American Van Lines Reviews

I was only moving a studio, and I wasn't taking all of my stuff with me. Two guys showed up, went through their checklist of what I was bringing and what they were leaving behind. It took an hour and a half, and they packaged everything up in front of me and took it right out to the truck. They were great. They explained everything to me and had all their equipment to package my TV to make sure it wouldn't get cracked. They did the same thing with some of my other more fragile stuff. I didn't have anything that I was wanting for that they didn't do. It wasn't the same guys who dropped it off but it was the same environment - they were very friendly. They were also very quick with moving all my stuff off the truck into my storage unit. If anybody asked me if they needed a moving company, I would suggest American Van Lines.

Timeline of Events: February 24, 2026 – Contacted American Van Lines for a quote to move from North Carolina to Washington. During the sales process, I repeatedly heard explanations about “PCS season” and tariffs affecting rates. March 9, 2026 – Signed the contract, paid the deposit, and scheduled pickup for May 4, 2026. Not surprisingly, payment processing was fast and efficient. American Van Lines never missed an opportunity to remind me what I owed or collect payment. I intentionally booked my move months in advance to avoid the peak military PCS season. As someone who served for decades and completed numerous PCS moves, I understand exactly what PCS season is. What I do not understand is why it has become the company’s excuse for every failure that followed.

May 4, 2026 – Movers Never Showed Up. The scheduled pickup day arrived. No movers. No phone call. No email. No explanation. I spent more than three hours calling American Van Lines trying to find out why nobody showed up. I was repeatedly placed on hold, blindly transferred between departments, and forced to provide my name and move reference number over and over again because there was no communication between representatives. Not one person took ownership of the problem. Instead, several representatives made sure to tell me that the situation was not their fault. As a customer, I was not interested in assigning blame. I simply wanted someone to solve the problem and honor the contract I had paid for. At approximately 3:00 PM, I finally learned that the local moving company had canceled at the last minute. Neither the local mover nor American Van Lines had informed me.

May 5, 2026 – Rescheduled. After contacting customer service, I was given a new pickup date of May 7, 2026. May 7, 2026 – Property Finally Picked Up. Because of the delay, I was no longer in North Carolina and had already relocated to Washington. I had to execute a Power of Attorney so my mother and sister could oversee the pickup. The pickup was eventually completed. Then the Communication Stopped. I expected delivery sometime during the first week of June and began requesting updates. I received virtually none. Emails went unanswered. Phone calls produced conflicting information. No proactive communication was provided.

June 22, 2026 – Still No Delivery. More than 45 days after pickup, I still do not have my household goods. Today alone, I spoke with four different representatives.

* Another customer service manager informed me that my shipment had never left North Carolina.

Think about that. After more than six weeks, American Van Lines still cannot provide a clear answer regarding where my belongings actually are. Even worse, they cannot provide:

* Any meaningful accountability

What I did receive was another reminder that it is “PCS season.” Apparently, American Van Lines had plenty of time to discuss tariffs and justify higher rates. They had plenty of time to collect payment. But somehow they did not have time to communicate with a paying customer whose entire household has effectively disappeared into their system.

Comparison to Another Company: In 2025, I used a broker called Safe Ship for a move to North Carolina. I was dissatisfied with aspects of their packing quality and payment process. However, they did something American Van Lines has failed to do: They kept their word. The movers arrived on the scheduled date and my belongings were delivered within 35 days. Looking back, I would gladly accept that mediocre experience again over what I have endured with American Van Lines.

Final Thoughts: This was not an inexpensive move. As a retired military veteran living on a budget, this represented a significant financial investment. Yet American Van Lines has failed to uphold its end of the agreement. The company has shown little concern, compassion, urgency, or respect for me as a customer. For weeks, family and friends have asked whether I was scammed. Initially, I defended American Van Lines and assumed there had simply been delays.

Today, I am no longer confident in that assumption. I still do not know exactly where my household goods are. I still do not know when they will arrive. I still do not have answers. What I do have is the most expensive, frustrating, stressful, and disappointing moving experience of my life. This is not how a professional moving company should treat its customers. And it is certainly not how a company should treat a military veteran who trusted them based on years of prior service. American Van Lines has completely lost my trust, and I cannot recommend them to anyone.

Many calls were made to customer service, managers, all without success & constant changes of stories, promises of dates depending on who you spoke to. Apparently their is no communication among them. No one cared about my distress. Then to top it off, they call with delivery 4hrs before arrival on a Friday at 1pm, knowing the entire move needs to be completed by 4pm with condo rules they had in writing in the contract causing more havoc with condo. Very slow to unpack & hundreds of dollars in damages. Weeks after I sent request for damages, they claimed they never received it. Start over again. A small fraction of the worth was finally paid months after delivery. Nightmare to say the least from beginning to end. I literally wound up in the hospital with anxiety attack immediately after the stressful experience. Steer clear of this company.

When I was contacted by management, I was offered a 5% discount, but only if I didn’t complain or mock the company online. 5% is nothing and doesn’t encourage a company to correct any systemic problems or even speak to employees/contractors. I did not accept the refund. I am still waiting on my damage claim to be processed. Moving is nearly always stressful, and everything is not going to go right. It is not easy to coordinate and have everything go right, but American Van Lines provides neither a professional experience nor accommodations when things don’t go right. Avoid at all costs.

Unfortunately, none of those expectations have been met. I never receive the promised inventory review and pick up date phone call. After multiple emails, phone calls, and voicemails, I finally reached someone to review my inventory. During that call, I am informed that my estimate has increased from under $6,000 to over $8,000 and that I need to pay an additional $1,100 within 24 hours or risk losing my reservation.

When I originally reserved the move, I am told that loose items can be bundled together using plastic wrap. Based on that guidance, I package many items accordingly. However, during the inventory review, I am told those bundles must be dismantled and every individual item listed separately, significantly increasing my cost. I find this frustrating because boxes are counted as single units without requiring an itemized list of their contents, yet plastic-wrapped bundles are treated differently. By that point, due to the lack of communication and the short timeline before my move, I have no realistic opportunity to repackage everything, cancel my reservation, obtain a refund, or secure another moving company.

The representative handling the inventory review was rude, frequently interrupted me, and spoke over me throughout the conversation. It definitely didn't feel like I was a valued customer paying their business thousands of dollars. It's important to note that we downsized significantly before moving. The only large items included in the move are a washer, small deep freezer, coffee table, tall/skinny curio cabinet, two beds, a small generator and a toolbox. Everything else consists of boxes, plastic totes and bundled items. The contents of our entire home can fit within a 10x15 bedroom.

As my move date approached, I still did not receive a confirmed pickup date or clear information regarding my remaining balance due upon delivery. Since I have already sold my home and have a firm closing date, this uncertainty creates enormous stress during an already difficult move. The communication issues only worsen. I am eventually given only 16 hours' notice before pickup. I am provided what I believe is a specific pickup time, but after waiting beyond that time, I call and am informed it is actually a pickup window. Four hours later, I receive another call stating pickup will be delayed until the following day.

The next morning, the pickup time changes yet again. At that point, I am facing a hard deadline to vacate and clean my home while preparing for a 16-hour drive across the country with my family and four pets. When the movers finally arrived, they were from a company called 101 Movers Corp., not an American Van Lines truck or crew. They arrived in a 26ft U-Haul with no company uniforms. I was assured when reserving this move that there were no brokers or third parties. Although the movers themselves were polite and worked hard, there was a noticeable language barrier and they left trash and cigarette butts throughout my driveway.

I am asked to sign physical paperwork but am not provided a copy. After the truck departs with all of my belongings, I receive another phone call informing me that the price has increased again and that I need to sign a revised contract. I am told this is because additional items have been added, which is untrue. In fact, I removed several larger items and already provided a detailed inventory list. Since the company already has possession of everything I own, I felt I had no practical choice but to sign again.

The movers verbally estimated delivery within about 3 days, I was initially told during my reservation that it would be 2-7 days, while I later learned my contract states up to 14 days and the fine print says up to 30 business days. The fine print also states "there is no guarantee that your items will not be temporarily stored or offloaded and reloaded onto a different vehicle then performed pickup and consolidated with other shipments". This was never discussed with me, nor was many other things within the fine print of the contract.

When I scheduled the move, I was repeatedly assured that I would receive dispatch updates regarding the location and progress of my shipment. However, after pickup I've received no updates whatsoever. Every time I reach out to American Van Lines or the carrier, 101 Movers Corp, I am simply told that delivery will occur within the contractual delivery window or to check back in a few days. No one can provide meaningful information about the truck's location, route, or estimated delivery date. Calls often feel ignored or dismissed, and it appears that nobody can tell me where my belongings actually are.

I received an email stating the remaining balance is due upon delivery, before offloading, (to the carrier company, 101 Movers Corp) in the form of money order, cash, Cashapp, Zelle or Venmo only. It seems odd to me that a professional business would require payment in this form rather than a bank account or credit card. I assumed I was paying American Van Lines, the company I hired.

It's day 9 since pickup. After repeatedly requesting an update, I am told that my truck is currently being "loaded" and that delivery may occur this weekend. This explanation is confusing because I personally watched my belongings being loaded 9 days ago when they were picked up from my home. If my shipment is only now being loaded, that raises additional questions about where my belongings have been for the past 9 days and why that information was never communicated to me. As of today, I still have not received any proactive communication regarding my shipment. I have no idea where my belongings are, where they have been or when they will actually arrive. I should have added a tracker to one of my packages or just got a Uhaul and hired help to load it.

One manager I've spoken with has been professional, responsive, and has genuinely attempted to help resolve some of these issues. She's acknowledged many of the communication failures, scheduling changes, pricing disputes, lack of transparency and has offered a discount. However, I am told that receiving the compensation/discount requires signing a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent me from publicly discussing my experience. That does not feel like a customer-service resolution; it feels like an attempt to prevent honest feedback. A bribe. Hush-money. At this point, the discount isn't enough to cover the distress I've experienced, nor enough to silence me from warning others. I will not be signing this.

My experience with American Van Lines has been marked by repeated communication failures, multiple unexpected price increases, scheduling changes, missed commitments, a lack of transparency regarding my shipment and added stress and inconvenience. The most disappointing aspect is that many of the assurances made during the sales process either never happen or were later contradicted.

At the time of writing this review, I still have not received my shipment. I hope my belongings arrive safely and within the contractual delivery window, but based on my experience so far, I'm not confident. I'm fully expecting to have many broken and missing items due to the unnecessary unloading/reloading as well as the inventory list created upon loading does not match my detailed inventory list or the one created with the estimate. I would not recommend American Van Lines to anyone.

They were unloading things at 2 am. And the beds packed were not labeled or packed correctly and so many boxes left in garage. In addition screws from a bookcase disappeared we had to buy, a big garbage bin broken, 3 beautiful plates I carry around for 15 years broken, a plate broken. We’re still paying for other service to help us put boxes where they need to be. So NO DO NOT TAKE THEM. They are unprofessional unhelpful and cause huge stress and damage. And then to try to get a receipt of what we paid took so many calls. I was invoiced twice! Only one person was helpful over the phone.

1. Pickup-day price increase: My estimate rose from about $8,000 to over $10,000 while movers were already inside my home. With our belongings involved and the move underway, it felt extremely high-pressure.

2. Payment requests outside the contract: While movers were onsite, we were asked to send thousands of dollars via Venmo. At delivery, we were again directed toward peer-to-peer methods such as Zelle, Cash App, Apple Pay, or cash. AVL later acknowledged by email that we should not have been advised another payment method was needed.

3. Pressure to sign early: The driver repeatedly asked us to sign the Bill of Lading before loading was complete. During one interaction, he stated we would be charged thousands of dollars if AVL learned he did not have us sign before packing started. We have audio documentation. An AVL coordinator later confirmed by phone and email that the Bill of Lading should be signed after loading was complete.

4. Split, delayed delivery: The Bill of Lading listed an estimated April 15–25 delivery window. The first portion arrived April 16. The second portion, containing nearly all furniture other than couches, did not arrive until May 1. The timeline kept changing, and we repeatedly had to chase updates. We later learned some items had been placed in storage without clear communication.

5. Damage: Both legs of our antique hand-carved solid wood dining table arrived severely broken, with missing pieces, making the table unusable. We photographed the legs at delivery wrapped in only 1–2 layers of taped packing blankets; we did not see boxes or rigid protective packaging around them. Other damaged items included a cabinet/bookcase, two bookshelves, a whiteboard, and a TV bench.

We also documented spilled cleaning products packed with belongings, delicate china packed without individual wrapping, movers drinking health drinks from our basement that were never offered and leaving the trash outside, and the truck breaking a large tree branch during delivery. AVL eventually offered $1,650 total for damage and service/delay issues, then sent a settlement agreement restricting “negative” statements, complaints, and further discussion. I did not sign it.

This is not about one damaged item or one late truck. It is about the full pattern: subcontracting that was not disclosed upfront, a pickup-day price increase, payment requests outside contract methods, pressure around signing documents, inconsistent communication, delayed delivery, damaged furniture, inadequate packing, and a drawn-out claims process. I’m sharing this because I wish I had known these risks before booking. Based on my experience, I would not recommend American Van Lines.