Any experiences with A-1 Pioneer or Mergenthaler in Salt Lake City?
June 10, 2015 6:15 PM

Moving my aging mother next month, from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. Got some moving quotes. The two best were from A-1 Pioneer (a Wheaton agent) and Mergenthaler (a United Van Lines agent). Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with either of these?

Of the 3 quotes we received, I examined the long-haul carriers' customer complaint histories at the DOT's website (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/hhg/search.asp) and found Wheaton and United Van Lines were the best of the 3 (and roughly equal, when you take account of the different fleet sizes). Preliminary web research of A-1 Pioneer and Mergenthaler hasn't provided enough data points to make a decision. So I'm hoping other people here might have helpful info.
posted by StrawberryPie to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)
The one and only place for this kind of research is MovingScam.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 7:22 PM on June 10, 2015


I should have mentioned: I originally did do a search of movingscam.com and it did not reveal any reviews of these two companies. However, I tried it again just now and now I realize that the initial search didn't search the user forums/discussions. Doing that reveals some discussions and individual comments. So I suppose those are additional data sources, but I'm still interested in what MeFites have to say.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:45 PM on June 10, 2015


Yes, to be clear, you need to scour the user forums, too. In fact, that's where much of the information is—the site is more like Yelp (user reviews), less like the Michelin Guide.

I would encourage you to truly search the forums there with a fine-tooth comb, then post your own question. I would also not limit yourself to the firms you've named. Definitely mention them, but I'd also ask for suggestions for others that operate in that region.

Good luck!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:01 PM on June 10, 2015


Just an update to close this:

We went with Mergenthaler, and they were outstanding. They packed everything incredibly well, were extremely conscientious, and everything got to the destination undamaged. By comparison, I also just moved from the East coast, where we went with other highly-rated movers, and while they were decent (and a good bunch of people to work with), they did not do as good a job packing as Mergenthaler did. I would highly recommend Mergenthaler based on these experiences.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:21 PM on September 21, 2015


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