Reviews of Suddath Relocation Systems (South FL, Central FL, Jacksonville)

[Jeff.Walker]

After noticing many good reviews for the Suddath locations in Florida over the years, MovingScam has decided to formally endorse those locations. Suddath is so embedded in the state that it has been jokingly said to "own" Florida. Its website is http://suddath.com/moving-company/home- ... MovingScam, and although each branch has its own phone number, the overall phone number for the company is 888-533-1349.

Suddath currently has 19 branches nationwide, seven of which are in Florida, as follows:
• two are in South Florida - Miami and Ft. Lauderdale (actually in Deerfield Beach);
• three are in Central Florida - St. Petersburg (actually Clearwater) in the Tampa area, Orlando, and Melbourne (actually Palm Bay); and
• one, the headquarters, is in Northeast Florida, in Jacksonville.
• The Villages, is in central Florida

The 12 other Suddath branches are located in the following places:
• San Jose, CA and Los Angeles, CA (actually La Mirada)
• Dallas, TX (actually Grand Prairie) and Houston, TX
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (actually Eden Prairie)
• Atlanta, GA (actually Duluth)
• Charlotte, NC
• Odenton, MD (in the DC area)
• New York metro area (actually Wayne, NJ)
• Milwaukee, WI (actually Waukesha)
• Chicago, IL(actually Waukegan)
• Seattle, WA

Each location is listed separately on the Superlist under the appropriate state and area with its own reviews and comments attached. This is a general post designed to give consumers overall information about the company as a whole, current as of September, 2012. It also includes specific material on the Suddath Florida branches (see below).

Suddath is a very large company with many different divisions. It was founded by Carl Suddath in Jacksonville in 1919 and became a United Van Lines agent in 1981. A descendant of the founder, Steve Suddath, currently serves as Chairman of the Board. It handles more household goods shipments than any other United agent – an average of 50,000 such shipments annually. It has more than 1,700 employees nationwide, owns more than 1,300 trucks and tractors, and generates more than $380 million in annual revenues. Its international division serving residential customers, Sentry International, is one of the top five international forwarders in the world.

Because MovingScam places great emphasis on quality, and not just size, it is important to note that a company representative told MovingScam that the claims ratio for Suddath as of May 2011 is only about 15%, improved from 19% in May 2010. That would mean that of the total shipments booked by Suddath, claims were submitted for only 15% of them. If the Suddath claims ratio is this low (admittedly this is unverified), it would probably be mainly due to the fact that the company has so many trucks that it is able to self-haul most of its household goods shipments using its own trucks and drivers. In that way it is able to maintain control of most shipments from start to finish (the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) estimated that the average claims ratio in the industry was 25%).

A company representative told MovingScam that the Suddath drivers are all rated 1 or 2 in the United-Mayflower system, with 1 being the highest rating, and any driver who drop to a rating of 3 are placed on probation for 90 days and dropped if they don’t improve. All of its Florida locations have “A+” BBB ratings and very few BBB complaints considering the number of moves they do each year. While any company of this size will have complaints posted on the Internet, MovingScam has examined those complaints and believes that they reflect isolated incidents that should not deter customers from booking moves with Suddath.

All of the Suddath branches benefit from having a high-quality network for support. For example, its long-haul drivers, who are probably the single most important element in the success of most interstate moves, serve all locations and are top-rated in the United-Mayflower system as noted above. (Some shipments booked by Suddath may be delivered by Mayflower trucks and drivers; this is normal and not a cause for alarm.)

It should be noted that Suddath does a large number of so-called “account” or “corporate” moves where a corporate employer pays for its employees to be relocated, as opposed to so-called “COD” moves where an individual customer pays – the type of move done by most people coming to MovingScam.com for advice. Companies that do many account moves prioritize those moves because they are a steady source of revenue. COD moves often get less attention. However, like the best such companies, Suddath does not accept COD moves when it has insufficient capacity to service them well and to their extremely high standards. As an example, for periods of highest traffic during Summer months, Suddath may decline a COD move due to capacity issues.

One final note regarding quality – of the 19 Suddath branches,13 of these branches are currently DOD (military) approved, including Atlanta (Duluth), Dallas (Grand Prairie), Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Odenton MD, Seattle (Kent) and all of the branches in Florida (minus The Villages terminal). Having military approval in itself involves a rigorous, ongoing certification process and is an indication that the quality of those 12 branches is especially high.


These are the Superlist entries for Suddath’s Florida offices as of October 2010.

Suddath in South Florida – Ft. Lauderdale (Deerfield Beach) and Miami

--Suddath (United) in Ft. Lauderdale (actually Deerfield Beach) and Miami.
A VERY GOOD PERFORMER with at least 5 good reviews and no significant bad reviews as an origin agent on this website. (These two offices are located so close to each other that they are being considered as a unit for MovingScam's rating purposes.)
As of 10/10 the Deerfield Beach location had an "A+" BBB rating with 4 complaints over the past 36 months (all resolved or administratively closed). Its General Manager is Julie Cobb and its phone number is 954-596-4000 or 800-999-5466. Also as of 10/10 the Miami location had an “A+” BBB rating with 2 complaints (either resolved or administratively closed) in the past 36 months. Its General Manager is John Trevathan and its phone number is 305-885-8161 or 800-327-9351.
"Rick" (industry expert) posted in 2005 that "management holds positions on both the United Van Lines and AMSA Board of Directors. The general manager of the Deerfield Beach office has held the office for more than 15 years. They are a good company." - viewtopic.php?p=42146#42146 He added later that Suddath-Miami purchased Withers Van Lines back in 1984.
MovingScam has many good reviews of interstate moves booked by these two branches.
viewtopic.php?t=4875 (interstate - there were a few glitches but Suddath paid on his claims within days)
viewtopic.php?t=5533 (interstate)
viewtopic.php?t=6013 (interstate)
viewtopic.php?t=7029 (interstate to Atlanta - a rave review by "IsaacMar")
viewtopic.php?t=8187 (interstate - an excellent report by "gobrons" praising Vicky in the office, the driver, good communication, and a fast 7-day delivery to San Diego)
"natinstl" gave Suddath a very good review for a move to Seattle, praising Vicki in the office and the Mayflower driver from Ohio, Art Brown:
viewtopic.php?t=9457 (interstate)
There is a vague complaint by "KGUMM" about a move to CO, but without more information it's hard to say what really happened and this complaint should probably be disregarded, especially since it's not certain that he is talking about this branch of Suddath (he posted from Arizona):
viewtopic.php?p=43948#43948 (interstate)
Someone posted an excellent review of a move to CA in 12/06 praising especially the sales rep Tony de la Torre and the punctuality and efficiency of the Miami packing crew--Raul, Jose, and Jimmy:
viewtopic.php?t=10744 (interstate)
"gatorinmn" posted a rave review of the Ft. Lauderdale office of Suddath for a move to MN that took place in 9/06--there was a tiny amount of damage which the company took care of right away. The customer adds, "I work for the federal courts, and I was pleased to learn that the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse uses Suddath when items need to get moved from chambers to chambers within the building (or when judges move from the courthouse in WPB to the one in FTL or MIA, or vice versa). I figured they've gotta be good if the court uses them.":
viewtopic.php?p=89766#89766
viewtopic.php?p=89776#89776 (interstate)
"cancan42" (real name Carol) reported in 11/07 that a United Van Lines driver (Tom N.) apparently screwed up the weight tickets on her move to TN. A Suddath-Ft. Lauderdale employee initially declined to intervene but when its General Manager Julie Cobb heard about the situation, she made everything right and the customer ended up satisfied:
viewtopic.php?t=14906
viewtopic.php?t=15175 (interstate)

Suddath in Central Florida – St. Petersburg (Clearwater), Orlando, and Melbourne (Palm Bay)

--Suddath (United) in St. Petersburg (Clearwater) in the Tampa area, Orlando, and Melbourne (Palm Bay).
For MovingScam's rating purposes, these three offices are being considered together since they are fairly close geographically. As of 10/10, the St. Petersburg office had an "A+" BBB rating with 1 complaint (resolved) in the past 36 months. Its General Manager is Ed Fitzgerald and its phone number is 727-573-0000 or 800-288-2808. As of 10/10 the Orlando office had an "A+" BBB rating with 3 complaints (all resolved or administratively closed) in the past 36 months. Its General Manager is Donna Caldwell and its phone number is 407-843-6683 or 800-327-6030. And as of 10/10 the Melbourne office had an "A+" BBB rating with 3 complaints (all resolved or administratively closed) over the past 36 months. Its General Manager is also Donna Caldwell and its phone numbers are 407-843-6683 or 800-876-7554.
In 6/07, "PMueller" (working for another United agent in FL at the time) praised Bill Cook, a sales rep in the St. Petersburg office:
viewtopic.php?p=90309#90309
"paulj" posted a very good review in 8/08 of the crew in Orlando that packed his international shipment destined for Australia. He said that the actual forwarding was handled by Sentry International (Suddath) in Jacksonville, which also did an excellent job:
viewtopic.php?p=115823#115823 (booking and origin agent for international shipment)

Suddath in Northeast Florida – Jacksonville (HQ)

--Suddath (United) in Jacksonville.
Industry people have made excellent comments about Suddath as a whole, and Jacksonville is the company HQ. The phone number of this office is 904-256-5540 or 800-333-8100. As of 10/10 it had an "A+" BBB rating with 5 complaints in the past 36 months (0 in the past 12 months), all resolved. The General Manager at this location is listed as Mark Chesser.
"ArchieWhite" (owns a Mayflower/United agency in Atlanta) posted in 5/07, "I've known the President of Suddath for a few years, and the President before him for about 20, they will do you a fine, professional job, you can't do any better." - viewtopic.php?p=88752#88752
In 10/08, he and another industry person spoke very highly of the recently retired president of Suddath (United), Quinn Bell: viewtopic.php?p=116143#116143
"lisainflorida" moving to CO posted in 6/07 that she was poised to go with Suddath even though its quote was Nonbinding (because she had a storage unit) and a little higher than the one from Reads because the estimator (Frank) was very thorough and inspired confidence:
viewtopic.php?t=13889
"paulj" posted an excellent review of Suddath's international division (Sentry International, located in Jacksonville) in 8/08 for handling his shipment to Australia--"I have the highest praise for this company . . . They are always contactable, friendly and helpful and also provided the most comprehensive written quote out of the 4 or 5 companies that I contacted at the start.":
viewtopic.php?p=115823#115823 (forwarder for international shipment; Suddath Orlando was the booking and origin agent)

[Diane]

A very good review of Suddath's La Mirada location just came in through this website's "Comments" section:

Hello,

First off, thanks very much for having such a great resource. It meant the world to my wife and I to have a place to see our questions already answered! Great site.

We used Suddath (United) movers out of La Mirada CA for a move of 6,200 lbs. from Orange County, CA to Portland OR. The sales rep Wade Wuest and our customer service person did a great job of following up. We were very pleased with our experience. Our move was done in less than 5 days. We were in constant contact with the driver from Planes Movers, and he was a pleasure to work with as well.

Thanks again,

Jon

(Booking and origin agent for interstate move.)

[Movinghelper]

Also note the good comment on the Driver from Planes.

[Diane]

Good point. I wish the poster had given his name so we could give him credit.

[Jeff.Walker]

A repost of a review that came in through the comments section of the site:

It is a pleasure to record a recent household move from Dallas, TX to
Seattle, WA that was flawless. United Van Lines of Fenton, MO, working with
Suddath Relocation Systems of Grand Prairie, TX, moved our household
efficiently and according to schedule at a price below planning estimates.
All necessary packing was done efficiently and well and the packed
furnishings arrived on time and in excellent condition. Special thanks go to
Annie of Suddath, as well as the United Van Lines driver, Joseph Dean and
his wife, who were all exceptionally conscientious, courteous and
professional throughout.



A very special thank you to MovingScam.com, for your website and
accompanying guidelines for selecting a moving company. Your recommendation
and reviews of Suddath Relocation Systems led to our choice of this company
for our move.



Thane H. McCulloh

[lettezilla]

Hi, I just wanted to note that I posted a very long review about our move with Suddath here:http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=143275#143275

I don't want to quote the whole thing here unless the moderators think it's appropriate, but did want to make sure our experience was considered, since we seem to be one of a few voices that weren't particularly happy with Suddath.

[modernangel76]

I can't speak for the quality of their moving services but I had an estimate scheduled for this morning and they never showed up. When I called they had no idea. Doesn't speak well for their administrative capabilities.

[Diane]

Was it the Houston office you interacted with?

[BigLeeCalif]

When I started working at HV in 2006, one of the first things I was charged with was expanding our relationship with other agents nationwide.

We probably get 3 - 4 Suddath trucks in here every week with storage, and Suddath is one of my largest military co op agents.

Good company, and great people to work with.

[lettezilla]

:thumbsdown: I can't speak for the quality of their moving services but I had an estimate scheduled for this morning and they never showed up. When I called they had no idea. Doesn't speak well for their administrative capabilities.

I strongly suspect that the administrative capacities are where the problems lie-- their partner agents (the guys doing all the work) were great, sales staff was good, etc. But trying to communicate with them once we were into the move was a total nightmare. We paid as soon as they asked, which was more than 2 months ago, and still haven't received a receipt or an itemized invoice, even though we've asked literally dozens of times.

[badmovers]

I used their Atlanta (Duluth) office to move from Atl to Seattle. Spent over $11k. Once they had our $, it was terrible. poor coordination, missed dates, broken stuff. Get everything in writing because they couldn't care less once they have your $.

The manager and others made multiple commitments to me , including reimbursing me for expenses we incurred b/c couldnt get their act together on packing and then they failed to deliver. Once, they delivered, he ignored me for weeks and finally responded saying he changed his mind.

if you're looking to hire a bunch of used car salesmen to move you're stuff, suddath is the right place.

[Jeff.Walker]

This is a repost from the "Open Forums" section of the site:

http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtop ... 6&start=15

Hello everybody

Thanks once again with all the intelligent points made. I finally decided to go with Suddath.
I moved on 12/17/'11. The day before, there was a call from them to confirm the appointment. On 12/17, three movers came to our place in a Cummings truck at 9.00 am. I quickly walked one of them through the house to tell me what needed to be moved. I suppose it is easier that way for them than to actually go through the list.
So far, so good. Now here is the unexpected bit - I had two large pre-packed tables at our place that I forgot to mention in the quote earlier. Additionally, since we were moving from a 1/1 apartment, we thought didn't have too much stuff to pack in boxes - WRONG! So bottom line, we had about 20-25 boxes that needed movement in addition to those pre-packed tables I mentioned above.
Those three movers gladly moved those boxes and tables at no extra cost!!! THATS RIGHT!! They were super understanding and basically said that since the truck was basically empty after they had packed it with the stuff required to be moved, they might as well move in those boxes at no extra cost!! To illustrate how way off I was, I needed to rent a UHaul van and make two trips to haul the remaining stuff (stuff I hadn't packed into boxes when the movers had arrived).

At the destination, they unpacked and placed everything where I needed them. One of them even offered to place the wall art on the wall but since I didn't have any screws then, I had to gratefully decline. No damage and zero hassles at any point. The entire move was so much more easier despite my initial underestimation of the things I needed to move simply because they decided to do a good deed - or rather 20 odd good deeds!
My wife and I were able to breathe a HUGE sigh of relief thanks to them. The entire move took about 2.5hrs so they were probably erring on the cautious side during the estimate when they estimated 4 hrs - not complaining, just saying.

To show my gratitude, I gladly bought them lunch in addition to giving them a $30 tip. I know its not much but it was the best I could do at the point as I didn't have any more bills in my wallet. I would have gladly given them another $30 if I could have.

The only reason I do not mention the movers names out here to recommend them is because I do not wish them to be reprimanded by anyone at Suddath for not charging for the additional poundage moved. Else I would gladly do so.

Overall, I would gladly recommend Suddath to anyone for their move in Florida. All the horror stories on this forum about moving scams had me worried before the move, but it was all for naught with Suddath being the movers! Awesome job!!

~Phil

[Jeff.Walker]

This post came in through the comments section of the web site:

I would like to report that my husband and I just moved from NYC to Miami.
We used the Suddath?United Van Lines located in Wayne NJ. From start to finish it was an excellent experience. Steve who gave us the initial bid, Leona who answered our questions and smoothed our concerns and Martin and the rest of the crews both in Nyc and Miami were professional and cheerful and helpful all the way. No surprise extras. Their binding bid was totally upheld.

[Jeff.Walker]

Another post that came in through the comments section of the site on 8/18/12:

While getting quotes from movers and researching companies, I found your site online. I've moved many times and also have some horror stories. On the recommendation of your site, I called Suddath Relo for my move from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Orlando. From the first contact, I had a positive experience. The person who set up the consultant appointment was informative and polite. Danny, the consultant was professional, knowledgeable and thorough. His price quote was very fair, and everything he promised happened. I even needed to change the pickup time 2 days in advance and they were happy to accomodate. The movers Darren and David were GREAT! On time, frequent communication during the whole process. Efficient but also very careful, followed my instructions exactly. They were the same crew who offloaded at my new home. Suddath and their staff took a lot of stress out of the moving experience, and I highly recommend their services.

[L Brillantes]

In May 2009, we used Suddath (Fort Lauderdale) to pack and move us from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Colorado Springs, CO.. The move included moving our baby grand piano and we chose Suddath for their (supposed) expertise and professionalism related to piano moving knowledge. In addition, after having had a previous bad experience moving out of state. I questioned the movers in order to insure, they would not be selling my load to another carrier after they had picked up the goods and that it would be the same company delivering our goods (including setting up the piano). They assured me they do not sell the load and ensured the piano would be properly delivered and set up. Upon arrival of our belongings in Colorado, I discovered the load had been sold and moved (more than once) from truck to truck before arriving at our home. The piano was delivered in pieces and left on the floor and the delivery company had no piano dolly nor did they put the (damaged) piano back together. All they were concerned with is that nothing was missing from the inventory and getting out of there as fast as possible. In addition, if you look at Suddath's locations on their website they have no office in Colorado. So, why did they take our moving job? Why did they lie to me? I will never use them again. Piano purchase price was $10,000.00 and it was in mint condition. I sold it for $2000. three years later, damaged. Make sure your mover actually will be the one delivering your goods not just picking up your goods.
Lynda Crockett-Brillantes