American Van Lines Reviews

AVL is a reputable name, so I figured I was safe and the stuff was gonna be handled appropriately. And this is kind of a test run for a much larger move, and so that went well, and probably in a year and a half or so, I got a much larger move. I also recommended them to a coworker who was making a move as well.

On moving day, two hard workers came from Ukraine and did a great job. They came at 11:00-ish and they were there till 4:00. They were terrific. The only complaint I had was on their manifest, they had so many boxes. As they were counting, it seemed like there were more boxes than originally planned. Based on the number of boxes, they were charging me more. But at that point, we had no choice. They had to rewrite a contract.

Then the second issue was, they left with everything and were they gonna be able to get on our street. When they called us, they said, “There's a possibility the van can't get on your street.” But they were able to manage. However, one of the handles on one of the drawers was broken and they put tape on it. But I'd still recommend American Van Lines. They came when they said they would come.

Day prior to pickup I got a call from AVL that they were having a problem with their truck and a "sister" company would be packing and picking up the household goods. When the "sister" company arrived I was told AVL did not plan for enough packing materials and handed me a new invoice for $25,062.20. I had no choice but to accept and sign. 4 days later my house belongs to the new owner and everything in it. Bait and Switch. Delivery was a week late.

The delivery vehicle arrived at 11:30am with only a driver, no workers. He said two were coming. One came, looked the load, got in his car, and left. My son-in-law helped for two hours until he fractured his arm. There wasn't a ramp to carry things off the trailer they had to be lowered to the ground before moving. Finally the driver gets two people thru Craigs list. they arrived at 3:30pm (4 hours after the truck arrived). He was paying them $40 each to unload, unpack and place in the home. When they saw the load and saw much was going upstairs they were planning on leaving. I had to pay $250 each. 8pm the trailer is finally unloaded and the driver leaves. The workers were tired, hungry and wanted to go home. I was able to get them to come back the next day to finish the job for an additional $250 and they spent 5 hours working. Quite a few boxes were still unpacked but the items were small enough for my wife and I to do the work.

I paid American Van Lines to pack, load, deliver, unpack and place goods into the new home. I was overcharged $4,149 so a "sister" company could get a larger share of the money. I had to pay for two workers out of my pocket that was already paid for in the contract. This occurred in September 2025 and to date December 2025 American Van Lines has not made any restitution. They were contacted many times.

Eighteen hours before my scheduled move, I called for an update and was bounced between four people before being told my move was delayed by three days. After pushing back, they rescheduled and promised 3–4 movers would arrive Saturday or Sunday. The next day, I got a call at 12:30 saying movers would be there in an hour. When they arrived, the subcontractor immediately said the job was underestimated—and there were only two movers, not four. After five hours of hard work, they told me they wouldn’t load anything unless I signed an addendum for an extra $6,500. We were essentially held hostage. To make matters worse, we discovered that although the quote included packing two dressers, it didn’t include the three suitcases of clothes from those dressers. And even though we paid for packing, the boxes they packed weren’t included in the shipping cost estimates.

This felt like outright fraud. They lure you in with a great salesperson who claims box estimates are automatic and included—then trap you with hidden costs. The final cost jumped from $5,805 to $12,800—a staggering 120% increase. That’s not a small mistake—that’s a deliberate tactic. The only positive? The two subcontracted movers were professional, kind, and worked incredibly hard despite being caught in the middle of this mess. --- Bottom line: Moving is stressful enough without being exploited. This company uses misleading quotes, poor communication, and high-pressure tactics to squeeze more money out of customers. If you’re searching for a reliable moving company, avoid this one at all costs. Read the reviews, protect yourself from hidden fees, and don’t fall for the bait-and-switch.

However, I faced some challenges prior to my move. A staff member named Sabrina requested an exact inventory count last minute, which was quite stressful as I was simultaneously planning my move and purchasing a car. Eventually, I was able to get a hold of Marcio later that afternoon, and he was great about saying it would be fine. He was amazing.

On the 27th, I got a call from logistics, who said, “Your truck driver will be there tomorrow, on the 28th, at 8:00 AM," which was a full day before I had expected in that tiny little window. If I have 48 hours, and, at the last minute, they gave me 24, it was a stressful thing. There wasn't any ability to move off of the 28th, but I was able to call the driver, and the driver was accommodating. He pushed it till 3 o'clock on the 28th, which at least gave me the remainder of the day to get ready.

As far as the moving day went, the guys in the truck were excellent. They were accommodating and the delivery was shockingly fast, and it was great. They showed up on time, and they unloaded all the stuff. All of that worked out excellently.

On the moving day, the movers showed up, and they were very quick to just get started. We were able to get everything in and out super quickly. I've heard horror stories about movers, and that did make me a little bit scared. But when they showed up, I didn't even think twice the second they drove away with our stuff. I knew we were gonna get our stuff and it wasn't gonna be some crazy story that we would end up telling. So that made me feel good. The communication with them was great. The company called us multiple times leading up, just making sure we were ready to go, confirming things.

They then showed up to our new home. They got everything off the truck and unloaded and in the correct rooms. They rolled out mats so our brand new floors didn't get all dirty from their shoes. The care I felt that they had with our stuff, it was just a better experience than I could have even expected it to be. I had just told one of my coworkers about the them.

I also was missing at least one box and likely two as I unpacked. I did not find things that I know I packed, not expensive items but kitchen items that I used for baking and cooking. A few things were broken, nothing major but annoying. They were one of the better offers but customer service was lacking. The date of delivery I was given a time range to expect the movers. They were over 3 hours late and I received no calls regarding this. I was told that the driver would call with an update and time of delivery. Never happened. I did call customer service and they called the driver for an update. Then they wanted the final payment. They said the driver was in front of our house and they would not deliver until they received payment.

I looked out the window and there was no one in front of my house. Not the most honest people. Turns out they were at a gas station nearby. I tried to keep track of the boxes while being unloaded but there were 5 of them and they were not keeping track of what was delivered. The manifest I was given when loading at first home was illegible, not sure how they knew what was picked up. They were in a hurry because they had a long drive back and they were late arriving. They were not familiar with putting some things together so my husband had to assist.

My husband had to take the two beds apart because he found extra screws that they did not attach to the beds. They took videos when dismantling some of the things. Obviously they did not have the videos. They did offer me money but I had to sign a document that I would not speak of the issues upon receipt of the money. I am not selling my freedom of speech.

My customer service rep, Roman **, was just as bad. I called and emailed him constantly, and he almost never responded. When he did, the dates he gave me were 11 days later than what I had clearly stated months in advance. I also spoke to a “quality assurance” rep named Victoria, who promised to help but then disappeared too. The pickup itself was rushed and careless — the movers scratched my floors and added $1,000 to my quote because they claimed I had more stuff (even though I had provided an exact inventory).

As for delivery, it was an absolute disaster. I called every day during the delivery window, and no one could tell me where my things were. Five days into the window, they finally said it would arrive on the last possible day. Then, the night before delivery, the driver called to change the time — and the next day, he never showed up because his truck broke down six hours away. The company knew but didn’t even bother to tell me.

When my stuff finally arrived, several items were broken, including dishes and containers. American Van Lines is completely disorganized, unresponsive, and unreliable. No one takes responsibility, no one communicates, and they clearly don’t care about your belongings. Save yourself the stress — don’t use this company. Ever.

Original review: My name is Guru, I have used this service today for moving my household stuff to Florida. A** was the job number The service was top quality. The packaging was done very diligently they took enough time and make sure everything was secure and in good shape. I am very impressed at the service.

We moved from Arizona to Tennessee. We knew that it would take a couple of weeks. That's not a problem. The thing that did it for me was the lady I talked to at the beginning gave me some tips about, "It's gonna cost you $100 if they put your mattresses in a bag. Order the bag online for $10 and do it yourself. It's not that hard.” She had some mindful things to do and also told us how to pack our TV, so I wouldn’t have to pay $100 per TV to put them in a box. Also, she assured me that they don't broker their jobs out. They have their own trucks. It turned out to be a big lie. It was great until we paid our money, then it went sour from there.

The AVL rep told me, “We have our own American van, our own semis. Do you have room? Does your street have room for that big truck to come?" Yes. We waited for them to give us a date, kept pushing it like, "We don't have a driver yet. That driver is not here, but we're trying to get him." I don't know if any of it was true. It took a couple weeks for somebody to finally get there. Fortunately, they said, "We're gonna do this really fast," because we had flown from Tennessee back to Arizona to pack up our house. We had a flight leaving in two days and we didn't know when they were coming. That finally happened and we were able to get out. But what showed up was a 36-foot unmarked white truck. One of the men didn't speak English. They were the better part of things because they packed our stuff with so much care. They got every bit of it on that truck.

However, that wasn't the AVL truck that we were told we would get so it would be a one stop and then on the way to Tennessee. It was scary when they just drove off. Nobody could tell us where it would go. It went backwards to somewhere on the border between Arizona and California, which is not going east. And it went to a warehouse for three weeks. That truck got unpacked. All that nice packing that we sat there and watched them do, the careful wrapping of a blanket, got all undone. It went and sat in some warehouse in the desert of Arizona, California border for three weeks.

There were excuses, "There was this. We don't know." No return phone calls. Everything was great communication until they got our stuff and got our money. It was interesting how all the communication stopped. They finally said, "We've got a driver. He's been delayed, but we're gonna get him hopefully this weekend." Four weeks later, our stuff arrived. It was not an AVL truck. Our stuff was crammed on there. It was slammed in the back. I didn't know they even had side doors. The rest of it was shoved in the side. The driver said, "They just dumped this on me. I had to find room. We just had to get it on there." I said, "It did not come off the way that it was packed."

We had a bedroom set headboard that was broken. My husband had diecast cars that were his dad's that I put in a display box. That came up missing. My studio backdrop kit never made it. Every time I turned around, there was something that didn't make it. It's pointless to try and make any claims because AVL gives such a small amount of compensation because it's based on weight. My Keurig coffee maker was broken. But how much does that weigh compared to what it's gonna cost to replace it? AVL will not do anything.

I called three times. I sent emails. I gave them a list of some of the things that we found were broken. No responses back. It wasn't worth my time. They said, "You have nine months to do this." I said I don't wanna go there. The stuff that was broken, I don't care about as much as the stuff that didn't show up. A couple of big things were the hard part. "We'll check on that." Never heard anything back.

The price was the only good part. They had up the price. When we did our contract, I was in Tennessee and going by the list in memory of everything because I do it by weight. They had given us a flat rate. But when we got to Arizona, I called them and said, ""There's things I forgot."" So, we made a new list. They gave me a new price, which wasn't a lot more. But when it came back to the final charges, it was back to the price. It was a little over $5,000, which was crazy.

I was under the impression that everything that I had would be packed and moved into the vehicle. So, I packed some things except the furniture, and when the crew arrived, there was some confusion about what was to be packed or not. They informed me there was an extra charge for packing the mattress, for this, that, and the other. So, there were just a lot of little things that I thought we had hashed out in that first meeting, and there was just a lot more.

The one thing that didn't go well with the packers is that I had specifically instructed them not to touch some suitcases and travel gear that was intended for my cross-country drive. But they actually packed all that away, and I didn't realize until later that night. So, the next day, I had to go find the guy at 8:00AM in the middle of Hollywood and started off late because of that.

And the last issue was it was not immediately made clear to me that the second payment was due as they were dropping my stuff off, so they showed up asking for the second payment, which is a lot of money, and I didn't have it on me. I was under the impression that the second payment happened after the move was complete, which, to me, meant after the stuff got moved into the apartment. And it wasn’t the workers' fault because they were following instructions. But it felt like all my stuff was being held hostage until I made the second payment, so I had to talk to some people so that I could make that payment.

We moved from Knoxville to Greenville, South Carolina, and they had to keep our furniture for three weeks since we were unhoused for a bit. The movers were very nice on both ends, helping us get the furniture out of the old house and into the new one. It couldn’t have been more pleasant. I was very pleased with American Van Lines.

I was very unhappy about the delivery day. Originally, I wanted them to deliver my stuff on the 18th of July because that was the day after I closed on the house that I bought. But I couldn’t get into the house then, so I wanted to wait and have it delivered when the house was actually ready from the painting and the inside work that I wanted to do. They said they’d have to put stuff in storage, and that was gonna cost me another $4,000. I decided to have them deliver, and that meant not getting the carpets cleaned and the inside painted. Some carpets were wet, so I couldn’t have them move anything into the house except my bed. I had to move everything by myself from the garage to wherever it went in the house. They could have waited a couple of days to do the delivery.

When we started unpacking the boxes, there was just so much stuff, so many boxes that were underpacked. There were so many boxes that were double-boxed. They would take a box and cut off the top half of it and attach it to another box. It didn't seem like it was done to protect items. It seemed like it was done to just use more boxes. He took advantage of me. I would not trust them again and I would not recommend them to my friends.

During that time, there was absolutely no communication. I had no idea where any of my stuff was. When it was finally delivered, the gentleman was very nice, and everything was there with nothing broken. That part was fine, but unfortunately, everything else was horrible.

The regular American Van Lines crew that was there pulled me to the side and asked me if I wanted them to make him leave. I said no. Regardless of how he treated me and acted like that, I wanted him to finish out his job and get his pay. American Van Lines was not happy with what happened, so they contacted the company they got him from and let them know what happened. They were backing me up if any issues come along, and they did good on their part. They were a little late, though, on the delivery. We had to wait at our new place, and stayed there for 2.5 weeks with no furniture. We didn’t like that part, but I know they get busy, too.

There were six guys that showed up and got everything moved out of my house in one day. They worked 100% of the time. They took off long enough to eat lunch and then went right back to work. They showed up at 8 o’clock in the morning and pulled out at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. They were all very respectful. So far, everything was handled with care. However we haven’t had the furniture delivered back to us yet. But they were good. I would recommend them as a mover.

I reached out to the other companies and they adjusted a little bit, but American Van Lines was significantly less for the same services. We contracted to use them and gave them a down payment and moved forward with that.

About a week before the move, I got a call from American Van Lines. They said I should have the exact number of boxes and if it’s off by 10 boxes, the drivers are not going to move my stuff. We had already done the estimate and we were in the middle of moving. I went through and overestimated the boxes. Since I am not a professional mover, I don’t know this stuff. They then gave a new estimation for the cost, which was higher than the others. It was a couple days before the truck shows up and we were on top of a closing date on our home. I didn’t appreciate the threats that they were not going to bother fulfilling our services unless I provided them with information.

If that’s the case they should send someone out, go through the stuff and get an accurate estimate of the number of boxes but telling me that they’re going to have a driver leave me here right on top of a closing in my home is not a really good business practice and not very endearing.

They said they couldn’t reach me because my phone blocked outside calls but they were able to call me in the morning. They said they could only leave messages. I gave the guy my wife’s phone number so they can reach me. On top of the move they can’t reach me again but they asked me to sign the new estimate. I’ve already got $5,000 down payment. I’m not going anywhere.

I was able to reach out to them and got it finalized. Driver showed up and the crew was very professional. The drivers got our stuff loaded and packed. They went out there and they wanted me to re-sign documents. And one of the customer service people is yelling at the driver out there. I can overhear the guy asking the driver why I wasn’t answering my phone when I was standing right next to him. The driver handed me his phone and then I dealt with it.

Our move was from New Mexico to South Carolina. And they were out here delivering the next Monday. They did a wonderful job getting it here directly quickly, and unloaded. They were very helpful getting things in their places. We had boxed up everything ourselves, so it was a matter of unloading all the boxes and furniture and getting it in all the right places.

We got that wrapped up and we did the final payment. The drivers themselves were fantastic but the company was horrible. I’ll never deal with American Van Lines again because of that. Customer service started out good but ended up bad.

On the moving day, they showed up, and moved very quickly. It took a couple of hours. Their crew were nice and very good. They're very productive, and professional.

The person who helped me set things up was pretty much knowledgeable. I thought the only thing we were disappointed in was when he said that they could take the boxes away after they moved, and they did not.

The driver was great, and the team that came and loaded the house up was fantastic. They're pretty much knowledgeable. The unloading was a little bit of a stretch, but there was so much stuff, and they had boxed everything. But overall, we were satisfied.

On moving day, the driver called that morning and showed up. Before that, I had called multiple times to figure out which day they were coming, I called all weekend, called the after-hours line, and they kept saying they didn’t know. And then our mover showed up that morning, gave us about a 30-minute warning, so we hurriedly made final preparations before he got there. But he was great and his team was phenomenal. They were super patient, helped us get everything organized ‘cause we had some last-minute stuff.

And we actually kept in touch with the driver ‘cause he ended up doing the other end of the move, which was about two weeks later, and he and his team were totally professional. Two of them didn’t speak English well, but we had no problems communicating with the driver. He was super sweet. We did struggle with communication once we got to our new house because they couldn’t figure out what day they were gonna release our stuff out of storage. But nothing was broken, nothing was damaged, everything was in great shape.

We used them again for our second move and it was a mess because American Van Lines contracted another company to come and get our stuff, but they never told us, so we had no idea. We couldn’t get ahold of the salesperson and the moving coordinator. I had to make a lot of calls to track down our stuff that had been put in storage. But once I was able to get ahold of the moving coordinator, she was helpful.

On the actual moving day, my dad was there, and he said the main guy was good, but his two helpers were basically criminals because they stole some things, including cologne. But it wasn’t American Van Lines’ moving company, it was the people they contracted to do the move. And I guess he got fired because he admitted to stealing some stuff.

They had somebody from damage control call me to explain everything, and the communication was great. They even offered to reimburse me some money and to update a real negative review I wrote about them because they fixed it. So, I did that. In the end, they made it right.

The service was excellent. I have no complaints whatsoever. The move was from July to March, but that was from my end. It had nothing to do with American Van Lines. They did a great job. The quote to the final price was exact. I would tell anybody to go for it.

I had to be out of my place by the end of the month and we were coming up here to Georgia. My stuff was stored for about a week or two and then the movers brought it up. Everything got up here like it was supposed to and nothing major was broken. There was a little here and there. I had a great experience. Everybody from the salesperson to even the mover guys were great. The guy that drove the truck was the head from Florida and brought the stuff up here. He was nice and very pleasant.

I enjoyed working with my moving coordinator. She was fantastic. Apart from the money or the financial aspect, she was the one who really convinced me. Because she seemed to be on the ground and not trying to sell me stuff. It was easy to work with her. She had infinite patience, and I appreciated that. And the guy who was in charge of the move, the guy who drove the truck, was also fantastic. There was the customer service representative who took over when the actual move was happening, and she was okay, too. It was a little harder to get in touch with her, but it worked.

The hardest part was after the move, I had to schedule the debris pickup, and it was hard to get somebody from American Van Lines. I didn’t know who to talk to about that. So, it took me three attempts. I finally managed to talk to my moving coordinator, and she got me to the right person.

Original Review: Sept. 29, 2025

We used American Van Lines to move from KC to Fort Worth. I received a quote for ~$8k. Driver arrived on a Sunday to begin packing and prior to him starting I was told that there would be an increase by $2k. What recourse do I have at this point? My move was down to the wire so I didn’t feel like I had any option but to pay the added cost. Team was woefully understaffed for packing and loading causing us to work until 0330 on Tuesday. Planned for household items to deliver on 6/13, but missed due to me. Closing on the 12th did not happen as planned… My fault. My household items then went into storage (I was warned that this could be a risk and an added $4k expense which I accepted). I have called and emailed for a revised plan and timeline and I have yet to have someone return a call. When I call customer support, I roll to voicemail. I leave messages, no one returns calls. At best, I hear "the company has 21 days to deliver"…

I understand the company's position; but that’s not my question. Furniture was delivered on the 22nd day and I was given another bill for $7k before they would unload the truck. I anticipated total potential cost at $12k, ultimately paid $17.6k. lived in the house without furniture for almost three weeks. The only time I really felt like I got much of a response was after I posted a review… They called and ultimately offered me $600 to remove my post. Horrible experience!

They would raise the price through extortion and threats. They broke the grandfather clock, all my crystal whiskey glasses, a Robot Vacuum, and melted a 50 year old German candle I inherited to name a few. My board games were all turned outside with pieces everywhere and many of their boxes were broken. I am missing about 40 CDs. They replaced them with Christian rock and Christmas albums from bands I never heard of hoping I would not notice. This move was about as bad as a move can get.

When we called American Van Lines they told us not to worry but couldn’t tell us where our items were. They actually emailed that our items would be arriving in two days on the same day their partner company called to say they would be arriving in a few hours. Ended up charging us extra because they said the truck couldn’t come into our neighborhood. We know that to be false because we had an 18 wheeler car carrier come into our neighborhood and our neighbor had an 18 wheeler moving truck in the week before. Had to pay extra for a shuttle because they refused to come into our neighborhood. Was one guy in a u-haul. Wouldn’t accept our payment for the remaining balance. The same one we used for the 1/2 down was now not accepted. Refused to unload our items.

Finally worked out the payment with American Van Lines after many calls but their trusted partner company still wouldn’t unload our items even with a receipt showing paid in full. They wanted the payment from American Van Lines sent to them first and for us to sign a new contract with them which we refused to do since our contract was with American Van Lines. Took 7 phone calls and 4 hours of the truck sitting in our driveway before they finally agreed to unload our items. We almost called the sheriff because we had paid in full and they still refused to unload our items because we paid American Van Lines - the company we contracted with.

Oh - on a funny note - instead of marking our boxes with numbered inventory stickers like other companies had used in previous moves they used Christmas To and From stickers like you put in Christmas gifts to your family. A moving company is supposed to help remove some of the stress of a move. This company added to our stress. We did not receive the services we were sold other then our items arriving at our home - no across country tracking, no prior notifications as to when our items would arrive, and not the crew of movers. We will never used American Van Lines again and we do not recommend them to anyone.

Original Review: It's hard to express how shocking our experience was. First, they DO NOT ship to anything close to a specific date. Ignore them, they'll just lie to you. If you have to use storage it can take 7 to 21 days to get to you. Yes, it took them over 2 weeks to get our things to us after the date they promised us. Unresponsive, uncaring, rarely return phone calls. They apparently expect you to count boxes exactly and then if you deviate from it, you're still on the hook. They offered $570 for a lot of things we decided to leave behind, except the wanted us to sign an agreement to not give them bad reviews to accept the paltry sum!! We refused the payment. Missing at least one box, but not one reply, no "we'll check" or "working on it", literally no ** not use them, no matter what the price.

The delivery was late by several weeks from the agreed upon date of 8/8 (received 8/28) which was communicated with both Alex and my originally assigned customer rep Bryan. I was left completely in the dark, unsure of where my belongings were or when they would arrive. What made the situation worse was the lack of transparency. After pickup, the timeline kept changing without explanation, and additional charges were mentioned without clear justification. It felt like I was dealing with a company that didn’t value honesty or customer peace of mind.

I got a hold of an agent on 8/8 asking about the timing of my delivery for the day since I had to pay an elevator reservation fee to which I was told I should have canceled, and it was on me because they never called the day before confirming my delivery. No one bothered to inform me ahead of time that there were any issues, so I called daily for about 2 weeks.

Over this time, I learned that Bryan was no longer with the company and Rudy ** (**) was my new contact, but I never received any communication around this even as I was calling having issues. He was able to send me the final portion of my bill so that I could pay them, however getting a call back or communication was asking a bit too much. I had spoken to a random CSR asking for an update, to which she confirmed she saw notes that I had confirmed the agreed delivery with TWO different employees prior to my pick up and then she mentioned Rudy called me to which I laughed because I couldn't even get an email back at the time. I was fed up at this point that I requested a supervisor to discuss my frustrations.

Rita O (**) was the supervisor who called, validating my frustration and saying she would look into my delivery more, but did note there were mechanical issues with the originally scheduled truck. Had this been communicated, I would have been fine because I'm a reasonable person, but this wasn't. The day Rudy finally gave me a call, he was instantly defensive and condescending on the call trying to tell me there were no notes. He went on to say that the driver had a death in the family which is the reason for the delay, to which I said "bull shit, I don't believe shit you're saying because I was also told you called me and this is the first that's happened".

I had finally snapped because these individuals are awful at customer service and will gas light customers for their inability to carry out the tasks they are paid to do. I had to call Rita several times from this point where I complained about Rudy and said I wanted someone else to handle my delivery. It was almost as though she saw the transcript of our conversation because her tone changed once I voiced my dissatisfaction and concerns. When I asked if they would reimburse me for repurchasing items since I had a trip and things plans she said they weren't liable, but could I say the same if I withheld payment because of whatever BS I wanted to say. However, I should've known it's a tone from the top issue because she barely followed up as promised and couldn't even respond to my email on the day of delivery since I had to pay my outstanding balance where I was told I would receive a discount.

I had to call customer service because Rita was refusing my calls and emails. They got a hold of her to which she forwarded an agreement reimbursing me a measly $600, but I wouldn't be able to leave negative reviews or talk about this awful experience. Since I relied heavily on reviews, I decided the money was whatever at this point, but voicing the unprofessionalism of this company and doing all I can to blast their poor standards meant so much more. I expected professionalism and reliability, but unfortunately, American Van Lines failed to deliver on both. I would not recommend them to anyone looking for a stress-free moving experience. One last warning for anyone that decides to go with AVL, use caution if you deal with Alex **, Rudy **, or Rita O.

We had to buy a small bed, dishes, clothes, and toiletries. We had to call them approximately 20 times to find out information and they never proactively reached out to us with any information. It was absurd and unbelievable. When the movers arrived, they were 5 hours late. Each customer service person we spoke to was more clueless than the last. Nobody in customer service documents anything and it is impossible to be escalated to a supervisor or manager.

It was sad because we had to be really firm in order to be taken seriously in any way, which made me realize that they deal so many unhappy customers that they are not even fazed. They only respond once people are frustrated beyond a certain point. Do NOT use American Van Lines under any circumstance. There are other moving companies I have used that I have had no issues with. They come on the day they're supposed to, and arrive on the day they're supposed to. It really should not be that hard.

(1) As of early August 2025, American Van Lines markets itself primarily as a full-service mover (e.g., https://www.americanvanlines.com/moving-services/), but they also delegate moves to other companies. In my case, they delegated the move to another company (Jackson Movers, DOT #97376).

(2) American Van Lines provided an 11-day delivery window in the invoice, and a 12-day delivery window in the signed binding estimate, yet my delivery was scheduled for a date outside both windows.

(3) American Van Lines did not provide a specific delivery time in our phone calls, even the day before the delivery, even though I repeatedly informed them I intended to use the delivery time to reserve legal parking in my city. This issue was ultimately resolved after I repeatedly called customer service, and emailed both American Van Lines and the agent company.

(4) The agent company attempted to collect a duplicate $400 shuttle fee that already appeared on my signed binding estimate. This issue was ultimately resolved.

(5) Two staff members from the agent company requested, in separate phone calls, that I either prepay in full before delivery or pay cash at delivery, even though the signed binding estimate explicitly allows credit cards at delivery (credit cards at delivery offer more protection to consumers). They backed down only after I repeatedly cited the signed binding estimate, the content of 49 C.F.R. § 375.217(c)(1), and threatened to involve law enforcement.

(6) About four hours before the delivery, the driver stated he would not deliver unless I paid by cash, money order, or cashier's check, even though I had offered to pay by credit card and staff members from the agent company had already agreed the previous day to authorize a payment by credit card upon delivery (consistent with the signed binding estimate). This issue was ultimately resolved.

(7) Upon delivery, several items were damaged: two boxes were partially crushed and soaked with liquid, and my bike had a flat tire.

Before delivery, I filed an FMCSA complaint against American Van Lines due to the timing of the delivery. After delivery, I submitted a claim alleging damages to my possessions, and am awaiting acknowledgement at the time of this review. I strongly advise prospective customers to look elsewhere. If you choose to hire American Van Lines for your move, I suggest reviewing consumer protections (**) and bookmarking the FMCSA complaint portal (**) in case they do not comply with federal regulations during the move.

My stuff was already in storage in another state. So, I gave them the measurements of the place and the quote that they gave me was accurate.

On moving day, they only had to take my stuff from the storage facility in the other state and bring it here. They loaded and unloaded it. Everything was already boxed. The entire process took about a week.

Wardrobe boxes: 2

About 75% of the boxes were torn, bent or misshapen. Approximately 15% of those were wet with something (I didn't pack any food or liquids); both wardrobe boxes were almost completely crushed by heavier boxes; my brand new computer monitor (still in the box) was stolen; the trash can was bent out of shape; two boxes had been partially opened, and the only thing that made it completely unscathed was a small box of antique fine china, the writing desk, and the arm chair.

American Van Lines told me my move would be completed by licensed and bonded employees and my belongings, once loaded on the truck, wouldn't be unloaded from the truck until delivery. All of those statements were lies. The estimate came in at $3500.00-$3600.00. I was actually charged almost $5100.00. American Van Lines farmed out the job to Sunshine Moving Company, who in turn farmed it out to Legacy Moving Company, neither of which I had known about or contracted with. Legacy was so concerned I would rip them off they demanded the remaining payment (I paid 50% up front) before they would even start unloading the truck. It's probably good for them they did because I'm the one who got ripped off and scammed, and I'm not sure I would've wanted to pay them after seeing the state of the boxes when they were unloaded. (I would've paid because I'm an honest person, but I wouldn't have been happy about it.)

All three of these moving companies SUCK. DON'T USE ANY OF THEM. Pack and load your own stuff into a rented moving truck and hire a couple of guys to load/unload and drive for you. You still might have some things damaged or lost in transit, but it'll be a lot more reasonable in terms of cost, and you'll have more control over what happens to your stuff during loading/unloading and in transit. I will NEVER use these companies again and cannot recommend them because they were totally dishonest, greedy, and pathetic.

On the moving day, the truck arrived four hours late, and the driver immediately told me he wouldn’t be delivering the appliances unless I paid extra, despite the fact that I had a flat-rate contract. He claimed he was only being paid by the company for 4.5 hours of labor and said delivering everything would require an extra 1.5 hours, which I’d need to pay for out of pocket. When I refused to be extorted, he refused to deliver my appliances.

I spent nearly a week trying to get a response from anyone at the company. Calls to their main office line, direct lines to several representatives and to the rep's cell who set it all up, were ignored. Zero accountability! Finally I had to hire a different moving company to finish the job at my own expense, and lost another full day of work in the process. Bottom line: This company broke its contract, extorted me, ghosted me, and left me with massive inconvenience and extra cost. It is highly advised to avoid them at all costs!!!

Our original move date was a Sunday, and there was a lot of confusion about the mover coming. I could not get anybody. I had to dig through their website to find an emergency number somewhere, and I got through after letting it ring for 10 minutes, someone picked up, and then they were able to give me a status.

I shouldn't have to go through that. Overall, my experience with American Van Lines was pretty good, but that was a major frustration. They should think about that policy of not having anybody available on the weekends.

With that flexibility, I booked a new apartment then gave a new address to them. They came to the new apartment and delivered everything. I had a very nice experience with them.

On moving day, the movers showed up on time, promptly wrapped everything. They had to adjust the inventory slightly. I agreed to the different price, then they took everything away. It worked great. I was amazed at how thorough they were and just how everything got wrapped. They did a great job. They did what they promised to do.

My experience with American Van Lines was excellent, particularly because of the two men who handled the actual move. Sebastian, whom I believe was the head mover, was exceptionally strong and efficient, making the process seamless despite moving some heavy pieces. Even though it was a relatively small move from a one-bedroom apartment, the care they took was impressive. Nothing was broken, and everything went smoothly.

There was, however, a small challenge in communication with the customer service representative. While she did her best, I often found it more efficient to communicate directly with Sebastian for precise timing, as I needed to coordinate my flight to meet them. Despite this minor hiccup, it didn't overshadow the overall experience.

I would confidently rate my experience as excellent and feel comfortable recommending them to others.

My husband called American Van Lines daily to get an estimate of delivery. Communication is very poor. We were told delivery would be between July 20-July 30. As I am handicapped, it was critical we had some idea of when delivery would be made. On July 29, we were told our delivery would not be made on July 30 but may be July 31 of Aug 1 or Aug 2. No one contacted us, we could not get any communication in writing. This has been one of the worst experiences and this company does not live their corporate values. Customer service is so poor and there are no options for a customer.

The standout part of this experience was definitely the driver, Omar. Despite the daunting, narrow and steep mountain roads, Omar comfortably drove up to our home, which was a great relief as I didn't have to make multiple trips up and down the mountains to a storage facility. This gesture was incredibly meaningful to us.

Although the initial crew was hesitant about the mountain drive and needed replacing, it was a non-issue for us since we weren't on a tight schedule. What's important is that no additional inconvenience was experienced on our end. The move was seamless—Omar arrived in Florida on time, and there was no damage to our belongings.

Moving is often stressful, yet American Van Lines managed to alleviate much of the burden. Their dedication was evident in every step, from careful handling of our pre-packed belongings to ensuring that everything arrived intact. If we ever need to move again, we would not hesitate to call upon them. Thanks to the entire team, especially Omar, for excellent service!

Original Review: July 23, 2025

Terrible company - DO NOT USE. Scammers. The pick-up seemed to go OK by the driver Jeffrey, but then Jeffrey told us that he couldn't take more than half our stuff because it wasn't on his list. It appears that the woman who contacted us the week before from the company failed to provide the updated list of our inventory. So we were left scrambling at the last minute to get the rest of our belongings out of the home, so we used PODS instead (who are EXCELLENT). The whole move cost us double than what we were expecting. Now we are still waiting on our goods from AVL - they are now over a week late past the contract window. Each time we call, we keep getting told we will get a call back with an update on a new delivery date from dispatch, but we never do. We have spoken to several managers including Melissa, still no update. I fear we will never get our stuff. We will never use again.

4. I had to call and email AVL repeatedly for days before and after the move. I rarely received return calls and never a return email. This continues to this day. They ignore my calls/emails. 6. AVL breached their promise not to sub out my job (the only reason I contracted with them). It was subcontracted to a team of inexperienced, young movers who barely spoke English. 7. I was essentially held hostage when, on the day they finally came to load the truck, they claimed I owed them @ 2,000 above what I was quoted due to “changes,” although the only change was that I paid for all the boxes, packing supplies, and labor. I should have been significantly credited, but I was charged more. They then would not unpack the truck in NY until I paid their “ransom.”

8. They arrived 1.5 days later than they said they would in NY with even fewer movers, less experience, and less English. They couldn’t read the boxes, so they didn’t know where to put anything. In an effort to get the truck unloaded by the end of the day, I had to start moving boxes and items out of my driveway myself, with my injuries and totally exhausted from weeks of this situation. They then just decided they were done - leaving many items in my garage (my sofa, nightstands, etc.) as well as piles of packing tape, boxes everywhere, and items placed all over my garage - and left.

9. On more than one occasion, I was told I would be "compensated" (first $30, then $150) if I signed away my rights to further action (this was on the move day) and any right to leave negative reviews, essentially a gag order/NDA. Then, later, they offered me $300 to retract "or at least amend" my negative review on BBB. 10. I had to change multiple appointments, reschedule power turn offs, and other utility turn offs, lost money on hotels I was supposed to stay at on the drive to NY and then wound up having to drive to NY in 107 degree temps for 13.5 hours straight with my car packed to the roof after sleeping on the floor of my empty house in NC so I could get to NY in time. Not to mention the several days of rent I had to pay in NY, but was not there, and many other inconveniences.

11. They cracked, broke, scratched multiple items and walls, doorframes, floors, including totally ruining a queen bed frame and floor lamp (they took both with them, and I wasn’t able to take pictures). 12. They said I would receive a refund of @1,700 from the subcontractors. I asked for proof of that. I have still not received either. I continue to call. 13. I've consulted an attorney. I hate to involve lawyers, but this is unforgivable behavior. 14. Run far away.

They came in and said they wouldn’t bring things because the person wrote down 10k lbs and he thought it looked like a 12k lbs move. I don’t speak on lbs and it’s whatever the person on the phone assessed. Tried to tell me they couldn’t take my couch because it wasn’t on the list. It was! Then kept pointing things out saying - oh that’s not on the list (again it was), anything literally until they would find something that wasn’t and said I couldn’t bring it! It was crazy!! And the worst experience ever!

When I wanted to add things or take things off “the list” I was told “good luck trying to get through to them, they won’t answer you” so if you need to get in contact with anyone day of the move they will NOT respond! There is no follow up to issues. They claimed they couldn’t get through to our new place because the truck was too big (I literally had other things delivered from companies - furniture- with same size truck and no problem!) but they said they needed a shuttle and charged us again more money. They try to charge you everyday second throughout the move and hold your stuff hostage unless you pay! Do NOT use them!!

The delivery window is supposedly July 2 to July 12. We never got contacted by the movers when they were supposedly going to come except for about 20 minutes ago when they said they were in front of my mother‘s house. No forewarning. No email. No check in. No call. Nothing. Just show up at my mother’s house and call us when they’re there on a holiday weekend. Absolutely the worst. Would never recommend to anybody.

- Drastic Price Hike at the Last Minute: Our move ended up costing nearly 80% more than the original estimate. We were not offered an in-home estimate and were led to believe that the initial quote would be close to final. On moving day, the price increase left us with no real choice but to proceed under pressure.

- Subcontracted Workers and Unsafe Behavior: The company sent subcontractors to assist with packing—individuals who were later fired on-site by AVL for inappropriate behavior. The day started with the foreman accidentally texting me complaints about their own crew that he meant to send back to AVL (attached to this review). This included verbal and physical altercations in front of our children, and unauthorized re-entry into our home after being told to leave. Four men barged into the house and demanded payment. Only when we began recording the incident did the situation deescalate.

- No Accountability or Communication: Despite repeated emails and voicemails to our assigned sales and service representatives—whose names and contact information were listed in our contract—we received no response. We marked these messages as urgent, used multiple AVL inboxes, and still had to wait more than 24 hours for a call back—and that only happened after we initiated again.

- Unmet Safety and Staffing Requests: Even after expressing clear concerns about the safety of our family and our property, AVL sent the same remaining workers back the next day against our request. The team was never backfilled, and what should have been a one- or two-day pack stretched into five full days.

- Broken Promises on Delivery: AVL repeatedly assured us that delivery would not be impacted by the packing delays. As recently as the final business day before our scheduled delivery, we were told everything was on track. Only hours before close of business, we received a call pushing delivery back by 3 to 6 days.

- Ongoing Lack of Support: There has been no meaningful communication, no accountability, and no one available to help us resolve this. AVL representatives don’t seem to communicate with each other, and customers are left in the dark—hoping for updates and answers that never come.

In short: Poor service, poor communication, poor planning, and unsafe practices. We would never use this company again and caution anyone considering them to proceed with extreme care—or, better yet, to seek a more transparent and reputable mover.

We paid for additional insurance coverage and filed a formal damage claim. We received a call indicating that an adjuster would be assigned, but more than 30 days have passed with no follow-up, no resolution, and no contact. Multiple additional pickups and deliveries were required, each marked by further delays, miscommunication, unprofessional behavior, and inadequate staffing.

Ultimately, our property sustained over $16,000 in damages and loss, we forfeited a $1,000 deposit on our home, and incurred $5,000 in legal fees. American Van Lines has breached their contractual obligations, failed to meet industry standards, and violated two federal laws, four state laws, and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act. Despite attempts to resolve the matter, we have not received a satisfactory response or compensation. Avoid this company at all costs!!! Pictures of how all our future turned out. The truck that came was laughable. Pickup and delivery was to be done by 4/5 and didn't receive final shipment till after 4/27. Delivery occurred at 11pm.

Our HOA has no restrictions regarding this and we had seen other semis in our neighborhood used for moves. We found out later that day that the company did not even have a semi truck available for our move. The main driver/mover from ITX told us that our stuff would “sit in a warehouse” until a truck became available. We called AVL multiple times about this issue. We are never able to get ahold of the same person. We were told by one customer service person that AVL would have their own driver go to the site to verify (which we fully supported) while the other customer service people just brushed off this concern and “noted it in our file”. I have asked to speak with a supervisor at least 5 separate times. We are told a supervisor will call and no one ever does.

We were also charged about $5000 more than expected for our move. We had updated all of our items with AVL just 5 days prior to the move but tons of additional charges were added by the movers the day of. We were told that if we did not pay, then our move would not happen. We felt completely bullied and boxed into a corner since we needed to move out of our house that day due to new homeowners gaining possession the next day. AVL was completely unsupportive and deceptive.

Our next big issue was the handling of the delivery of our items. The last possible delivery date on our contract was June 9th. I was 8 month pregnant at the time of our move. Due to our distrust of both companies, we started calling AVL almost daily to inquire about an update on our move. We were told multiple different things from AVL employees, including our stuff was in Georgia (we had Apple Air Tags in a few boxes that proved our stuff had not moved from Denver, CO). We were ultimately told our move was going to happen on 6/9 and that we would receive the delivery details on 6/6 or 6/7.

On 6/7, we still had no update from AVL and so we called the other company, ITX LLC, ourselves. ITX told us that our items would not be delivered for another week at least due to unavailability of a truck. We threw a fit about the urgency of our situation (baby just weeks from delivery) and ITX did make adjustments to get us our stuff delivered in 2 shipments on 6//9 and 6/10. This proved to us that AVL was NOT truthful about the delivery of our items, since all we had to do was call the other company to get a different update.

Also, AVL clearly did not do ANYTHING to support our situation and push ITX to deliver our stuff on time- WE had to do it ourselves. Lastly, we did have several items damaged and a few items completely missing after our move. I have continued to reach out to AVL about my complaints and concerns. No one ever calls me back. I am in the process of filing a claim about our damaged/missing items. I would NEVER recommend American Van Lines.

Original Review: June 15, 2025

American Van lines dropped the ball from the very beginning. My move took place the last Saturday of April 2025. The movers, A sub contractor, showed up with an unmarked van. They were waiting on paperwork from American Van Lines before they could box or move anything. The movers sat out in front of my Largo Condo for 3 hours waiting for a go ahead. I was left without a receipt and had no idea of what company even had my furniture. Turned out a company called Quality Movers had my furniture. The senior coordinator promised a refund of my 5% over charge put on my credit card. He also promised something to be done for this needless stress I was put under. I have sent emails, senior coordinator has never made good on any refund.

In fact they don't even communicate back. You listen on hold, to where American Van Lines makes your move seamless. Total crap! They take your money and when they royally mess up, they go MIA. I'm 71 years old, I have experienced my share of stress. They take the cake. They know they messed up, they need to make it right with me. My name is Sandy ** and they know exactly who I am. To this date, American Van lines has taken no responsibility for their total mess up of my move. Can you imagine seeing your life belongings being hauled away in an unmarked van and no receipt!!!

Original Review: June 9, 2025

Whatever you do, steer clear of American Van Lines if you're moving. If I could give them zero stars, I would. I selected American Van Lines to help my daughter move back to our area because my husband is ill and I need help with his care. I read many reviews and made my selection based on both price and the great reviews and thought that I was choosing a good company to assist with the move. I could not have been more wrong! It started off well enough with a decent quote and I felt they weren't nickel and diming us to death. As we got closer to the move date, I updated them several times with a new itemization list to ensure we were being charged correctly but never got new confirmations. I also noticed that I was having trouble getting anyone on the phone to confirm the actual date of pickup for the household goods.

About a week before the move, I was getting a little frantic as I could not seem to get anyone to actually pin down a day that the movers would be there. I don't think it would have been so much of a problem if we had not had so many moving parts. I was flying in to assist with the move and had very specific dates for both the flights and the hotels. When we finally arrived on the actual move date, I didn't hear so much as a peep out of American Van Lines. I called them repeatedly in the week leading up to the move and 11 times the day before the move. I was trying to get confirmation of the time for our household goods pick up. I even tried to get a manager on the phone with no success. I got off the plane, met my daughter in the airport pickup, and we went to have a quick dinner.

After dinner, we still had not heard anything from American so I went to check into my hotel hoping to resolve the issue the next day. As I was checking into the hotel, I got a phone call from the driver of the truck saying he was on the way to pick up our household goods. He said he would be there within 20 minutes but we waited more than an hour. The truck that finally arrived was not marked as American Van Lines and the driver did not have the correct itemization of goods nor did he have any idea that he was to pack several TVs and glass tables even though I was specific about those items on the original itemization. By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 11:00 at night. If that had been all that went wrong, I would not be writing this review. However, when we got to our destination, a completely different moving line showed up with our household goods. Instead of American Van Lines, it was United Van Lines.

The gentleman delivering our furniture seemed completely unaware of what was going on and could not provide any answers. He also did not have a correct itemization of goods and we ended up having to pay more than $700 extra. The paperwork he showed me did not match what I had signed and several of the furniture items were broken. At the end of the day, we did not try to file a complaint with American as I feel a lack of good customer service and complete lack of communication are indicative of a serious company-wide breakdown. Although I spoke to a "manager" at one point, it seems our complaints and concerns were brushed away and ignored. We never did receive the promised managerial call back and we felt we were deceived. Once they have your money, they don't seem to care.

My biggest concern when selecting a long-distance moving company was the possibility of my move being outsourced. I specifically chose American Van Lines because they assured me they used only their own trucks and movers. However, two days before my scheduled pick-up, I still hadn’t received any updates. When I reached out, I was eventually informed that they didn't have a truck available and would need to contract an outside company to handle my move—the one thing they guaranteed would not happen.

I had no choice but to go through with it, as the move was imminent. To make matters worse, American Van Lines seemed completely disconnected from the process. A full week after my pick-up—and five days after my belongings had already been delivered—they called to ask how the pick-up went and said they would "look into" the delivery, completely unaware it had already occurred. If you're looking for a company that communicates well and honors its commitments, I would strongly suggest looking elsewhere to avoid the unnecessary stress I experienced.

Original Review: June 9, 2025

Called us the day before our move and said they didn't have a truck. I booked 3 months in advance. Was moving from Cali To Las Vegas. Horrible experience. Could no longer reach sales agent who booked the move. Dispatch could care less. How do you call someone the day before a long distance move and say there is no truck when booked 3 months in advance. Sales person promised a no hassle care free move. Was so distraught and anxiety level off the scale. Caused undo stress dealing with landlord to stay longer and now book an emergency move with another company. American Van Lines offered no solution. 5hit out of luck was basically the attitude.

Original Review: June 2, 2025

Worst experience. No communication from the office and I was overcharged. The price and conditions agreed at the quotation time was not honored. Nobody answer my calls prior, during and after my move, only the driver and thanks to him only I could make my move. Nothing worked as I was told. Will never do business again with this company. I don't recommend them.

Original Review: June 2, 2025

Would NEVER use this company again. My move was scheduled to take place Thursday May 29th 2025 (pick up) with delivery taking place on Friday May 30th 2025. I called the customer service line on Wednesday to find out the pick up time for Thursday as I had not heard anything from them up to that point. I also wanted to let them know that I would be using a different payment method than I did for my initial deposit. The wait times on hold are ridiculous- I was disconnected twice after someone picked up. I called a third time and was finally given a pick up time frame between 12 & 2pm on Thursday. The movers arrived at 2pm as of Thursday - no issues there. I asked the driver what time my items would be delivered to my new storage unit on Friday and he told me 12. I headed over to the new storage unit by that time and at 12:15 I called customer service for an ETA.

They told me between 12 & 2pm and that they would call me when they were 30min away. 2:30pm rolled around and still no phone call. I called customer service and was told they are in route but unable to provide an ETA at that time and that I would receive a phone call once one was determined. 3:30pm rolled around with no call back. I called customer service again twice - it took so long both times to get a customer service rep on the line that an automated message told me to leave a voice mail. I finally got a hold of someone at 4:00 who told me that the driver had an emergency and wouldn’t be delivering my items until Saturday May 31st. He told me the delivery would take place between 8 & 10am. As I was speaking with this representative, another one called me - beeping in - to let me know about the emergency and that my items would be delivered on Saturday May 31st between 11am & 1pm.

I had her verify the time since I was given two different time frames - she confirmed it was 11-1. Saturday I called customer service at 11:15 to confirm we were still on track for delivery, and was told that the driver wasn’t able to make it and that my items would be delivered Monday June 2, 2025 between 11am & 1pm. The supervisor I spoke with told me she gets in after 8am in Monday and would call me that morning to confirm, but I never received a phone call. I called customer service at 8:30am and was on hold for a long time- finally I was told we were still on track for delivery today during 11am and 1pm but that I would receive a call back by 10am with a confirmation as the warehouse manager was still figuring things out.

I asked if I could speak with the warehouse manager and I was told that they “do not speak with customers”. I did not receive a call back so had to call customer service back again. Was on hold for a long time once connected and then was told that they don’t have an ETA because they “are trying to find a driver”. Still no resolution.

Original Review: May 25, 2025

No way I can summarize this horrible experience in 200 words!!! And guess what, they do not care even a little bit! ABSOLUTELY NOBODY will even return a phone call or email....No accountability at all!

We did good with scheduling our pickup, but there was a delay in the delivery. I don’t know why it took so long. They told us 10 to 12 days, and it ended up taking more like three weeks. We ended up living for two weeks in an empty house, sleeping on air mattresses because we had thought it was going to take a lot less time. But we eventually got here.

They did a really wonderful job packing up. They were very meticulous and careful with our floors. They put down paper and wrapped everything really well. On the other end, when they were unloading, they scratched some of our floors and they weren’t as careful moving in as they were when moving us out.

We didn’t discover the scratches until after the work was done, and they’re not brand-new. It’s an old house, so we just put some polish on the scratches and hoped for the best.

Mass chaos was the next two days for us. This company charges by the box and packing paper, they pack the boxes light and use literally a ton of paper. I still have paper they refused to take back that weighs over 3lbs. Pictures were broken, our entertainment center was broken and electronic cords were removed from electronics and just placed in a box. Needless to say we are still 7 months later trying to figure out what belongs to what. Our utensils for the kitchen we thought were left behind until all the kitchen boxes were unpacked and still no utensils. We found them weeks later in a box marked Master Bedroom. This was my first move and I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. Definitely not a full service move, it's overpriced and things aren't handled well, things go so fast and chaotic not to mention the waste of boxes and paper this company uses to over charge.

Communication was very good. The move took a week and a half because they had to schedule trucks, but the pickup day was exactly what they said and drop-off was very close to what they anticipated. The cost and service were very good.

So, my experience with everyone from the initial move coordinator to the movers and to the administrative support was outstanding. This is not the first time we have used them and that is because we had a great experience with them some two years ago when we moved out of Florida, then we moved back to Florida. We wanted to go back to the people that we already trusted.

Their pricing was very reasonable, and I always will look for the best value. That is a weight between how well-rated a company is and then what their cost to do whatever work they are contracted to perform is. I would love the things to be less expensive, but it was extremely competitive, and the experience was very good. I have had other people who have moved behind me and they were looking for a good mover and I recommended them because of the feedback, the input, customer relations, and support that they provided me.

That night a portion of our belongings were in the truck, they left and said they would be back in the morning. In the morning I received a call saying the try had broken down. The guys showed up in a cab several hours later. The guys showed up with all of the items they needed to continue packing. One of the guys argued with me. He wanted to not disassemble my sleep number bed. He wanted to cram the hoses and all of the parts still attached. He finally did what I asked.

The second truck finally arrived. They called my husband on Monday saying they would arrive Tuesday. They had all day Monday to contact my husband’s company to receive the remaining portion of the payment. Instead they waited until Tuesday, called me at work, I asked them to call the company, they called my husband. He told them the same thing. Of course they didn’t. Instead they held our belongings hostage overnight and added another $800 to the final invoice. When the truck was unloaded they didn’t inventory anything, they did mark the boxes. It was a mess. RUN, DONT WALK AWAY FROM AMERICAN VAN LINES!!!

Original Review: May 1, 2025

This has been a terrible experience! The price kept going up at a total of over $1400. There was a lot of damage to my property, boxes crushed, furniture broken, my Christmas things were not even in the crate they were shipped in, some of them were brought to me in kitchen trash bags all broken. Several boxes didn't even arrive (where are my things??), some of my property was strapped on to the rear bumper of the truck-furniture was not assembled correctly, mainly the entertainment center (I included a photo). They will not fix or pay me to hire someone to fix it, as they promised. They actually had another company (Southwest Van Lines) do the move, which makes it impossible to get any help with all the problems they have caused. I have called American Van Lines customer service department and no one answers or calls me back. I am very stressed and hope no one else goes through this. I uploaded just a few photos to give you an idea of how disrespectful my things were handled. Even one star is too much for this review.

The one thing that I would criticize is that the confirmation call that I received was not very helpful. It had nothing to do with the consultants or the team that did the move. It was follow-up calls from the confirmation teams.  So, that was not a good experience. And they were also a little curt. And there was some confusion. So, the communication wasn’t great on a couple of those calls. And then I got disconnected. I don’t know how. I think they kind of disconnected me. And they didn’t call back. That was the worst part of the customer service. 

And I understand. Those are rough jobs. Eight hours of that, and you wanna find a high bridge to jump off of. But you’re talking about things that are fairly critical for the client to get the scheduling right.

And then the logistics of how they’re doing the packing should be standardized and probably stabilized such that they’re really ensuring that there’s no damage during the actual transit. And I know I was not the only client that was loaded up, which is common. But I think that’s where things took a turn.

I had bought extra supplies from Home Depot that the Russian Contractor refused to use (TV Boxes - 5, Mattress Cover - 2) and then would not allow me to load them on the truck to return them since my car was already shipped; he then charged me more money for those items being packed. Numerous things broke, the 85' TV that he packed instead of using the box I bought now has a scratch on the screen, broken picture frames, and the TV stand.

The moving crew was good. During unloading, it was just the driver, and he probably could have used some help. For pickup, there were two guys, which worked fine. Overall, I was satisfied with American Van Lines.

That made me start looking into the larger trucking companies to see what was available. That’s how I ended up with American Van Lines. A smaller company basically gave away their secret.

I had Nick as the driver, and he handled both the pickup and delivery. He was great. He ran out of hours but still arrived earlier than I expected.

Everything arrived with no problems, and they were on time. I thought there would be a bigger delivery window that he might use, but they didn’t. He stayed in touch the whole time, so we always knew what was going on.

Original Review: April 17, 2025

My experience with American Van Lines wasn’t very good. I was quoted an amount in weight. When the guys came to pick up, they said it was by cubic feet. It took them a little while to pack it, but they packed everything very well. The problem was they were bartering with me for more money for them to load my stuff into the truck, and it already cost me an arm and a leg, so I had to leave most of my stuff in Illinois.

Original Review: April 10, 2025

I'm lucky to have my life back. Pain and suffering is how I would describe it. Initial call with Michael **, discussed needing smaller trucks at pickup and delivery (not a Semi), 8-10 days for delivery, $250 TV boxing, all included in the quote: $5000. Book a flight from Boston to Denver to be there for delivery, Terri ** (move coordinator) to say delivery window is now 2-3 weeks, and the window is 5 days. I re-book my flight, pay the extra $300, offered no apology or compensation.

Pickup day comes, Jeffrey (mover) says I pay extra for mattress bags (not included apparently), Terri calls, "Pay extra $500 for smaller truck or we won't load your stuff." "This was included in the initial quote," I say; "No it wasn't," says Terri. I'm a hostage at this point, so no choice but to pay. Jeffrey proceeds to wrap my $4000, 65" OLED TV in a blanket with 2 cardboard ends, like a mirror, says "It'll be fine." There's my $250 TV boxing. "Now if just leave me a 5 star review, I'll make sure everything gets there," says Jeffrey. Stunned but oblige and tip $200 buying safe passage I believe.

Now in Denver day one of 5 day window, I get status update, "We don't know where your stuff is." Repeated calls, emails, next 4 days, zero response, radio silence. Pain and suffering ensue. I buy $1500 worth of kitchen, bath, clothes, air-mattress just to survive. Finally reach Jeffrey, "We have your stuff, we're in Florida, don't know when we're coming." Day 6, Terri says, "Your stuff will be there in 1 week." Late another week, I'm offered "$20/ day for compensation," an extra $140. Speechless. Delivery day comes, Terri calls, "You owe extra $500 for a smaller truck. "Jeffrey's there again, I watch mangled boxes marked fragile and fractured furniture come in. Now to file a claim, leave reviews, get attorney involved for compensation. 1-Star because I got my life back. Still reeling from the pain.

Adam

Less than 24 hours prior to pickup, we received a call saying a shuttle vehicle would be needed because the large van couldn’t get through our street. When I disagreed and said another large van had been able to drive in to move a neighbor, I was told there were low hanging branches. I told them hurricane Helene had taken down trees and our HOA had removed all branches from around the drive. We asked that the shuttle fee of $1,172 be waived since American gave us less than 24 hours notice but they refused. We had no recourse at that time unless we cancelled the move and forfeited our deposit of 50%. American did offer a 15% reduction in the shuttle cost if we would sign a document agreeing not to post or orally make any negative statements about the company.

We felt that was insulting when we had asked for a complete waiver of the unnecessary fee and if we agreed not to make negative comments we would in essence be saying they conducted business in an appropriate manner - which they did not. When the shuttle arrived the following morning, our items took up less than one third of that vehicle. We were charged for a vehicle too large as well as extra manpower time. None of which was needed. When our shipment arrived at the destination three days later, the driver was surly and rude. When we asked why there were only two workers instead of the four who loaded, he said two workers “bailed” on him.

Consequently, he and his brother rushed our unloading. They stacked three and sometimes four boxes on a hand truck. One such box fell from the top onto concrete, breaking several items inside. A door to one of our cabinets was ripped from the hinges damaging the door. The driver said he was not responsible because the door was particle board. When they were leaving we asked that they take away the plastic wrap they had put on some of the furniture and they refused. In the end we paid almost 40% more than the original quote. Choosing American Van Lines was a very costly mistake. Bottom line: we paid $2,832 more than the original quote despite moving less furniture, endured a rude contractor and had damages upon unpacking due to carelessness.

Their payment system was easy. I could use credit cards and didn’t have to go get cashier’s checks or anything crazy.

The movers were professional. They called me the day ahead of time and showed up when they said they would. It was the same people and the same truck the whole time, which I really liked. American is one of the larger moving companies, so they can kind of schedule and move things around. They put my stuff in the back of the truck, handled two other jobs, and then dropped my stuff off a few days later. It's not like, “Oh, they're having to transfer my stuff and offload it into a store or a different vehicle.” Since it was the same people who did the move a few days earlier, they were also good with the assembly and disassembly of furniture.

When they delivered my stuff a few days later, I didn’t have to wait very long. They told me the schedule and when I would receive it, which was really good. It wasn’t like, “Well, yeah. Maybe you’ll get it in two weeks or something.” They were pretty prompt.

I moved from Maryland to California, which took about three weeks. They packed and unpacked everything, stayed in touch and gave me updates. It was right over Christmas, and they're having a huge snowstorm across the country. The highways were closed, and so, there was a big delay.

But they did what they said they would do, in a timely manner, even under the circumstances. And every couple of days, I'd get an update from their coordinator, letting me know what was happening. So, that's all you can ask for.

They gave me a big discount at the end because they were about 10 days beyond the projected date. But they were really good.

The move was originally quoted at around $5,000, but it ended up costing about $1,200 more, even though nothing changed on my end. In fact, I had fewer items because I gave some things away, and my bed wasn’t included, yet they still charged me $150 to dispose of it downstairs, which they would’ve had to move anyway. If I added even one extra box, there was another fee. It honestly felt like a racket.

It was over the holidays, and I specifically planned my move around that. I told them I would be there on or after December 28th, and they assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem. So I booked my travel and coordinated plans with my kids, who are in college, around that timeline.

Then they suddenly told me all my belongings would arrive on Christmas Day. I reminded them I wouldn’t even be there until the 28th, but they said that didn’t matter and that it would be $500 per day for storage. This was a cross-country move from California to Charlotte, and they were claiming it would only take three days to transport everything. It felt completely unreasonable and not at all what had been promised.

It honestly felt like a con the entire time. I even rearranged my trip to arrive earlier so I could avoid the extra storage fees, but they didn’t show up until the 28th anyway, and they still charged me a holdover fee.

When they finally arrived, they required cash payment before they would unload any of my furniture from the truck. The boxes I had packed myself where they claimed no responsibility or liability, were cracked and damaged. Two of my pitchers were broken, and they refused to take responsibility because I had packed them. It felt like everything I packed was completely mishandled and damaged.

I paid the mover in cash, as required, before they unloaded my furniture. Then afterward, I received a bill claiming I still had a balance due, even though I had already paid in full. The company kept emailing me, asking me to sign an invoice that showed I owed them more money.

I told them I had photo proof of paying the driver in cash and that I wasn’t paying another dime. Still, for most of January, they continued emailing and pressuring me to sign off on the invoice, essentially trying to collect another $4,000 on top of what I had already paid, aside from the initial retainer. It felt like ongoing harassment.

It was not a good experience. I felt completely taken advantage of when American Van Lines subcontracted the move to a third-party trucking company and then refused to take responsibility for anything that went wrong.

Original Review: April 8, 2025

Original quote was $4,500, this scam cost me more than $10,000 by the time I actually got my delivery. I reached out to a VP and CEO to express my frustration and didn’t even receive an acknowledgment of my emails. I will put as much detail as I can, and proceed with AVL at your own risk. Anthony (sales rep) specifically stated a delivery date of 2/21 would be better for delivery. My original closing was a week later, so I moved it at his request. He didn’t call me at any point after I signed the contract. Later, the manager admitted he suggested this date “I assume to reduce your quote”. I believe Roman (alleged moving coordinator) was supposed to call me to review all this and never did. I believe he said “**” in frustration when I was asking questions, I may be wrong but it sounded clear to me at the time. When I brought this concern up, I was told “he’s new” as if that made his mistakes acceptable.

I was told the quote went up more than 60% because I didn’t identify every single item despite listing picture frames and other big ticket items. There was no warning from anyone on this increase, just an email and I was eventually told I “had to sign it” when the movers were in my house and closing was the next day. After receiving the new quote, I pointed out multiple times that items were duplicates and they refused to remove from the quote. They had additional beds, TVs, etc. that I simply do not own. I pointed that out to multiple people and was told to “sign the form, if they don’t need it you won’t be charged for it.” I didn’t trust that would be the case.

After 5 hours on the phone receiving calls from multiple people trying to sort this out I was told I had to make a decision immediately without even seeing numbers. I asked to see the two different quotes (flat pricing vs. by the box/pound) so I could read them and confirm and they said I had to agree to one before seeing the quote in writing. Manager said it was my responsibility to confirm that their box estimates were accurate in the initial quote. That’s my job? Repeatedly told “you can accept the new charges or the movers won't show up tomorrow” less than 24 hours before my closing. It was too late to do it myself and I couldn’t hire another company at that point. Said I only had two options and if I didn’t commit to the new price or the old quote with half the service (and I could pack things myself) I’d lose my $2,300 deposit and they couldn’t reschedule for a couple weeks. Closing was the next morning.

Finally after complaining to multiple people about the redundant items on the list, the “new” cost would be $6,000 even if items/weight came under quote. They acted like they gave me a deal. Asked manager (Melissa) to listen to call w Anthony and get back to me, never heard back. I received a call the day of the pickup and was told that someone was reviewing and compensation would be looked into for the complications, I never heard back. Before I signed the initial paperwork I asked: “Is packing on the same day as everything gets moved, or a day prior.” Anthony’s response was: “Yes, it will be on the same day” which was inaccurate. I have this in writing and they still dispute it.

In an email I asked “If pickup is 2/19, would delivery be 2/21” and he confirmed “I can still honor the same dates, yes.” When I sent this email from the sales rep to Melissa she said that wasn’t confirmation. He stated it on our call, confirmed it in writing, and it’s NOT confirmation? Again no mention of a window. Sat in my house all day waiting for the delivery to show up because Anthony confirmed. No one showed. I finally called and was told there was a two week window. This had not been mentioned. I had to live in hotels and extend my rental car, all while having three pairs of clothes because I was expecting to only be on the road for two days. Melissa told me she would call me back with updates throughout the process, she never did. Left multiple voicemails and emails without a response for days. Neither Melissa nor Rosa (new moving coordinator) communicated with me.

Multiple items have been broken including a TV stand and Roomba, stools have been chipped, multiple items are missing and my batteries for my electric lawnmower no longer work, All additional headaches to deal with. There’s more, I just can’t fit them all. I’ve moved 6 times in my life, this was easily the worst experience. It was chaotic and I feel misled at almost every step. It cost me roughly $6000 in addition to the initial $4,000 quote, and weeks of frustration trying to track people down to get updates and answers. They confirmed the mistakes, told me they’d review my expenses and just delayed for weeks with no responses. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Save yourself the time, headache and money. Worst moving experience, they admit their errors and won’t make it right.

1. The salesperson said they inhouse their moving / delivery team. In reality, this is contracted out. This was important to me when I booked with them, because there is typically get less accountability and more cases of scams (e.g., last minute requests for money) with contracted workers. I did end up getting asked for a last minute increase in quote by $700, and the movers just sat in the truck while I debated whether to pay this or not.

2. Customer service is terrible. They are very difficult to reach before pick up and delivery. I didn't know my pick up time until the morning of the move itself, and even then, it was not accurate. I have reached out to them via emails and lobbed probably around 5-10 calls, with no or very abbreviated answers. At one point, I asked the customer service rep where my luggage actually was, about 1-2 days before our contractual delivery date. She had no idea. When I pressed her to get in touch with the dispatch and the actual delivery folks, she was exasperated and would say she would get back to me in a few hours but rarely did, or would after 2 days.

3. They are late and cannot fulfill their contract on time. I had a cross country move that the salesperson said would be 2-2.5 weeks. He said it could even be earlier. At this point, they are late on the contractual delivery date and I will likely get my things after 4-4.5 weeks.

This moving experience has been truly awful. Please, please use another service.

Unfortunately, when we got back, my mother-in-law was immediately diagnosed with cancer. We were in the middle of starting treatment and doing all of that. Neither of us were available to just go get the stuff. Hence, why we hired American Van Lines.

Mostly, the part of the move I did was entirely over the phone or via email, just arranging things and coordinating with people regarding timing and meeting with my mother to get the stuff on the pick-up side and my spouse on the delivery side. They were great and very good at communicating things. It went pretty smoothly.

The guy that did the move did an excellent job and was exceptional. I think he was a subcontractor, so he ended up having to get his own help and stuff, so things did take a while. There was also a snowstorm the day of the move, so that was a bit of a hang-up. But for the most part, everything went really well.

They called me after the move was done, followed up, and reminded me that I had six months to report anything broken. They were really clear about communicating. They made sure that I understood that I should unwrap a box down the line, and let them know.

I have found some broken stuff, but none of that is on them. It’s stuff that my friends packed poorly, so I’ve not brought that up with them because there’s no reason. The few dishes that were in a piece of paper were broken. But they moved antiques even, and they didn’t break them any worse than they already were. They did a really good job handling all of that. Our experience with them was pretty great.

We lived overseas before, and moving companies in the Middle East were phenomenal, so I was very nervous about coming back to the US and moving again because my experience in the past had not been exceptional. This was not an Abu Dhabi move, but it was excellent. I was very pleased and relieved.

I had excellent experiences over the phone. My mother had an excellent experience with the guy that was in charge of our move on the ground. My husband could not say enough good things about him. It was pretty exceptional.

I’ve had better experiences, but I’m also realistic that the labor market’s very different here than it is overseas. The price was reasonable. I had gotten a couple quotes. It wasn’t the lowest quote, but considering that they did a good job, I was very pleased with that.

At one point, there’s a slight cost increase, but that’s because I gave them the size of the storage unit, and we somehow missed how full it was. They needed more packing material than anticipated. Some of my stuff had been put in the barn unpacked, so they ended up needing more packing material, but that was acceptable.

Overall, my experience with American Van Lines was pretty exceptional. It was a good solid move. There was nothing bad about it. They did their jobs well. They did exactly what was asked of them, and their communication was really good.

At times, I was waiting on information and had a hard time reaching them. Honestly, I don’t think it was really their fault, it’s the system. I’d call and get customer service or sales, but it was often difficult to reach a specific person. I had a question about the timing and got different answers from customer service and the coordinator handling my move.

The drivers were good, and I don’t really have any complaints. A few batteries went missing from a drawer, but we never filed a claim. Other than that, I don’t remember anything that was broken, everything was good.

The price wasn’t very competitive. They were still $1,000 to $1,500 higher than some of the other options, and I’m always trying to find a better price.

The two young men who were the movers were great. They could not have been more professional or more prepared, and they communicated a great deal with me.

Moving is expensive. I didn’t have a lot to move, but I’m guessing that’s just sort of what it is.

The quote they gave me was a little more than I expected, but considering I was moving across state lines, I guess it was reasonable. They also worked with me to try to get reductions where possible.

The crew was very positive and took great care of all my belongings. Nothing was broken, and they placed everything exactly where I wanted. I have absolutely no complaints about the movers, they were great.

The cost was a bit higher than I expected. I had requested a move date of January 31st, but they couldn’t guarantee it and asked for a flexible window instead. I ended up moving two days earlier than planned, which caught me off guard and forced me to change other plans. It didn’t feel entirely fair.

As part of our extensive search of moving companies, we spoke with and received quotes from 11 companies, from do it yourself, mom and pop, local, regional, brokers and national for our budget-friendly out-of-state, (VT to MS) move. We conducted online searches, read all the positive/negative reviews, we asked friends and neighbors for recommendations and offered each mover the option to perform either an in person or remote site visit or use our inventory summary to prepare a quote.

In early 2025, we selected American Van Lines knowing they were far from the cheapest and several thousand less than the most expensive. From our multiple conversations with our Move Coordinator, to our Customer Service Rep and the Quality Assurance Manager and the actual movers, everyone was easy to work with. Our calls were either answered or returned promptly, they answered all our questions, and handled all our worries, checking in with us when necessary. We were very pleased with the movers, they arrived when they said they would, they were courteous, professional, and quick. We would highly recommend using them, and we would definitely use American Van Lines again.

Original Review: Feb. 26, 2025

I would not again book with American Van Lines, from Franco, Dan, Kimberly, Rita, Shabrina and all that I spoke to were unable to resolve that I contracted with them to move my precious belongings. They farmed this job out to another van line mover, less known to me. I paid a premium for the name recognition of A.V.L. Do not sign the contract. So not pay the deposit. When you do so, Kimberly essential says, too bad, so sad. No refunds. They changed the move date, it was hell from start to finish. Contact the Better Business Bureau and you'll be able to confirm they ARE NOT AN ACCREDITED moving company.