American Van Lines Reviews

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.

The movers were great. The only thing is, we had a very large move and there were only two guys to unload at the other end, and it was a lot of work for these guys. American Van Lines didn't arrange for more people to assist them and it was a long day so, we felt bad for them. They were very nice and polite and they had to work hard because there was so much stuff to move. The drivers did an exceptionally good job, given how poorly everything was packed. We didn't have major claims which meant they drove very carefully. And when they unloaded, they didn't drop boxes. They were very careful to put boxes down. If the drivers hadn't been so good, we would have had a lot of broken items.

The only issue was that we had to drive from Connecticut to Colorado and American Van Lines kept telling us the movers were gonna be there in 2.5 days. There was no way that we could drive with a dog. We're older and have to make a lot of stops. We couldn't drive 2,000 miles in 2.5 days and they kept insisting that we had to be there quickly before the movers got there. In the end, it worked out fine but it created a lot of stress for us. The experience wasn't terrible but it was slightly less than perfect.

It was a little bit of a scam that we were quoted a price and on the day of, when they were packing, it was gonna cost several thousand more. In the past, someone else was sent to the house to assess what you had. By doing it on the phone, it's very hard to get a good feel for what is going on. It was off because when we had them estimate, we ended up packing half of the stuff ourselves that they were estimating. I thought it would be a lower price and it ended up being higher. So, it was wildly inaccurate and there's nothing you can do. You have to pay. So it leaves a concern in my mouth that there's an issue there, and either it's poorly done or they're trying to take advantage of the people that are moving.

My fiancee had to rent a U-Haul truck for the driver so that he could get the goods to the destination. She had to pay for that. The driver did reimburse her for it, but she should never had had to pay for it in the first place. The driver was nice. We had a complication and I could not gain access to the storage unit until the next day and he was kind enough to wait and get the rest of the load unloaded the next day. So, I really have no complaint with the driver except that he should have been more careful. We told him it was a tricky road and he should have contacted my fiancee before he tried pulling up the road and jackknifed his truck.

Original Review: Nov. 13, 2024

We've moved 4 times in the last 25 years. This experience was by far the most expensive and by far the worst. I'll start with the worst issue. Their "climate controlled" storage had standing water in it, so they ruined our beautiful solid wood dining room table and a base for a bed. The wood was covered in mold, warped and split. The table was worth at least $1000, maybe $2000. They paid a total of $500 because I didn't get insurance. One of my former moves was interstate using a pod, and 2 others were local, and we only had minor damage in any of those moves so didn't think insurance was necessary. Figured if they damaged anything and it was clearly their fault, they would pay something close to fair for it. Wrong.

Also information is misleading. The people who showed up to do the move did not work for American Vanlines, but another company from a nearby state. They came with a rental truck, so it was hard to know if they were really from American Vanlines. Whenever I tried to talk to someone I could never reach the person assigned to me, and there was lots of noise that made it almost impossible to hear them. They don't even get their people decent headphones/mics. Of course the price increased quite a bit between when they gave me the estimate and when it was all said and done - more than $11000 up from $8000, and their invoices kept changing formats so it was hard to figure out what had changed. That wasn't as alarming, as we did have more things than originally thought. But it would have helped if we could see exactly what we were being charged for. Suffice it to say we will never use them again.

The crew would not read the boxes and wouldn't listen to directions, scooting boxes across floors. The one worker almost pushed the box down the steps. Not a very good crew. They were there for seven hours. At the end of the day, Chris sent them home because it was pitch black outside, so they couldn't work anymore. And they were nowhere near done. The driver had to come back the next day by himself with no crew. He spent from 9 o'clock in the morning until 6:00 PM. He finished unloading by himself, assembled all the furniture by himself. My understanding is the crew was only set up for one day. They were so delayed in getting there the first day that Chris just had to stay by himself the next day to do it. If you want good quality services, American Van lines is who you need to go with. You get what you pay for.

The washer and dryer were new, my fridge looked new until they got a hold of it, and the killer was when I complained about the extra cost, the silly ** dispatcher is what I think I was talking to had the nerve to tell me she believed her driver over me, I had to bit my tongue not to call her what I think, anyway the only thing good that came out of this was that one lady there gave me a bit of a refund, but that did not add up to the damage and stolen things that they did, if you are trying to find a mover, DO NOT try these guys or you will be sorry for it, I am!

The coordinator's name was Crystal and I called her multiple times about my delivery. Then I spoke to a supervisor who was very helpful and gave me a window of when my stuff was going to be delivered. But my stuff wasn't delivered in the timeframe. It was a couple days after. But there was a holiday weekend and I understood that. Other than that, I got a quote and when they gave me the final billing, it didn't change at all. Everything was good and overall, I would use them again.

Then, we had two different moving crews from two different subcontractors that work for American Van Lines and they were both fantastic. They told me they were going to be there at a certain time and they showed up right on time. Everything went super well and I was very happy that there were not any surprises even in the pricing since they came and picked up what we listed as what we had. You always hear a lot of horror stories about all of a sudden the mover shows up and the price is different. But we didn't experience any of that. The pricing was fair and I was happy with it. Also, when I used their website, I received a phone call in five minutes.

Original Review: Oct. 15, 2024

updated 11/8/2024

Original Review: Oct. 15, 2024

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY !! as they do not move you. They sublet it out to other movers with truck and if they have too much on the truck when they show up to your place to move you they will tell you will only get what you need on the first drop and the rest may be 3 to 4 weeks for the rest of your stuff. They give you one price and when they show up to move you they give you another price and it is too late to find someone else to move you and as the paperwork states you are not to badmouth this company or their sublet movers!!

Original Review: Oct. 3, 2024

Would leave negative stars if I could. Booking was easy and pleasant. But from the day of pick on it has been a disaster of incompetence and deceit. First the driver was an hour and a half later than the confirmed the day before. Then they changed the estimate by almost $2000. Listed items that I don’t own were used to generate the new estimate and 8 ft a frame ladder became an extension ladder. A small electric heater became a fire pit. Etc.

Pick up was a Tuesday with a very specific delivery date of Friday. I only signed with them because they guaranteed a Friday delivery. Thursday afternoon I still have no final invoice. My estimated delivery is now Saturday between 4 PM and 7 PM. I don’t know who in the hell on those truck at 7 PM in a residential neighborhood but I’m sure my neighbors who I haven’t even met yet are going to love me. They still have no idea where any of my furniture is and the drive is 600 at miles. It’s roughly a 10 Hour Drive. So basically basically what you’re telling me is my furniture is still in Pennsylvania somewhere even though they’ve had two days to get it to the middle of the country. Do not use this company. All the negative reviews are accurate. It really should be an investigation in the fraud for this company

My "moving coordinator" Diana - nowhere to be found. Customer service? Non-existent. NO WAY TO GET IN CONTACT AT ALL ON THE DAY OF MY MOVE. I had 2 men sitting in my apartment for 3.5 hours trying to get in touch with someone from American Van Lines not packing or moving a single box because I wouldn't sign the papers to be charged 4k over the estimate. That was fun.

Ok moving on. We finally get in touch with someone - Rita from Florida. She proceeded to yell at me, speak down to me, not really explain anything and tell me no matter what I needed to pay $2k over the original estimate. This was after it started at 9k, went down to 7.2k, and ended at 6.7k. How is that a thing? OK - whatever. The guys are already in my apartment and I Need to move. They are clearly gauging me on the price - in addition to just absolutely horrific customer service. Rita was actually yelling at me on the phone.

So then a week goes by and I don't hear a peep. No idea where my stuff is. I try calling my "moving coordinator" Diana - she does not call me back. I finally call the customer service hotline and am told my truck broke down in Nashville. How is it that I have to call them multiple times to find that out? I tell Diana I want to speak to her manager. I'm connected to Rita again. She may be worse than Diana which is saying something. I find out I'm getting $30 off a day every day my stuff is late. OH FUN! That alone is a reason to never book with them because that is a joke and doesn't hold them accountable in the slightest. At this point, I genuinely wonder if I am working with a fake company because of how bad this experience is and if I'm ever going to see my stuff.

I lose my mind and message the president on LinkedIn. Some woman named Cecily calls me. She pretends to be nice. She offers me $450 off my move. That is including the $30 a day my stuff was late. So basically she's offering me $300 off. Then she sends the agreement over and there's an NDA that I can't talk poorly about American Van Lines. I said, "yeah I'm not signing that because if I can save one poor person from working with your horrific company I will eat the measly $300 you are offering me."

She proceeds to be furious. Loses her mind on me. I tell her I'm going to leave a bad review and she threatens legal action against me. Lady what are you talking about. I should also add tons of my things were broken upon arrival. I literally cut my hand on glass opening a box. They are still calling me trying to get me to sign the "settlement" - NO THANK YOU. See you guys never!

We loaded on the 30th of July but I didn't get my furniture and boxes until the 14th of August. I kept getting mixed messages about when they were gonna be here. First, it was the Monday. Then they must have made some changes and that was when they moved my stuff from one truck to the other. Then it was supposed to be Thursday, but the truck was in the shop. They kept putting it off.

But eventually, they got here. I got all my stuff and nothing was broken. I had a ton of glass stuff because I'm a collector. I packed it in the boxes really well. I also had a glass lampshade and that didn't get broken. I have vintage furniture and none of it got scratched, but on the edges of some of my furniture, there's this white, fuzzy stuff. It was like the tape was touching the furniture and it got wet. Overall, American Van Lines did a good job, but there were some things that bothered me about it. The people that loaded were not the same people that delivered. They were subcontracted because their trucks were smaller and it didn't say American Van Lines. But all the paperwork that they presented me with both ends said American Van Lines on it so I knew that they were part of American Van Lines.

The move was 2,700 miles from Alabama to Washington State, and both crews, the ones that picked up and dropped off, were great. I got my stuff on the 26th. The guy that delivered called me the day before and said he would be at my house before noon, but I found out that he wasn't even in Washington State, and they didn't get to my house until 7 o'clock the next day. I didn't know what was going on, and that was a little worrying. Still, I would recommend American Van Lines. I would just tell people not to worry too much about the communication, that they'll get here eventually.

Somebody told me that they put a tracker in a box of their stuff just so that they would know where their stuff was, and I thought, “Well, if I did that again, I might do the same thing.” I would also choose American Van Lines again, but I wouldn't freak out as much as I did simply because of the lack of communication. Everything turned out fine.

Original Review: Sept. 7, 2024

We are not satisfied at all with this move. When we booked I was informed delivery was going to be 5 to 7 days from pick up. The first estimate I signed had the dates 16th to 23rd of August for delivery. Then I got a email to call 3 days before pick up window to go over list again. When I signed the addendum I thought it was for items we added and deleted. However I now realize they changed the date of the delivery window to 13th to the 23rd. Then I get a call saying their truck is behind and have arranged for another company to do the move. We got a voicemail from someone on Friday the 9th at 4:40 to call for delivery time. My wife called and left a message but heard nothing on Saturday or Sunday. 

Monday morning on the 11th I called to ask when pick up was. I was told either between 3 or 4 pm that day or the 12th. At 5:30 pm the movers out of nowhere showed up. They informed us that packing the 6 TVs on the list would be another $1,200 on top of the $700 we agreed to for packaging and materials. I voiced my concern on that and was told we would get $900 credit which satisfied us. The move out was completed on Tuesday the 12th at 3pm. At 9 PM that night I received a call asking if we were ready for delivery tomorrow. I advised no, we were told it would be 5 to 7 days. 

The main mover even told me it would probably be Friday the 16th. I also told them when I booked our closing was on the 15th. My wife and I along with 6 year old daughter were already on the road south. Then on the 14th I got a call from them saying we owed $500 for storage since we were not ready on the 14th. This has made us extremely angry again. The women I spoke to said she would listen to phone calls to verify which I hope she did.

The crew here was two guys and it took them a while. They didn't know what they were doing as far as the assembly. They didn't use all the parts and when I was looking for the parts later, they took them. But during my last move with some other van line, they broke my TV and my office chair. The guys who showed up to deliver my stuff were awful. They took five hours to unpack a one bedroom apartment. I ended up unpacking my tools and telling them to leave because they were so bad. But these guys with American Van Lines were much better.

Original Review: Aug. 13, 2024

Do not use American Van Lines. The process of setting up the move on the phone was straightforward. Issues started to arise with all the other aspects of the move. The scheduling of the packing and pick up was spotty but we received a date and prepared for the event. The driver complained of his truck breaking down causing him to be late. The driver was polite but the packers were of varying skill levels. The driver was in a rush to leave as he had a lot of driving to do or other jobs.

At no time did anyone show up from the company to check on the move, quality of the driver or crews. The packers used wardrobes as large packing boxes and threw items from the room in the box until it was full rather than use the hanging bar to hang clothes up. It appeared they wanted to jam as much as they could into the truck using the lowest number of boxes. This led to a significant amount of broken pictures, lamps, lamp shades, and lost items such as a gasoline leaf blower, etc. The boxes were not marked as to the location in the house where they were packed, and the inventory had no usable details.

We were not kept informed as to the location of our items and multiple phone calls to American were not returned, although there was attention paid to getting our money paid to the company. The only way we were able to get any response from operations about our shipment was by asking the finance people to run down the representatives and forward us over. Even then we were put on hold and no one answered.

The pattern of lack of communication continued for the delivery. This driver complained of his truck breaking down as well. He did not seem to know the crew who came in, late, to unpack. Since the boxes were not marked and the inventory was sketchy we had to try to open each box and decide where it would go. Again no one came from the company for quality control. The driver said they would not check the inventory list against the boxes coming in so we had no idea if we received all of our items. I know there are missing items such as the leaf blower. The driver was in a rush to leave and the crew ran the boxes into the house as fast as they could so they could depart.

Because of the poor packing and poor handling of the furniture, there was an excessive amount of breakage and damage to lamps, pictures, dishes, etc. There was no piece of furniture undamaged. Television screens were scuffed and scratched. Clothing items were smashed into wardrobes with picture frames on the bottom of the box and broken glass everywhere from smashed frames. It was total disaster. The crew would not remove any of the packing items, even the ones they created by unwrapping furniture, etc. They started to and the driver told them to stop as it appeared he did not want to have to deal with it. There was no option to stack the materials and have them picked up later as we had been given on all our previous moves.

When we tried to call the claims line, no one answered and no one returned our call. The claims process is absurd in that it asks for multiple estimates to repair, and the insurance is pennies per pound. We have moved many times with the military and federal government. We paid for this OBE out of our own pocket and picked American because it was highly rated, and the cost was what we expected to pay for quality service.

This was by far the worst move we have ever had. Everyone on site was in a hurry to just get it over with and did not take the time to provide quality service. Packing materials were used sparingly as the driver seemed to want to keep his costs down. The crews on both ends seemed to be amateurs picked up off the street. My advice to others is to find another vendor other than American. We were charged high prices for poor service and will be spending thousands more to repair and replace what American damaged, destroyed, and lost. If there is a rating of zero they will be receiving it.

It took most of the day. It was one person, whereas I hoped they would have two people. But he was nice. I had everything in boxes. He packaged the big stuff like my couch and took apart my desk. I was on a third-floor walk-up, no elevator, and he tackled it. I told him, "You don't have someone else who can help you?" He said, "No. I got it." The coordinator called me. Asked how it went. I let him know there was just one guy. So, they made sure to have two on delivery so it wouldn't take as long.

It took them close to two weeks to deliver. I was fully prepared for them to not be there for a while. I also drove and was able to put a bunch of stuff in my car to make it two weeks without having the bulk of my stuff. They gave me an estimate. Their website says it could take up to three weeks. And on the day when the driver collected everything, he looked at his schedule and said, "It should be this day or a day after or day before." He was spot on with that. Their estimations were on time. Also, nothing got lost or broken. So, I had a good experience. I would suggest AVL to friends and family.

We had packed the boxes and we had things set in the middle of the rooms. They had to pick them up, move them, and carry them out to the truck and I had them bring two or three boxes that we needed packed that we hadn't packed. They were fast and they worked hard and continuously. The truck driver primarily stacked the things in the truck because that's kind of tricky. They were hustling all the time and that was true at both ends.

Original Review: July 5, 2024

American Van Lines is hands down one of the worst moving companies I have had to work with, and I have moved across the country multiple times. Making an appointment for pickup, they were inefficient at communicating, and showed up 2 days early. With 6 weeks notice for delivery out of storage they have kept us waiting for 4 weeks, with absolutely no end in sight. I’m currently have been on hold for an hour in an attempt to be connected with a supervisor, and am absolutely not a priority at all. Working in an industry adjacent to trucking, I know you can make something happen on limited notice so what’s happening is absolutely inexcusable. They are unprepared and overpromise.

Once they figured out what they were doing, everything ran well. The dude was attentive to everything. My mom passed away, it was her stuff, and he made me feel they were there to help me in any way they can. I said, "You can pull all the way up to here. You can run over the grass. I have truck drivers do it all the time." He said, "No. This is close enough. We're good. It's only a few extra feet, but it's nothing." He was good on everything. I'm still unpacking but so far, everything looks good. The two guys that packed it up did a good job and the two guys that dropped it off even did a better job. That's the only reason why I would call American Van Lines back again.

The crew that picked me up were great. They worked with me to get everything on the truck. I still had to move some stuff to get downstairs. And we got it. We worked it out. They were good guys. The second crew that came, same thing. They were all business. I offered them water. They took the water, but they were all about getting that stuff off the truck, getting it in the house and going to their next job. I signed the paperwork. The guy told me, "Good luck." And that was it. Everybody was great. I expected a few things to be broken during the travel. I packed it myself. But nothing major was broken. I was happy.

Original Review: June 25, 2024

American Van Lines was not honest with packaging a couple of items and they showed up and said that a couple of items that we listed would cost an extra $500. They decided those things had to be crated even though we gave them plenty of lead time on that stuff. And they said, "No, this is the fixed cost." The guy showed up and tried to change the bid on site. I ended up leaving items behind in Chicago because they said, "It was gonna cost an extra $500 or $600." It was the two mirrors and a floor lamp. Those were detailed, included before the move, and they changed there. They also charged to wrap the couch and charged on moving materials, which I thought was weird. It seemed like a scam. The couch thing I couldn't do anything about. I shut them down and was, "Okay. I understand the couch. But the material cost should be included in the bid." But they got there and said that was not included.

The move went smooth, but nobody in American Van Lines apparel showed up on either thing. And we got Clark's too for the city-to-city logistics. I let it slide. I understood. Because they said, "We do large hauling trucks between cities," but they do your box trucks that could get into the cities and push them out. And they said, "New York is an extra $300 charge." The bid was still good comparatively. If I would have totally used a different mover, it would have cost us more. We had a 75-inch TV and they said, "It's gonna cost you like $700 or $600 to crate it." I did it myself at Home Depot. But they had to package the 55-inch TV to their standards and that was 150 bucks. But there was an additional $300 to $400 New York City delivery surcharge.

The extra packaging fees weren't discussed. There was no company-branded truck that showed up and the guys had different moving company T-shirts on. So, American Van Lines subcontracted. That was where I was, "This doesn't add up." I've heard of those nightmare stories when people said, "Don't do a bidding process." But it worked out well, timing-wise. Their window went a bit farther, but it worked out for us. Overall, it was okay.

The guys that came here didn't understand how to move in the city. They got a parking ticket and they said, "Are you gonna pay it?" I said, "No. You're gonna pay the parking ticket. It's New York City. Eat the parking ticket and they'll let you stay there." Also, they only used two guys. It took them four hours. It was a medium to large one bedroom in Chicago. 900 square feet. But we downsized tremendously to 25 packing boxes. But the guys in New York were a little quicker. The guys in Chicago weren't efficient.

We had paid for a shuttle, but they said, “Look, I'm not gonna go get a shuttle. It's just another hour and a half to get a shuttle with you all, bring it over here, and load it into it, and move it over there.” So, they did not use the shuttle. They moved stuff by hand. The guy said, “I'm gonna just do this by hand. We've got no problem.” They did an excellent job. They worked their butts off. It was not cool that day. It was about 85 to 90 degrees. It took them less than three hours to get the work completed. We had everything in boxes, so all they had to do was come in and put the boxes on a cart, take them out, and put them in the truck. The driver was an absolute charm to work with. He did an excellent job. The whole experience was good.

I later found out that they were not oil and attempted to make the change. Making a change in the initial order was not as efficient as making the initial order. So making the change and having to involve all these people was a little hectic. That was all generated by the change. Absolutely nothing about the move of anything. It was determining whether I was gonna pay $4,000 or $3,000. After it was over, it surprised me that there was such a big difference, but there's much more involved. They were thinking I was moving a Van Gogh. I wasn't.

I would recommend American Van Lines again. I chose the company because it was a national company and there was some comfort in having a national brand. Although they subcontract, it was some local Miami team that did the move. They were all wearing a company T-shirt that wasn't American Van Lines. They were very quick and efficient. Nothing was damaged and the moving process was nice. Unfortunately, my building has a freight elevator that wasn't big enough for the sectional so they took it right up the stairs, which I appreciate. But they were a couple of hours late showing up. I had to call the helpline and they reached out to the field people and the guy gave me an estimate. But to be fair to them, Miami has atrocious traffic.

A few days later, AVL coordinator informs me that they cannot do it until several days later, like around April 1st or 2nd. I protest and two packers (when I had been told there would be 4+) arrive the next morning. The packers inform me that they 'don't do glass' (first I had heard of this) and did not bring enough packing materials. The packers decide they can pack the glass and then break the piece of custom tempered glass that goes on my large desk while packing it. Next day, the movers show up and spend the first hour and half reviewing my contents...They inform me that this is not what they show on their inventory list. The movers never received the updated list and I am charged another $1300 the day of the move. The movers complain about the packers and that there aren't enough moving supplies. For hours we go back and forth with me reaching out to local storage units.

The movers finally decide they can move all my stuff, but that some of it just won't be packed properly. After 10 days of sleeping on the floor, (another thing they don't mention prior to your deposit going beyond the day of refund) the truck arrives. My sisters are there as I have to travel out on a business trip (never would have been scheduled had I known of the actual delivery date). The driver asks where I would like the boxes? I told him that they were to unpack as agreed. Crucial time is lost as he contacts ‘customer service’ and then shows me the contract where unpacking is not included! I cancel my business trip - good thing - because all the furniture that was marked 'storage' by packers were the ones I needed in the house! Later I'm reimbursed $1900+ for unused packing materials and then months later sent a bill for $1200? Unbelievable!

From the beginning, I had said that I had a dining room table with a large oval glass top and curio cabinets with removable glass shelves. From the beginning, I had said I needed a ‘full service move’ – that I did not have the resources and needed them to unpack. The ‘packers’ not only missed several kitchen cabinets which I had to move myself, but they also packed items that belonged to the rental house! Including a custom wooden insert for a separate kitchen sink as well as a custom (matching granite) cutting board. The cost of which was deducted from my rental deposit. I flew back to Houston (carrying the 40lb cutting board and insert) and gave it back to the renter. Also, the renter provided me with the contents of the cabinets above the refrigerator which I had to ship back as I could not carry them on the return flight.

Unpacking revealed several scratches, dents and damage to my furniture and one of my Mother’s paintings is now bent. Now I need to spend even more time dealing with that. In the meantime, an email pops up yesterday in my inbox – one requesting a survey for AVL and the other a credit card authorization form and a bill for $1200+? Would AVL like to re-imburse me for the broken glass, damaged furniture, missed business trip fees, re-stretching of my Mother’s canvas oil painting as well as the airline ticket to Houston to return items erroneously packed so I could get my rental deposit? AVL breached their contract with me and caused undue stress, complication, improper packing, time and damage. I chose American Van Lines because that nice man on “This Old House” recommended them and their high rating with the BBB. I did my due diligence and was willing to pay for a ‘full-service move’. I received anything but.

The moving industry has the world's worst rep online and everybody is a scam artist. In the effort to try to find somebody who is honest and reputable and is not a broker, the AVL people answered it and filled every box. It was a small move but they put it together for a truck coming from East Coast to Texas to pick up a load in Dallas. They did a magnificent job on everything except the communication with the client. Overall, if they had better communication, if they could improve that, I would give them an A-plus and they’d be the world's best moving company. Communication is an important part because you gotta have somebody on both ends. I wish they had been able to communicate better so that I could have planned my time better.

Original Review: May 22, 2024

I should have read reviews before I contracted with American Van Lines. I only needed 6 pieces of furniture moved from my mom's house, no boxes or packing. I was provided an estimate that seemed high, but I went with it anyway. I was given a three day window for the movers to arrive and was told I'd be given 24 hours notice before the move. They gave me 10 hours notice. I scrambled to have my daughter be available at my mom's house (mom recently passed away) and she took off work to be there. After waiting, we got a call saying the move would need to be delayed until the next day.

My daughter couldn't take another day off work so I had to find a friend who could be there (I live in a different state). Subcontractors showed up. They told my friend that there would be an additional $300 packing charge, even though there were no items to be packed. When they made it to my house, one of the pieces of furniture was damaged. I attempted to file a claim, but the company required three estimates for repair!!! There is only one company that does wood furniture repair in my area and I spent a week trying to find two others, even out of my area, to no avail. (No one wants to drive two hours to give an estimate.) Additionally, no one at the company ever returns calls or emails. HORRIBLE customer service. Steer clear of this company.

When they got here, they were great too. The driver was the same, and the crew that unloaded here was very efficient also. They unloaded it very quickly. We were inundated with boxes in no time at all. They put everything together that needed to be put together and put heavy stuff in position for me. It was an excellent service. The driver had me do a walkthrough before he left Florida and again when they were through unloading here.

The day before the moving day, they called me and told me the time frame that they were gonna be arriving. The movers arrived 15 minutes early, which was fine with me. They had all the paperwork ready and had me sign it off. Then they went through and put numbered stickers and created a numbered itemized inventory for every single thing that was packed. The team rolled out protective covering on the floor then loaded everything up into a van. They had to transship from a smaller vehicle because they couldn't get the semi in my neighborhood. They worked very hard and weren't wasting any time. It was three days later when they had the shipment at my new address and everything was unloaded in three hours.

The driver and the local movers who got there that day were great. They were very productive. I tried to have things in order and ready for them, and they did an amazing job. Timing is everything when you're moving across states. You have to rely on plane and work schedules so it was very tight. But the driver who both picked up and delivered my stuff is probably the best of the best.

Revised 5/24/2024

Upon pick up I was told there were items not listed which I understand and accounted for some leeway. Then the driver added a long haul fee of $425 because according to him he was more than 75 feet from door. (See picture below) not so. Then I see for the items being added a fuel charge of $711. Some items they added were for example 4 folding chairs at 50 lbs each. Really! As inquired about all this I was told they don’t charge by weight. Really! I was told the system can’t differentiate between a regular chair and a folding chair (too bad for customer). But don’t charge by weight? Wanting to talk to a supervisor about some charges I was on hold for 2 1/2 hours (I had to go ahead with pick up due to needing property asap). A supervisor called at 430 in the afternoon, this is from 9am. Then was told she would call back next day to go over concerns. No call.

Then they get to 2nd destination and there are things that need to be added, which I understand. But we are told they can’t put it in truck. Why you did at first destination? It’s already closed out. Are you kidding? So for a few extra item they have to be left behind. Mind you this was to be first destination and most important. Driver is leaving and asked when it’s going to be in Florida and was told he didn’t know but our stuff was going on a plane. What! Another story.

After 3 days I inquired about my property as to when and where it was and delivery. I was told it was in Maryland awaiting more jobs for delivery. What! But couldn’t add items. Was told I’d get a call in a couple of days for update. Well no phone call so I called. Still in Maryland. Then a phone call that our property is being loaded on truck from warehouse to be delivered next day. What! I was also told your property is never taken off truck once it’s put on. Same crew picks up and delivers. Not true! Except one driver was the same.

The amount of lies I was told is just unbelievable. If you move make sure that everything you want is in writing. Do not take a company's word for it. Companies like American Van Lines give the industry a bad reputation. I was also told by another company that they would do exactly what they did. I figured it’s just company bashing another. Go figure telling the truth. Moving is stressful enough without unscrupulous people. Do your homework.

He charged almost $450 extra for getting an extra truck that we were not told about. They said that these things are mentioned in the agreement that if there is a usage of extra U-Haul truck or anything, that would be charged extra, which I understand. But I am not ready to accept that on the spot at 11pm that the 18-wheeler could not come inside the apartment. I've seen a lot of movers and packers coming in and going through the apartment gates. It was a big, spacious parking, but that guy had issues. And he had the same issues when he came to deliver our stuff. So, he did the same thing. If we had been told, we would have planned accordingly. And if somebody from American Van lines could have come and had a tour of the apartment, if they would be able to bring the vehicle, what kind of vehicle would be feasible to get, and that would have saved a lot of time and money for us.

That happened during midnight. They had scheduled the pickup around 8 a.m. And the guy came at 11pm, that too after calling him multiple times. So, our entire day was gone waiting for him. I was pissed because we had to leave the apartment the next morning. They were, “No, we cannot do the moving today. We'll come in the morning.” I requested them to at least pack the items, and tomorrow in the morning we could load the items because we had to leave the apartment in the morning. After a lot of requesting and convincing, they packed the items in the night. And morning of the next day, they again came and completed the stuff. So, it took almost 48 hours to get behind them and get the things done.

Once everything was loaded on the truck, everything went as normal. They set a scheduled date. Then when they got in town, we set up a hard date to deliver my household goods and then that's when things were completely late. We set up a day and a time. I expected them to be there and they weren't. I asked, "Hey, I moved my whole day around for this. Can we do it tomorrow?" They said I'll have to pay for storage fees and all sort of stuff. They weren't willing to work with me at all, but they had my stuff so I really couldn't do anything about it.

At 8 AM, the day they were supposed to deliver, I called American Van Lines. I was expecting them to call me but I called them at 8 AM. They said, "Yup, your stuff will be there at 9 AM." 9 AM rolls around. I called him back. They said they'd be there at noon. I called them back at noon. They basically told me they're gonna get there today. They were not really sure when. The movers themselves were quick once it was on site. They had 7,000 pounds of storage and they moved it all in about an hour and a half. So, they were great. It's just everything else was not very good.

The packing up took a couple of hours and they took the time to wrap all the paintings in some of the cardboard that they had and taped them up real good -- every single one of them. Also, originally, it was 30 boxes and it turned out to be 50. We threw them a lot of curves and that was the only reason it took longer but they got everything out pretty quickly. When the items got to the destination, they were perfect. We had six inches of snow the day that were supposed to move my sister-in-law in and they had to fight through the snow and the traffic was bottled up all over the place. They were an hour late but they called me every time. Then, they traipsed through the snow to bring everything in and put cardboard down through my sister-in-law's whole apartment so they wouldn't get her carpet wet or messed up. They were terrific.

It took them about six hours to load everything into the truck and that included taking down some furniture. Both of our bedrooms were upstairs. So they had to move about a third of the inventory down a flight of stairs before taking it outside. We had them package our TVs and computer monitors for us. They also did some minor takedown of furniture, like removing the legs from tables. I was impressed with their productivity. They took a couple of small breaks here and there. But over the course of six hours, that's to be expected. Otherwise, it seemed like they were working nonstop.

I also had to call them when we were figuring out when the truck would be arriving to deliver our stuff. I didn't receive calls with information. I had to keep calling. So a little bit more proactive communication would help. Another big concern that I had was when the driver of the truck asked me if I wanted to pay him under the table when we found out that my inventory was gonna be larger than what was expected. But I decided to go through the American Van Lines.