Colonial Van Lines Reviews

Original Review: Jan. 9, 2018

I will start first by noting that I have moved four times in the last eight years with different companies prior to this last move with Colonial, so I am not speaking without knowledge of how moving companies work. I should of known and saw the red flags when they were asking me to tell what was in my house over the phone.

We had moved just a year earlier and had I told them and also gave them the moving weight of the truck when we moved and what kind of truck. I also gave them details of what was in my house, which they had left off several of my big items that I had told them not once, but twice like I would miss a dresser or a 7 foot tall china cabinet. I also had sold things after our last move so I knew our weight wouldn't be as much, but I still meant to have it done correctly. They were giving me a lower weight in which I knew they were wrong and was adamant about them raising the weight limit. They could always reimburse me if lower and I'll get to that later.

I was told someone would come in a get an estimate on my things and so we waited and no one ever came. We lived around Charlotte so it's not like we lived in nowheresville. That never happened. We were told and it was on the contract we would be out by the time our lease was up and we were not. We were told they would tag our items so we could make sure everything was delivered. It was not done. The people who moved us was supposed to be there on Thursday to pack, they were not, I called and asked where they were if they could pack and load in two days to be out, was told yes. Their movers did not show up till Friday around 11pm and did not want to pack anything, but wanted to go to hotel to sleep. We had to be out by Saturday, we told them that and called the company concerning this.

By my experience and the people who moved me it appears the Colonial Van Lines is a front to fly by night third party moving companies. I was told by CVM that they could have me out by a certain date since my lease was up and I asked more than once to make sure and every time was reassured if I went with them they could, it was also in our contract. That was the first lie. We were told the movers would be at our place on Thursday to pack, Friday to load and Saturday to move to be out by Sunday. We were told someone would come and appraise our items and weight that was the second lie. We told our items would be ticketed and labeled and that was another lie.

We were told after their people didn't show up on Thursday that they could pack and load and be out by Saturday. That was a lie. Their people did not show up till late Friday night and then in a truck too small to even move our items to the point they suggested strapping our beds and mattress to the back of the truck!!! We told them to at least start loading what they could when they got there and it made them mad to point that they were bringing our items downstairs on the trolly very hard. I have video. There was nothing to them in caring for our items and then left furniture on our lawn when they left before coming back. Have pictures of that as well. You pay almost $7000 to a company to have your items strapped to the back of a truck, furniture treated as trash and left out on the lawn!!!

Also we had our own boxes we were using for some of our things that they decided, "Hey we can use their boxes and still charge extra for ours." Then they find out their truck still isn't big enough when they start loading everything on SUNDAY. Remember we were to be out Saturday which they did not show up till 2pm and they did not finish until late Sunday night after showing up at 12pm Sunday. Also we had to do the part of hunting down another truck to finish moving our items which they wanted to come back and get later. This was a 5 hour move folks, I am not kidding about this. I told them no and my husband had to take them to get the truck, then they wanted us to pay for it, plus some. On top of that they wanted to deliver that morning. We left Charlotte at 1am had a 5 hour drive after dealing with all everything they put us through.

There is so much more to this and I can't put it all here such as they did not weigh at the station and if they did it was down to the last odd pound of the guestimation the woman on the phone put down and didn't have a valid sheet, wouldn't unload our items until we signed off on the weight, called the police, did not put our beds together which was included. I hope that you understand that you take your chances with this company and to expect major damage and loss on your items. As I have said I have moved 4 times in the last 8 years and I know without a doubt this is not how a PROFESSIONAL moving company works. I have pictures and videos to back my claim and glad I do. This has to be one of my worst experience dealing with any business by far and what a price to pay for it.

Original Review: Jan. 8, 2018

This company does not pick up or deliver your items on time. When they finally get your down payment the lies begin. They demanded $500 in cash to deliver after we were told a credit card would be accepted. They would not deliver without cash. It was a Sunday night and there was nobody to contact after living in an empty apartment for over a week. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. They have not returned my calls or emails. We were promised compensation for the late pick up and late delivery. Companies should not be allowed to get away with this treatment.

Original Review: Jan. 7, 2018

Scheduled a move from Pennsylvania to Colorado a month in advance. Everything started off well but that's where it ended. Pick up date arrived and was rescheduled that day. Funny how they want a 5 day notice but will barely give you any notice rescheduling. Next day comes no one shows up or calls. After repeated calls we find the date's been rescheduled again. Next day and pick up time come and go. No one shows up or calls. Finally it's late Friday night, driver calls says he's in Erie, PA which is over three hours away and he'll be there shortly. Yeah right. Driver says he'll call first thing in the morning yet never does. We have to call and hound people at Colonial for information on what's happening. Mostly because when Colonial says they'll call you back they don't. You'll spend and waste a lot of your time waiting for a callback.

Finally drivers give us an arrival time, then proceed to show up late. Three men not the agreed 4 man crew and in a truck partially full already. All but one guy speaking in Russian or very bad broken English. Blaring loud Russian music as well. After a while one guy is downstairs, the second guy goes down after him. A loud crash is heard and the guys come up the steps trading blows and wrestling one another. They continue the fight down the main hall where one of them is thrown through wall, leaving a hole the same size of him.

Now he's all bloody, bleeding all over our thing and house, destroying our belongings and house. State Police were called and report filed. Each guy was carrying a 6 inch or longer straight blade hunting style knife. Not sure why you'd need that as a mover. Police forced them to leave, escorted them out of area and left officers behind to check on house making sure they don't come back. Also these guys wanted to charge us $8,000 more dollars than what was agreed upon in original contract.

Customer service is awful, unprofessional doesn't even begin to describe them, don't expect a callback, if you do get one you might want to play the lottery next. They use subcontractor movers that are shady beyond belief, poor communication with clients, dispatchers and internally. I recommend staying away, far, far away from Colonial. If it's last resort then I'd still stay away. Be better off doing it yourself.

Original Review: Jan. 4, 2018

We hired Colonial Van Lines at start of December 2017 to move us from Washington State to Texas for our 2000 sq ft home. They gave us packing date of 22-23rd Dec and estimated delivery date of 28th Dec, 17 to 3rd Jan 2018. We make our travel arrangements accordingly and pay the $2000 deposit, everything is great till then. So 23rd arrives and we are waiting since morning, but no one calls or shows up till 1:00 pm, we get worried and call them. They say they have no idea what happened, but they call us back in few hours and say the truck driver had an accident and they will try to get a replacement but don't know when. Later in the evening we were told packers will come next day or after (24th or 25th Dec). We thank them for accommodating our travel plans and prepare to wait again all day 24th and Christmas day. No one shows up on 24th, calling them again and again yields no answer since they are closed for holidays.

Finally a small truck with a driver showed up at 4:00 pm Christmas day (still no packers). He informs us that he will come next morning at 7:00 am with packers (26th). Ok fine. We then waited next day all morning, finally the truck driver showed up at 10:30 am (26th by now) with 3 guys. They come with few broken boxes and some blankets but no other packing supplies. No new boxes, no packing paper, no bubble wrap, not even packing tape. We ask the driver, he says the company didn't send him any money to buy the supplies and this is what he has left of his previous job. We are in shock by now! We drop our kids to our friends and my husband gets an estimate from the driver on amount of boxes and supplies and runs to Walmart to get them. They start packing before supplies arrive, first the kitchen, they have no packing paper or bubble wrap so they take blankets and start putting our expensive wine glasses in blankets.

Clearly they haven't packed before. (I have gone through 3 previous moves by now and know how professional packing looks like). They start creating lids from the broken boxes, pick up things and put them in boxes without packing them (no cushioning, no packing paper, no wraps). Not to mention they took our kitchen knife to cut their boxes since they didn't even have that. At this point we have given up and are just praying that somehow magically everything will survive this kind of packing and our 2000 sq ft house will fit into their tiny truck. 3 hours into the ordeal, we are again out of boxes. We again get new estimate for boxes and run to Walmart. Looking at their packing, I start packing our more expensive and precious things myself and call my friends for help. We mail the receipts to Colonial, hoping they will reimburse.

At 9:00 pm, they still have 20% of the stuff remaining but they declare that the truck is full and they can't pack any more stuff (which we expected looking at the truck size but were told they will fit everything). We are so exhausted by now, we decide to just let it go and plan to donate everything left next day. But of course drama is not over, the driver tells us we have to pay him $3000. We tell them we already paid the deposit and we are supposed to pay the rest when they deliver. It becomes an argument and driver finally asks for $300 so he can pay the 3 guys $100 each he got from streets to pack. Unbelievable! We tell him we will pay only if Colonial asks us to pay (but of course Colonial closed for the day and there is no way to contact them). The driver says he will wait till morning and will not leave till he has money to pay the guys who are just miserable after working for 10 hours and have no money for dinner.

We pay them $20 each for dinner from our pocket and leave. The driver says he will send us the weight ticket next day and have our stuff in Texas by 29th and we thank him for that and leave. It's 30th Dec and our stuff has not arrived, we call Colonial and they give us delivery window of 31st to 7th. We call the driver and he says he is waiting in Washington State because Colonial has not sent him even money for gas and travel. Wow! Jan 1st, we message driver and he says he will be there on Jan 3rd morning. We wait again. Call Colonial at noon at which point Colonial says they are now planning to deliver on 8th. So we are in wait game again. In summary, Colonial outsourced to 3rd party who outsourced to truck driver who hired guys off streets to pack. At the end of day no-one is ready to take responsibility for anything. Please save your money and the ordeal! One of the worst customer service and unprofessional experiences of my life!

Colonial did everything by phone and they didn't require that they come to our house to take a look at our items. And it was much more convenient for us because we were busy. I told them clearly about a certain amount of furniture that was going to be moved, but my son had more. So, when the truck went to pick it up, the weight was over the limit that had been projected. Also, I told them that there were about 24 steps, but when they got there, we had more steps. They called that night and they had to adjust another $300 because of the two errors that we caused. But, I still felt that it was fair because the base price was still cheaper.

The movers came early in the morning and two guys came upstairs, verified what we said we were moving, and then they began working. Anything that was glass had to be wrapped and they took care of all of the things that were fragile. When there were things that we didn’t want to take, they easily and quickly adjusted to that. They took the largest pieces last and then they were done. They were very easy to work with, and the job took them about an hour. They were excellent. However, there are some people who may not want to have their furniture moved by a company in a truck that's unidentified. A lot of van lines and movers have their company names prominently displayed, but I didn't see that with Colonial.

My son was in Indiana waiting for the movers and we couldn't go with them. I was not aware that the cash money had to be in his account because he was the one who was going to pay them. The movers arrived there at night, and they said they couldn’t begin the process of unloading until they were paid. We had to transfer money from our account to our son and it took us about 30 minutes because we were in a meeting. I appreciated that they simply waited and they handled that one small glitch smoothly.

There were also some things that they forgot. They compensated me $150 but I was really concerned about my rocking chair seat. I was very disgruntled but they kept telling me my chair seat would be coming and it did, after the holiday. For some odd reason, it was gone for six weeks and I don't know why it was taken out in the first place. I was disappointed 'cause I was excited about starting my new life. But everything's settled now so it's cool. They're bigger than I am and I learned to live with it but I won't use them again and next time, I know more questions to ask and I'll be more attentive.

Original Review: Dec. 30, 2017

My mother is turning 90 in March and we decided that we needed to move in together. Since we both travel to Huntsville, Alabama all the time, we decided to buy a house there. I chose Colonial Van Lines because the initial estimate was better than others I called but what I ended up with was so far apart that it was sticker shock at the end. From a 6,000 estimate at the beginning, I ended up paying 12. They said, there was more weight, but I say that plus the charge of the boxes and there were times when they could’ve put more boxes but didn’t.

However, the three movers themselves were terrific. They worked hard. They worked late. They even skipped a meal, which wasn’t too great. They worked well together. They had to go to my mother's house, and then, they had to go to my house which was 20 minutes away to pack my belongings. For the majority of the stuff that was packed, it was done well, but there was one mover who just dumped in boxes that were organized and contained by my mother within her boxes. Overall, while the packers were very good and positive, the price is what drags them all down.

However, the guys who moved my stuff didn't wrap off my 75-inch TV good enough. They just wrapped it up in a bunch of papers - no bubble wraps, no Styrofoam or anything. When I put up the TV in my parents house because I have no room for it in my apartment, it was broken. The real thing that got me was that they had truck problems between Midland and Nocona. Instead of waiting for the truck to be fixed so that both guys could help unload, they sent one guy to unload all that stuff. In fact, my mom had to help them out. So, one guy unloaded my TV and it got broken.

Colonial's customer service and I were back and forth for a couple of weeks. They kept telling me they weren't going to cover it because it was an insurance issue and I didn't buy an insurance. I corrected them because of the one mover situation, and they finally ended up covering part of the TV. I understand that it's not Colonial's fault. But at the same time they're responsible for the movers. If the movers do something that's gone off the standards, I shouldn’t be the one that has to deal with that. Colonial should cover the entire move and then work it out with the movers who moved us. I 100% recommend North American over Colonial. North American handled things a little better.

The only thing that I didn’t really like was they gave me a three-day window which was fine when doing it in a month ahead of time. When it got closer, I had not received a call from them so, I called two days ahead of time and they were able to tell me the exact day, which would be nicer if I knew it sooner. Then, it didn’t seem to really matter going because we didn’t have a time frame. They arrived four or five days earlier than I expected and they called me to let me know the day before that they'd be arriving the next day. Then, the guy called me when they got closer to their destination and to make sure they got the right address. We were in a rush to pick it up and that was a big deal for me. Also, I didn't like that I had to pay extra for them to get a smaller truck since their 18 wheeler which couldn't go anywhere. Other than that, I had a decent experience with them.

But, I’m still waiting and I’ve gotten calls three times regarding my refund that I haven’t received. It had been three weeks since they showed up. Since they were able to charge my credit card instantaneously, we thought they would be able to refund me within five business days. Somebody called me to ask if I received the check but I said I wanted the refund on my credit card sooner than later because I have to pay interest on that balance.

On the other hand, we had to wait longer for the delivery. The closing date on our house got pushed back so, I had to call Colonial and let them know that the closing date was going to be about four days later than what we originally thought. That made everything in the system got pushed back, but it worked out okay. I was very satisfied with them.

The only problem was my refrigerator wouldn't fit through the trailer door. They tried everything they could but couldn't get it in. You could tell by looking at them they felt bad. When I told them we would have to leave it outside till I could figure out what to do with it. They took the scrap boxes and wrapped it up then took plastic wrap and sealed it all around. It was suppose to rain. They made sure it was completely sealed so it wouldn't get ruined. They were so polite about everything. My last move I could barely see what was being brought in and my boxes were smashed and I had a lot of breakage.

So far everything is fine > I highly recommend this company. Not only did I get good service the pricing was the best. The other companies on this site were 2-3000. More and I don't think the service would have been as good just from the initial phone call. I called 3 other companies and they, "Well I don't know if we can move you so fast" even though their site says no problem and everything was, "I'll get back to you". When I called Colonial the quick move was no problem. No one had to get back to me. They answered my questions then and there. It wasn't a hard decision for me to make. Not only a good price but good service.

In addition, he was argumentative, demanding, non-cooperative and his crew did a horrible job. I had a pair of Italian porcelain figurines that were matched set. They threw one of them in the bottom of a trashcan and then, shoved heavy things on top of it. It broke into zillion pieces so now, the other one is worthless. I'm waiting for them to give me some sort of resolution to the issues that I reported and I have not heard anything back about the claim. The woman in customer service who was working with me have left the company. They gave me to somebody else who shoved me off to the marketing department. I don't know what marketing has to do with my claim. I had reached out to them multiple times and the customer service didn't call me back. Also, I left messages with the manager and she never called back.

Another is that 10 out of 11 of our expensive plates were broken. They were just wrapped with one single layer of paper and they were not wrapped properly. With the policy, it's based on weight. They don’t weigh much but they’re pretty expensive. They haven't settled yet but even if they agreed that they’re responsible, we’re just going to end up getting $10 for $500 worth of plates. That was a little frustrating. They’re just reimbursing $0.60 per pound of what broke. There was also some minor damage to other things but that’s to be expected with a long move and I wasn’t really worried about it. I was still pretty happy, overall. They stayed on top of everything, made me aware of what's going on and they’re trustworthy.

At first, the drivers were fine. They were an hour late coming to pick up, but I understand time. Some of the things that I had would be packed a certain way and I had to pay extra for. But some of those did not come to fruition. The beds were not packed and plasticed, which I paid for. The TV was not packed in a box, but it had a piece of cardboard on the front of it and then shrunk wrapped. There were some things when we got to our new location that they said would not go up the steps. We had our contractors here, who said they would go up, and so my contractor ended up moving some of the things upstairs, but the movers would not go up the steps. It was a hard move for us, so I just let it go.

Also, I did not know that we were going to be charged for shrink wrapping our items. I thought that was part of the quote. When the movers came, we had 28 items which we had to pay additional for shrink wrapping. I just wish we would have known that upfront. Other than that, we were very happy with the move and with Colonial Van Lines. The quote I got from them was most definitely fair. We were extremely happy with James and Victoria, and his whole team.

She also explained how it would all go through, that I'd be called by another person. By the time I was done talking to her, I had a thorough idea of what was going to go on. But it was a very big move and I have thought about different things I don't know if I'm not even going to take back. And there were a couple of things I wanted to go in the car instead of the truck. So after I did a list with her and then she sent it to me, she gave a quote that was pretty well binding. What's funny is afterward, I looked up on the internet to see about Colonial Van Lines. The first three were negatives, but overall, it was a positive experience.

After talking to Rebecca, I had a follow-up call with Anisha. She was very nice and the only question I kept asking between the two of them that they really couldn't answer because they don't know until the end because I was trying to find out if I didn't have some of the weight off the items that I was going to take. They had listed 70 boxes but I knew I had more than 70 if that would make a bit of a problem with space. And they said that they would be able to know that better when the final thing was ready. Since I already asked both of them, I just had to be patient.

With the help of Rebecca and Anisha, I was prepared during the time of pick up and delivery. Though I had to call in a few people to help me get through this, I had done so much on my own. But I got some help and one person packed everything. Then, the one that was going to take my car down helped get things ready for the car to take care of all my stuff. Anisha said the driver would be getting in touch with me before they come. And the 18-wheeler they have confused me because I was looking for this monstrous truck. I was worried about it making turns. But it did just fine.

When the driver came, he first drove a car down. He had then hooked up with two other people that would be moving the truck. He then directed the truck to come down. This driver was very professional, he was putting stickers on everything to mark the stuff to be moved and he also dug in and helped quite a bit too. Though I have advised Colonial's customer service not to try to use the two people they hired in my area again. Because I was upstairs and they were moving this long piece of furniture out of the doorway and they banged the doorway a few times. I didn't say anything because of my furniture's older. But it wouldn't be good if they had somebody that had very nice furniture. That person would be upset about it.

Other than that, we heard them say too that we made their job too easy. We had everything - all the boxes were pretty much in the living room. And then we had furniture lined up in the kitchen and out front. So they were disappointed because they weren't going to be putting in the time for doing the load. The driver thought they would be here before Thanksgiving, and I'm very glad that they were not here because I fell on my nose before I left my house. I had four stitches and a blackened eye so I had looked too good for Thanksgiving dinner.

So the driver was telling me about the drive and the wind and then I would have another person calling me in between times about the way it is and about how much I would need when he got down there. And then, I got the next caller and he did work on the weights with me and the way it had gone out which I expected. Instead of having 7600 pounds, it was over 8600 and I knew it was going to be because of the banana boxes.

I had a pretty good experience overall, even though they only had one helper down here. I also forgive them for not having to put the boxes in the various rooms because we didn't even know where we wanted them to go. And most things were listed in the hallway or in the kitchen or in the dining room. So this helper just started bringing them in and stacked and stacked them like five feet high around so that we can get to them. It worked fine in the end and I've unloaded more than 45 of the boxes.

Additionally, one of the packers evidently put one shade inside another shade. So I tried very hard to get it out and they only had two sheets of paper between those. There was also a crack on one of my Tiffany lamps, which could have happened back home when the other packers were helping pack some things. It was very minor and it wasn't expensive so I didn't put a claim on that. But they did a fine job and the communication was very good. I have recommended them.

Their representative was helpful and always responsive by email or even when calling him, which was great. He was able to walk me through the process and give me an estimate of the weight that they were expecting and the price quote on top of it. However, the estimate was a little off for me as far as how many boxes I expected to have versus how many I really had and what it equated to as far as weight added on. I was a little bit surprised once I actually got the final weight when we moved. It would’ve been helpful for me to know upfront what they estimated per box as far as weight because it wasn’t shared directly with me.

Then the two-day time window for pick-up was a little inconvenient and difficult as far as planning when I was going to physically drive out to Virginia to meet the movers. They didn’t know if I was leaving Friday or Saturday and when in the day, depending on what time they came to the site for the pick-up. Then the next day after delivery, I got a call from the driver telling me that they had forgotten one of my boxes and found it with someone else moving to Chicago so they made their way back to Virginia. I was happy that they even bothered to try to get it to me but it was a little surprising that something was forgotten in the van.

They don't tell you that part!! They also told me I would be charged based off my final weight but when the movers came they had me sign something that said I accepted the higher weight but told me differently. READ ALL 20 PAGES OF THE PAPERWORK the actual movers have you sign and DONT BELIEVE WHAT THEY TELL YOU WHEN REVIEWING IT WITH YOU. I incurred outrageous costs living out of a suitcase, changing flights from CA to Texas for 17 days when I was promised the most it would take is 10 days.

Had to repeatedly call the moving company myself which consisted of 3 people who barely spoke English and never answered the phone. Colonial did not proactively try to help me or inform me of the status or what was going on. If they would have been upfront and set expectations accordingly in the beginning this never would have been an issue. Literally the worst, most stressful experience in my life. Save yourself the trouble and DO NOT USE COLONIAL!!

The pickup to delivery took six days like they mentioned it in the beginning so we had no problem. Also, just a few items got broken and damaged but that was a normal thing when moving. I called them about the broken items and they told me to file a claim within 90 days which we are going to do. We are happy with Colonial Van Lines and I thank them for very professionally running their business. I have already referred them to my friends. My girl friend is moving from Georgia to Washington DC and I gave her the account manager's name and she’s going to contact him.

I talked to somebody and they sent me an email and said that I had up to nine months. I'm not going to wait that long but I'll try to get to it over the next week or two. I have taken the pictures of it. I haven't unwrapped everything but I hope that's all it's going to be. Other than that it will be okay. It was an expensive move but it was my fault because I kept adding to it so I was a little upset with myself for that. But everything was a positive experience with Colonial and I appreciate their communication with me and keeping me informed as to how long it's going to take. I have to recommend Colonial Van Lines for sure.

The one thing that bothered me, and I understand it, was that Colonial quoted me one price based on what I told them that I have so much furniture and we talked about that on the phone. They called four different times to verify what I was moving and how much I had to move. Every time, it seemed like I ended up having to pay more money than I thought. I thought I was going to be able to move for around $25,000. It ended up being about $45,000. Other than that, the delivery man and the gentlemen that helped him load and unload were very good. He went out of his way to help and see that I got things done.

The attitude of the men on both sides of the trip that did the move for us was impeccable. The coordinator was very straightforward and easy to call. Every time I called, I was able to get a hold of him right away. The account manager was good as well. He gave me an estimate on the time that they were going to make it. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make it during that time but it wasn’t their fault. They were coming from Manhattan and it was during rush hour. But they came in really good spirits even though it took them four hours longer to get two miles than it should have. It was a really great experience with Colonial Van

Colonial Van Lines told us they would be calling us the day of the move to see how all was going. We never heard from them. We had to call them to let them know what was going on. They simply said keep receipts. They are not willing to compensate us on the extra men we hired or our loss of work because it took longer than first told. Everything did not fit on the truck so they had to leave furniture. The company told us they could have another truck come, but not until after we all had to be gone. I have never dealt with a company that did not deliver any of the service that was assured us. I would never recommend using this company. I spoke to customer service and did not receive even a sorry.

On moving day the truck was not there on time. They said they ran into traffic and would be there 1.5 late. The truck arrived 2.5 hour late! The truck that arrived was not a semi but a 26 foot box truck. It was not a Colonial company truck or movers either. They were subcontractors. So we got an independent company anyway. There were not 4 packers but 2 (on was over 60 years old). When I showed the mover everything that needed to be packed he said, "it'll be tight, but we can make it work". I said, "what about the stuff at the other house?" He knew nothing about a second house to move!!! Colonial was contacted immediately. Instead of offering solutions to the problem they spent time trying to figure out what went wrong. Not the right time for that. A decent company would work to resolve the issue first then figure out where the breakdown occurred.

Colonial's solution was to make what we had "work"!! We had to purchase extra boxes and packing material. It took them almost 8 hours to pack part of a kitchen, some China, and a dining table. The packers said they would have worked quicker if they had have known it was Thursday instead of Wednesday. REALLY??!! The next day, we hired some local movers to help with the packing because it was taking so long. More boxes and packing material had to be purchased. My mother, who lived in that house after her parents for over 30 years had to leave without any closure because of previous traveling plans to the new state. Because things had to be delayed she had to stay in a hotel overnight which was unplanned. Two family members there to help with the moving process had to miss an extra day of work.

Out of exhaustion and desperation, we had to make the decision to leave several chairs behind because the truck was too full. The cab of the truck was packed as tightly as possible with items the movers almost left behind from the kitchen. Had my sister not forced them to take those items they may have been left behind. We have aired these grievances with Colonial. They will reimburse us our out-of-pocket expenses but refuse to compensate us for not delivering the service they promised. This was truly the move from Hell!! Colonial sold us on something they did not deliver on and REFUSE to take responsibility. STAY AWAY FROM COLONIAL VAN LINES!

Also, as a business model, they outsource certain local vendors to do the move. I was led to believe that certain insurance coverage was included but it wasn't the case. I didn't know if the third party was necessarily aware of what the requirements were or the constraints were with the insurance. They couldn’t answer the questions for me and also they let me believe that my coverage was greater than what it turned out to be. Colonial Van Lines has 60 cents per pound but what good is that going to do me if I have a broken vacuum? The vacuum weighs two pounds and it cost me $400 to buy. 60 cents on a pound isn't going to do anything for me so it's all frustrating when something breaks.

There was also a break in the chain of communication on Colonial's side because of the fact their process includes using vendors that aren’t necessarily affiliated with the company. Overall everything showed up though and that was my biggest concern. I was not surprised that certain things broke or didn’t show up. That was expected.

They told me that the company could care less about what the inventory sheet said. They just loaded in what was in the storage but they missed half my order. So, we had to completely inventory everything. Some of the boxes even had two numbers on them and it was bizarre. Colonial’s quality assurance completely stinks. The people that delivered were really nice but totally incompetent. I’ve gotten emails but I’ve ignored them because I want to be done with Colonial. They had a recording saying that they were going to look into what had happened and possibly have an accommodation for it but I haven’t heard a peep from them since then. I am very dissatisfied and I would never recommend them although the customer representative that worked with me was very nice.

Even the driver who picked it up gave me an estimate while he was there by looking at everything. It was higher than the one that the moving coordinator gave me but it was still lower than what actually came up. The estimated value was $800 more than what they had quoted me and at that point, I was glad that I had a little extra to be able to pick for everything. But at the same time, I got a little skeptical on what if I didn’t have the extra money. Would they have held my stuff? But everything on my end was fine so I let it go.

There was no transparency as far as when it was weighed either so it was a little unsettling. I got all these different numbers from different things and when it was actually weighed, that was the highest number there. I know they weighed the truck before and they weighed it after. I've got to put your trust in them but upon their arrival, it wasn't only my stuff on that particular trailer. I understand that it makes more sense to move more than one person at a time if they're coming from different areas but I did not know that.

I paid the deposit and they had my information there. Then when it came to picking it up, there was an option of paying in cash or paying with my card. I wanted to put it in my card and I asked if I could use the same card that they already had on file. But they said they didn't have it on file because they were completely separate from Colonial Van Lines. If I was doing all these things through Colonial Van Lines, how come I have to give the subcontractor my card information as well as Colonial Van Lines? That confused me so I opted to pay cash and I had to give the payment to the driver. But how does Colonial Van Lines know that I paid them or if they quoted me the right amount? They even gave the driver a different quote and little things like that raised an eyebrow. But I was tired of sleeping on the floor and more focused on trying to get my stuff.

The biggest thing was the communication about when the driver was going to arrive. Apparently, the driver was not in communication with Colonial Van Lines about when he was going to arrive. A day before, the driver said he'd be there by a certain time the next day. But then I got a call from Colonial Van Lines saying that the driver would be there by 5:00 P.M. and literally 15 minutes later, the driver called me and said he was pulling up. I was at work at the moment and if I wasn't able to leave work, what was I supposed to do?

They were pulled up at my house and I was thinking I could be there at a certain time but they wouldn't. I even had to change the time that they were coming to pick up my stuff because I had a 48-hour window so it was from Friday to Saturday. But they said that their driver wasn't going to be there until midnight and they didn't want to do a night move so they didn't show up until Sunday afternoon. I had to do a power of attorney and have someone else there to watch my stuff being moved because I had to get ready to leave that Sunday. I picked these dates well in advance and I've done my due diligence but it still did not work out the way that it was claimed to be. Colonial Van Lines should improve the communication with their driver so that they can actually pinpoint a time.

The move was for a client, a beneficiary receiving some personal property after a death. It was great on both sides. They explained everything. They sent an email preparing us what we needed to remember like changing the address, to submitting to the post office and about the driver’s license. They were very thorough. I was impressed with that. Because when you’re moving, it’s a stress anyway. And there are things that slip through the crack. I had ignored them a lot because it doesn’t apply to me. But it impressed me from the perspective of someone moving. I just want to make sure you know it was all good.

They called ahead of time and advised me they were coming and asked if the time was okay. They said they were coming on a Saturday, I got everything ready. I had to keep the stuff in my personal garage even though it was for a client. Then they changed it on me. I told them that they can’t do that to me 24 hours before. And they came and they did it. They were quick. Everything was packed and a lot of it was antiques that were family heirlooms that were going from here off to families. It wasn’t a lot of stuff but it was enough that it took a few hours. They called ahead about being delivered. I talked to the doctor on the other end who received them and he said that he could not believe how well-packed everything was. Nothing was broken. I feel very lucky for grabbing somebody on the internet and having it turn out to be such a good experience.

I had a moving company throw everything into a storage unit and Colonial just had to come take it out of the storage unit and bring it here. When they did the weight, it was weighed more stuff in. But the time they brought it here, I saw that too. The unloading was really good, the guy was really quick. There were three guys and they asked me where everything needed to go. They moved it all in.

The only irritating part was they charged us a couple of hundred bucks for packing as the stuff weren't as packed as we thought. I wasn't there but my guy was there and he told me they did a good job packing everything up. When I unwrapped it all, it was a good idea that they wrapped it up. I saw the value of what they did to keep my stuff from being completely destroyed. It was really good. I also got a follow-up from them asking how everything was. I would totally recommend Colonial Van Lines. The experience with them was great all the way around. They were very workable with everything. They were good with every request and every question that I had.

Original Review: Nov. 14, 2017

REVIEW: One star. My move with Boost Express Van Lines (“Boost”) of Edison, NJ (DOT number 2453637 / MC 847181) was brokered by Colonial Van Lines Relocation Division (“Colonial”) of Tamarac, FL (DOT number 2230831 / MC 459615). With the exception of the initial coordination, this move has pretty much been abysmal! DO NOT use either company if you want a low-stress, customer-care oriented experience because they will NOT provide that to you. I come from a military family and have moved across the US and around the world many times, so I know what a well-planned, coordinated and executed move looks like – sadly, I generally have NOT received that level of service from either Colonial or Boost.

BACKGROUND: After retiring from the military, my husband and I lived and worked in El Paso, Texas. We decided that we would move to Maryland in June 2017. In March 2017 we contracted with Colonial to handle our move (Job number **) and they subcontracted it to Boost. Incidental to our move, we also needed storage in transit from mid-March to the end of September 2017.

INITIAL COORDINATION: My Colonial Moving Coordinator, Aaron **, was simply outstanding and personified the term "customer service!" Aaron was professional, friendly, polite, cooperative and responsive to my needs, and I never felt that he was giving me a "hard sell," just to get the job; on the contrary, I picked Colonial even though I had lower quotes from other companies because I had such confidence in Aaron.

For example, whenever I had questions and could not reach him, Aaron not only returned my calls promptly but also worked around my schedule as a classroom teacher, i.e., he waited to call during lunch or before/after school. He even called me back in the evening or on the weekend if needed. Also, because the buyer of our house in Texas wanted to close quicker than we had originally planned, I wanted to change the pick-up date by two weeks. Aaron made that happen! He produced results, not just relayed information. It is Colonial's loss that he has since left the company.

PICK-UP: The drivers from Boost (Aleks and Sergei) were friendly and polite, but were several hours late both days. In fact, they did not finish packing and loading until 10 p.m. on the second day. My neighbors who were trying to sleep were NOT happy about that! Their packing was careful and meticulous, but Boost only sent 2 men to pack and load a 3-bedroom house (temporary day laborers did show up for a few hours on the second afternoon, but they were essentially worthless). That did not make sense to me, but later I learned from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website that Boost only has 4 trucks and 4 drivers -- if that is so, they seem to be too a small company to be handling large interstate moves and "up to 100 moves per month" as the owner has stated (see below).

In addition, when the paperwork was presented to us at 10 p.m., it was a mess -- NO inventory was formally prepared (just some brief notes in Ukrainian, which Aleks assured me would turn into a proper inventory); documents were only cursorily filled out; and we were not provided copies (I had to take pictures of documents on my cell phone). At this point, seeds of doubt were planted in my mind. I began to wonder if I would ever see my belongings again, but there was not much I could do at that point except hand over to Aleks a cashier's check for the initial payment of $7355.00, and watch the truck drive off.

STORAGE: During the following months I routinely contacted my Colonial Account Manager (briefly Shatara **, but for the most part Roxanne **), and kept her informed of my storage needs. Although I knew from the start that I would need storage until September, I was required to call and extend the storage on a monthly basis -- that was no problem for me though. I ALWAYS called in well in advance so both Colonial and Boost could plan accordingly. I honestly believed that the more proactive I was, the better Boost would be able to meet my needs at delivery time... was I wrong!

INVENTORY: As stated above, I did not receive an inventory listing when the movers left on 11 March 2017 (although my husband was pressured into signing a document stating we did). On 7 April 2017 I received a voicemail from "Jenny" at Boost, who had some “Quality Control” questions. When I called her back, Jenny was not available, so I spoke with "John." I relayed to him my compliments about how hard Aleks and Sergei had worked, but added that I was concerned about the lack of completed inventory forms. He laughed at me and told me "Sure, sure, we'll email it to you..." When I asked him to confirm what email address he would use, I could hear him shuffle around some papers and then he admitted he did not have an email address for me. This was not confidence-inspiring, and I never did receive an inventory directly from Boost (despite John's glib promises he would send it to me).

A month after moving, I still had not received an inventory. I started calling or emailing Colonial, requesting a copy of my inventory, but without success. On 6 May 2017 I called Colonial to ask yet again about the inventory. I spoke with a Customer Care representative named "Donna" (Roxanne was not working that day). She informed me that I needed to be patient, because the inventory is "usually stored with the household goods" and I would receive it upon delivery (really??). I was under the impression that my belongings were to be stored at the climate-controlled, clean and well-lit storage facility in Edison, NJ (as portrayed on the Boost website), so I figured someone at Boost could just walk out to their storage facility, open my storage bay, and get the documents... However, I only discovered in October that my household goods had actually been left in storage in El Paso (see below).

To make matters worse, Roxanne informed me on 24 May that the Boost driver "misplaced" (or "lost"?) the inventory, but as consolation, my move was going to be closed out at the minimum estimated rate... Imagine my surprise when I was notified on 8 October 2017 that the inventory had miraculously been located!! I finally received the inventory documents on 12 October 2017 (seven months after my belongings had been packed up), as an email attachment with blurry cell phone photos of each page.

While this was not what I had been expecting, at least I could see that my belongings seemed to be accounted for (it was difficult to read). Unfortunately, EVERYTHING packed by Boost was noted as "SC" ("scratched, chipped"), to include many items that I know were not scratched or chipped. I guess the Boost personnel have superpowers and can see through boxes, wrapping paper and blanket wraps, to be able to make these notations on an inventory AFTER everything had been packed. Also, about 100+ lines of inventory are simply labeled "boxes," not a very helpful accounting of items.

DELIVERY (IN GENERAL): This has been a true nightmare and is the driving force for my recommendation that you NOT use either Colonial Van Lines Relocation Division or Boost Express Van Lines. I am including Colonial in this negative recommendation for one main reason -- lack of aggressiveness on my behalf, and allowing this miserable delivery situation with Boost Express Van Lines to drag on far too long. Specifically, Colonial has ultimately accepted every excuse Boost has given them for why the delivery of my household goods has been delayed over and over and over.

Moreover, Boost has been negatively reviewed for delivery delays for at least 3 years (that I can find online); why does Colonial continue to subcontract with them? Is there some kind of fee that Boost pays to Colonial each time a job is sent its way? And if so, is that fee really worth more than customer satisfaction? That being said, I want to emphasize that Shatara and Roxanne have indeed been cordial and sympathetically responsive in their dealings with me. They have generally called me when they said they would, and relayed the bad news about delays pretty promptly. In return, I have told them frequently how much I appreciated their work in that regard; I just wish they would do more than relay disappointing messages to me.

Roxanne even commiserated with me once and told me, “Ms. **, these are “MY” household goods now, and I want them delivered too.” Believe me, that touched my heart and I was pleased by the sentiment, but there was no commensurate action that spurred Boost to a delivery. The bottom line is, I paid Colonial a broker's fee of more than $5100.00. I expected Colonial to work harder and more proactively to get my household goods delivered, and not just passively accept whatever delivery plans its subcontractor dictated.

DELIVERY (SPECIFICS): Everything that I write here can be supported by emails, my phone records and/or telephone conversation recordings made by Colonial for “Quality Assurance” purposes. On 22 August (5 weeks before my requested delivery date), I contacted Roxanne via email to coordinate delivery for 30 September 2017. When I received no response from her, I re-sent the email on 31 August. On 15 September, she confirmed via email that Boost was "ranging delivery from 30th-1st;" I don't think she was making this up -- I believe she relayed to me the information she had received from the Boost dispatcher! Therefore, I had every reason to expect that Boost would in fact deliver during the period 30 September-1 October 2017.

Unfortunately, Roxanne called me around the 29th of September, to inform me that there would be a delay. She told me my household goods would be loaded up in El Paso on Monday, 2 October 2017, and then transported to my new home in Maryland. This was estimated to be a trip of about 3-4 days; as a result, I was anticipating delivery around 6-7 October 2017. This was all laid out in my confirmation email to Roxanne, dated 3 October. Shortly after I sent that, she responded by return email, and told me there had been yet another delay, and my household goods would not even be loaded for transport until Saturday, 7 October 2017. That turned out to be another piece of false information.

Roxanne next called me on Thursday, 12 October 2017 and told me that Boost had again postponed the delivery date (postponement = delay) -- however, she additionally told me that, according to Boost, I would have my belongings "in 7-10 days, at the latest." That would have put latest delivery date on Sunday, 22 October 2017. The mid-point of that "7-10 day" range provided by Boost was Tuesday, 17 October. On that day, I contacted my Roxanne via email and asked for a delivery update. She called me back on the same day... Guess what??!! Roxanne had no concrete delivery information (another delay) and told me she "had given Boost 2 more days to coordinate the delivery, or she would be elevating the case to her supervisor."

As I sadly expected, though, when Roxanne called me 2 days later (Thursday, 19 October 2017), she once more had no good news -- Boost had simply told her to call again on Monday, 23 October (another delay). This cycle was repeated during the last week of October, i.e., Roxanne called, Boost provided some bogus information (probably just to get her off the phone), and then later there was some reason why the delivery would be postponed (another delay). On 1 November, the Boost dispatcher told Roxanne that my belongings would be "packed by the end of this week" (which would have been 4 November) and delivered "next week" (during the period 5-11 November). Based on my experiences with Boost to date, I expected that those were just empty, meaningless words -- and I was right (another delay)!!

Yes -- just ONE DAY LATER, on 2 November 2017, a Colonial Escalation Specialist (and Roxanne's supervisor) named Tequela ** called me. She let me know the new loading date for my household goods was Wednesday, 8 November and the tentative delivery window was 10-12 November 2017. This was the first time I was aware of an "Escalation Specialist" becoming involved on my behalf (although Roxanne told me she was elevating the case to her supervisor no later than 19 October, if Boost did not follow through with delivery plans; see above).

Why did it take so long for the Boost delays to be elevated to higher management at Colonial?? How much is "enough" of a delay before Colonial starts to wonder if they are subcontracting to reputable firms? Is there some kind of internal protocol at Colonial, so that they take no action on a subcontractor’s delivery delays until “x-number of delays have occurred,” or “y-number of days have passed”?? That being said, I finally got some good news – on 8 Nov, Tequela confirmed that my HHG “were loaded and currently in transit…” Unfortunately, today is 13 November 2017. It is 44 days since my requested delivery date. I still have no belongings; I do not where my household goods are currently located; and I have no idea when they will be delivered.

I emailed Tequela today to ask for an update, but received no reply. This evening I called Colonial and spoke to a Customer Care representative named “Cristin.” Cristin did some checking and told me Tequela had been out of the office today, but she’d “contact me tomorrow.” I asked Cristin if she could just look in my file and give me an update, but she refused and simply repeated – somewhat curtly -- that Tequela would “contact me tomorrow” (14 November). Does anybody in the “Customer Care” section truly care? Why couldn’t someone else look in my file and provide me an update?? Am I to believe that Colonial policy allows no one but Tequela to give me details? What would happen if Tequela quit – who would help me then? This would be laughable if it were not so tragically sad and continually disappointing!!!

MY THOUGHTS: Up until now I have tried to rationalize the delays. Boost is a small company and doesn't have enough drivers and trucks, or they don't want to send a truck here unless they can coordinate a pick-up as well, or my move is happening during the busiest months of the moving year, etc., etc., etc. Moreover, I understand that the drivers are people too, and can have problems affecting their ability to perform their jobs. However, I would suggest that Boost hire a pool of back-up drivers, so deliveries don't come to a screeching halt if a driver is incapacitated.

As a result of these serial delays, I now feel like Boost is just throwing out dates to placate me, and Colonial is just accepting whatever lame excuses Boost provides them. This is unacceptable because I have kept all parts of my moving agreement with them. For example, I made both my Broker's Fee payment of $5100+ to Colonial and initial payment of $7300+ to Boost in good faith, on-time and in-full; I have kept Roxanne informed at every step of the way when something changed (such as my contact phone numbers, email addresses, and storage-in-transit date extensions); I requested a delivery date more than 5 weeks' in advance (to make it easy for Boost to schedule the delivery, or so I thought); and so far I have been patient and understanding when presented with one delay and excuse after another.

I've been understanding -- it's time for these companies to stop ignoring the human factor relative to interstate moves, and start being a little more understanding as well. Specifically, behind every load of furniture, appliances and boxes there are real human beings, and every time the movers delay/put off/misrepresent delivery dates -- and moving brokers do not aggressively fight these delays on behalf of their clients -- it is negatively impacting those people.

Here are a few examples of how these constant delays have affected my situation: I have a washer and dryer being moved to me. Until it is delivered, though, I have to use a Laundromat to wash clothes. A load of clothes costs $3.75 - $7.00 per load. And that's just washing. Drying costs $0.25 for 6 minutes! In my family it is costing me $22-25 per week in laundry expenses. Everyone has to sleep. I have 3 queen-sized beds that were packed and are on the way to me, but that doesn't help me at bedtime. Solution? We bought a bed and sheets and a comforter. While expensive ($2100+), staying in a hotel for the past 5 weeks hasn't been a viable financial option. Another idea that was suggested to me was sleeping on the floor, on an air mattress or in sleeping bags; are you kidding?? My husband and I are both in our 60's, so sleeping on the floor for 6 weeks will not be an option.

Boost packed us up in March. We anticipated delivery around the end of September, so we did not keep any severe cold-weather clothes with us. It is November in Maryland. I need my sweaters, coat, boots, socks and pants. Eating out every meal is not possible for my husband and me. However, to try cooking at home without kitchenware is difficult – over the period of 6 weeks, you have to repeatedly purchase paper plates, plastic utensils and aluminum foil cookie sheets, pie plates, casserole dishes, etc. When you're existing in "moving limbo," every day without your belongings is an unpleasant challenge! I'm betting the Boost dispatchers have never considered these factors when they delay deliveries, but I have personally brought up these points to Roxanne. It is sad when people take continual, repeated, on-going second place to profit.

As I have been experiencing these successive delays, I have wondered if my situation is just an isolated incident, or if other people are going through the same difficulties in trying to get delivery of their household goods from Boost. A simple online search provided me the answer -- severe, lengthy delivery delays are pretty common with Boost Express Van Lines! Just looking at the negative reviews on Yelp!, the Better Business Bureau, MyMovingReviews and even Boost’s own Facebook page has shown me that I am not alone in my disappointment, frustration, and anger.

I have even reached out to some of the people who gave Boost negative reviews; they gave me hope in that they finally did receive their household goods but again, generally only after lengthy delays. And although I did see positive reviews, I discovered that quite a few of the individuals praising Boost are also listed as "friends" on the Facebook page belonging to Alex Korte, who was listed online as the owner of Boost Express Van Lines (see below). From that standpoint, I wonder how objective those glowing reviews really are??? And even for the genuine, positive reviews, consider this before you contract with either Colonial or Boost: Do you really want to take the chance that your move will be one like mine?? Horrible moves are happening and yours could be the next one!

And as for Alex Korte -- I read his response to a negative Yelp review from last year. In it he stated (and this is quoted from the Yelp review): "Comment from Alex K. of Boost Express Van Lines Business Owner. 10/3/2016. We are doing up to 100 moves per month. And We do care about every single customer from the beginning to the end. Every single employee is hand picked by me/owner of the company. And we do every move with care and professionalism. Always making sure that everything done within discussed time schedule. There is a lot of factors that can effect delivery time. Such as: machinery, weather, health issues. NONE of the companies out there can promise exact delivery time right of the bet. It's impossible. There is always few days time-frame. We always make sure to give our clients the most accurate time and day of delivery." (sic)

Really Mr. Korte?? I acknowledge that movers get sick, or weather can be bad, or trucks break down and as a result, schedules need to be adjusted. However, YOUR VERY OWN DISPATCHERS have been unable to coordinate and meet delivery for me since 22 August (when I made my first delivery request); would you consider that "within discussed time schedule?" I've been waiting more than 40 days for delivery -- is that what you consider a "few days time frame?" And no, I DO NOT think you are always making sure to give your clients "the most accurate time and day of delivery" (as noted above, your dispatchers have put off my delivery 8 times), or demonstrating customer care "from the beginning to the end" -- my situation alone demonstrates the lack of concern that Boost has for its customers.

In conclusion, I believe that Boost has set not one, but TWO separate, legally-binding delivery windows for me -- the first, when they stated they were "ranging delivery for 30 Sep-1 Oct" and the second, when they told Roxanne on 12 October that I would have my household goods delivered "no later than the next 7-10 days." Of course, that did not happen, or I would not be writing this negative review. I have been patient and understanding in the face of serial delays and repeated deliberate misinformation. We have a contract and I have kept my part of it, but Boost – facilitated by Colonial’s inaction as my advocate – has not. So to everyone out there looking for a prospective moving company, read my story and heed my warnings. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Extra money had to be spent to replace all the items they broke -- they took no responsibility for the subcontractor they used that actually did the damage -- be aware. If you do not spend $1000 on insurance they offer, you will get pennies on the dollar for your damaged items -- they pay based on what the items weigh NOT the value of the items!!! The delivery of my items was solely at their discretion and time. I talked to two separate Escalation Managers to try to correct issues - the first tried to blame everything on me, took no responsibility for any of the problems caused by Colonial or their subcontractor and lied. They never even ever offered a solution though I was asked on 3 separate occasions what my expectations were to resolve. This was a ploy to tire me out, along with not responding in a timely manner, asking for multiple pictures of things you could not have taken pictures of unless you knew they were required beforehand.

The second never responded in a timely manner either and kept trying to drag the process out. After I turned the information in that was requested it was over a month before he even talked to me despite me emailing and calling him. Actually on final day I had to make a decision. He had still not responded as promised until I called him - he called back but I had stepped outside and missed his call - I called him right back and asked him to call me back but he never responded.

They also made me file for damages to items and I only asked for the major items that would cost close to $2000 to replace or fix and they offers $270.00. I choose to not accept their paltry $270.00 for all the damages, frustration and trouble I was put through, on top of that they wanted me to waive my right to tell anyone about their pathetic service. I have never dealt with a company that had as horrible customer service as they do. Another thing to watch out for is that in every step of the move you are constantly being sent to a new person - I must have had contact with at least ten different people so you would not know who to contact to get resolution. There is really so much more and frankly they have worn me out. Which I understand was their intent. However, I will do as much as I can to steer anyone I can away from this awful company. I have already stopped several people I know from using them.

I had a confusion with the movers who came who were different than the other company I've been talking to. If I had a question, they couldn’t really answer. Luckily, I was able to get a hold of somebody when the movers were there, so, both times with pick up and drop off, I was able to get my questions answered. The same guys picked my stuff up and dropped it off, and they were great. But they accidentally left some bottles when they drove off and that made my neighbors a little upset. Nonetheless, I had a good experience. They offered good service at a very reasonable price. I would use them again and recommend them.

It was frustrating, but I can't blame it on the moving coordinator. Somebody from Colonial should have come out and visited us when they do some estimates. But once everything got settled, the people that Colonial sent out were very helpful. The guys who did the packing were awesome. They were frustrated and yet, they were very polite and did exactly what we asked them. They explained what was going on and I got a better understanding from them than I did with the coordinator. I was even surprised that the packers were able to get some of Terry's furniture out of the upstairs room, down the stairwell and out the door. Her furniture were huge and I was very happy with what they did. Also, if I had known that there was going to be an extra charge for packing the China, I would have packed it myself.

All in all, I'm glad I went through it because I’ve learned a lot. And if I were going to move again, I would use Colonial Van Lines since I didn't have a problem with them. I just need to be really clear on what I want to be packed and what I don’t want to be packed. I will also explain that to my friends or whoever I was recommending them to.

I had a good experience with the person who assisted me during the move. There was one instance though that we couldn't get a hold of her and it was frustrating. I had left messages and didn't hear back right away. But whenever I did speak with her, she was great. Everything went as expected during the time of pickup and delivery as well. But Colonial Van Lines should improve on being super clear about what is and what is not included in the service. The first time I used them, the movers wrapped all of my big pieces of furniture and then on the most recent move, they didn't do that. If I had not been a former customer, I might not have had that expectation. Nevertheless, my experience was good. Moving is stressful but Colonial Van Lines is a very easy service to use.

Also, they sent two guys to move us into a house. When we moved out, we moved out of a place that had an elevator. So, two guys were adequate because they could transfer the things in the elevator. But when we moved into the house, they gave us two guys. We live in a three-story house and there was a little stoop. They had to get a piano up the steps with two guys. I ended up having to help them because it barely got up there. They should have probably sent three guys. It’s not that big a deal, though. They got everything and the guys that were here worked their butts off. It was a positive experience and I would recommend them to people.

I have moved 4 times in last 5 years due to work, and of all the companies Colonial Van Lines was simply the best in terms of value for money, taking care of customers and treating our stuff as theirs! Would definitely recommend, although I did purchase additional insurance, now I feel like I wasted that money, because it wasn't needed and I would blame the previous ** thieving moving companies who steal people's TVs and other things (Angel van Lines).

But the communication with the partnering company on the day of the move was not good at all because it was done during the weekend. There was nobody available in the offices to get information from about the moving truck’s time of arrival and that was frustrating. Plus they didn't come on the day they were supposed to and nobody told us about that. They were supposed to arrive on Saturday but they arrived the next day. Other than that, Colonial Van's service was good. I’m also surprised with the service I got for the price I paid for. I’ve recommended them to a friend who’s planning to move but I warned her about the lack of communication with the other people over the weekend.

I called before and I was told that if I have to use a credit card they’ll reduce the fee by 2.5% and I only have to pay $50 something. I told them, "I'm not paying another penny. I'll pay cash. But it's just that I'll probably never use you again because you don't say everything upfront." They said cash, check or credit cards are accepted but they hit me with this thing. That's something they should pass down to their affiliates or the franchisees that they ought to put upfront. Otherwise I really have no complaints with Colonial.

The account manager was great and he called me to make sure if there were any changes made or if anything happened out of ordinary. I told them what they were and they made adjustments. I was told how to do everything including being prepared during the time of pickup and delivery. When the driver came, I had everything boxed up and I had told him what he needed to box up so he brought the proper equipment to box my stuff up including a grandpa's clock. I got that boxed up and told him about the bed and mattress and packed that up.

The process was cool but there is something you have to make sure when you go to the weight thing. The issue is about money. So when you start talking about, "Well, we got an empty truck and it's that much weight," which it did. But then the way the stuff was packed, it seemed like there was another shipment going on the truck also. I got to trust the fact that they weighed the truck before they picked somebody else's stuff up and added it on to that truck.

The delivery was extremely delayed - The delivery window that I was given was 9-20 Sept, which itself is a pretty wide window. But I was okay with it. They hinted at that time to me that usually the stuff arrives much before the last day of the window. Anyway after this the actual date they promised arrival was 20th. So I stayed home all day on the 20th and guess what? No delivery. Then I was told it will arrive on 22nd evening - but guess what, no calls that day either. I tried calling them during this period but it would go directly to the voicemail and they would respond the next day. After few more such delays my stuff finally arrived on 24th evening. The boxes were so badly crumpled that it seemed like they had been through a stampede. Fortunately I had packed everything well so there was no damage to anything.

They did compensate me for the late delivery, but the communication could have been a LOT better. I understand late delivery. What I don't understand is promising delivery on a given day and then not coming through - MULTIPLE times. When my car was delivered I found that my handbrake lever had become very loose. It was clearly from their mishandling. But upon bringing this to their attention, they refused to take any responsibility for it saying there was no way to prove that they caused the damage. So guess I have to fix it myself.

During this whole process the communication with my move coordinator Krisita was far from ideal. She would promise that she would call me in the afternoon with an update but as a rule, she would not call when she promised. After waiting for her call, if I called her, it would go to her voicemail and sometimes she would call back, sometimes she did not bother. I understand that she might have to be absent from work, but the company should provide a good backup - which was not the case.

Moving is supposed to be stressful but these guys made it worse. And if you try to complain to them, they make a lot of excuses making you sound like a bad person for wanting to complain. Krisita is polite but they do have some other customer care agents there who are just plain rude. Anyway - bottomline is I am just glad that I got most of my stuff intact, albeit late. I have moved 3 times in my life before this and this has been by far the worst experience. I DO NOT recommend this company to anyone.

The movers came late as they were supposed to come the day before they did. The rep called me and I told her that the moving guys were supposed to come that day but they had just called me to say that they were going to come tomorrow morning, which was very late for us. She asked me if I wanted her to call the movers to make sure that they understood they had to come that day, but I said, "No, it's okay. I handled it. I made sure they knew that they had to come today."

But the movers still came the day after. When I spoke again with that coordinator who had called me earlier, I told her that the movers came the day after. But she said that she had me recorded saying that it was okay for the movers to come the day after, which was not true. That's when she got very rude with me, saying that I was lying. I told her that what I had said was that I had handled the matter and made sure that the driver knew that the movers had to come that day, but I didn't tell her that it was okay to let the movers come the next day. Other than that, our move was good overall. Plus, the driver was really nice. He waited for us one more day before getting to Florida, so the arrangement worked out. In the end, we made it work but it was stressful.

The worst part was my company who chose Colonial Van Lines, at the last minute decided that they would pay by wire transfer rather than giving me the money. That was just a big confusion with Colonial Van Lines and then the company that actually moved us. The folks expected me to pay but I wasn't paying anything. But everyone was very nice to work with. They were professional and courteous. The account manager who assisted me during the move seemed very busy but she was fine. She gave me what I needed. It was my first professional move and it went really well.

If you are in Arizona do not let them send you ADI Moving. They will gouge you double and unless you pay it they will not deliver your belongings. I don't know when we will get them but I'm fighting it as far as I can. We do not have any paperwork except for what paperwork they gave us at time of move because I'm refusing to pay the overage until they can prove everything.

The problem was the delivery wasn’t completed on schedule and so the movers ended up having to move quite a lot further and they tacked on that price on the day. There really wasn’t anything we could do to argue with the movers because they had all our things. It's quite a lot more to pay since it's almost a quarter of what our estimate was and I knew they had to do extra work. But the movers, subcontracted by Colonial, were great and reasonable. We only had one box broken in the move and it was a box of coffee mugs, not exactly the most valuable things in the world.

There wasn’t any way to know a better estimate on the delivery window until the day before which I didn’t like. It was the night before when we got the call and they told us when it was going to be delivered. I know they had two or three trips to make and I spoke with the movers and they said they delivered someone in upstate New York the night before. Knowing if we're the last person to get delivery or the first person, it would give us a better idea of when to expect. It was still delivered quickly though it had been hectic not knowing when it was coming. I can track my pizza delivery, but I can't track where all of my belongings are. But my Colonial experience has been reasonable, fair, and straightforward.

They called me five days ahead to confirm the date, the weight and if anything was added to the things we will be moving. They also gave me a call two days earlier of the pickup, stating at what time I should expect the driver and movers to be there. The driver also called me one hour prior to when he came and things went on very smoothly. They did a pretty good job in whatever they said they’ll be doing.

Additionally, their quote was horribly off. We were quoted really low. They quoted us a weight at around 4,000 which was based on the inventory. They don’t know the actual weight until their vehicle hits the weight station. They notified us of the price two days before they arrived. I thought I might have to get it reweighed because the number just seemed far too high. We were quoted around $5,000 for the move which was why we went with them, and when it all boiled down to it we were looking at twice that price.

We paid the movers a good chunk of money which was supposed to be deducted out of my bill. When they finally got the weight quote and they sent us the final price that we would have to pay upon delivery, they hadn’t even deducted that. So we were looking at a greatly increased price because of a significantly lower quote unexpected and then they had deducted their money, so at that point I thought it had been a scam. I had to do a bunch of research. I found out they had more record of being scammed. But once I called them and hounded them about that on the day the delivery was supposed to show up, they were pretty good about getting back and adjusting the invoice and making sure that all my stuff was taken care of. At that point they were as transparent as possible. And the movers themselves were fine. They did their job and my stuff didn’t get damaged.

For the pickup, we were still packing stuff and it took forever because we had more stuff than we thought to pack. There was yard stuff that I hadn’t thought about, but they packed it up for me on site and they did a really good job. It took about five hours and they were so hardworking. The delivery went much smoother and the delivery guys were great. They had disassembled furniture at our house and they put it all back together perfectly, so that was wonderful. And they were very helpful in placing all the things where we wanted them to go in the house. They were fabulous. I'm very happy with having all my stuff arrive at the house and I didn’t have to drive a gigantic moving van. We haven’t finished opening all the boxes, but so far in unpacking, only two things were broken so that was very reassuring.

During the move, they contacted me through emails and calls. They kept me in the loop and informed me if there were changes. The only thing was, they came a day early so I was a little underprepared. They were supposed to come on the 27th or 28th of July but they showed up on the morning of the 26th. So, they had to pack some stuff for me and I stayed up all night to finish packing because I thought I still had an extra day. They brought all the packing materials and packed some large pictures, my TV, and my entertainment center which is all glass. Those were the only items that needed extra packing.

The cost ended up being more than what I was initially quoted because my things actually weighed more than what was estimated. But Colonial Van Lines did a great job. They got all my stuff off the truck in an hour and a half and they helped me put my stuff together, so that was very quick. Nothing was broken and we had a good experience with them overall.

I had a problem with the final payment that was a little confusing. They told me that somebody would call me on a Friday and tell me how much my final payment would be because I have to either pay by a certified check or a credit card, but nobody called me back until Saturday. I had to get a certified check since my bank won’t issue them on a Saturday. And I went to the credit card plan and transferred money to my checking account to make sure I had the money to pay. When they called and said on Tuesday that they were going to be here, I told them I'd be paying with a credit card, but they said they won’t accept a cover card for the final payment. It was a little upsetting because I don’t have a bank in New Jersey, and I moved money around and it was a little stressful because I needed my stuff. So, there was a huge misunderstanding on the final payment settling, but we got it worked out and everything went fine.

Original Review: Sept. 24, 2017

I contracted with Colonial Van Lines three months in advance and we set a definitive move date. All preparations were made in regard to belongings, price, etc., along with a hefty down payment. Then I'm told they can't move me on that date, it will most probably be the next day. Then I'm told, they can't move me then either but possibly the next day. On the third day, I'm told they can't move me until the following week, "Maybe."

I did everything right; I have a management walk-through scheduled, carpet cleaners coming, cleaning service scheduled and now they can't do it because there are boxes everywhere. And then there's the issues of having already given notice to my landlord, how am I supposed to get out of that??? What am I supposed to do? It takes time to find a mover. Is there any recourse, legal or otherwise? No explanation or apology from the company and I was polite, organized, had all my preparations done properly. Why? I would love to hear from them as to what they think a customer is supposed to do in this situation. I'm beyond frustrated at the prospect of possibly being kicked out onto the street or even having to pay another month's rent, and will never choose Colonial Van Lines again.

I haven't unpacked all the boxes because we just experienced this hurricane we had down here. Also, the missing names really caused us a problem because we have a lot of things that can't be put away. Things have been put together and we’ve got shelves in the boxes too, so these boxes are just sitting here right now until we find the parts we need. But apart from that, I have no real complaints. We haven't found any damages and everything seems to be okay, so far. The people in the office, the people who came and loaded the truck, the people who unloaded the truck, and those who we spoke to, for the most part, were very pleasant and nice.

Colonial went above and beyond at both ends. In Wisconsin, we had extreme weather and it was torrential rain. That day we were supposed to pack but they waited until the rain abated and they still got us all done and ready to go. Then down here in Arizona, we’re in the mountains so it’s supposed to be cooler, but it was 100 degrees but they did great. We just kept them hydrated. They had great attitudes and are nice people. It was a positive experience. Overall, Colonial was exceptional, professional, and efficient.

I was well informed of when they would be arriving. However, they say on their website that they’re going to wrap everything but there were four pieces which they didn’t wrap at all. That was a concern. Then when packing the stuff into the truck, they stacked them so high and it’s so heavy that they ended up crushing a lot of them. When the delivery was made to Austin, the guy that drove the semi-truck showed up alone. He was to have a helper but that guy didn’t show until about two hours later. It was so bad and it’s a busy street in Austin, Texas, so I had to put on the safety vest and stop traffic while the driver backs in to the storage and the driveway. It’s all right, it’s fun, but for what I’m paying, there should be another dude there. I also ended up helping to load stuff into the storage because the guy that showed up was slow. Other than that, it was pretty smooth. They were pretty good for what I paid.

We did pretty well in getting everything boxed but I had a plastic bag with a couple of extra things. They said everything needed to be boxed and they had to take one of their boxes. All the items fit in one box though, and that was good. However, there were a few things like the bicycle that had a portion broken on it. I’ve never had this happen with movers before, and they didn’t take their trash with them either and that was a surprise for me. But other than that, the fellows who did the moving, packing, loading the truck up and unpacking worked very hard. I was very impressed with their instinctiveness and overall, the experience was fairly good.

I was happy with the people who moved and delivered to me. They handled things very carefully but my only concern is that the backside of a sofa was a bit torn and a chair cushion was a little bit broken. I made a claim on it. Also, this time the move was not on time but there was not much delay. And it's part of the claim as well because I couldn’t get the things delivered from the date which was already mentioned. It's not that bad because the other time, the delay was more than a month and there was no option to claim for it. Also, the other time we used them, I bought items from the nearby stores because of the one-month delay. Apart from those, everything was fine.

My dealing with the moving coordinator was good and it changed dramatically as we are closer because we ended up getting rid of stuff. And it worked out great because they didn’t like playing games with us. It was with lots of contacts and they were constructive and very reasonable. The people who did the moving were awesome and faster during pickup and delivery. They got it in one day. It's far but they did it. The actual worker guys were tremendous.

We moved from California to Texas and we're using brokers that had people’s trucks and it was an incredible nightmare. I would have rather had all my stuff stolen than what we went through. If those actual people that do the things aren't good, it doesn’t matter if the coordinator is awesome. But we had our cars moved too and when we went to go get our cars, the guy wouldn’t give them to us. They decided to drive away with our cars because the broker didn’t pay the guys. What usually happens is you pay broker then the broker contracts people. A lot of times, the broker don’t pay the people that they contract. They skip them or they pay them with almost nothing and then me as the customer is stuck because they show up and they say they need another thousand dollars when in fact I already paid them. It happens a lot. At the end of the day, moving a lot easier is all that matters so Colonial is fine.

Original Review: Sept. 6, 2017

My experience with Colonial Van Lines has been a nightmare. I still have yet to get my things. I have been the one to initiate most conversations with them. They are AWFUL at keeping you informed. You have to pry information out of them to plan. I called the day before my 2 day window for pickup to see what day and time they were coming and they said, "Oh, actually they need to come today." So I said that that would be fine. They said they would be there between 2 and 6 pm. They showed up just after 7 pm and never called to say they were running late. They finished at about midnight. I came back the next day to clean and find my guest room is still full of furniture. They came back and got it. So my delivery window I believe was between August 28th and September 5th. They say that they will be there on the 29th regardless of the hurricane that was hitting Houston.

I call them the day before delivery to find out what time they will be there and my contact was TERRIBLY RUDE and said that she had no updates. Then a few hours later says it won't be coming at all that week due the storm that hit. On Friday September 1st they call and say that they finally have a delivery date for September 5th. I call the morning of September 5th (today) to see what their time frame is. They say they are not coming once again. Now they say they are coming on Thursday the 7th.

I asked for compensation for having to stay elsewhere for an extended period of time as well as now missing 2 full days of work. Their compensation is $30 for every day outside of your delivery window. I am paying what they estimate to be over a $6000 move and they say they MIGHT be able to compensate me $30? That is so offensive that that is how they value their customers' TIME. Spend the extra money and use a moving company that you've heard of. In the end with all of the extra expenses Colonial Van Lines is going to cost me THOUSANDS of dollars extra.

On moving day, the only thing that the guys had to do was break down the furniture since I already packed everything. I had 22 and some small pieces, which wasn't a lot. But it took quite a bit of time to break down the furniture and load the truck, so it took them four hours to finish. When my things got to Michigan, the guys did an excellent job in breaking down things. They were able to unload the furniture quite swiftly and assemble them. I was surprised it was done under two hours. I noticed that the process was a lot smoother and faster than the move from my apartment in Maryland. It had something to do with the distance from the truck to the apartment. Plus, it was hot that day so the guys were a little tired.

The quote we were given was a bit higher than what we were originally expecting but it's still more reasonable than other companies in the area. After weighing the different things inside the truck, it was heavier than originally reported. Also, the distance from the truck to my apartment was something that wasn’t originally discussed, so the manager had to call me back to add that on. It was a little overwhelming when they presented a different quote upon retrieval of the items. My mother already paid the deposit and we're not able to retrieve the items unless we pay that final amount. It’s a bit difficult to describe the size of the items over the phone and it would be nice if a representative came on site beforehand and looked at the items, so that more realistic quotes were provided.

Delivery was scheduled for three different dates, and three times they were a no show, without even a call. When they finally arrived, they expected payment which is what we had agreed to. However they did not have the proper weight certificates showing the weight of an empty truck, and then that of the truck after it was filled. I had been told that this is how the final moving bill would be calculated. When I refused to pay without the proper documentation, I was verbally abused, and threaten with taking my belongs to storage or just dumping them in the driveway. The workers were threaten with their jobs which left 2 upset and crying. Ultimately the truck was unloaded, however I am now held hostage by one worker who stayed at my house, while the others went to have the truck weighed.

This lasted to 1 AM in the morning. I was supposed to have a customer service rep who would be with me through the whole process and to be the one to interface with the movers. I didn’t. And while all that when on the night of the move, there was no one to call for help. They just abandoned me despite all that I was told about the wonderful service they would provide during my move. Yep say anything to get you to sign the contract. Additionally, the movers did not have all the packing materials they need to pack pre agreed items, which I had to go out and buy. They did not have the inventory stickers that needed to be place on each item, nor did they have the shrink wrap need to cover my furniture, all of which I had paid for in advance.

I filed a claim for the damaged items as instructed, and now they say it takes 4 months, I will not hear from anyone, and if I bought additional insurance which I did, they will not pay. None of this is in the contract they I signed. Now a month later the company still has not made good on their promise to refund me the cost of the bike, the materials I bought, and the additional monies I am owed due the weight difference. I also paid for insurance on the bike. While it was only $91, they are refusing to reimburse me for that loss. Nor will they acknowledge in any way that they Broke the Contract. This company will say anything to get you to sign the contract, and then they don’t deliver, and don’t care. Even when they break their own agreement.

Updated on 01/19/2018: After breaking the contract, and creating a nightmare of a move, and no one getting back to me, I finally filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General only it find out that this company is under investigation. Guess I am not the only one with a bad experience. After this I had conversations with the owner Al DiSorbo. We came to an agreement to resolve the situation.

When it came to follow through he never did. Then he proceeded to lie about it on 5 different times. I have a record of all your text messages. There is actual monies that I am owed which would refunds for services that they never provided which they agreed my contract to do, (I contracted to move a motorcycle in the move, and the day of the move at 6PM they said they could not do it.) I was told I would get these refund and never have. Save yourself the headache, There must be something wrong if the Attorney General is investigating this company.

Updated on 06/12/2018: After months of back and forth, I was contacted by the Director of Customer service saying she wanted to resolve our disagreement. We reached a settlement and I was sent a Final Settlement Agreement which simply stated we reached a satisfactory resolution and that I would receive a refund in amount of $2,500. Funds would be reimbursed via the credit card on file. After 8 days of returning the signed agreement I inquired about my refund to which I was told that I had to remove all negative posts on the internet before the refund would be given. That was in no way part of our settlement. It is now 6 weeks and the company is refusing to fulfill the agreement we reach and I sign for.

If I was to have a need to ever move again (which I expect not to happen), I would definitely, without question, hire the same company. All the CSR's at Colonial were patient and informative to work with, right from the start. They followed the progress and kept in touch with me during the complete process! Great team work! Thank You Very Much to All!

The account manager who assisted me was thorough and he kept checking with me a couple of times prior to the move and on both the day of the pickup and the delivery. He did a nice job. And the actual moving guys were amazing and great. I wasn't prepared as I should have been but at home, the Colonial people spent a lot of time packing and they did it much more diligently than I would have. Overall, Colonial's reps were courteous, very accommodating and open. I was very happy with their service.

Overall, there’s too much communication, it’s annoying. They used to have two people – the person who takes the call, and the person who expedites everything. This was my experience when I used Colonial Van Lines in the military before and I liked them. I know that they have to find a balance between communication and non-communication. But they called every day and I received too many emails. It took six people. You get one person when you call, then they pass it to another person, then they handle the inventory then they hand it to another person who inspects and insures with certain people out. They then ask around and, as you're traveling, they have another person who monitors. I told them to give one person the checklist instead and I put this in every survey they sent. So far, the process was okay. It's just the follow-up. Had I knew I was going to do too much talking, I would have never used them.

They subcontracted the move to this company Best Quality Move and they did a good job. It took them two and a half days to pack up and then one day to unpack. We're not missing anything, although because they packed up everything really quick, we didn’t know what went where. But everything's good now, except for two things. I've got an amplifier that's not working. The CD part won't open. Then my stand-up toolbox from the garage has got a bunch of shelves inside which collapsed. The amplifier's probably about $150 then the toolbox is $150. I was going to get that sent in to Colonial. Overall though, there’s no doubt that they did an excellent job. These guys busted their butts. Arizona's really hot and these guys just kept on. We kept them with water and we gave them food.

The other people I talked to were fine but our talks were very brief. So, we took some things off and the moving coordinator said that was fine. Going over the boxes, he said everything should be about the same. But when the movers got there, we ended up paying $2000 more than our quote. We were quoted something like $3300 and ended up being about $5000. That was the one thing that was frustrating but I couldn't really do anything about it at that time. Delivery was on time though and was actually faster than expected, which was nice. We ended up getting lucky and were the only load on the truck. So, we got our stuff very quickly. The account manager was also great and seemed very much sincere. He said to call him if we had any trouble and I did. He called me back, if not within a few hours, later that day.

How the business works is they contract out other smaller companies to actually do the work. I packed everything and I packed everything really well. The two movers we had were nice but we had two boxes that my wife and I are almost 100% sure they either fell off the truck or were thrown in because everything inside of them was broken. Granted that was two out of over 100 boxes, but there were some collectibles and things in there. I signed off on something that basically said, "If stuff's broken in boxes, we're not responsible." which I understand because somebody could just throw a bunch of stuff in a box. It'd be like, "Yeah, this is going to get broken and then they're going to pay me for it."

So, that was the one thing we were really disappointed with. But, of course, we don't have much recourse because they didn't pack it so they don't take responsibility for that. So, we were sort of stuck and unhappy with that but we didn't really know what to do about that stuff. Other than that, the experience was pretty good overall. If those two boxes hadn't been smashed up, it would have been as good an experience as I could have hoped for.

The account manager whose responsibility was to set up all these appointments for pickup and delivery was good. The drivers were very good too. They were constantly letting me know where they were. They kept me in the loop so I knew what was going on. I appreciated what they did and I will recommend them. Overall, it was a good move and I have been pleased. I had heard enough share of horror stories. So doing this for the first time with movers, I was bracing myself but it turned out to be an awesome experience. It was easy, they were all very courteous and they came and took care of the move.

But the type of moving van they had didn't have proper clearance for the entry into my apartment complex. It took about an hour for the driver to get the truck onto the grounds. He got hung up because of how our driveway was designed. There’s a big bump when entering the grounds where he got stuck and it had rained so the pavement was wet and made it difficult. But he was able to get the truck back out and then come around to a secondary entrance. Then everything went forward.