Starving Students Movers - *** DO NOT USE STARVING STUDENTS ***
I worked for this company for over 3 years as a branch manager.
The first thing I noticed was how unsafe the equipment and trucks were that's provided for the movers. The equipment is worn out and in terrible condition. The dolly's wheels fall off, the straps to tie the customer's furniture are worn out and the trucks are even worse!!!
One of the trucks I had #379 had a somewhat large hole in the floor where the movers had to step around in order to load furniture onto the truck. I notified my Regional Director about 10 times -- YES 10 times and it was never fixed. The trucks would also break down because the company was too cheap to fix anything so the movers would show up late to customers and sometimes not show up at all.
The second thing I noticed is how Starving Students treat their employees. The movers only get paid minimum wage to move extremely heavy furniture sometimes in severe weather conditions. The company also consistently didn't pay the movers on time when the company knows they live pay check to pay check -- sometimes a week late. So you get what you pay for and damaged furniture is a direct reflection of how the employees are treated by the company - don't care.
The owner Ethan Margalith is very old (like 80) and still tries to run the company. There was one time when the owner sent out one of his infamous emails to the entire company rambling on (I think he gets drunk or is on something when he sends these emails) about this and that and said if branches increased sales he would pay for a Christmas party... we increased sales but the Christmas party never happened. There were a lot of promises made and not many kept.
The owner also disappears for months from time to time (probably some remote island) and then returns and starts firing people. In the 3 years I worked there we went through at least 10 CEOs..
The staff at the corporate office was not much better. They never return phone calls after you have moved in fear of you submitting a claim for all the damage the movers caused. For example there was a sweet little old lady who moved out of state and had called me crying that all her antique furniture that was passed down from generations was broken or damaged. Close to $20,000 dollars in damage. If I had not seen for myself how some of the movers at other branches just throw furniture on the truck when the customer isn't looking I would question it but I know the truth. I notified corporate office and again nothing was done.
This is just one example of many many examples of what happens behind closed doors at Starving Students.
I will leave off as to why I am writing this review. I was laid-off TWO WEEKS before Christmas 2013 due to "branch being closed down". About a month prior to my layoff the owner sent an email to the entire company stating all branches needed to meet certain criteria in November 2013 in order to avoid being closed down. My branch met the criteria where many branches did not. When I asked about my layoff and the owner's email, I was told it was due to seniority. This was not mentioned in the owner's email...
I believe the real reason I was laid off is because I had applied for intermittent FMLA because I started having panic attacks at work due to the stress and poor working conditions. The VP of Operations, Dean Markle had called me directly to try to TALK ME OUT OF TAKING FMLA just prior to laying me off. I apologized and explained I really needed the FMLA.
It was very obvious Dean was upset about me taking FMLA and decided to close my branch. When I started at Starving Students Moving, my branch was ranked #27 out of 35 branches. Within my first year of running the branch, my ranking went from 27 to being in the top 5 consistently until the day they laid me off. If anything, my employees were much more stable less turnover, less claims, more sales - happier and profitable.
PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS COMPANY IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR STUFF OR HONEST PEOPLE WHO SUFFER DUE TO GREED!!!
Reason of review: They did me wrong.
Monetary Loss: $20.
Preferred solution: pay me $20,000.
Location: Spring Valley, Nevada
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I received an email from the owner (Ethan M.) with a dropbox attachment the other day. WTF!?
I deleted the message without viewing it and I sure as *** didn't open the attachment. He answered an ad I posted on Craigslist years ago. I offered my services as a driver and he reponded. A young black man arrived to discuss.
Was he a fraud...an imposter??? Anyway, that is the only reason I even had his email address. I had already deleted it on my end.
Of course I am curious if that was a virus being sent. Weird.
This sounds like the rants of disgruntled employees not actual consumers
you probably work for starving students and are not a consumer either
;(
You sound like an employee of starving students
DEAN IS NO LONGER IN CHARGE, HE WAS DEMOTED BACK DOWN TO A BRANCH MANAGER. SARA WICKS HAS TAKEN HIS PLACE, SHE BOSSES THE BRANCH MANAGERS AROUND AND THREATENS THEM WITH THEIR JOBS IF THEY AREN'T UP TO PAR ON THEIR CONFIRMATION CALLS OR COMPLETING A JOB WHEN THEY ALREADY HAVE A *** LOAD TO DO, WITH ONLY A COUPLE OF TRUCKS TO COMPLETE IT WITH, DUE TO THE REST OF THE TRUCKS HAD BROKEN DOWN AND THE OTHERS BARELY RUNNING.
YES, YOU ARE 110% CORRECT, CORPORATE DOES NOT TAKE CARE OF THEIR (OUTSIDE THE OFFICE) EMPLOYEES. THE TRUCKS ARE IS POOR CONDITION (NO MAINTENANCE SERVICE, BALD TIRES, BAD WHEEL ALIGNMENTS, CRACKED WINDSHIELDS, BROKEN (RIPPED) DOORS/HINGES, JUST PLAIN UNACCEPTABLE! SHE GOES TO THE BRANCHES TO SIT AND WATCH HOW THE BRANCH MANAGER WORKS BUT DOESN'T SAY ONE WORD TO THE EMPLOYEES. ANOTHER THING THAT'S ON MY MIND....
FROM WHAT I KNOW AND UNDERSTAND, ANY WHERE THAT YOU WORK, THE BOSS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE, (HOW CAN I EASILY PUT THIS) THE BOSS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE "FRATERNIZING" WITH HIS/HER EMPLOYEES RIGHT?!?! SO THEN TELL ME WHY SARA WICKS IS HAVING A DON'T ASK/ DON'T TELL INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE OF THE BRANCH MANAGERS, FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS THAT I KNOW OF, HOW CAN YOU STILL HOLD YOUR POSITION AND JUST RECENTLY BEING PROMOTED IN TAKING DEAN'S POSITION WHEN YOU ARE BREAKING THE RULES AND JUMPING DOWN THE OTHER BRANCH MANAGERS THROAT. NOT COOL SARA! SO IF ETHAN MARGALITH OR HIS WIFE LISA EVER READS THIS....
YES! I AM PUTTING SARA WICKS ON BLAST! SHE IS HAVING A (BEHIND CLOSED DOORS) RELATIONSHIP WITH TRAYVON OF THE SAN BERNARDINO BRANCH FOR THE PAST 4-5 YEARS. I KNOW THAT THIS TOPIC WAS ABOUT THE TRUCKS AND HOW SAFE IT IS TO DRIVE IT, BUT SARA WAS INFORMED MANY,MANY TIMES ABOUT THE SITUATIONS AND NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT!
THE COMPANIES THAT WOULD REPAIR THE TRUCKS DOESN'T WANT TO WORK ON THEM, DUE TO THE FACT THAT STARVING STUDENTS STILL OWES THEM MONEY!
ENOUGH SAID! FOR NOW!
Haha Dean...