Safe Ship Moving Services Promised a Binding Estimate and Delivered a $5,600 Disaster

My ‘Binding Estimate’ Was a Lie That Cost Me Thousands

I am writing this because if even one person reads my story and decides not to trust Safe Ship Moving Services, then at least some good will come from what my family and I went through.

My name is John. I am a young father. In early 2025, I was preparing to move my family from Dallas, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona. It was supposed to be a fresh start. A safer and more stable life for my child.

I had a two-bedroom apartment, normal household furniture, boxed belongings, a stroller, a crib, and personal items.

Like most people, I started my search online. That is when I found Safe Ship Moving Services.

From the very first phone call, everything felt reassuring. I was assigned a “Lead Logistics Coordinator” named Gavin Scott. He spoke calmly and professionally. When I casually mentioned that I was moving with my child, his entire tone shifted.

“Oh man, I get it,” he said. “I have a little one myself. Family moves are stressful. You just want everything to be safe.”

He told me about his life in Florida. He talked about fatherhood and trust. At the time, I felt like I was speaking to a real human being who understood the stakes. But this was a strategy.

Gavin assured me multiple times that I was getting a “binding estimate.” He said my move would cost $1,800 total. He repeated that number so often that it felt like it was locked in stone.

He kept saying things like, “Our guys will take care of you,” and “We do this every day,” and “We stand behind our movers.”

Not once did he clearly explain that Safe Ship was not a moving company.

On March 1, 2025, I signed the moving agreement and paid a deposit. The paperwork looked official. There was an agreement number listed. Everything looked legitimate, so I trusted them. I had no reason not to.

What they did not clearly tell me was that the moment my deposit cleared, my move was sold to another company without my consent. That company was Best American Moving LLC out of New Jersey. I had never heard of them. I never researched them. I never agreed to hire them.

I found out who was actually handling my move only days before loading.

March 12, 2025, was loading day.

An unmarked truck pulled up. There was no Safe Ship branding, no uniforms, and no professionalism. The crew looked disorganized, and they barely introduced themselves.

There was no walkthrough, no proper inventory, and no labels on any of the boxes. I watched as my life was tossed into a truck with zero care.

I asked, “Where is the inventory list?”

One of the movers said, “We’ll do it later.”

The packing was intentionally sloppy. Large boxes were left half empty, and furniture was positioned to waste space on purpose. I didn’t realize what was happening at the time. Later, I learned exactly why.

Best American charges by cubic foot.

By wasting space, they inflate the volume. By inflating the volume, they inflate the price. It is a classic moving scam, and I walked straight into it.

Once everything was on the truck, the tone changed instantly.

The foreman came to me with new paperwork and said, “Your load came out much bigger than expected.”

I said, “That’s not possible. I was given a binding estimate of $1,800.”

He looked at me and said, “That’s just an estimate. This is the actual cost.”

The new total was over $5,600.

I felt sick. I called Safe Ship immediately.

No answer.

I emailed Gavin Scott. No response.

The same man who could not stop calling me during the sales process completely vanished.

When I finally got someone at Safe Ship on the phone, their response was cold and dismissive.

“We’re just the broker,” they said. “You need to deal with the carrier.”

That was it.

My belongings arrived days later in horrific condition. Multiple boxes were soaked. They smelled like mildew and sewage. I opened one box and nearly threw up. My child’s stroller was ruined. Fabric items absorbed the odor and had to be thrown away. Several items never arrived at all.

When I asked about missing boxes, the driver said, “Everything was delivered,” and walked away.

I filed a formal damage and loss claim with Best American Moving. Under federal law, 49 CFR § 370.9, they are required to acknowledge a claim within 30 days and resolve it within 120 days. They ignored every deadline. They ignored every email. Eventually, they blocked my phone number entirely.

I was left with no belongings and no compensation.

As I dug deeper, what I discovered made everything worse.

Safe Ship aggressively markets itself as “veteran-owned and operated.” I could find no proof, no service records, and no documentation. If their leadership actually served, they should have no problem providing evidence. Until then, this appears to be false advertising at best and stolen valor at worst.

Their website also displays a suspicious “4.1-star rating with 276 reviews” that cannot be clicked, verified, or traced to any legitimate platform. It exists solely to give a false sense of credibility. Their real reputation across consumer protection sites is overwhelmingly negative, filled with stories just like mine.

This move was supposed to be a hopeful moment for my family. Instead, it became one of the most stressful and financially damaging experiences of my life.

I lost thousands of dollars, and I lost irreplaceable items.

Safe Ship Moving Services is not a mover. It is a predatory brokerage that thrives on deception, emotional manipulation, bait-and-switch pricing, and total denial of responsibility.

This company should not be allowed to operate.

Evidence Provided by the User

Warning to Other Customers

Safe Ship Moving Services operates as a moving broker, not an actual mover. They collect deposits, promise “binding estimates,” and then assign your move to third-party carriers without your consent. Once problems begin, they deny responsibility and disappear. Customers report bait-and-switch pricing, damaged or missing belongings, and ignored claims. Once your belongings are on the truck, your price can explode, and you lose all leverage.