College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving West Pittsburgh

I have used College Hunks for junk removal twice and they have helped me so much with cleaning out my space! They are always professional and I highly recommend them.

Will happily rescind if only the 'owner' or representative would call back. My business was charged for services through an 'at-risk' entity. Bookkeeper has been trying to request invoice but met with resistance from offshore billing company. UNSAFE SHAM!

I hate to leave 1-star reviews, because I know how hard laborers work, but the single star was for the two laborers, not the packing team leader. Wish I would have had this Brandon that has all the 5-star reviews. One of my laborers, they pulled off the street to work with them, but he was very courteous, kind, and did a great job, being very respectful.

Where to start...? I wish I would have researched the reviews more, but there weren't that many 1-star reviews, and I know that those are usually left by people that just want to complain and make trouble for the reviewee. I'm not one of those people. Just the facts here.

From the Pittsburgh office, I first spoke to Laura. After the first quote, she was impossible to reach on the phone again, so I went through corporate and eventually got booked, at which time Laura was in contact again. Fast forward to the day before the move, and Laura left me a message asking if their crew could come three hours early, which for a big interstate move is some crucial time lost. I tried calling back the rest of the day, and she never answered the phone or returned my messages. I finally got a hold of her the next morning, 75 minutes before they were to get there, and she asked if it was okay. They were on their way, what could I say. That's when one of the worst days of my life started. The team leader (they know who he was) barely was in my apartment door with his helper when he made the declaration that my things would not fit in the 16-foot truck I had rented. He didn't even see the other rooms. I didn't have much furniture, but did have over 100 small-to-medium boxes. Whoever booked the job put down that I had 20 or 30 boxes (had more than that before I even started packing) and that I had an elevator, (I told them 2nd floor).

So the leader went down to the truck and reaffirmed that it wouldn't work. I'm really good with spatial engineering, and I couldn't understand how it couldn't be packed. I even decided to leave 20 boxes behind, as well as a cumbersome chair and a couple bookcases. The leader flat-out said he would NOT load the truck, that they'd just be unloading it again. Pretty sure I held the checkbook, but in a dazed state I called the truck company to see what larger trucks they had. The leader insisted I needed a 26-foot diesel truck, which I'd never driven anything like before. Not the College Hunks crew in Minneapolis, nor anyone else in the Pgh crew, or even Penske trucking, thought that was right. Long bit short, the larger truck cost me $2,100 more and had mismatched front tires that needed replaced, so basically instead of starting packing at 10 AM, and the leader was late coming back, it started at 6 PM. Add in a tsunami of added stress, no time to eat or rest... And also beware if a leader suggests working 'off the clock'...

The leader said he wouldn't tie things down with the quality rope I bought, so I had to run to Home Depot for a dozen ratchet straps. All day, he kept telling me how much experience he had, how he knew exactly what he was doing. Well, he didn't tie down a single thing. He didn't use even half the blankets I got from Penske, and when I got to Mpls I found that two bookcases had fallen over onto a floor lamp that somehow didn't break. He insisted he knew how to pack the TV, but instead I found in Mpls that he just stood it up on the sofa, UNCOVERED or boxed, right next to where the bookcases crashed down. I can't believe nothing was broken. His refusal to just do the job and pack the truck tight cost me over $3,100 extra dollars.

Fast forward, and Laura was supposed to call to discuss this. Instead of calling the cell number I'd given them, she tried the disconnected landline. She emailed, and I responded back, telling her a bit of the story and requesting, if possible, a $200 refund in good faith for all of the horrible service by the leader.

Congrats, you've earned your star. If it wasn't for the two other laborers, you'd have received none.

• 2 months later, not a word back...

I hate to leave 1-star reviews, because I know how hard laborers work, but the single star was for the two laborers, not the packing team leader. Wish I would have had this Brandon that has all the 5-star reviews. One of my laborers, they pulled off the street to work with them, but he was very courteous, kind, and did a great job, being very respectful.

Where to start...? I wish I would have researched the reviews more, but there weren't that many 1-star reviews, and I know that those are usually left by people that just want to complain and make trouble for the reviewee. I'm not one of those people. Just the facts here.

From the Pittsburgh office, I first spoke to Laura. After the first quote, she was impossible to reach on the phone again, so I went through corporate and eventually got booked, at which time Laura was in contact again. Fast forward to the day before the move, and Laura left me a message asking if their crew could come three hours early, which for a big interstate move is some crucial time lost. I tried calling back the rest of the day, and she never answered the phone or returned my messages. I finally got a hold of her the next morning, 75 minutes before they were to get there, and she asked if it was okay. They were on their way, what could I say. That's when one of the worst days of my life started. The team leader (they know who he was) barely was in my apartment door with his helper when he made the declaration that my things would not fit in the 16-foot truck I had rented. He didn't even see the other rooms. I didn't have much furniture, but did have over 100 small-to-medium boxes. Whoever booked the job put down that I had 20 or 30 boxes (had more than that before I even started packing) and that I had an elevator, (I told them 2nd floor).

So the leader went down to the truck and reaffirmed that it wouldn't work. I'm really good with spatial engineering, and I couldn't understand how it couldn't be packed. I even decided to leave 20 boxes behind, as well as a cumbersome chair and a couple bookcases. The leader flat-out said he would NOT load the truck, that they'd just be unloading it again. Pretty sure I held the checkbook, but in a dazed state I called the truck company to see what larger trucks they had. The leader insisted I needed a 26-foot diesel truck, which I'd never driven anything like before. Not the College Hunks crew in Minneapolis, nor anyone else in the Pgh crew, or even Penske trucking, thought that was right. Long bit short, the larger truck cost me $2,100 more and had mismatched front tires that needed replaced, so basically instead of starting packing at 10 AM, and the leader was late coming back, it started at 6 PM. Add in a tsunami of added stress, no time to eat or rest... And also beware if a leader suggests working 'off the clock'...

The leader said he wouldn't tie things down with the quality rope I bought, so I had to run to Home Depot for a dozen ratchet straps. All day, he kept telling me how much experience he had, how he knew exactly what he was doing. Well, he didn't tie down a single thing. He didn't use even half the blankets I got from Penske, and when I got to Mpls I found that two bookcases had fallen over onto a floor lamp that somehow didn't break. He insisted he knew how to pack the TV, but instead I found in Mpls that he just stood it up on the sofa, UNCOVERED or boxed, right next to where the bookcases crashed down. I can't believe nothing was broken. His refusal to just do the job and pack the truck tight cost me over $3,100 extra dollars.

Fast forward, and Laura was supposed to call to discuss this. Instead of calling the cell number I'd given them, she tried the disconnected landline. She emailed, and I responded back, telling her a bit of the story and requesting, if possible, a $200 refund in good faith for all of the horrible service by the leader.

Congrats, you've earned your star. If it wasn't for the two other laborers, you'd have received none.

• 2 months later, not a word back...

Very disappointed with my service from College Hunks. They were supposed to communicate an hour before they would arrive. Arrival window came and went - no communication from the company. I called the office, manager, and then corporate. Finally, they call saying that they would be there in thirty minutes but down a man (approximately two hours later). Was frustrated that none of their staffing issues were communicated until I tracked them down. Additionally, the fact that they were down a man too was an inconvenience.

Then, one of the movers arrived already injured and so he was not able to move heavy items or move at a quick pace. When it was all said and done, they only reduced my move by one hour even though I had to help move a large amount of the items/heavy items in order to keep things moving.

I reached out to corporate asking what else they could do for me and after acknowledging everything they did nothing to rectify the problems. To say I was displeased with the service is an understatement. I will not be using College Hunks ever again.