Don’t book CA-NY Express before reading this

If you’re looking for a reliable moving company that does a good job, but also does right by its customers when they mess up, I sincerely recommend you keep looking.

I am sure that sometimes CA-NY Express (also known as California New York Express Movers, and MoveEast) completes a move smoothly. That was not our experience, and chances are it won’t be yours. Things go wrong. And if they do on your move, please know that CA-NY Express will not hold itself accountable and will not make it right.

Our move was understaffed — a clear misjudgment on the part of the mover, as we were very up front about our belongings and time frame. CA-NY Express assured us numerous times that their team would be able to pack and move us out by 4pm, which was our co-op regulated end time for all moves. Around 1pm, it became very clear to us that there was no way the job would be completed in time. We started to assist with the packing and were thankfully able to secure an extension on elevator use until 6pm.

Even so, the movers ran out of time, and were not able to get our couch out before 6pm. The movers tried to call the main office, but no one picked up. We were offered zero alternatives or solutions (like sending a truck the next day, etc). We left NYC that night and had to pay someone to remove the couch (which they were able to do no problem) and dispose of it.

So we lost our couch. We liked it a lot. It was an expensive ($XXXX), long-term purchase, the priciest piece of furniture we owned. CA-NY Express told us to 'try' to get it covered by insurance, and if that didn’t work, that they would make it right. Insurance said no because it didn’t get damaged or lost in actual transit, so we asked CA-NY Express to cover the original cost of the couch (even though the same couch now costs about $1,000 more and has a one-year waitlist). CA-NY Express refused.

We couldn’t believe it. We chose a reputable mover, a mover that charges more than many others, because we believed we were paying for a better service, for expertise, reliability, and accountability. Don’t be fooled like we were. An honest company steps up and does the right thing when they make a mistake. CA-NY Express says they will, and then they don’t follow through.

They did offer us some compensation for the loss — less than half the value of the couch at purchase, but not an insignificant sum. It felt like hush money. We decided to decline it, and share our experience with you, so you can choose a better moving company, one that will actually move all your stuff.

And if that’s not enough to scare you away, many of the items that did make it to our new home in California, arrived damaged, including our elliptical, media storage unit, two desks, two tables, and several kitchen items. Almost 3 months later, we are still waiting for the insurance to come through to cover the damage. And to add insult to injury, we practically had to beg the movers on the California end to rebuild our furniture (they seemed to think it wasn’t part of the job and did a sloppy, slapdash job of it).

Moves are stressful enough. Don’t trust CA-NY Express with yours. They will say all the right things up front, but they won’t keep their word. Not a company worth your business or your good faith.