marrins' moving

TLDR; Bottom Line - Terrible Experience with Out of State Move We were moving our 4 bedroom home from Shell Beach to Helena Montana. Martian is a “reseller” of a larger national company National Van Lines. Martian was clear that it would be National moving us, but that they were the reseller. Chris came over to the house to carefully review all the items we needed to ship, including a garage full of gear. He calculated we would need a 26’ truck. I called Chris days later to double check that as it seemed light to me and he said they are really good at packing stuff up. This was a pretty full service move as they were going to take apart our beds, including bunk beds, wrap up all our furniture and we even paid extra to have our artwork expertly packed. "Ok, I guess you guys know what you’re doing" I said, and I let it go. The day the moving truck showed up and I saw the size of it I was immediately thinking - no way this is all going to fit. I brought that up immediately with the driver and his team and we walked through the house. He said it was going to be tight but said they could get it all in. So we waited and watched ALL DAY and at about 6 pm after repacking a couple of times finally admitted they were wrong and it wasn’t going to all fit. So they called Martian and about an hour later two guys showed up from Martian with a 12’ truck that again looked too small for the remaining items. The guys from Martian manhandled our stuff and started stuffing our belongings into this too small truck (why would they make it so hard on themselves and our stuff knowing they were going to be taking it to a warehouse where it would be unloaded and labeled “overflow”). They wrapped nothing and acted like they were two guys in overtime on an emergency job. They assured me that it would all get shipped with a small delay and I had nothing to worry about. It was going to take us a few days to get to Montana ourselves so I wasn’t overly concerned. Google won't let me paste in the email thread due to character limits, but basically the balance of our stuff arrived over 6 weeks late. Upon arrival the National driver (who was great) told me I had to pay before they would unload. So I called and I was told by National that I didn’t have to pay until the balance arrived so they unloaded. Later, Lori at National that I had to pay 80% since 80% of our stuff had been delivered before they would BEGIN to ship the last 20% (and that no one would have told me differently - effectively calling me a liar), that my flat rate wasn’t really a flat rate because I may have been “overweight”, had to negotiate with National Van Lines on my own because Ron had disappeared, and only through carefully reviewing the paperwork and getting the weights from the second delivery team found out that National was trying to overcharge me for weight. When the second delivery crew arrived with our stuff that had been shipped from Ron's warehouse to theirs in a crate they said “this was the worst intercarrier shipment they had ever seen.” (Apparently the 5 weeks that Ron and crew had our stuff in their warehouse was not enough time to pack it properly). The delivery crew said that when they opened the crate that our stuff just spilled out. Stuff that should have been wrapped and securely packed. We had multiple items that were damaged including a handmade tiffany stain glass lamp (made by my mother) that was packed in a box clearly labeled fragile that was just smashed. I declined the extra insurance knowing my homeowners would cover any major losses but it had a $1000 deductible. The owner Ron Snyder failed to fight National Van Lines for me like he promised, failed to follow through with any communication (just like the rest of his team including Chris Babcock who failed to return 6 calls, and Ernest who promised to keep me updated), and had a bunch of excuses about how hard his life was with all the moves that had gone wrong. Suffice it to say I’m not happy having spent $13K with this company and endured their carelessness.

I recently had a baby grand piano moved. Ernest was excellent at keeping in touch and letting me know when they would be arriving. All three movers took great care to ensure that the piano was well protected and moved safely. They were friendly and I could tell they were experienced at moving pianos. Now the piano is in its new home and looks great! Thank you, Cal Safe Movers!

My movers got my stuff from a pod to a more permanent storage in Santa Maria, and it was an excellent experience. They were professional, nice, and amazing with stacking my stuff in a way that works with room to spare. Thank you to the two gentlemen that helped me, and thank you Martian Movers!

Great, affordable experience with loading my beloved baby grand piano into a Pods container on a very rainy day. The guys were super careful and prompt and as an added bonus, they were friendly with great sense of humors. Thanks so much for making the whole process seamless! You guys are great! I’m moving out of state but will definitely recommend your company to all my friends!

Excellent baby grand piano movers!! The guys were wonderful and went above and beyond to bring my 1930’s piano to me. I 100% recommend Cal-Safe Movers! My first piano, I had no idea the detail and knowledge it takes to move a piano, disassemble and reassemble, they had all the best and necessary tools to take care of all the many parts of this antique. Thank you!! :) So happy!!