Pacific Storage Co./Bekins Van Lines Sacramento

[Cyrus]

Hello all!

Can anyone offer an opinion on Pacific Storage who is a Bekins VL agent in Sacramento? The Pacific Storage Co. has its corporate HQ in Stockton. There does not appear to be any complaints against them, BUT I am leary after reading such negative reviews of Bekins on epinions.com.

Has anyone used them for an interstate move? I am moving from Sacramento to the East Coast in less than one month. I received quotes from Pacific Storage and Olsen-Mayflower so far.

Can anyone recommend another mover in the Sacramento area?

I really really appreciate any help! Thank you in advance.

[Diane]

There is a thread here in which "Wanda" describes a good intrastate (within CA) move that she had with the United agent Casey Moving Systems in Ceres - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3143. I don't know whether they have a branch in Sacramento or not, but she was pleased with them. Maybe this is the same company that you already have a quote from, since she wrote that they go under the name Dawson Van and Storage (Mayflower) for interstate moves.

Chipman Sacramento, another United agent, also has good comments on this board, although no one has yet moved with them and reported back to us. It would probably be overkill to get a quote from two United agents, though.

Some of the Bekins agents in CA belong to a group called Bekins LLC which stiffed suppliers and employees when it declared bankruptcy a few years ago. I'm not sure whether Pacific Storage belongs to that group, but personally I would tend to avoid Bekins in this case. Wanda said that she wasn't impressed with them.

Be sure to get a GNTE estimate and keep us posted.

[Cyrus]

Thank you for the information. I did a google search for Bekins LLC and they have a site called bekinsms.com with agents in Southern California and Texas. When I called them and asked if they had an agent in Sacramento, they gave me the name of Pacific Storage. They also informed me that they are with Bekins Van Lines. I was hoping that they were entirely independent, but apparently that is not the case at all!

[Diane]

Yep, avoid Pacific Storage in that case. The other major van lines are Atlas, Allied, and North American. Maybe some of the other volunteers will step in with suggestions for agents for those van lines that you could call. Meanwhile, I would suggest contacting Casey since Wanda liked them.

[Nancy]

Pacific Storage has nothing to do with the Bekins LLC group that owns agents in So Cal and Texas. Bekins LLC is just a group of agents for Bekins Van Lines owned by the same company. Pacific Storage is an entirely separate group of Bekins agents. It is normal for Bekins LLC agents to refer you to whoever is your local Bekins agent. But they just represent the same van line. There has not been criticism of Bekins Van Lines, just the group of agents owned by Bekins LLC.

I would not eliminate Pacific Storage due to this.

[Diane]

Thanks for the clarification, Nancy. I went to the bekinsms.com website mentioned by this poster and I see the listing of 6 agents in Southern CA and 3 in TX that belong to the Bekins LLC group. I will keep this in mind for the future. Cyrus, Nancy is right--don't eliminate Pacific Storage for this reason.

[Nancy]

Thanks Diane, this is why we advise people to research the AGENT and the VAN LINE. Each agent is different, and run by different owners with their own ethics. It is unfortunate that the Bekins LLC group of agents has given all of Bekins agents a poor reputation.

[Cyrus]

Thank you Nancy and Diane. I have to say I am a bit relieved. I like the rep from Pacific Storage when he came out. At the time I also asked him for some references. He said no problem. Two days later, I received a message on my answering maching from a lady who gave them a good reference. The agent also left the name and mumber of another customer who is willing to be contacted directly by prospective clients of Pacific Storage.

Given that each Bekins agent has its own reputation (as does the agent for each major van line) I had asked Pacific Storage if they could guarantee that one of their drivers can do them move. The agent said he would check, but that it would be unlikely since the Bekins dispatcher would ultimately make that call given the other moves that are going on at the time. What makes me uncomfortable is that I may be able to trust Pacific Storage and their drivers but who is to say what may happen if another Bekins agent's driver shows up to do my move and he happens to be from one of the less reputable Bekins agents. What do you all think? Am I over analyzing this thing or should I be concerned? Thank you again your advice is very helpful!!

[Nancy]

You need to get your order for service and estimate completely straight with Pacific Storage before the driver gets there. They will be ultimately responsible for how it goes. Every van line works the same, there are drivers in service for the van line via different agents. They haul a variety of booked Bekins orders for a variety of Bekins agents. Central dispatch puts the loads together. That is the core reason why movers are part of van lines. If we weren't, yes, you would have that agency's driver only on your shipment. But how long would that guy sit here waiting for Pacific Storage to book more moves going to your destination? By being part of a van line system, we get better dates and service for our customers than if we were a stand alone company trying to haul all the shipments.

[Diane]

Cyrus, I'm obviously an amateur so I probably shouldn't even comment on this, but I will just offer a few thoughts. If I am wrong, hopefully people will be motivated to jump in to enlighten me (and you).

First of all, I agree with Nancy that Pacific probably wouldn't be able to haul your move itself. From what I've seen, most of the cases where that happens are relatively short runs of maybe 1200 miles or less, not cross-country runs.

Second, it seems to me that there may be certain large, reputable Bekins agents that supply long-haul drivers for other Bekins agents who have booked moves that they can't or don't want to haul. I sort of doubt that every Bekins agent supplies long-haul drivers for the van line system. Maybe the agents that supply the drivers tend to be the better agents--i.e. not the ones in the Bekins LLC group. That's one thing.

The other thought that I have (which sort of contradicts the above) is that from what I've read on this board, Bekins as a whole is considered to be of somewhat lesser quality than the other major van lines. The niceness of the estimator is good to have, but it may not be the most important factor to consider. I thought that Nancy's tone in her first two sentences above (I know how she usually writes) was rather guarded.

[Cyrus]

Thank you again to you both. I did a little more research by calling the BBB, the FMCSA complaint line, and the Cal PUTC. Olsen had no record of complaints with the BBB in the last 3 years while Pacific Storage had one resolved complaint. Neither had any reported complaints with the FMCSA. The CAl PUTC reported that since 2002, Olsen had 1 complaint in 2003, while Pacific Storage had 2 complaints in 2004, 1 in 2003, and 6 in 2002.

Additionally, I had asked both agents for references to contact. Olsen's rep directed me to their web site. It contains some nice reviews, but there is no way to tell how old they are or to contact any except for one that has a phone number. When I called that number, I was told that the person I wanted was no longer at that number. Pacific Storage's rep had a lady leave me a message on my answering machine. It was a nice recommendation. He also left me the name and number of another former customer to contact.

I guess at this point I am leaning back towards Olsen and Fielding because of their good lack of complaint history. I am not sure what to make of the lack of verifiable references given the lack of complaints. I am thinking its not that much of a concern, but I am not sure.

Thanks agian!

[Diane]

You could also call the California Moving & Storage Association in Los Alamitos - (714) 236-2060 and (800) 672-1415 - to see whether they can give you some guidance. I believe that Wanda (who used Casey) called them and they were helpful to her.

[Diane]

I just noticed that in replying to someone moving from VA, one of our core volunteers (Michael) ranked the person's choices in this order:

[Cyrus]

Thank you Diane. I checked out the 2 Atlas agents in the Sacramento yellow pages throught the FMCSA website. Unfortunately, one had an involuntary insurance cancellation and no longer has coom authority status, and the other is listed but neither licensed or insured. Just thought that may prove useful to others who may be moving from the Sacramento area.

[Nancy]

Cyrus, An agent for a van line does NOT need to have interstate authority. They will haul your shipment under Atlas Van Lines' authority. You should judge based on Atlas's record.