand the circumstances which lead us to suspect one of his crew. John could not have been more condescending if he tried, and clearly does not believe that «the customer comes first.» He had no interest in even contemplating that we had perhaps been victimized by one of his crew. Rather than simply accept that we believed a theft occurred and that we were willing to move on with the understanding that reasonable minds differ, he lectured us, compared us to other customers who had accused his crews of theft and then later phoned to apologize when they found their property, and dismissed our concerns completely. Too bad because if we hadn’t had something stolen during the move, we would have been recommending Irish Express. And if John had handled the matter more professionally and treated us with the respect, I would not have posted this review.

I recently moved my household. Irish express was great. John kindly came to my house to give a detailed quote. Arturo, Jesus, Ed, and Riccardo did the move. They were amazing at figuring out how to get large furniture pieces into the house through tight spaces and whether they would fit. Figured out where things should go, and got them there. I was particularly concerned about transporting several pieces in tact, and they did a great job. They all worked hard and efficiently and with good humor. I am very happy with their work. Thanks!

I highly recommend using these guys for your next move… we hired them for the full service package (within the city move) including packing the day before and the actual move… they took care of parking permits for both locations…
Arturo and Sam were considerate and their crews, they worked really hard… climbing up and down 4 floors…
They had to take apart a lot of our larger furnitures to make it down the stairs and up… they put them back together once in our new place with no issues…
John was spot on with his initial quote… including labor hours and number of boxes that were used…

These guys are awesome. The movers are thoughtful, respectful, polite, nice, and do a great job. John is a prince to deal with and always accommodating in any way possible. Their rates are competitive and the sevice is excellent.

I dreaded moving, but John and his crew made it bearable. Totally professional, friendly and with a great deal of patience (my daughter had them rearrange more than one piece of furniture). Even though they sent an extra man, the price came in at the lowest point of the estimate.
God forbid that I should move again, but if I had to, these are the guys I would pick.

This review is based on our experience during our years with this company. We used them to help move and also used their storage. First off if you use their storage you have to make an appointment to get into your stuff plus they charge $ 250 just to take it out. I got into an argument with one of the men when we had called to see our stuff, he gave us a day and time. The day of he called us two hours before we were supposed to go there saying there wasn’t enough men to pull our stuff out. Why give us a day and time when your going to be short staffed? Needless to say we were very upset. We stopped using their services this past summer because it was wayyy too expensive. When my mother was told how much she had spent on three Yeats of storage she broke down crying because she had spent a few thousand on their storage. When they dropped off our belongings we were missing a few boxes and $ 400 worth of my father’s scuba gear (my father passed away so his belongings mean everything to us). I will never use this company again.

John is great. I spoke to him a couple of times before my move. He is very organized and provided very helpful advice and information. The day of the move also went well. The moving team showed up on time, and they were very fast and organized. They definitely have a system down. The move went much faster than I expected. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because towards the end of the day when we were unpacking at my new place, I could tell the guys just wanted to get out of there and they started getting a little careless. Some items got bumped into door frames and walls while they were rushing to move them inside. There wasn’t any damage, and I can’t blame them for being tired, so ultimately everything turned out well. I would use them again, but ask that they be a little more careful.

TRULY THE WORST MOVING EXPERIENCE I’VE EVER HAD!
I have moved on numerous occasions and with many companies but have never came across a company as dysfunctional as this one!
First of all they (3 men) were late and 2 of them were still clearly drunk from the stench of their breath which straight away made my husband and i very nervous.
Needless to say there were a few items damaged at the first location and the new home (walls) when i called John his response was that he had spoken to his crew and they denied doing anything wrong and he believed them over me.
I CERTAINLY WILL NOT BE CALLING IRISH EXPRESS AGAIN

We were introduced to Irish Express by our best friends who have used the company no less than 5 times in the last 3 years. So, I had seen their work at my friend’s moves and thought to give them a call for our move.
Their quotes are reasonable and true to the actual cost. John, Ailish and all the guys are pleasant and hardworking (plus, you gotta love those Irish accents!). The entire team is responsive, professional and quick.
We have used Irish twice now, once in May 2011 when my partner and I consolidated our two Santa Clara apartments and moved in together to a new apartment in Redwood City and more recently when we bought our house and moved from Redwood City back down to San Jose.
We’ve had them move in a multitude of situations (3^rd floor apartment with only stairs and nowhere to park, 2^nd floor apartment with only stairs, 2^nd floor apartment with stairs and elevators, our storage unit, our single story house) and each time the guys have been fast and very careful with our precious belongings. They were also very kind about our poor kitties who get locked up (and therefore cry and cry all day) while the move goes on.
I am not a person who takes strangers coming into my house and touching my things lightly, but the guys at Irish put you at ease. I would never use any other moving company.

Extremely professional in every respect. Arrived on time and completed my packing (I had packed most of what fit into boxes). They wrapped my furniture carefully and properly, and then fit everything — miraculously — into my 8×16 foot «pod». A less experienced mover might have entailed shipping some overflow later via Fedex or UPS. They do charge the prices of professionals I think it is worth it.

Professional, careful, and prompt. What more could you ask with movers? How about that they worked so quickly my job was done in less time than I thought possible.
I’ve used Irish Express Moving twice in the last few weeks to pick up furniture for storing while I staged my apartment to sell. Then they returned it and helped me make the move on very short notice. Their moving fees are reasonable and the storage fees were surprisinlgy inexpensive.
Thank you to John and his crew for two jobs well done.

I really wanted to like my experience with IEM. But I am not able to afterwards.
John did come to my house to do a preliminary estimation. He told me most of his clients are long term customers and I saw his tracks in my neighborhood from time to time and he could move my stuff on the date we preferred so I chose his service over the other local company.
His team of 4 men came one afternoon prior to help me pack and the next day with the same 3 men plus another 4^th person. I didn’t have time to pack nor help to pack prior to the actual moving so that many hands were welcome & needed. Of course packing racked up the cost.
Here is the summary of my experience:
Pro: The crew were on time and professional, work quietly with each at his own place, eager to please. Like John said, they wanted to go home asap. They got the job done, got the money and left. They brought plenty of packing materials.
Cons:
1. On the day of packing, I specifically asked them not to pack my bookshelves because there were no rooms for it in my new location. They packed anyway explaining «It’s better to sort through them in your new place.»? I wasn’t able to move them to the new house. Now I have more boxes to open and sort.
2. The foreman smoked. His breath let me know.
3. They brought in recycled boxes and used also new boxes to pack, I had to trust them of their estimation of total material cost. There was no way to verify and they counted by eyes.
4. A few places in my new home were damaged: hardwood floor dented, walls need to be refinished/​repainted. My master wood bed frame was chipped.
5. Miss communication: I asked them to put some boxes in the hallway because one room was too small to hold all the boxes. Now a month later, I still have to find help to take the boxes out of the small room so I could get some furniture in first to start organizing.
They didn’t move some items that I asked them to pack/​move to the new place. I’m part responsible as I overlooked when we did a walk-​through.
6. I am missing some items that were supposed to be in certain rooms.
5. I emailed John with my questions, and he said the foreman could answer them. The foreman said John was the one to talk to. I didn’t know if John checked in with his clients to do quality control, but I never heard from him during/​after the service.

We just hired the guys at Irish Express for a move from Redwood City to San Carlos and they did a stellar job. John, the owner, was extremely accomodating and came to our house on very short notice to provide an estimate. He was a pleasure to deal with and we appreciated his sincerity and eagerness to do the right thing for us.
Julian was the man in charge on moving day and also did a bit of packing for us. Like John, we felt Julian was looking out for us and trying to find ways to save us time and money. The other three guys, Corel, Arturo, and Robert were all extremely professional and did a great job .
If you are looking for reasonably priced, highly professional and experienced movers, these are your guys!
Ps., for cash there is a discount which we took advantage of

Irish Express Moving is awesome. When I called I was put in contact with the owner John who answered all my questions. The movers arrived on time and began work immediately. I had two movers and they were very efficient and had my place loaded in the truck in no time. John’s estimate was accurate and there were no hidden charges. I highly recommend Irish Express moving.

I am rating them 5 stars due to the excellent customer service I received at Irish Express. The owner bent over backwards to make sure that I was satisfied with my move. Thank you.

I can’t say enough about the experience that I just had with this company. I hired a team of three guys, who showed up promptly at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday and proceeded to clear out my two-​bedroom apartment in less than two hours. They were phenomenally efficient while at the same time being equally careful with my stuff. They were all very friendly and had a great attitude all day, even as they struggled mightily to get my gigantic mattress up a very tight, 33-​stair stairwell at my new house. Very impressive. Only as I was settling up my charges for the day – at $ 175 an hour for the whole crew, I’d gladly pay it again in a heartbeat – did I find out that they’ll also come and pack your house before the move and unpack it afterwards, which I’m absolutely going to have them do the next time I move. The next time you move, give these guys a call; you’ll be glad you did.