diff --git a/autoendpoint/src/error.rs b/autoendpoint/src/error.rs
index 28d61ad68..671fd9f31 100644
--- a/autoendpoint/src/error.rs
+++ b/autoendpoint/src/error.rs
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ impl ApiErrorKind {
 
             ApiErrorKind::LogCheck => StatusCode::IM_A_TEAPOT,
 
+            ApiErrorKind::Database(DbError::Backoff(_)) => StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
+
             ApiErrorKind::General(_)
             | ApiErrorKind::Io(_)
             | ApiErrorKind::Metrics(_)
diff --git a/autopush-common/src/db/bigtable/bigtable_client/mod.rs b/autopush-common/src/db/bigtable/bigtable_client/mod.rs
index 3bed0fada..a5b30ddd0 100644
--- a/autopush-common/src/db/bigtable/bigtable_client/mod.rs
+++ b/autopush-common/src/db/bigtable/bigtable_client/mod.rs
@@ -728,7 +728,9 @@ impl DbClient for BigTableClientImpl {
     async fn get_user(&self, uaid: &Uuid) -> DbResult<Option<User>> {
         let row_key = uaid.as_simple().to_string();
         let mut req = self.read_row_request(&row_key);
-        req.set_filter(family_filter(format!("^{ROUTER_FAMILY}$")));
+        let mut filters = vec![router_gc_policy_filter()];
+        filters.push(family_filter(format!("^{ROUTER_FAMILY}$")));
+        req.set_filter(filter_chain(filters));
         let Some(mut row) = self.read_row(req).await? else {
             return Ok(None);
         };
diff --git a/autopush-common/src/db/dual/mod.rs b/autopush-common/src/db/dual/mod.rs
index 086c07f26..7adf26988 100644
--- a/autopush-common/src/db/dual/mod.rs
+++ b/autopush-common/src/db/dual/mod.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use async_trait::async_trait;
-use cadence::{CountedExt, StatsdClient};
+use cadence::{CountedExt, StatsdClient, Timed};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde_json::from_str;
 use uuid::Uuid;
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ impl DbClient for DualClientImpl {
             Ok(None) => {
                 if is_primary {
                     // The user wasn't in the current primary, so fetch them from the secondary.
+                    let start = std::time::Instant::now();
                     if let Ok(Some(mut user)) = self.secondary.get_user(uaid).await {
                         // copy the user record over to the new data store.
                         debug!("⚖ Found user record in secondary, moving to primary");
@@ -189,7 +190,25 @@ impl DbClient for DualClientImpl {
                         // for Bigtable
                         debug_assert!(user.version.is_none());
                         user.version = Some(Uuid::new_v4());
-                        self.primary.add_user(&user).await?;
+                        if let Err(e) = self.primary.add_user(&user).await {
+                            if matches!(e, DbError::Conditional) {
+                                // User is being migrated underneath us.
+                                // Try fetching the record from primary again,
+                                // and back off if still not there.
+                                let user = self.primary.get_user(uaid).await?;
+                                // Possibly a higher number of these occur than
+                                // expected, so sanity check that a user now
+                                // exists
+                                self.metrics
+                                    .incr_with_tags("database.already_migrated")
+                                    .with_tag("exists", &user.is_some().to_string())
+                                    .send();
+                                if user.is_none() {
+                                    return Err(DbError::Backoff("Move in progress".to_owned()));
+                                };
+                                return Ok(user);
+                            }
+                        };
                         self.metrics.incr_with_tags("database.migrate").send();
                         let channels = self.secondary.get_channels(uaid).await?;
                         if !channels.is_empty() {
@@ -197,6 +216,12 @@ impl DbClient for DualClientImpl {
                             // user.version is still valid
                             self.primary.add_channels(uaid, channels).await?;
                         }
+                        self.metrics
+                            .time_with_tags(
+                                "database.migrate.time",
+                                (std::time::Instant::now() - start).as_millis() as u64,
+                            )
+                            .send();
                         return Ok(Some(user));
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/autopush-common/src/db/error.rs b/autopush-common/src/db/error.rs
index 64fb3082c..13f3a697b 100644
--- a/autopush-common/src/db/error.rs
+++ b/autopush-common/src/db/error.rs
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ pub enum DbError {
 
     #[error("Unknown Database Error {0}")]
     General(String),
+
+    // Return a 503 error
+    #[error("Process pending, please wait.")]
+    Backoff(String),
 }
 
 impl ReportableError for DbError {
@@ -106,6 +110,7 @@ impl ReportableError for DbError {
         match &self {
             #[cfg(feature = "bigtable")]
             DbError::BTError(e) => e.metric_label(),
+            DbError::Backoff(_) => Some("storage.error.backoff"),
             _ => None,
         }
     }
@@ -114,6 +119,9 @@ impl ReportableError for DbError {
         match &self {
             #[cfg(feature = "bigtable")]
             DbError::BTError(e) => e.extras(),
+            DbError::Backoff(e) => {
+                vec![("raw", e.to_string())]
+            }
             _ => vec![],
         }
     }