Charm City Movers

I have hired this company twice now and if I ever have to move again, I will definitely hire them. 10/10 they are amazing! Worth every single penny.

I hate to leave a bad review, but I had a terrible experience with Charm City Movers and strongly recommend that you look for another company.

My initial impression was good. Their office called me to go over the itemized list and to review the layouts of both places to ensure an accurate quote. My old place was on the 3rd floor, so on my original request, I put 3 flights of stairs. The person I spoke to, Felix, told me that she was changing it to 1 flight of stairs since there were no turns. I was upfront that my apartment was on the 3rd floor, but she said it was ok and would get me a better price. I had also gotten a referral, and she was generally very chummy, so I just accepted it because why not?

When the crew arrived day-of, they said they were not expecting a 3rd floor apartment and would need to call the office because that would add to my final price. I told them that Felix had scaled it back on our phone call. They also stated that I had more boxes than the estimate—this was true, but I had told Felix I wasn’t sure how many I would end up with, and at no point did she warn me there would be an extra cost if I went over. The team said the extras would cost me $7/box, in addition to a threatened upcharge for the stairs which they implied would cost double. Their website promises a “guaranteed rate” and bills themselves as “a company who doesn’t pull your strings with a great sounding estimate only to find out that someone out there didn’t have a clue about quoting.” The team onsite said they would knock down the official cost by $200 if I agreed to tip them $500 in cash.

In retrospect, I should’ve just called the office to settle things even if it meant paying more overall. I considered it, but this happened as soon as they showed up to my house, and I was nervous that they would not treat my belongings respectfully if I said no. (It turns out they didn’t treat my belongings respectfully anyway, but I didn’t know that at the time.) I also didn’t have other options if things fell apart entirely. So, I accepted, but I felt incredibly pressured about it. Maybe the whole company is in on the scam and the movers split the cash with the office, I don’t know.

Other negatives:
* The team seemed very inexperienced. They had no idea how to fold my bed frame even though it’s very simple. They attempted to carry it out unfolded, knocking over several boxes until I ran over and showed them how to hit the giant red button that allows the legs to fold in. They also misplaced the hardware that connects the two halves together and did not inform me when they “reassembled” the bed.
* They did not wrap or protect anything until AFTER they had carried it outside, including two antiques that I had specified were valuable in my original quote. In particular, they got my dining room table stuck in the door, which resulted in a large amount of the wall paint being scraped onto it that I haven’t been able to remove (not to mention the damage to the paint). They dragged my mattress on the floor of the moving truck. I found splinters of wood from a cabinet in the stairwell (again, antique wood, I know beyond doubt what it came from).
* They were extremely unsafe. They slid a very heavy armoire down the stairs by using moving blankets to make a “slide” instead of carrying it. The 1st time it almost squished the bottom guy, and the 2nd time the bottom guy got his feet tangled on the moving blankets and almost fell backwards down the stairs (I grabbed him by the shoulder from the landing above).
* Moving stuff into my new place was a madhouse. Even though most boxes were labeled by floor, they constantly shouted at me about where to put things, then would switch off in between me answering and the item actually being moved. I had to tell them 3-4 times where to put the same box, and stuff still didn’t end up in the right place.
* I gave them sodas, and when they were leaving, the leader of the team just crumpled the half-full can and dropped it on the street outside my building. Small point but really unprofessional and disrespectful.

fantastic price on moving out of a 4th story walk-up with no elevator - a task that some other moving companies outright refused. they took care with our items, and they were QUICK - moved it all within less than 2 hours!! would recommend without hesitation, and we will be using them again.

I had a great experience with Charm City Movers! They were timely, efficient, professional, funny, and reliable. I would definitely recommend them and use them in the future when needed. Thanks for such a good experience working together!

I had a great experience with Charm City Movers! They were able to get all of my furniture into my new row home, even when it looked like some things wouldn’t fit they made it happen! They also carried my very heavy mattress and heavy dresser up the stairs no problem. The moving crew were also very polite, and fun to talk to! In addition, the scheduling and quote was easy and straightforward with no hidden fees. Would 100% recommend this company again.