Safeway Moving Systems 2022 Review

With competitive rates and exceptional customer service, Safeway Moving Systems is a solid option for long-distance moves as well as long- and short-term storage.

Safeway Moving Systems (not to be confused with Safeway Moving and Storage) is a Chicago-based moving broker that specializes in long-distance moves as well as long- and short-term storage. The company can also help you ship your car, move your piano, and relocate your office or business.

Because Safeway is a moving broker, not a moving carrier, it partners with smaller moving companies across the US. This means that the company can handle your move basically anywhere in the country.

Overall, we’ve found that Safeway’s customer service and list of offerings make it a great option for almost any move. And while the company’s prices can be a little high, you can get a better rate with Safeway’s price meet or beat policy.

Keep reading to learn all about Safeway Moving Systems.

See where Safeway ranks on our list of the best moving companies.

• What to know
• Comparison
• Pricing
• Features and services
• Our recommendation

Now that we’ve covered the basic services and pricing questions you might have about Safeway Moving Systems, we want to highlight a few things that set the company apart.

One of the best things about Safeway Moving Systems is its glowing customer reviews. Across multiple review sites, the consensus is that the company treats its customers well and delivers on its promises.

Here are things customers often praise about Safeway:

• Professionalism and speed
• Fair prices
• Attention to detail
• Flexibility

This positive consensus speaks to a company that does what it can to ensure every customer’s move goes according to plan—or better.

Of course, there are always a few bad reviews for every company, and Safeway Moving System is no exception. A handful of customers on various review sites complained about damaged goods and unfair prices, but these negative reviews were few and far between, so they’re probably more reflective of individual crew members than company-wide quality standards.

A lot of Safeway’s offerings (like long-distance moves, storage, and auto transportation) are pretty typical for a moving broker like Safeway. One thing that’s a little more unique is that you determine how much of the money Safeway makes goes to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Here’s how donations works:

After your move is completed and you’ve paid for everything, you’ll be contacted by a Safeway representative who will ask you how much (up to $100) of your payment you want the company to donate to St. Jude’s.

This isn’t a donation that you’re making on top of your move’s price. The donation comes out of what you have already paid Safeway for your move. You just get to decide how much the company donates and how much it keeps.

Like we’ve said, Safeway’s rates aren’t the lowest we’ve seen. They’re nothing to sneeze at, but other companies do provide the same services for cheaper. You can turn these lower prices to your advantage, though, by using Safeway’s price match policy.

If you get a lower price on a written, binding estimate from one of Safeway’s competitors, and you show that quote to your Safeway representative, Safeway will lower its own price to match or beat the competitor’s price.

There are two limitations to Safeway’s price matching, though.

First, the competitor has to be reputable (not known for scamming its customers) and has to have been in business for at least five years.

Secondly, the competitor’s rates have to be based on the exact same inventory you gave Safeway. Every service, every box, and every piece of furniture has to be the same.

Safeway offers many of the same services as most of its competitors, and while its prices are competitive, you should gather quotes from a few other companies as well to make sure you're getting the best price. Also, you can only take advantage of Safeway's price-matching if you get quotes from some of its competitors. 

Safeway quoted us $11,887.50 to move everything out of a three-bedroom home in Los Angeles and into a home in Denver. While this is well within the competitive price range for full-service moves, it is on the higher end.

This price from Safeway Moving Systems included the following services:

• Loading and unloading
• Full-service packing
• Piano transport
• Furniture disassembly and reassembly
• Protective blanket-wrapping for furniture
• All transportation, taxes, tolls, mileage, labor, and fuel surcharges
• Basic liability coverage

This price includes all the bells and whistles that Safeway offers, so if you go with less deluxe service, your price would be lower than the one we got.

For example, if we hadn’t opted for full-service packing, our price would have been about $2,000 lower. Similarly, we could have knocked $250 off our price if we hadn’t added a piano to our inventory.

In addition to the fees for these special services, there are a lot of other factors going into this price:

• The time of year we requested our quote
• The amount of stuff we had on our inventory
• The distance we were moving

You shouldn’t just take our word for how much Safeway can cost. You’ll only know for sure how much the company will charge for your move if you get a quote of your own.

Keep in mind, though, that Safeway doesn’t offer instant online quotes. If you want to get a quote, it will entail a lot of back and forth with the company as they get your inventory and learn more about your move. Overall, It took us around three days to get the quote we’ve shared.

The good news is that Safeway offers binding quotes at the end of this lengthy process. This means that the quote you get is the price you’ll pay as long as nothing about your move changes last minute. No hidden fees. No additional charges. No rigamarole.

• Long-distance moves
• Long- and short-term storage
• International moves
• Auto transportation
• Packing and unpacking
• Furniture assembly and disassembly
• Piano transport
• Basic liability coverage
• Additional coverage options
• Office relocation

Safeway Moving Systems has been in business for about five years, and Move.org has reviewed the company annually for nearly half that time. Our Safeway Moving Systems historical review shows the company has consistently made minor annual improvements.

Safeway Moving Systems has offered more services and information on them each year, and its website has become more user-friendly in the process. The one exception deals with long-distance moving. Safeway took down its web page advertising international moves to Canada. However, when we called to see if Safeway still offers Canadian moves, the answer was yes. In addition, we also learned of an important Safeway Moving Systems service change: it now offers moving services in European countries like Germany.

On the downside, Safeway had more than 50 complaints filed against it with the Federal Motor Carrier Services Administration in 2021. While we’ve seen an industry-wide increase in complaints following COVID-19, Safeway’s numbers seem higher than what we’ve noticed with other companies such as International Van Lines.

Safeway Moving Systems’ impressive history of pleasing its customers means you can trust the company to deliver on every service you pay for. And while the company’s prices can run slightly high, they’re still competitive for all you get, and they can go down if you put in a little extra work gathering quotes from several other companies.

If you want to hire a company that can handle every part of your move for a competitive rate, we recommend contacting Safeway to see what it can do for you.

Ready to get an estimate?

If you’re eager to see how much Safeway Moving Systems will charge for your move, get your quote started today.

Move.org evaluates and identifies the moving industry’s best full-service movers using a fivefold research approach:

• Compare pricing transparency. We gather quotes, check for binding estimates, and read customer reviews about pricing to ensure each moving company’s prices are trustworthy. 

• Review accreditation. We check every company’s records in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s database to confirm companies are properly authorized to transport household goods.

• Mystery shopping. We review every company’s website, pose as customers in calls to companies, and read customer reviews to analyze every company’s moving services, transit protection, and customer service. We also interview actual customers to learn how their moves went from start to finish.

• Site visits.  We invite moving companies to our headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT, to share data and expertise. We verify the information they provide by comparing it to data gathered through independent research and interviews with other movers.
• Regular review. We routinely repeat this process to update our recommendations to reflect current data and trends. We also revise each review annually and make updates throughout the year.

Now that you know all about Safeway Moving Systems, you can read these guides about similar companies to see how it stacks up against its competitors:

• International Van Lines
• American Van Lines
• Allied Van Lines
• North American Van Lines