Colonial Van Lines Reviews

As for the workers, they knew exactly what they were doing and they did it in a timely manner. They were communicating with me which made it a hundred percent better instead of wondering where somebody is. They got caught up in an accident on the George Washington Bridge, but they phoned me about it, which I had already seen on television. They explained to me that they should be there shortly. And when they arrived, they went right to work.

During pickup I was prepared. They did not have to do anything but load my stuff. I was surprised that the people on the other end had gotten here at the time that they did. I thought it was gonna be later, but they called and said they'll be here Sunday afternoon before 12:00, and they were here about 11:00. They unloaded everything, set up the beds, and placed the furniture and everything. I was much pleased that I used them because I have heard so many horror stories about moving companies. I was very satisfied with the whole move.

The account manager was pretty fantastic as well. We had a couple of problems with my move because I was living in an apartment and then the truck broke down and there were some weather problems with Hurricane Matthew. I was getting daily updates about where my stuff was and when it was gonna get to me. Everything went great. Their guys showed up on time and had everything loaded in about half the time than was anticipated. Same thing during drop off, only half the time that we were quoted.

All in all verybody at Colonial was so professional. They were easy to reach when we had to make phone calls back. They kept in touch with us. We moved from New Jersey to North Carolina the day that they delivered my items in North Carolina, and I got a call from them to make sure that the movers showed. Everybody was on top of everything. The mover told us where he was and when he was coming, and about what time. Then, his supervisor called as well. There was very good communication.

Everybody was cordial over the phone and all the rest of the people that handled things over the phone, the sales rep and the moving coordinator was good, except the people who moved the furniture, who sucked. When the packers came in, I was already partially packed. It was a few things that they had to help me pack because the move was getting late and I really wasn't ready. Now that I'm unpacking my stuff, I'm finding a lot of damage to my furniture. They could have come to me and let me know about the damage because I had insurance and could have resolved it. Now, my stuff is gonna be damaged forever. That was very bad. I spent a lot of money, almost $4,000, if not more, to get my dining room table and my stuff damaged like that. That’s not right. What I’m gonna do is I have family in the entertainment and communication businesses and am gonna spread the word.

I got damage to my dining room table which is antique. Decorative wood got a slight cut. The wheels and feet to my couch are damaged. I got damage to my couch and my dresser. My footboard to my bedroom still had a couple of nicks in it. That was the major damage. And it won’t make it so bad if the damage wasn’t visible. I know that after moving I had these damages because they’d set the furniture up where I couldn’t see the damage. If I wasn’t moving things around then I wouldn’t have noticed it. And it wasn’t damaged before they moved it. I’m really not happy with Colonial Van Lines. I’m seeing what I can possibly do. I’m looking at whatever legal avenues I have and wherever I can make moves to get this justified. I’m very dissatisfied with my experience.

To be fair, the initial person I spoke with, Chad, to set up the move was good. After I spoke with him, made some date and storage changes, and locked in the insurance and deposit, at that point I had full confidence that everything was running smoothly and I could focus on other details of moving across the company with my pregnant wife and two year old. As I would learn, everything went south from there. Upon the arrival, our two movers were three days late. We learned that Colonial had subcontracted to another company named Boost Van Lines and there would be communication problems across the board. We paid for a full packing job which we didn't even come close to receiving. To be fair, the movers worked their tails off, but I think they were not prepared well for the type of job we asked and paid for. They also didn't speak very good english which made it difficult to communicate when we had questions.

Once they did arrive and opened the back of the truck up, there was only a small place to fit our stuff into. The full packing job consisted of a lot of our breakables just being thrown into boxes with no wrapping or protection. We actually had to have them reopen several boxes to repack. They had to make two different trips to pick up more materials because they weren't prepared. They did wrap our furniture in plastic, but because they didn't have enough space in the truck, had to extend a port off the back where our larger items traveled outside of the trailer. I was horrified to see that this was the plan.

In the end, we had to leave behind 3 large items that we had let Colonial know about initially, and we decided to move more of our valuables and breakables than we wanted to. Honestly, our cars were packed to the gills and probably unsafe. I rented a storage truck for some extra space and to make things easier on the movers in our small town home to move around, but because of the delay in arrival, and 48 hours of loading and bad packing, I had to pay for 3 extra days. When it was time to sign the paperwork, I had some questions that the movers couldn't answer and just insisted that I sign. At this point, we are put a week behind schedule of driving across the country.

Fast forward to today. We are still waiting on our stuff to arrive. It's been a frustrating week. My son is in his pack-n-play and my wife and I have been sleeping on air mattresses for two weeks. Our customer service rep Samantha told us last week to expect a delivery on Nov 1 or 2. Then she calls to tell us, "Oh the movers let me know the stuff will be coming early" without an idea what that meant. After calling several times, she finally explained that yesterday would be the day. This made us pretty happy after all that had gone on. We took the dog to daycare, got sitters for our son, and had volunteers come over to help. 4 hours go by and we hadn't heard anything and several calls and texts to our customer rep and nothing.

We finally get the cell phone of the movers and they inform us it won't be until today between 3 and 6. Lo and behold it's 3:32 as I'm typing and we can't get a hold of the driver or Samantha to see if it will actually happen today. This is infuriating and looks to add even more money coming out of my pocket. To make matters worse, Colonial has asked us to be at the weigh station both times to confirm the weight before and after they arrive. This really irks me as it's hard to move work around and get the family going with zero communication. We just really want this to be over so we can move on.

What Samantha has been good about is telling us repeatedly what we owe. We were told that Colonial and Boost had offered us some compensation back, but really feel it pales in comparison for how bad this has been. The only reason we even got a moving company was because my wife is 7 months pregnant, NEVER AGAIN! Next time I'm using UHAUL. Using this company is just not worth it, look elsewhere! At this point, we can only hope our stuff doesn't arrive broken, but the way everything else has gone I'm not banking on it.

I talked to two different people about the weight then they sent out an inspector to do a visual inspection and give an estimate. Everybody high balled it a little bit so that the actual amount and the actual weight was less than the estimate by 200 pounds. Even so, everything went on time which was the most important part. It was quick and the actual team of movers were very good and careful with things. We had a couple of minor breaks but not too much. I thought there would be more last-minute problems but it turned out to be very smooth. They exceeded expectations.

First, there was clearly poor communication between Colonial and Interstate from the start. Colonial told me that the movers would call me an hour prior to arriving at my house. They called me when they were on my front porch and told me that no one ever told them to call me ahead of time. Second, my household items were delivered on August 30th at 2 AM; that is 41 days late for those of you counting. Here are the following excuses I received:

5. They don't have a driver to deliver my stuff.

When I asked Colonial Van Lines what they were doing to expedite my delivery, I was originally told that they do not have their own trucks to move stuff, but was later told that they were going to have one of their trucks go get my stuff, and I was told that they had threatened Interstate to 1. Stop sending them business until my stuff was delivered, and when that did not do anything, they threatened to stop doing business with them altogether. Threats only work if you carry them out.

During this time, I was told that my stuff is 2 hours away (from Savannah, GA), that it is actually in St. Louis, MO (which is 11.5 hours away), and that it is in Tennessee but that it is 800 miles away (the northwestern most part of TN is ~700 miles away from Savannah, GA). Furthermore, during this time, I was the one calling Colonial Van Lines for updates despite being told at the beginning that I would have a moving coordinator that would keep updated throughout the process, and I was the one that had to ask the more specific questions about what was wrong with the truck, what was the time frame for it get fixed, what are they doing to get my stuff delivered to me since they were late. Colonial never had answers for me and did not think to ask Interstate these questions themselves.

I did get a discount from Interstate Best Moving- $30/day that they were late- 40 (technically 41 since they delivered after midnight) days from the last date of my original delivery window; that did not even cover the expenses I accrued from not having my stuff but I was told that this is the industry average. This was deplorable management by Colonial Van Lines, and to further worsen the situation, the dispatch manager at Colonial Van Lines called me several hours after my goods had been delivered to make sure there were no problems, told me that he was going to talk with his managers about further compensation for my troubles, and would call me the next week to talk about this and reimbursement for any damages to my stuff. It's been 2 weeks; I have called several times, left messages, and have not heard back from them.

They were pretty accurate. The only hiccup was on the no-price-hike guarantee. They gave a quote over the phone and claimed that it was not a maximum estimate, and it wouldn’t normally go up. However, it went up because there was one line item that wasn’t clarified, and if you didn’t give every single item that was being transported, the mover on-site will redo a quote. It was one of their terms and conditions, which was not really clear.

The account manager was okay. It was difficult for her since I was out of the country leading up to a couple of days before my move, but she did a couple of things for me that were beneficial and she contacted the local agency, which was the mover and she also made sure they were on top of things. On the day of the pickup, the subcontractor had an issue with the truck, so they got there at the latest possible time from the two-day window that was given to me.

Moreover, I didn’t really anticipate a lot of follow-ups, but I see that as a positive thing because Colonial is trying to make sure that their customer satisfaction is high and what can be done in the future. It's a beneficial thing to not just be a part of it until the move is over but also to ensure that after the move is over, everything is satisfactory.

Another thing is that they didn’t come out to my house to give me an estimate. I walked through my house and literally mentioned every single thing that needed to be packed and the rep estimated 10,000 pounds, and when they got all my stuff on their truck, it was 20,000 pound so I had to pay double of what I was quoted. Moreover, they outsource everything to different companies and for that reason, I don’t think I’d use them again. They have too many different contacts, and every single person they outsource with calls me for a survey. It’s ridiculous that I’m getting called and e-mailed all the time. I would not recommend them because they outsource so much and there are too many people involved in the process.

The pick-up was fine too although there was a little language problem with some of the people that were picking up the furniture. As they were about to close up the truck, I ran into my garage and they forgot my bed. They came running back, picked it up and put it in the truck. The arrival of my furniture had nothing to do with Colonial Van Lines, though. I was not able to move into my home again so my things were placed in storage. I had a storage facility available for the delivery guys to move my things into. There was another language problem there and I had to tell the man to slow down his speech so I could understand him. But the overall experience was great like the price and the interaction with the employees. I had no issues with regards to the move.

Then, when they picked up, the driver said that they would probably deliver on Monday or Tuesday, then called while I was driving home on Saturday and said they'd be able to come Sunday morning. It worked out fine for me, but if I had had arrangements to fly back later, it would've caused a problem. Other than that, both the driver and the two young men that loaded, were wonderful. It made all the difference in the fact that I was getting one time and then having it changed. They were so good with the furniture and very nice to me. I was really pleased. The mover, himself, said he didn't know who would be delivering the furniture, and it turned out, it was the same three. They must have left right after I did and driven almost straight through in order to make it here by Sunday morning. I was real pleased to see that it was the three of them again because they just did such a nice job, also in helping to clear out the rooms that the furniture was going into.

While I was on my way to go and meet them, the coordinator called me to confirm that the movers were coming the next day after 5. I don't even know why she was calling to confirm if she hadn't actually talked to the movers. Luckily it all did work out. And I called on a relatively short notice, so they did a good job of getting my things in about five days, which is right around what I needed for them to be there. I had a window of about three days, and they made it in that window.

When the mover showed up, he sat down with me, explained thoroughly about what was involved and how they store it. They were very thorough. He also said that he had a feeling there’d be more weight but it didn’t wind up being more. The biggest problem I ran into was the different people I was dealing with which kind of messed up the delivery date by probably about almost a month. So I had to have stuff put in storage. The gentleman in storage kept in touch with me the whole time. The two delivery guys were excellent as well. I was very pleased with everything and have nothing to complain about.

Don't trust their initial quotes...it will change! Don't trust the pick-up/drop-off dates. They barely got my stuff packed and moved out of my house in time and that was because I stayed up all night packing what they didn't have time to do AND they were close to 2 weeks LATE!!! Two weeks of no belongings and no idea of the status/health of our belongings. Our stuff was transferred numerous times, which we specifically stated we did not want to have happen (but they agree to anything to make the sale). So in the end their only compensation was $350, which required us signing a contract that states we will not request further reimbursement and will not speak of our experience. I have yet to hear back from them regarding submitting reimbursement for our damaged items.

Resolution update 9/22/2016: Since posting my initial review of this company I have since been in touch with them and at the end of the day we reached a satisfactory resolution.

Original Review: July 21, 2016

We contracted with Colonial to move us from Kansas to Texas. When the truck showed up, it didn't say Colonial, or any name on it, and it looked like it was on its last legs. Three Croatian men came up to the door who could hardly speak or understand English, and we learned they had been contracted to move for Colonial, which we should have been told in the first place. It took them 10 hours to load the truck and they finally left. We drove to our destination in Texas and waited 3 days longer than they told us, before they arrived. There was no way to contact anyone who knew anything. For all we knew, we'd never see our furniture again. But that's not the worst!

I started to get very itchy bites after sleeping on our bed every night. After a month of torture, I went to an allergist and was told we had bed bugs! We didn't have them in Kansas, so they had to have come from a dirty truck that doesn't get cleaned. We had never had bed bugs in our life. We're still battling to get rid of them... Not easy. We would never ever recommend Colonial to anyone for any move in the future. I called to talk with the man, David **, about our experience and all I got was voicemail, which he declined to respond to, so talking to him about our problems was not an option. But he was so friendly when he was convincing us to use Colonial. This company is dishonest and unreliable!!!

UPDATED ON 09/08/2016: We moved from Kansas to Texas May 2016 with Colonial Van Lines. The movers were very friendly and polite and told us when to expect our household belongings to be delivered in Texas. We arrived the day before they were scheduled and stayed with relatives. The next day we received a phone call that they were on the way. They arrived and unloaded our belongings, placed them where we asked, and were very helpful in putting beds back together and changing furniture from where we originally wanted it placed. They were more than willing to please us and were most gracious in going above and beyond what we had asked of them. They clearly wanted satisfied customers and made sure we were happy before leaving.

Original Review: July 18, 2016

Colonial Van Lines misrepresents information and services. I was not made aware that Colonial Van Lines was just a broker and not a carrier until after they asked me to pay a $3000.00 deposit up front. This was my first clue that something wasn't right. When I spoke with a Manager regarding my concern with this, she indicated that the money was to hold and guarantee our pick up and delivery dates during the busy season. I learned 24 hours before our pick up date that Colonial had brokered out our move to a carrier named Best Price Moving and Storage in Chicago. This company had horrible reviews and I did not want to utilize a company with such a bad reputation and history to trust with our move. I voiced this concern to Colonial and they said that it was too late and that we'd have to use them or lose our deposit. They also told us that they have used that carrier many times and never had any issues.

Against my better judgment I decided to hope for the best and that maybe I'd be proved wrong. That is not the case. Our guaranteed window for delivery was July 7th-12th. We were told on July 10th that the truck was loaded and in route to AZ. On the 12th we had not received or heard anything yet. I called Colonial and was told by Josh that our items would arrive the 16th-18th. Today is the 18th. I've called Josh several times and just get his voicemail. I called Best Price directly and they told us our items would arrive the 20th-21st. This will make it 21 days without our items. We have 2 young children and it is very difficult to live with our stuff. We planned through the 12th when we packed as we trusted in that delivery window.

We have had to spend money out of pocket to buy stuff just to get by. Additionally we were told by Josh at Colonial that we would be reimbursed $30/day for each day that our items were late and that we'd get a claim form from Best Price at the time of delivery as the refund would come from Best Price directly. When I spoke with Best Price, they indicated that they do not reimburse for late delivery as those dates where provided to us by Colonial and any reimbursement would come from them. At this point, we'd just like accurate information as to if and when we will see our stuff again and get reimbursed the $30/day for every day it is late after the 12th.

Review Update, Approx 2 months after my initial review was published.

I was contacted by the Customer Service Representative, Mr.DiSorbo who was very considerate of my issues with the company and the move itself. We had a healthy conversation about the issues I had and the lack communication that I experienced from their staff members. He ensured me that warnings will be given to the representatives who should have done their job, and kept me informed and in the loop during this procedure. I wasn't asking for much, but as a customer, keeping me abreast is my right. The company has promised me reimbursement for the boxes which were lost and the items which were broken, which I have not received so far, but I hope to.

Things sometimes don't turn out to be as you had wished for. Mistakes happen, people often lag. This is life. As long as we are ready to make improvements in our shortcomings, I think were heading in the right direction. I hope the next time Colonial Van Lines improves on their business with their customers and resolve them in a timely fashion.

Original Review: July 17, 2016

I researched long and thorough before choosing a company. I wasn't moving anything fancy, just a two bedroom apartment with hardly much of furniture, mostly books as my wife and myself are both students of medicine. I wanted to make sure that the company I choose, gives me peace of mind, is reliable, professional and helpful during the move. I found colonial van lines to meet NONE of the expectation after my moving experience with them.

On the day of the move, they were 6 hours late! I had to change my entire itinerary. I was moving out of state and believe me making changes last minute with my 2 year old toddler wasn't an easy task. I understand this happens, no big deal. I called customer services and they had no idea why this happened. None of the customer service representatives took any responsibility for the delay. I had to call several times to follow up, there were no call returns. No communication whatsoever. I was just left to wait for a phone call from the driver to know what to expect and his time of arrival. There was no explanation why movers were late, neither an apology for the delay. How sad!

The moving went okay. The movers were courteous and packed everything well. I did see that they were throwing boxes at the time of loading, which I did not appreciate much, even the boxes that said FRAGILE on them. At the final destination after looking at boxes, I could clearly tell, that between moving trucks, most of the boxes were not dealt with kindly.

At my final destination the movers arrived several hours late. These are young kids who moved my stuff. Extremely rowdy, rude, uncourteous and not professional at all. Boxes are being thrown. This gentleman threw the coffee table on the ground after carrying it, breaking it and rendering it completely unusable and then denying any such behavior. They did not move boxes into the rooms as they promised to, and dumped everything in the living room and rushed out as soon as they could. When asked to keep up to their word to move boxes into their respective rooms, they tell me that "they have the boxes moved from the truck and I can do the rest". Getting them to re-assemble the bed was a task, and I had to do half the work as they were least interested and trying to rush. How pathetic!

Two boxes went missing, several items were broken. Happens in a move, no worries! Currently am in the process of claim, however once again there is NO COMMUNICATION, email replies which keeps me in the loop. These people are really good when it comes to fooling you into signing up with them, and once you have, then they don't care much at all!

In all I found Colonial Van Lines a company not to trust for any moves in the future. Please hire a company for your move who directly moves your stuff rather than sub contracting it. These people are unprofessional, do not believe in communication, and your stuff reaches in a way you wished it didn't. You have been warned off the misery that is Colonial Van Lines!!!

He also said he'd be with me throughout the whole move but when it came to the actual time of the move, I had a different moving coordinator with whom I've had very little contact. She tried to call me a couple of days before the move and when I tried to call her back, she was out of the office. I didn't end up hearing from her until after the pickup had already happened. The movers were professional but as I unpacked, I noticed they didn't do a very good job so when it comes to the actual quality of their work, I'm dissatisfied.

If that wasn't bad enough, I read a review from a user complained that Colonial erected a garment pole, hang the items on a line of silver duct tape. When he received his possessions, he discovered that some of the pieces were wet, and he suspected they were on the back of the trailer and was caught in the rain. When he called Colonial, his complaints were answered in a hostile, rude manner. He named "Mike" specifically and said with his intense, outrageous, and "could not care less" attitude toward a customer who paid in full, he should be in prison. Should be taken to prison. His review horrified me more than the TV story.

For our pick up we were given a two day window within which the driver and team would arrive. Then I got a call that they would arrive 8-11 am on the second day of that window. At approximately 5 pm the night before, I got a call that the driver would not make that window, and would arrive a little after 12 pm. At 11:30 am I got a call that the driver would arrive between 1-2:30 pm. I then got a call that the driver would definitely arrive by 5 pm. I called both Colonial and the subcontractor to find out what to do if they didn't arrive. I got no answer--of course. At 7:30 pm of the last day of the window, the driver arrived with two other guys to finish our partial pack. At a little past 1:30 am the next day (outside the window) they finished packing us.

When I tried to sign the papers the driver handed me with the correct date, he took them back, filled in the previous date, and said that was the date he had to record since that is when the contract was opened. At 1:40 in the morning, I was too tired to argue but it was suspicious. I asked him when he would be delivering my things to Colorado (as I was instructed to do by my first coordinator at Colonial), a 1200 mile drive; he said Saturday or Sunday and described the route he takes. Later that morning, after a short sleep in a hotel, I received a call from Colonial to find out how it went and I told them. The coordinator promised to call me back that day and confirm the delivery date. Instead I got an email with one week window reiterated but not specifics.

When Sunday passed and no one had showed up, I called the driver. He said he wasn't coming and delivered my things to a warehouse in Las Vegas. I sent emails to explain how irritated I was that no mention of middle of the night moving was ever agreed to by me and that I had better get answers soon. I was informed by email that I had a new coordinator who played phone tag with me for two days. Finally, on Tuesday, I was told the delivery would be within the next two days. No "Hello, I'm your new coordinator. Sorry about the delays." Nothing.

The next call from him was the same. "Your delivery will be between 11:00 am and 3 pm." No greeting, no "Do you have any questions?" Just the times and "Goodbye." I still have not received the weight comparison, but I was quoted a new price by the subcontractor. I don't have an invoice from Colonial with the final price, but I am expected to pay the driver before he unpacks the truck. This is not what I agreed to and it is not the service I was promised. I cannot recommend this company to anyone, and I think ConsumerAffairs needs to re-evaluate their recommendation.

Still the experience was mostly good. There were three people I dealt with. There's a guy named Chad, who was the first person I talked to. Then there was the lady moving coordinator I worked with who gave me the number of the mover and told me that the movers are going to call me. Then there were the movers. Chad was pretty great, coordinator was okay, and mover was good but just not the greatest personality. The guy who put the stickers on everything was a little bit dry, bordering on rude, but not terribly so. Nevertheless, the two guys who physically moved my stuff in did a great job. They were super quick and polite. It was also pretty impressive as I'm sure they were coming from low altitude.

For the services, when they weigh our stuff, it would probably be less than it turned out to be more. I never really saw them do it. I just got a call few days after they took our stuff and told me that the weight came back and was over what the estimation was. They also asked if they could get a semi-truck into our apartment parking lot and I kept saying they can. But then their rep still added the U-Haul and told me that the movers would be reticent to use the U-Haul and they would try to use the semi. But when they got there, they never even tried. They just showed up initially with the U-Haul and so that costed us an extra $250.

When I asked for their semi-truck, I couldn’t understand what they're telling me. It was a bit of language barrier. The positive thing though was that they were super fast. They picked up the stuff from our apartment on a Monday and they had it in Austin, Texas and then they had it delivered in Sacramento, California on that Sunday. So it was 6 days plus they delivered it on a weekend without any extra fee, which was really convenient for us. So we really appreciate that. I didn’t think the other stuff was that big of a deal. I guess we paid for the speed and the accuracy because everything made it. We didn’t lose any boxes.

They were a little rough with the stuff but there was nothing that was irreparably damaged. There were a few dings and dents here and there. I have never done this before so there were a few things that I would have worked harder to get inside the boxes had I known but I left them out. I will be more prepared if we ever do this again. Overall, they were fast and easy to work with but I would have appreciated a little more transparency with the pricing from the beginning.

When the truck arrived they really didn’t have a sense of when the stuff is going to be there and nobody from Colonial could really tell me when it would be there. But they explained the process and I did understand that they are contacting the actual trucking company and the trucking company was giving them the runaround. So I felt like Colonial handled that situation but the expectation they provided upfront was incorrect. It was by more of a sales agent than the actual moving agent. The moving agent was very good but the guy who sold me the job made promises that they were not able to keep. I genuinely felt that’s what he believed, that I would know my route once the truck arrived.

We had everything packed except for the bigger items. And then on delivery, the guy that moved me, handpicked a crew out in Washington but he had a hard time finding people here to help him unload so that was an issue. My husband was able to get a couple of his employees who came out and helped us. And then, the guy ended up getting a couple of guys from the job service but then one of them didn't show up. Because the unemployment rate out here is really low, there's not a lot of people looking for work, and he doesn't bring his own crew with him. Also, if you wanted to hire a crew out of one of the towns, the nearest bigger town is worth three hours away.

He was more worried about the expense out of his pocket of getting an actual moving crew to come help him. It was going to be $1,500 out of his pocket. So, he was willing to use whoever he could to unload to revert that cost. It's understandable, and he was a really nice guy, but at the same time, since he got people unloading things that didn't know what they're doing, I had some damage done to a few things. I was trying to figure out how it happened and felt bad because these guys that were here on the receiving end didn't really know what to do. They're not movers.

Overall, I like Colonial's set up procedure and helpful staff throughout the way. What happened was I wasn't the one at the receiving end, it was my mother-in-law and my husband who were around. So, when Colonial called me back to ask how things were, I couldn't tell them much. I wish I could talk to somebody and give them a little bit of feedback in regards to that, but I can't get anybody to email or call me back. I also needed the final receipt because the cost had changed. My husband needs a receipt for work, so I emailed Oliver and then I also called and left a message with a gal named Roxanne and didn't hear back from anybody. Once we're moved and they've contacted me to make sure everything was okay, I had a hard time getting somebody to get back to me. They closed us out and that was the end of it, but other than that, it's fine.

The only downside to the whole experience was when they came to pick it up. We did a pretty exact inventory before anybody ever showed up and we did most of the packing ourselves in boxes. There was no furniture in this move. There were a few paintings that they had to wrap in blankets and packed up for us. But the driver insisted when he came that there was about $300 of additional packing material that wasn't accounted for in the original quote, which I did not agree with. But at 9:30 or 10:00 at night, I wasn't gonna argue about $300. So, I just signed the paperwork he laid in front of me to get them on their way.

What was most impressive was I was given a two-hour window instead of a day so we would still be here. They also called me earlier in the morning to be a little more precise about it and I thought that was excellent. They had given an early morning delivery time of 7:00 to 9:00. The driver called me about 10:00 and I asked where they were and he said they were on their way and will arrive between 5:00 and 7:00. There was a mix-up but I didn't even care because they were so responsive and good at communicating and staying connected. Then the driver called me on the way and said he'll be there at 5:30 and he came on time. So, it was very good.

If anything was broken, I would have been upset. But they also talked about how I was going to fill out a form and what I needed to do. I knew everything, what was going to happen and what I needed to do. My experience with them was above my expectation. It was like they’re almost too good to be true. I also never expected the kind of follow up that I got. It was outstanding.

The driver was amazing. He was as attentive and professional in this move as anyone could possibly be. He wanted to know when I expected it. We were working across the holiday weekend, which complicated things. But the move was very quick. He fired the helper midstream in the morning because he didn’t like the work the guy was doing. He was very intent into what was going on and continued the work. I have rarely seen anybody work that hard. He was working by himself for quite a while until the replacement got there. Also, the moving coordinator kept me informed and let me know what was going on. They told me what to expect and then checked back after the move was done.

The only complication was that the move started in San Francisco, which means CVL had to use a shuttle. They had to pick it up in one van and in theory move it to another because of this van delimitation and the size of the vehicles in the streets. I’m in a nine-story apartment building and they had to take it down the elevators but there were no issues. They were taking my word for what’s in the apartment and the packing was about twice what was estimated, but I would prefer to pay twice and have it done professionally and faithfully than shortchanging it, and they did not do that.

We received a call confirming pick up on 6/24. On 6/24, we received a call that there was an issue with unloading the previous load and that they would pick us up Sat morning between 7-9 am. No one showed Sat morning and we were given no after-hours # to call. We finally got a hold of an agent at 10 am and were told that the drivers for our truck got in a fight with their boss and quit. They were sending another truck down from Jupiter, FL. It would be there at 1 pm. At 1 pm, they called and said there was traffic and they would be there at 2 pm.

At 2 pm they called and said there was bad weather (radar showed none on the route) and they would be there at 3 pm. Then at 3 pm they called and said the driver had put in the wrong address. They finally showed up at 4:45 pm. No one spoke English. Claudia (the inventory person) finally arrived and said they would need to charge us an additional $3000 for being over the weight limit. My husband said we had exclusive use of the truck regardless of weight limit (both my husband and I had confirmed that prior to signing the contract). They continued to load the truck and the estimate was off as we were unable to load some of our things. We had to rent a U-Haul trailer for the remaining items.

My husband talked to the driver who said he would be on the road first thing Sunday morning. Fast forward to Monday... we finally get a call on Monday around 1 pm from Sonja in Customer Service. She said that our furniture was sitting in a warehouse in Miami and that it had been moved from the original truck to a larger truck and then back to a smaller truck. I was livid. I had declined the additional insurance because we had exclusive use of a truck and it was point to point with only 1 load and 1 unload. Sonja said she would investigate further. She called back to tell me that the information was incorrect.

The original truck was in the warehouse in Miami and the shipment had not been re-loaded. I felt a little better then. Sonja told me that they had had to call in a favor to get the truck to pick us up, but now they had no driver. In my opinion, at this point Colonial should have escalated to their internal Dispatch dept to get another driver. Of course, that was not done. Sonja says she will call me with an update. My husband receives a call from Colonial's billing department Monday afternoon. They would like to process our final payment for receipt of our furniture. My husband laughed at the agent. Funny how Billing was also under the impression that the shipment should have arrived on Monday.

Tuesday comes and goes... no update. Then on Wed, I call Sonja and Tequila (the 2 agents assigned to our order) and leave messages for them to call me as we have no update on our delivery. I get no call back, but my husband received a voicemail that our furniture would be delivered on Friday or Saturday. Today (Thursday 6/30) I called to find out whether the delivery would be on Friday or Saturday as I would have to take off work if it were on Friday. I left messages for Sonja and Tequila to call me back.

I didn't hear back from them for over an hour so I called the main line and got the next available agent. The agent proceeded to tell me that the driver was coming from North Carolina to pick up the truck in Miami so our delivery date was pushed back to Monday or Tuesday (7/4-7/5). Tequila called me back an hour later with an update. She said that she had put in a request to Colonial's internal dispatch as they had more authority to get a driver there, etc. Why was this not escalated on Monday?? I asked for her to let me speak to a manager. She said she put in the request and a manager would be calling me back. Again, I'm beyond pissed. How can so many "issues" happen to one order! But wait! It gets better!

Sonja calls back Thursday afternoon (I still haven't heard from a manager) and tells me that the information I got earlier was incorrect. The driver had actually picked up the shipment in Miami and was in Jacksonville when the truck "broke down". Seriously?? She said that it would be Tuesday or Wednesday of next week before our furniture would be delivered. She said that since I did not want our items re-loaded, they did not know how long it would take to fix the truck. I told her I just want my stuff. I waived the additional insurance originally because it was point to point. I said they needed to credit me for the additional insurance, get our things on another truck, and get it here.

I asked to speak to a manager right then. She put me on hold and finally Kelvin her manager was on the phone. I honestly let him have it. He told me since I had declined the additional insurance up front there was nothing they could not add it midway. Complete BS! Someone in that company has the ability to override. I work in IT and there are always ways around the system when needed. Regardless, I told him it was not okay for us to have to wait another week. They needed to rent a U-Haul or find a closer truck. Absolutely ridiculous!! Kelvin said he would talk to his Dispatch management, see what they could do, and call me back.

I told him he had better as I'd heard that same statement before and not received call backs. Kelvin assured me they were doing everything they could and he was working on a discount. I said they were not. If that were the case, these escalations would have been made on Monday when our assured delivery date was not met. The discount is definitely warranted, but I want our things ASAP. It's 8:30 pm and I have not heard back from Kelvin. He said he would call me before he left the office today. I guess I'll just chalk that up to yet another empty promise. The worst part of all this is that there is absolutely nothing we can do. Suing Colonial would just end up costing us a fortune and a year of our lives. Not worth it. I just want our things so we can start our new life in our new house is that really too much to ask?

Our previous experience with moving companies ranged from experiencing fraud, lack of respect, inflated rates over quotes, and destroyed property. We were very nervous when we began to work with you. David ** was our contact and he represented your company at its best. He reviewed information with us then checked to make sure we understood what he said. He was available as we needed him for information and reassurance. Your office provided us with insurance for our one of a kind, handmade bedroom set. The rates were respectable.

The contracted moving people also were professional and took good care of our property. While I am sure this was not a large move in their experience, and they were handling water-damaged property, they treated us and our belongings with respect, and were a good reflection of your business and on your business name. All in all our moving experience insofar as Colonial Van Lines was concerned was a good experience. We would gladly recommend your business to future customers.

Pretty much all of my interactions with Colonial were efficient and courteous, and I was very happy with all of them. They handled everything very smoothly. The moving industry at large does not have the best reputation for honesty and integrity, so I had a little bit of trepidation going into it. But I felt as comfortable as I think I could have.

The coordinator was great. She gave us her number and basically said that if there are any problems or questions, we can call her anytime. Everyone was very courteous and friendly and I was very pleased. All in all, it was efficient and a very good experience, much better than I'd previously moved with the military which was terrible.

It also cost me more than I thought it was going to be in the end. But outside those things, Colonial did what they said they were going to do. I moved, 1,300 miles in total from Denver to California and I’ve only found a few broken things. Like everybody else I probably took the cheaper of the two insurances so there has to be a ton of breakage before I can submit a claim.

I also asked them to be very careful with the house that I was selling and my new home because its whole floor was brand new. The floor is wood, I put blanket all over it and they were nice with me. I also have a dryer that I just bought which cracked. But even if I have stuff that's damaged they still did a very good job and went above and beyond to do it.

Original Review: May 25, 2016

I am extremely dissatisfied with this company. I initially booked them because they were well reviewed on other websites, but the entire move was one event after another. I will say that their sales team is very persuasive, but they do not live up to their policies and their movers are extremely unprofessional. I said from the very beginning that I needed to know when they were going to pick up because I was leaving the minute they were done. I repeatedly asked for confirmation. I was told I would be notified two days in advance. My pickup was scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. I talked to someone Thursday, Friday, and Saturday but none knew where the driver was or when he would arrive. I reached out to everybody from sales, quality, and logistics. They either didn't respond to my inquiry or were out.

Then on Sunday late afternoon a man called, claimed he was with the moving company, and was ready to pick my stuff up. I didn't know who he was, I didn't know if he was with the moving company, and I was not ready for him. He told me he would pick up half then and half on Monday. I told him no. I was scheduled for Monday and until I heard from official channels that he was who he says he was, I was uncomfortable letting a stranger take my items. I scheduled with him to pick up at noon on Monday. I talked the logistics Monday morning. They confirmed that he was the mover and he would be there at noon. He did not arrive at noon.

When I called the company they said he was in Phoenix, but had no idea where he was or when he would be there. He showed up at 1pm. They did not start packing anything up until 2:30pm. It was the driver and one other guy. I realize that paperwork and number the boxes takes time. However the driver kept leaving every 20 minutes or so to sit in his truck and smoke. So essentially I had one guy trying to move me out for the vast majority of the move. Everything was already packed. They didn't need to take anything apart. They were not done until 5:30 and didn't leave until 6pm.

They paid no mind to the labels I wrote stating fragile or heavy. They put book boxes on top of boxes with glasses. Their attention to detail and care for my stuff was lacking. I did not have an address for delivery. I had asked for a later delivery so I would have time to find a place or make arrangement. They claimed to have worked with logistics to give the latest possible delivery schedule. I doubt this very much. The mover called me only three days later demanding to know where he was going to deliver and wanted to deliver two days earlier than scheduled. Having not found a place, I booked a storage unit and inform my agent about it. They then asked if I would be willing to move into the storage unit early. If so they would waive the re-delivery fee. There should not be a re-delivery fee because they hadn't tried to deliver yet.

They changed their phrasing and said they meant they would waive the fee to deliver to a storage unit; because delivery to a storage unit is more difficult and more care is needed. I said fine, eager to be done. We scheduled for delivery between noon and 3pm on Sunday. I got a call AGAIN from the driver asking if he could deliver that night, Saturday. I told him no, that the storage place was closing soon. I got another call from the finance department for the third party moving company (Yes that is right. Colonial doesn't do its own moving. It is simply a logistics company that contracts out to third party movers.) asking if I could pay that night since nobody would be in the office on Sunday.

From the beginning I had made arrangements to pay via credit card. They knew this when they scheduled it. Yet 8:30pm on a Saturday night I was being asked to text my credit card information to a third party vendor for a move that was not yet complete. I called and did it over the phone, fearing that I wouldn't receive my delivery. The next day I get a call from my storage unit company. Apparently the driver parked in their lot all night with engine running. They had repeated calls throughout the night because people were spooked and the noise was disruptive.

I arrived as quickly as I could. NO additional care was taken. Boxes were stacked haphazardly, push without care. Once again no attention paid to the weight or contents of the boxes. Nothing I saw was worth the extra 200 dollars or so I was threatened to be charged. Interestingly enough the items that were numbered were not counted. What is the purpose of number all the boxes and furniture, if they are are not checked off?

In addition to the lack of communication from logistics and their inability to know where their drivers are, there was a general lack of transparency. I repeatedly had to ask for the before and after weight, so I could verify how much they were charging me. Their policy on underweight vs. overweight is unclear. You are charged a set amount per pound and that same price is applied if you go over the estimated weight. However I was told if I was under then I would receive a price cut proportional to the weight under I was. I was encouraged to overestimate. I found out later that the amount you get back is only a fraction of the price. It is better to underestimate your weight than overestimate, because you will be overcharged.

Throughout the entire process I was very vocal; I expressed my concerns and anxieties. I was told the driver and the 3rd party company would receive coaching to address my concerns. Meaning they would be told not to harass future clients. When it was done I was glad it was over with. I will never use this company again and cannot recommend it. I would not recommend them.

I talked to at least three different people. Jimmy sent the initial quote, then there was another moving coordinator that I spoke with, and then there was a quality person who called before and after the movers came. During the quotation stage, they said that I wouldn't have to pay that much should they weight be less. When they delivered the things, I gave the rest of the money that was due as half the amount was paid upfront and the other half was paid upon delivery. They already calculated the actual price and told me I paid extra so they returned the money that was over.

The moving coordinator was very helpful even with estimating for the space that I ended up needing because I couldn’t remember everything. His experience was really a benefit to me. The rep who assisted me during my move kept me informed the whole way. If I started to get nervous, he would be supportive that all the pieces were in place and he was absolutely right.

It was quite a big challenge but the actual movers were rodeo movers from Austin, Texas and very helpful. They did some extra work without even charging me because I was disabled and trying to do my best. Being a disabled person and needing help, it was such an important factor that Colonial Van Lines accommodated me get through this move. For other people that might be in the same situation, I would love for them to know that they can count on this company. I was pleasantly surprised with how great they were, their care and the professionalism. I’ve moved many times and this was above my expectations. It was excellent.

Their people all did a terrific job. I talked to about three different guys throughout the process because everybody was rotating through the weekend, but all three did a very good job. Johnny was very helpful, and so was Mike. The guys that were driving the truck and unloading it also did a very professional job. I wasn't there the day they unloaded, but from what I understand through my two family members, the crew showed care in doing protective packaging and picking things up that were fragile. They weren't just throwing things around and stacking them in the truck for the sake of it.

During the move, we had a little bit of a walk to go through because the building I'm in is doing some remodeling, and half of it got all the balcony torn off. There’s a specific construction area that we’re allowed to park in which was a little bit further away from the door than I would have liked. But we took care of business and kept them done. I'm a firm believer of taking care of people who helps take care of me, so I made sure to show them some thanks as well. Colonial Van Lines made it a point to be on time and professional about it - that's all what anybody, including myself, is paying for.

Also, I had trouble understanding the account manager, and that created a problem. There were times when she was unavailable too. Although she was very polite and tried very hard, it felt like the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. For example, she said the movers would come between 9:00 and 1:00, and they came at 4:00, and stayed until almost 10:00 at night and I was not forewarned. I stayed home all day waiting for them, and when they came, I didn't expect them to work that late at night. The same thing happened again too, and it seems to be a pattern where I was told on the arrival point, they would be there at a certain time, but actually arrive about five hours later. The nice thing was I was prepared.

So I called the call center and told the rep, “Now that I know everyone’s leaving from Maryland, I can tell you they’re not going to be there in the morning like you’re telling me.” The rep kept me on the line, called the company, and ended up telling me I was right. They weren't going to be there until the afternoon. I had to experience bad communication to demand from the people at the call center to be better at communication. I have nothing but accolades for the actual movers, though, as they were phenomenal and I'm happy about the price. It was reasonable and for that I'm grateful. But I don't know if I'd recommend Colonial in terms of their oversight.

It was extremely frustrating for me to have only dealt with people by phone. When you’re doing it by phone and that may be the new way to do it, it leaves a lot of miscommunication. Consequently a day or so before I moved, the moving company wanted me to give them more money since they said the estimate was too low. I felt that wasn't my problem. That was theirs because the assessment had been made by phone.

The only people that came to my house were the two movers who came in and packed and they were outstanding. They discovered there was a whole lot more to pack than had been estimated but they did an excellent job and I felt very confident in them. Some things broke but it wasn't because they weren't packed well. Things move around in transit and breakage can happen.

Overall I'm happy with my experience with Colonial because of the movers themselves. But if I recommended Colonial to someone, I would absolutely insist that they have someone come on site and give them an estimation.

The person who assisted us during our move wasn’t around much. When we called her, she was sick. We emailed her, and she never responded. And then when we left her a phone number to call, she would always call me even though my husband was trying to handle some of the communications since I had to work as we were moving. That was pretty hard and frustrating at times. Also, it took a while to get an actual moving date, but they still met the contract which was within five business days.

Everybody who we were dealing with was actually not from Colonial Van Lines. The truck that came in to pick up our stuff was not a Colonial truck. It was another vendor who they hired. The people who were delivering our stuff here in Hampshire were also not Colonial, there were different loaders and local vendors. I wasn’t really happy with the experience, but it was the first time we’ve moved across the country so we made a lot of mistakes, too.

My account manager was great, too. If I needed anything, he was more than happy to guide and help me out. I wasn’t really prepared for the pickup though even if I thought I was. Everything was in uniform boxes but I didn’t have uniform boxes, so they had to pack a lot of the stuff. There was some surcharge there that I didn’t anticipate but I’m sure it was all spelled out in the contract that I signed so it had to be done. The three guys who showed up were just workhorses. They were pretty fantastic. They were turning out for about nine hours packing up the truck. They were also the same guys who unloaded a couple of days later, and they were really just on point.

There are two things I want to point out though. Recently, we noticed that my wife’s antique dresser’s back ended up being broken. There’s a piece of wood that is broken and it wasn’t put together properly. I don’t think that they had the right tools to put the furniture back together. I saw their tools and they didn’t have the right equipment to go ahead and do that.

There was also a communication issue between us. The English wasn’t so good enough to explain the actual terms and conditions of the contract that I was signing. So it was only a long piece of paper. One of them took great notes of all the boxes that he packed but I didn’t know what was in each box. He said, “Just sign it. We’ll get to it later.” I said, “I’m signing a contract. I have no idea what it was.” And as far as them being honest, they absolutely were. They were really nice and genuine guys. I didn’t feel like I was being swindled in any way. I just think that there was a language barrier there. Nevertheless, my experience with Colonial Van Lines was a positive one. There were just a couple of items that I think would need to be addressed as far as them having the right tools to do the job.

They were very prompt and kept me informed wherever they were, both when they came to pick up the stuff and when they came to deliver it. They did a good job of the things that they had to take care of -- the packing, taking the bed apart, had some mattress, and packing the glass. It was fantastic with my account manager. It was difficult doing the move because I was in the car, but we managed to adjust it to my satisfaction, so everything was fine. My relationship manager called me several times afterwards and she was terrific.

However, my request was that I needed a truck that was no more than 22 feet so it could fit into my driveway, and they did not do that. To pick up the items they gave me the smallest truck they had, but then they transferred to a different truck for the delivery, and it was too big to fit into my driveway. We managed to do it some other way. But it was touch-and-go for a while and I wasn't happy about that.

Moreover, they didn't realize that it took me four days to get here and trying to do teh transaction from the car was really hard. They did adjust things to my satisfaction, and so it worked out okay. The move was for furniture, but I had a lot of glass and I wish somebody would've come and looked at the items to be moved, instead of only talking with me on the phone. We could then have avoided having to argue about how they packed the items. Nothing broke and they did a great job as far as that goes, but it was more than what we had agreed upon. Also, one box that I had was apparently left out in the rain. It turned out to be glassware that we had packed and wrapped in newspaper, so nothing was broken, but the newspapers were all soaked.

I was very prepared. I packed my own boxes and labeled them. Their pickup and delivery team came and put their labels on the boxes that they took. They were very timely with the move and it didn’t take long at all for them to put my stuff on the truck - maybe 30 minutes tops. It was a cross-country move. They called and let me know that they were close to the delivery point and when they got there, I was there waiting for them. They did everything - checked everything often and signed papers. I had one chair that they put back together before they left. It was a good move. They're a great company and I would recommend them to friends and family.

Original Review: April 21, 2016

Colonial was great in the sale. They were friendly and much less expensive than their competitors. That being said, they called and said they had a moving truck in the area and asked if there was any way I could make 24 hours sooner than we had discussed. I agreed saying as long as they picked it up between 8:00 am and 10:00 am that would be fine. The driver came at 1:15 pm that day and told me that he told Colonial the day prior that he couldn't make that time frame. No one ever called to tell me.

Fast forward three weeks, I still haven't received my items despite the fact that we had a contract. My contact told me "I just realized you live way out in the boonies." I live in the mountains of Colorado and I think that if they take me they should probably know what they are getting into and not have that affect the delivery date. I am extremely dissatisfied for the amount I paid, the lack of communication and the lack of follow through.

Wife and I cannot wait for all these people wasting our time, so we left, and asked them to finish up. So we have no idea what they did to our stuff. Then 2 days later, Colonial called said my weight is 5700 lbs. I told them it is impossible. So they suggest re-weight. I said "fine". But I need to witness the weight at weight station before they unload, and reassemble. Colonial agrees, but no email documentation. I want to witness the re-weight before and after. Otherwise, this Cal Van Lines can add weight on the truck, go to weight station, weigh it, so a heavier number will show up. Then take the weight off and store somewhere, then unload to my house, then go to weight station again and re-weight so big weight will show up.

Colonial said if the weight came out lighter, they will reimburse me the difference. I asked Colonial to put it in writing. So far after 40 hrs, I still have not seen the writing yet. We shall wait and see how dishonest these 2 companies will do. If it is solved in professional matter, I will be ok. But personally, I will suggest this company to anybody from what I have seen so far. I will keep you posted.

Original Review: March 10, 2016

CVLRD fail to serve as a trusted agent per previous claims. The alleged CVLRD provided me with incorrect and inaccurate information from day one of the move. The agent failed to provide me with the name of the moving company, gave me incorrect information on the status of my goods, informed CVLRD used the moving company before as evidenced by lack of knowledge on the movers and inability to communicate with movers. The agent finally gave me the name of the alleged moving company the day my household goods were thrown out of a small Penske truck. The movers informed me that they had had an accident along the way and that my household goods were damaged while they transferred my goods along side of the highway.

Immediately after the arrival of my goods, I made several attempts to contact Consecutive Moving and Storage, only to gain contact with someone that stated "I don't speak any English". So I want to know, why a broker? To communicate lies? To offer false hope and information? I could have hired Sanford & Son and received better service. It was on this day that CVLRD agent later informed me that Consecutive Moving and Storage had given my household goods to someone else to drop them off.

The individuals that delivered the good were not a moving company as evidenced by the way they threw my goods and the fact that they were in a small Penske truck. Not to mention that they were laughing and playing with a female passenger the entire time. The only thing the broker did was assure that they and the movers took my money. The broker and movers got a healthy amount of money while I am left with a house full of damaged and broken goods. My issues are with CVLRD and whoever moved my goods. I nor CVLRD know who actually moved my goods during this transaction. I was told by CVLRD that they are not liable because they are only a broker. Well, who is liable? Who am I to seek out? I don't know because I was given false information from day one.

The only thing that I do know is that: I contacted CVLRD to handle the move. CVLRD made it very clear that they are not liable. My expensive furniture is ruined. I paid thousands of dollars out of pocket to CVLRD. Why if you are not liable... what did I pay CVLRD for? I almost lost my new job because of the problems encountered during the move. My parents' jobs were in jeopardy as well because of them taking off to assist with movers who did not show up as promised. My parents spent moderate amounts of money traveling to and from Texas to help with my move. I had to pay for lodging and clothing to prepare for my new job.

Updated on 12/02/2016: In January of this year I made the biggest move of my life & I used this company, like most of everyone who used this company I was put in a bad situation with this company that I spent two months trying to resolve but never reached a resolution. Well in September I was contacted by the new management with a settlement, I verbally accepted the offer after having discussions with another person that suffered loss of property in this move as well.

After not hearing anything from them I contacted Al in November & he assured me that I would be getting a call from Christian in an hour, which never happened. I have tried to reach Al numerous times since this conversation & I am never able to reach him except the one time I have a different name because I knew my calls were being screened. I am glad that some of you have reached a resolution with this company but I am very shocked at the unprofessionalism that this new management has displayed.

I had not contacted this company since February but for them to reach out to me in September & open up one of the worse experiences of my life, & then take me back down the same road further verifies that this company is STILL and will ALWAYS be nothing but a scam. It just has a different cast now and I am going to be sure that the word get out on this company because nobody should have to go through what myself or anybody else has went through with Colonial Van Lines. No matter what the resolution is individuals still lost valuables that can't be replaced. I have included pictures just to give you a glimpse of the damage that was caused to my furniture.

As a single mother I work hard to have nice things & strive to put those morals in my children, however Colonial Van Lines have taught me that no matter how hard you work there are still scamming companies that will do and say anything for your hard-earned money. Although they have changed management not much has changed about their untruthful, unethical, unprofessional business.

The only drawback was Colonial Van Lines damaged some of my clothes. I was not happy at all. I submitted a claim, only to work back as I forgot to put the pounds on the claim form, so I don't know if they're going to reimburse me. I forgot to take a picture with the damage to my two boxes full of clothes. There was water in the bottom of the box. I had to throw out a couple and I had to re-wash everything. When I complained about it to Jacky, he was not very pleasant about it but he wasn't nasty. I just felt I should have had better respect and he should have been more cordial about it.

I feel bad because the moving process wasn't friendly. It was a very time-sensitive situation, so there wasn't a lot of communication that was going on on my part. It was more on the lawyer needing to get things in, so there were three parties involved: me, Colonial Van Lines, and the lawyer who did not pack the stuff up. It wasn't anybody's fault but Colonial Van Lines did call and check in. Their rep was good about communicating with me during short conversations and she understood the situation.

But on the way down, there was some stuff that were left behind and had to be mailed separately. Also, they lost some of the pieces to the bed. Several little screws that go inside of it are missing and we can't replace them unless we go through the company. But other than that, everything seemed to be fine. Nothing was broken, and everything was well taken care of from what we can see. We haven't unpacked everything and I don't think anything was damaged during the move. I would recommend them on that aspect because they were gentle and careful, and customer service-wise they have been helpful as well, but I would tell people to shop around because I'm not 100% satisfied. Everybody else seems to be good.

I came to find out that when I tried to make contact with Andrew after a couple of days, he had been either promoted or demoted. He got some other job within the company and was no longer available. So now, each time I call or each time I'm called by Colonial Van Lines with very little continuity between people. Every once in a while, I talk to the same person twice and each time I talk to them, the story was a little bit different.

Then there was an additional inventory that needed to be taken. We went back through several different items, and the estimate changed from 6,500 pounds to 7,300 pounds. I wanted to make sure. Andrew, as well as everyone else from Colonial said, "We like to estimate high because we don't want our customers to be surprised about the fact that when we get there and there is a lot of additional weight that wasn't expected and the cost goes up." And I get it.

I have a high dollar value item that I was going to have Colonial move and wanted some additional insurance for that. And I was told, "No problem." So I started working with the outside insurance agency who said, "We can come up with a good insurance program for your high dollar value items." It turned out that they were going to charge me a little bit more than $400 for the moving insurance. But I said, "Fine."

It came back after a couple of weeks, almost a week before the move. The insurance company called me back and said, "Are you ready to sign for your insurance?" And I said, "Yeah. No problem. Everything’s packed and ready to move." And they said, "We have to make you understand that anything that we insure has to be packed by the movers themselves." But that was never made clear and I had packed everything in a way that it wasn't going to break. So for me to open that back up and then allow somebody else to come in and pack it was ridiculous. Colonial needs to be upfront and tell me what the requirements are so that I don't end up spending a lot of time doing something that is counter-productive. Nobody told me that I shouldn't pack my high dollar value items so that it can be carrier-packed in order to be able to insure it.

I decided to go without the insurance because I wasn't going to unpack my high dollar value items. I made arrangements for them to show up on the 15th of January, and that did not happen. They showed up finally on the 17th, which is interesting because when I was talking to Andrew and his co-workers, the pickup date was solidified. It was the drop-off date that could be a window. That was an issue as well, but I realized that road conditions and everything play into the drop-off date. The pickup date was definitely on the 15th, which didn't happen.

Two guys roll up in a U-Haul truck and say, "We're here to move your stuff." And I said, "Fine." I understand that trucks break down. But these guys don't have a single identifying paper or badge to affiliate them with Colonial Van Lines. Their paperwork says, "VIP Moving" or VIPMo, but I don't know who VIPMo is. And I understand that Colonial can be a broker and they can subcontract out, but who at Colonial Van Lines tells me that VIPMo is the subcontractor? No one. So these guys say they're from a company that I don't recognize with a U-Haul van and they want to put my life into the back of that van and drive away.

I had an issue with that so I tried to call people. They said, "Here is our DOT number. You can look it up." So I did. I looked up their DOT number and it said "VIP Moving has one truck and one driver." I called the number that's associated with the DOT listing and the guy picks up and I said, "I've got a couple of guys sitting here trying to tell me that they're here to move from your company." And he said, "Yeah. I'm the owner/driver and those guys are there to pick up."

I said, "How is it that a DOT license that is issued to you for one truck and one driver, and you are that driver, has an associate drive up to me and say he's gonna pick up my stuff?" He says, "I've got more than one truck and one driver. I'm just kind of busy and can't keep up with stuff." And then I was like, "You know something? I can just see all of my stuff getting loaded up into this U-Haul van and then heading south. And then all of my stuff is on eBay somewhere."

This was a catastrophe waiting to happen. So they can't prove who they are and I try to call Colonial Van Lines. But it's Saturday and no one's in the office. So I go to voicemail and they say, "Call us back on Monday." Are you kidding me? These guys are standing here right now. They want to go with my stuff. Who am I supposed to talk to?

One of the reasons that they showed up late to my house to pick up in the first place is because “they forgot to weigh the truck.” So they had to go find a CAT scale to weigh the truck. When I checked the CAT scale slip that they showed me, it was from the previous day. It wasn't from the day that they showed up and that made me suspicious. Also, when I called the driver a couple of times, he called me to say, "We're on our way." I checked the DOT listing and then I called. Guess who picked up the phone? Jason, the owner and driver. I said, "Jason. Interesting. I'm standing right here next to Jason." He says, "His name is not Jason." Now, I've got a U-Haul truck with a driver who's giving me a false identification and no identification from Colonial Van Lines.

So I have these two poor 25-year old kids in tears in front of me because I called the police on them because I think that they are here to rob me. They're swearing up and down that they're just there trying to make a buck, and they stayed there waiting for the police. That's what convinced me that they were probably legitimate in some way, shape or form, but certainly not from any paperwork or regulatory standpoint.

We come to an agreement that they're gonna move my stuff regardless. They said, "We'll just move your stuff. We don't want you to feel like you're gonna get ripped off." I said, "I can’t not let you try to do this." This is how broken their system is. The two kids that are sitting in front of me had to pay for the U-Haul to come and get my stuff, but their company didn't even cover that truck. They’re out-of-pocket for the U-Haul. If I told them to go away, they would be out-of-pocket $3,000 for a U-Haul truck.

So they load up all of my stuff and off they go. They drive away and I'm like, "I sure hope they find Idaho." I asked them how they were getting to Idaho and they said they didn't know. They had a destination and they said, "We just plug it into the GPS and drive." I've been around a little bit longer than they have but I like to know where I'm going so I can figure out the best route. But they didn't care. I let them depart and spend another night there in Antioch before I hit the road. I hit the road the next day and I get up here and called them to see how they're doing. And they said, "We're okay."

They spent a day just in traffic trying to get back out so that they could go to a CAT scale. If they had headed north on a freeway, they would have found a CAT scale. There's one in Fairfield. "No. We're gonna go into San Francisco." That's why they took three days getting up here. When they arrived, they couldn't get the truck into the driveway. It's not an easy drive to get into that house. It's a little bit off the road and has got a couple of curbs to it. But the problem was there was snow on the ground, and they had bald tires on their U-Haul truck. I asked them if they'd driven in snow before, and they said, "Yeah I'm from New York. I've driven in snow."

We had six inches of snow on the ground and this guy was clueless. I ended up backing their truck into the house. They unloaded everything and there was very little damage. They actually did a really good job of driving the stuff up. So they took their time and made sure that most of my stuff came up in good shape. But when when they got here, they said, "We can't deliver your stuff until you give us $5,000." When I first said, "I want you guys to come and get my stuff," Colonial Van Lines said, "Okay, we need a deposit." And I said, "How much do you need?" They said, "$1,650." I said, "You got it," and off it went. When they got here, they said "We need $5,000 to unload your stuff." So where did the $4,300 estimate go?

The answer is, "You know that 6,500-pound estimate that we gave you on the weight of your stuff and then we upped it to 73? You were actually closer to 11,000 pounds." I answered, "You mean that 11,000 pounds that you guys use, that very high-speed calculating device to figure out how much weight I was moving, you estimated that to be half as much weight as I was actually moving? How does that happen? How was that even legal? You guys are absolutely misrepresenting the bottom line so that you can get somebody into a contract, and then demand payment because you can hold their stuff hostage in the back of a truck."

I paid them $5,000 cash because they can't accept anything else. They deliver my stuff, can't get into my house, can't get back out of my house and I had to drive the truck in and out of my house because they couldn't do it. They finally drive away, and in the process, I get Colonial Van Lines calling me and saying, We'd like to ask you how satisfied you are with our service." Really? Because guess what? I have this conduit through which I can really express my opinion about how I feel they handled my situation.

And since then, I have been in contact with a very lovely woman named Marjorie who is saying, "We want to make it right. Here's $250." I replied, “Really? Marjorie, you're a lovely lady and you're really trying hard. But $250 doesn't even scratch the surface." The last phone call that I've had with her is "What's it going to take to make you a happy camper?" I said, "The fact that all of these stuff happened is unbelievable. That you guys would operate at this level and then expect a positive rating from any customer is unfathomable to me. However, if you want to make me a happy camper, how about you give me my deposit back because I'd given you now almost $7,000. Then we'll call it even because I'll be good with that." She said, "I can't guarantee anything. But I'll start working on that for you." I am very dissatisfied.

Also they subcontracted it out for a separate company which I was not aware of initially, and I wish I had known that. That should have been disclosed a bit more clearly because the reviews that I looked up were on Colonial and not on the subcontractor company that I didn't know anything about. But just the same, when they showed up, they were professional, quick and got the job done quickly. Everything got there in one piece so it's good. Colonial Van Lines was, overall, efficient as expected for a nationwide moving company.

I told the agent my inventory and I summarized them. Colonial's service is based on weight so he gave me an estimate and we went that over a couple times. However the pricing given to me wasn't accurate. I ended up paying almost 50% more than the original quote and I wasn't really happy with that. I would understand if it was just 20% more than the original.

I will definitely not recommend Colonial, because the price is important, but other than that I didn't have any bad experience with them. They're a very professional company. They told me it's gonna be between 4 and 14 days, and it really took 14 days for me to get our stuff, during which I tried to figure out where my stuff are and they were very responsive and got back to me in a timely manner. They also did a good job to wrap up my things when I moved out from my old place and moved in the new place. And other than one of my bookshelves, everything came in one piece which is good. The top of one of my bookshelves was broken but that's okay.

Louise was a great salesman. I walked through the house and described everything in every room to him and then he did a preliminary estimate. But in the end, I noticed he had forgotten to include my garage. So I called them to book the move and told them two things: I was not going to move my appliances and they had missed my garage. And so we did an update which surprised me because I thought with the appliances out and the garage going in, it'd go up a few pounds. But it went up by ~1500 pounds, taking away the refrigerator, washer and dryer and adding the garage content. That put them a little more than Bekins, and a little bit less than North American. In the end I still went with Colonial and the guys driving the truck were great. However the account manager was awful.

They're supposed to weigh the truck empty then weigh it full and send me an email with the total weight but the account manager could never give me that. He couldn't tell me where it was, what the weight was and what the final cost was going to be until about two hours before it arrived. That was very disappointing, and the problem with that is I've learned in my professional career that if you don't tell people faster information they make up their own and they usually go to the worst possible case.

So, I had this envisioned in my mind, they lost my stuff because they couldn't tell me where it was! I had this vision my stuff being sold out of the back of the truck at the Mexico border somewhere. Then finally I got a phone call saying, "Hey, we're gonna be there tomorrow morning. Have cash." But it was two days later than they were supposed to originally deliver.

This is my eighth cross-state, cross-country relocation. So, it's not like it's my first time ever moving and thought the world was going to be perfect and it wasn't. I knew some stuff was going to go wrong, but wow! I want people to know what Colonial does, I've figured it out. They don't know anything, except to go and hire another company. And once they hired that other company, they completely divorce themselves. That's why that guy didn't know and couldn't tell me anything. The other company wasn't giving him any information. But **, they take 10% or 20%, why wouldn't they do something?

Everybody that we worked with was very nice. I talked with the moving coordinator over the phone and they had me go through the items that we had and what was needed to be moved. The account manager was also helpful. She didn’t give us a ton of good information as to when the movers were going to be there or not, but I don’t think that was her fault. And the movers that came and picked up our stuff were great. They were good workers and very kind. It was just that it took a week or longer to get our stuff than they originally told us.

Everything was great and Colonial did a great job, but my only issue was with the trucking company that they brokered out to. Covan was a big disappointment in the time that it took them to get our things to us since we arrived and aside from the breakage, we're missing several cartons of things which I still have to deal with. So I felt that Colonial should have gotten in touch with a different van line. But Colonial Van people were very nice, professional and a big help. They responded quickly to everything even though they didn't know the answers I wanted.

I would never recommend them to anybody. I would hire a much more high-class company that would tell me straight up what the deal was. They had old rundown equipment, the truck was breaking down and were stuck in a place for days. The contact on the company's end wasn't bad and it's nice that they can console you with words, but when I told them I had stuff that belonged to somebody else at the house, they said if I could send it? No, I'm not going to send anything. They cannot find where my box is that says “Paul’s Personal” anywhere. And I was really disheartened because the guy had promised me the moon on the phone and it seemed like a car hustle to me.

It was not a pleasant experience with Colonial Van Lines. I talked to them once on the phone and told them what the issue was and they wanted me to fill out a claim form and send it back to them. I don't know how many thousands of dollars worth of stuff never made it here, but the some of the stuff that did make it wasn't any good. I paid quite a bit of money to be totally dissatisfied. Because we moved from California to Florida, and we were here five days before the expected delivery date, we didn't have any clothes or anything until two weeks later. It hasn't been a good thing.

But I'd still recommend them. It was a good experience because that move is a big stress but with using their company, my stress was so low so I like it. They were on time which was important for me. They were absolutely professional, available when I called and answered my call right away.