Getting Paid by Flat Rate Movers

Getting Paid by Flat Rate Movers

Life Struggle

2026-06-07

Back in 2023, I hired Flat Rate Movers (A.K.A. Flat Rate Moving) for an interstate move. They subcontracted to a third party who showed up under-staffed, under-equipped, and very confused; the whole mess wound up causing a good deal of damage to my belongings and home. I filed a claim with Flat Rate and also requested they issue a partial refund. They refused to talk to me or their insurance company, and after six months of calling, emailing, and writing, I got overwhelmed by other life struggles and gave up. I did manage to file a claim with their backing insurance company, but got nothing for the damage to the house, or failure to deliver goods and services.

In October 2025 Flat Rate started sending me e-mails asking me to use Flat Rate for a move again. I called, explained the situation, and asked how they were planning to resolve it. They invited me to write to customer service, and the whole process resumed, with essentially the same result. I’d call every few days to ask how things were going, and various Flat Rate representatives would promise they’d get back to me tomorrow, or a check was in the mail, or that they’d talk to claims for me. Unsurprisingly, none of this worked.

Long story short, after a bunch of claim forms, emails, letters, complaints to various regulators, requests for arbitration, and one hundred and sixty-one phone calls with Flat Rate directly, I have succeeded. I started calling their main line at (212) 988-9292, picking a three-digit extension, and asking that person for help. I did this ten times each morning, and within two weeks had multiple people offering to help. I can’t say for sure which person got things over the line, because I called a lot of them, but by April 2026, I had a check in the mail.

If you wind up in the same boat, I recommend two things. First, keep a log of everything you do. Flat Rate may tell you things like “we did not receive supporting documentation within sixty days” or “you did not file the claim in time”; it is extremely helpful to be able to say things like “Please see my email from 2023-05-06 at 15:32 in which I submitted the requested documentation.” Second, set up a spreadsheet to keep track of which extensions you’ve called and when. Here's mine—each row number is the three-digit extension.

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