When Brendyn Brooks-Stocking '09 opted to store his belongings - including everything from his bedding to his refrigerator - with Smart Movers over the summer, he didn't expect to be sleeping in an empty dorm room for the first week of fall semester. The native of Seattle, Wash., said he was unable to retrieve his belongings from the company for over a week and had to live out of two suitcases he brought when he returned to campus.
At the end of last semester, the Office of Residential Life and the Undergraduate Council of Students offered 600 vouchers for summer storage with Smart Movers, which is based in Woburn, Mass. This fall, a number of students who stored with the company claim they were unable to retrieve their belongings in a timely manner.
Brooks-Stocking said he contacted Smart Movers in early August to arrange a drop-off time to retrieve his belongings. When the originally scheduled pickup date of Sept. 2 came, Brooks-Stocking heard nothing from the company.
When he contacted Smart Movers the following day, he was told the moving truck did not fit down Meeting Street.
"I couldn't believe they hadn't even checked that out," Brooks-Stocking said. "And (the company) made no effort to contact me at any point. Everything was initiated by me."
Brooks-Stocking attempted to arrange a new pickup time, but said he could only reach Smart Movers' automated answering service. He proceeded to visit the three Smart Mover posts - which are located at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, on George Street and on Charlesfield Street - every day, sometimes twice a day, in an attempt to get some answers.
Brooks-Stocking is not the only student who has voiced complaints about Smart Movers, and a number of students have yet to receive their belongings from the company. As of Tuesday, Smart Movers still had the stored items of about 25 Brown students, said Larry Byron, the company's owner.
Smart Movers collaborates with student groups at various schools, including Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design, to provide summer storage for students. In addition, Byron said the company emphasizes developing a "student-corporate partnership that gives students a valuable learning experience."
Smart Movers makes a concerted effort to hire students at each school and allows them to organize labor, hiring and scheduling to "learn the real nuts and bolts of running a company," Byron said.
In an effort to create a more efficient delivery system, Smart Movers implemented a new online reservation system this year. The company experienced technical difficulties with the computer system, which contributed to delays in delivering students' belongings. In addition, between 200 and 300 of the 600 to 700 Brown students who stored with the company did not make their reservations on time or recorded incorrect pickup dates, Byron said.
"We ask students to make a delivery date by July 31 and we provided them with all the delivery options," Byron said. A contract students sign with the company emphasizes the importance of making prompt reservations, and students also received reminder e-mails and postcards over the summer, he said.
Students also complicated storage arrangements by trying to register with the company using other students' names in order to redeem vouchers, Byron said.
Out of the three years Smart Movers has worked with Brown, "this is the first time we've had any sort of operational problems," Byron said.
Richard Bova, senior associate dean of ResLife, said his office has heard minimal complaints regarding Smart Movers in the past. Bova said the company has a "good reputation," adding that Byron "has been responsive and accommodating to students, giving out his home phone number and cell number."
But some students had a negative take on the company's ability to handle complaints. According to Brooks-Stocking, Brown students working for the company had little information for dissatisfied customers and were asking students to add their names to a handwritten list. It was "completely inefficient," he said. "No organizational system whatsoever."
Gaurub Pandey '08, who started working for Smart Movers on Aug. 21, said his job turned out to be more customer service-oriented than he expected.
"I tried to let people know when their stuff was most likely to come in and when and how we could get it to them," said Pandey, who stopped working before classes began in order to move into his own room.
He has not been involved with the company since then. "I would have to say, I really don't know what's going on anymore," he said.
According to Andrew Krupansky '09, a staffing shortage may have contributed to the company's delivery problems. Krupansky stored with the company and received his belongings three days late.
"They were clearly understaffed. I think students had to leave to unpack their own room," Krupansky said. Smart Movers "should have bailed out the students who had to leave the job to move into their dorms."
Bova said he believes many delivery delays stemmed from students missing their pickup time. He added that perhaps only 60 percent of those students who stored with the company made timely reservations.
For those students who still have not received their items, Byron said the company would "bring their stuff in at the next available time."
"We want to satisfy as many people who hadn't made reservations and make the whole process as convenient as possible," Byron said.
In the future, Bova said his office is planning to evaluate the company's performance and solicit student feedback on how to handle summer storage.
