Gouffon Moving & Storage

I hired this moving company to pick my 1 bd rm items up in Pigeon Forge & then stop on the way back to Knox to pick up my small per-packed items at my office in Maryville then deliver them to my home in Karns/Knox. The delivery was set for 10am I waited an hour & ran up to a rest room after waiting an hour & 10 mins. The driver then called me & asked where I was. Lol. after leaving me waiting for an hour! Then after 5-10 mins I arrived back I had left the door on the storage opened for them & gave them the key code to get in over the phone. When I arrived both drivers were very serious almost angry looking. Neither approached me in a professional manner both were sullen & quiet. They began loading my items. It was a 10x10 ft storage than was pretty full with bagged & boxed items & a queen bed & mattress, a sofa very light weight, a chair & ottaman. 2- 27in tv's & a dresser & mirror, a small vanity & 2 bar stools, & 2 wooden chairs. Within the 1st 40 mins of moving I heard a large crash & one of the movers said, "oh your mirror was already broken." within 10 mins I heard another crack, my vanity mirror was on the ground & they were both looking at it. Again, the driver replied, "it was already broken." Both movers hardly spoke & when tey did it was very awkward. As I watched them I noticed they were moving as slowly as possible. I thought, how odd. They almost appeared to be depressed & sad. Then it dawned on me that they were being paid by the hour so they were going as slow as they possibly could. They finished loading the storage onto the truck at 12:57 pm. The driver then said, "ok so next were taking your things to your house right?" I said no this move was scheduled with a stop on the way back to my Maryville office to get my office items. The driver looked puzzled as he starred at the work order. I looked down at it & saw my office address on the paper which I pointed to & said, "it's right here." The driver then said, "We have to stop at your office too?" As if I were inconveniencing him by asking him to do what I was paying him to do! My items took up maybe 1/4 of the truck. They then told me they were going to stop for a "30 min lunch & meet me in Maryville." My daughter & I waited till 1:58pm & called the movers as they had not shown up yet. They answered & said they would be there in a few mins. They called about 7-8 mins later to ask how to find my office as they were lost. I asked if they had a GPS because my office was in the middle of down town Maryville & hard to miss. He called back again to say he still could not find me. 10 more mins had lapsed. When they finally arrived they came into my office & the driver commented, "we need to take all of this?" All my office items were in containers & boxes. The only smaller lose items my daughter & I took & put in my car including my not so small massage table, reflex chair, & as many other items as possible because we felt we were bothering them. it took 2 "seasoned & experienced movers" from 2 to 2 1/2 hours to load my very small office items that were all on one level (no stairs) When they were done the truck was maybe 1/2 full but items were not stacked to the top so maybe not quite half. Which included my storage & office. This by the way was a 17ft truck. At approx. 430pm they finished & I was concerned at how slowly they were moving & how much they were charging as it appeared intentional they were dragging they're feet to rack up hours. I called they're super "Darrin" & told him what had happened & that they had broken several of my mirrors. The most significant thing they broke was a piece of a head stone (granite) about 2 ft long that was from my best friends sisters head stone she died unexpectedly at ago 28.

It was irreplaceable. Again they acted as if it was like that when they arrived! I told their super & asked that after 5 hours I feel we should have been done. The super said he would call them & ask that they be more careful & speed things up a bit. At 7pm the movers were done & then brought me a bill for 619.00! Which I could not believe! No mention of the items they broke! No I'm sorry! No kindness, no curtousey what so ever! NONE! One stood back while the other handed me the bill. I said how do folks usually pay thier bill? The driver said I'll take your credit card number, write it down, or I'll take a check, or cash. I said well I am not comfortable writing my credit card number down. He said we always do it that way. I said do you realize your not allowed by law to write peoples credit card number down & exchange it with whoever along the way?

I also will not write a check to exchange hands with multiple people with my account # on my check. He then called his supervisor Chris. Chris immediately began telling me that I needed to give these men my credit card & not try to negotiate with him as they expect to & WILL get paid! I said I will be happy to meet someone at the office or come in the following morning to pay for the move as I felt the price was unfair considering the length of the move & the broken items but would pay that I was not attempting to not pay that wasn't even inquestion. That I would not give 2 total strangers my credit card! I tols him I did trust the way they handeled my move much less my credit card #! Chris became more & more demanding telling me

I was GOING to pay these men. That their company was a good reputable company & that I needed to give them the card. I again insisted back at the supervisor it didn't matter how much he raised his voice or talked over me or how rude he was I did not feel comfortable giving them my credit card! He them said no one was in the office but he would meet me if I'd come to the office he'd personally run my card. Upon arrival the parking lot was filled with cars I counted there were 6 cars in the parking lot where employees park. I came to the window & the drivers came in right behind me. They looked very angry & one driver slammed several doors to insure I knew he was angry. A young man came to the counter & asked can I help you? I told him I had spoken to Chris & needed to make a payment. He said just a min someone will help you. A woman appeared at the front counter/window & asked can I help you? I explained she then seemed to already know I was coming, she said I can run that payment.

She took my card which wasa temp card from my bank & ran the card for 619.99 it was declined as I have a limit. She then went to get Chris. Chris came to the counter & said ok Melissa we don't want you to be dissatisfied, what can I do to make this experience a better one for you? I said my items are broken it took them 7 hours to move me! You were disrespectful & rude! He said what do you think would be fair? Before I could speak he said, How about 400. or 500? Will your card do 500.00? How bout this let's do it for 450.00 hows that? Do you think 450.00 is fair? I said I do think 450.00 is much more fair than 600.00! They then ran my card & charged me 450.00.

I write this review knowing nothing can change my experience but in the hopes I can fully express how I was treated & how it felt. It was horrible. The last time I moved I did it alone with my kids & hurt my back. I was hoping to not have to do anything but still had too. I was hoping to be stress free. Not with this company. They treated me horribly! The movers were AWFUL!! The supervisor Chris acted as tho I was trying to screw them over! After what I had been thru customer service was seriously lacking! I am a small business owner & would NEVER treat my customers this way! Or I'd be out of business! Just something to think about when thinking of hiring movers! Go with movers that have much better customer care base. .

Service cost: $619

I was very pleased with Gouffon Moving and Storage. I liked that they did not require a 3 or 4 hour minimum job, or require a deposit. The only thing I did not like, is that I could not get any type of time frame until the day before, which made it kind of hard to plan when friends offered to help. Even though it was a hot, humid day, Lennox and La Derious worked hard and got the job done in three hours. They were very polite and worked well together and stacked the boxes in a neat fashion. I would highly recommend Gouffon and would use again for my next move.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $535

I just had a great move with the Gouffon crew members Chase, Lennox and Jared. These guys were awesome, they took special care of all my items and they worked really hard and got the job done in no time. They all had great attitudes and you could tell they enjoyed the work. They are a SuperHero team and I will be booking all my future moves with Gouffon. Blake was especially attentive when booking the move to make sure the pricing was right and he was flexible with my move dates. Bravo and thanks again to the Gouffon team!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1280

Jake and Art did a great job loading up our boxes, furniture, and household goods in Aiken, SC. They were friendly, thorough, efficient, worked quickly but safely, and kept us informed of what they were doing as they loaded. Jake, Art, and Jared did a great job unloading our things in Knoxville, TN. Once again, they were efficient, worked hard getting our things put where we wanted them, were patient with the many decisions I made, laughed and seemed to enjoy their job. I would use Gouffon again if I needed a mover.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6400

I rarely write reviews but felt compelled to do so.  I waited over a week to write this review so emotions would not bias my comments.  First the good news.  Pick up and delivery was fine.  They were running late and but called and we had no problem with that at all.  As long as we got unloaded that day, that was fine.  Also and this was BIG, I actually received a "real guarantee" price in writing before I signed a deal and that is not something you can usually get from moving companies.  That was the decision point for me and I do thank them for that guarantee.  Working with the people in the office (Blake, Chris, and Connie) was a good experience as well.  Be careful of Chris because he could talk anyone into doing anything.  Very nice man but a smooth talker to a fault and that should have been a red flag.  We had many pieces slightly damaged but nothing that could not be fixed or nothing that affected the operation.  Items such as a sofa table, day bed, washer and dryer.  When the truck arrived and the door was opened and I saw how it was packed, I knew it was going to be along day.  They promised they would look at the damaged furniture and make notes about the damage but once they were fully unloaded, they left so quick they did not follow through on that promise.  That said and to be honest, I did not challenge them on that point because I felt the cost damages were minimal and we would not be compensated anyway.  Wood furniture was not fully covered and it looked like they used a crow bar to shove things in a hole to make the piece fit.  When unloading, they put very heavy boxes on top of light boxes even though "Fragile" was posted very clearly on those type boxes.  Some items were damaged because of that but nothing that I woul consider a keepsake type item.  I would not use them again but to be fair, I would not use a moving company again.  Most moving companies business model makes some of their conduct questionable since they hold all the cards and they know that.  In talking with others in my new neighborhood, with Gouffon I still made out better than everyone else in their moves and for that, Gouffon still gets my thanks.  Just be firm and get all promises in writing and you should be fine with Gouffon. Finally, the crew of 2 were both very nice and personable.  It was a very hot day and given that, they were easy to deal with from beginning to end of the unload.

Service cost: $4010

I do not recommend Gouffon Movers at all. I have been involved with them twice now and they are very irresponsible with pianos. I am the owner of a piano business and I am an experienced piano mover myself with 20 years experience, and a piano re-builder with 30 years experience restoring pianos. The last experience that caused me to write this review was very disturbing.  I was hired by another local technician/friend to pick up a piano from Gouffon's warehouse, where he had the piano stored. It was apparent that they were upset that they had been "cheated" out of delivering the piano themselves. They wanted us to set up an appointment to pick up the piano. The appointment was for a specific time the next day. When we arrived they made us wait 40 minutes, leaving us alone in their tiny waiting room. When they finally took us to the piano the lid was lying on the floor next to the piano. Every single professional piano mover that knows what he is doing never removes the lid, and yet there it was on the ground. I saw that the lid was broken and asked them "How did that happen?" They replied that it was like that when they received it. I also noticed a fresh footprint on the lid. When I delivered the piano to my friend and told him the lid was broken he was livid. Now here is the part that disturbed me. They told my friend that I broke the lid. Notice they told me it was like that when they received it. These are not piano movers, they have the wrong equipment, and no proper experience that I saw. I do not recommend them.  .

Service cost: $1000