American Van Lines Reviews

The delivery went super smoothly. The crew was funny and friendly. The guys that showed up in North Carolina were doing the happy dance when they saw that everything was already staged in the garage and that they didn't have to walk up any stairs. They got 537 cubic feet of stuff out of my place. The move was delayed by a couple of days versus our original schedule but that wasn't a big deal. Also, there was small damage to a bike seat which was ripped. I've been reimbursed for it and everything was taken care of. I was thrilled with the way American Van Lines did my move.

I knew I probably paid a little bit more because of the timing being so close. But when people are moving, they're held over a barrel. That's why the other company thought they could take advantage of me because people usually have places to go, have flights to catch, or have closings to go to. I wasn't gonna play that game. American Van Lines guys bailed me out. I have a broken neck so I couldn't help their guys out. The guys on both ends were really helpful and they were able to do stuff that I would have helped them to do. I had a really good experience with this company and I would recommend them to anybody.

The experience with the moving consultant was very good. There were a few little hiccups in terms of not being able to do the move on the day I needed to have it done, but the coordinator and Sam, the manager, went out of their way to make it happen for me the way I needed it to. With the crew, the experience was very good as well. We had most of the smaller things already packed, but they packed the things like pictures and last-minute items that couldn’t be packed before they got there. While they lost some little glass inlays that went in my coffee table, they ended up finding that. It took a little while, but we finally got them.

Original Review: Sept. 8, 2019

In the area of courtesy and working with them, I would rate American Van Lines very highly. In the area of damage to our stuff, I just took picture after picture after picture of damage. We can't replace so many things we own. We just have to live with dings all over the place and some stuff will have to be replaced. I have a really nice little leather ottoman with a lid that I've had for about five years. It was in perfect condition and now, it has a slit in the leather of about an inch long. I'm sitting here in my office at the moment looking across at this bookcase. It's got an area of about 14 inches. It's got various dings and scratches on the front of it. About six years ago, we moved from Los Angeles to Denver and we also had a lot of stuff. Nothing was damaged. I was expecting that, yes, something happens and you gotta suck it up, but I was shocked of how much of our stuff was damaged.

I'm trying to sell my house, and I've got to get it packed out, get everything out of the house, so I can get the other stuff that I already had planned. So, they put everything out, and we've worked it out. But the two gentlemen that moved us were awesome. They were friendly, and I helped them a little bit as far as how to get them in the truck. It was good. It was just the coordinator that was kinda hard to get through. But she was nice on the phone. Overall, I was very pleased with the move itself, and I would recommend.

They did not complete packing, so they didn't wrap stuff. They were in such a hurry. They did not deliver on the day, so we had to get an extra accommodation. They compensated us for that also, but they use people that were not American Van Lines. They use local people. It was really an overall horrible experience. I have credits being offered by them acknowledging the damaged products. It was horrendous. The amount of damages that they're giving is not sufficient, so it's an ongoing process. They should not be a national carrier nor should they be on ConsumerAffairs' website. All they have is a van and there's a truck driver. That is it.

Original Review: Sept. 4, 2019

My experience with American Van Lines did not go well. Their people came and the first thing they did was that they got a shuttle and chose a location for pick up when they’re supposed to bring an 18-wheeler. Then they tried to deliver to my house in Florida on an 18-wheeler when it should’ve been a shuttle. I was still there. That was on a Monday. Tuesday, after I called them, they told me they wouldn’t be there until Wednesday. When I called them Wednesday, they couldn’t come until Thursday. When I called them on Thursday, they couldn’t come until Friday. I told them they had to be at my house before 8 o’clock Friday night. “We have everything moved in. No problem,” they said. They came Saturday morning. That was depressing. I wasted a whole week. I missed two plane flights out, and I still haven’t been reimbursed for the second plane flight worth $150 that I’m still waiting for.

Original Review: Aug. 31, 2019

Hired AVL moving from California to Washington. 1st the packers turn out to be Contracted from a company named Boost NY, Ukrainian. They flew in to Ontario, California. Rental car. No Moving Truck, and purchase supplies from local Hardware Store. 8 hours late. It was 8 pm. They start packing by 1 am, they said they would finish and everything would be moved. Which they did. This was Verified by AVL. Hence 3 week later arrangements was made for delivery to our new location, 4 1/2 days Late AVL calls & verifies Boost will Delivering in 1 hr. We met a Guy named Ike (Ukrainian). Ike never reviewed his delivery orders to bring a smaller truck to transfer moving goods. When he realized this he was nasty and left for 6 hours, before he came back. He had 1 skinny helper to unload our belongings.

When he unloaded the boxes he was hostile and throwing them out of his truck to the smaller truck. When he delivered them to my front door he threw my Furniture out on a gravel driveway and all the boxes. He threw out my 400 lbs Safe upsides, to right side and repeating over and over. Needless to say all glassware was broken, every piece of furniture was destroyed or broken. AVL apologized, tried to give us $1,000. And sign a no complaint agreement. Which we refuse. The insurance adjuster came out to give us $1400. We laughed. What a joke. The ironic thing when we start unpacking. We were missing personal items, cameras, bike rack, things we already packed, that Boost repacked and removed. Things were not in ours boxes, but the ones Boost purchase and tried to over charge us $1600. More than what we already paid... Don’t ever use American Van Lines Or Boost!! Run if you met Ike.

I also talked to another lady named Jennifer. She renegotiated about the price, because once you're getting to the moving day, you add some things. So she came up with the new price, which I was okay with. It was all reasonable. And then the mover was very nice, and they were very great people. They called me, and we kinda became friends. They helped me load the car. It was smooth.

In the contract, the last delivery day was 17, and I have to wait about three weeks, but I understand because it was a busy season for them. So, they delivered on 18, but I'm okay with it. It was not a big deal, but I was hoping they could arrive a little bit early. When they came, it was the same driver, so we got along pretty well. And they helped us to set up everything. It was pretty good. The only complaint that I have is that one of my small tools in my tool box is gone. But that's okay. It's not too expensive. And then they didn't deliver one of the decoration kind of thing, like a little vault. But that's also okay. Overall, I'm happy, but American Van Lines should put more cameras.

Later in the first of week of July the agent Rebec* gave me tentative delivery dates - 1) Delivery was scheduled between 8th July until 12th July, 2019. 2) Delivery was re-scheduled between 15th July and 18th July, 2019 and 3) Deliver was again re-scheduled between 21st July and 22nd July, 2019 and nothing was shipped. Later the agent Rebec* called me saying the that the delivery will happen on July 25, 2019, but said your contract amount was changed due to some additional charges reported by the driver and I said there was nothing additional which was provided but she still went ahead and abruptly revised the contract price by adding the shuttle service and the packing material.

I reached out to Sam* their supervisor, but in fact he said I have to prove that the shuttle service wasn't required since the premises was able to accommodate the trailer and the second thing the driver submitted bills on my behalf by adding charges for additional services which I never asked for. To remove the charges I had to reach out to the property where they confirmed that the property allowed trucks or trailers irrespective of the shape and size. The additional packing was signed by the Driver by impersonating my signature as if I had signed the requirement for materials used and claiming the cost. I was promised that the delivery happening by July 29, 2019, but again they had some issues with the delivery dates and the reasons given was Act of Nature and God.

They revised the date to August 1st, but when they delivered it was somebody else's items shipped to us. They had to rework on dates. The delivery was done on August 7, 2019 at night around 10:30 pm PT after all distress, frustration and pain while financially taking a loss including work off which happened twice in two weeks. The worst part was there were several missing items and damaged items. There were in total 62 items, but they have delivered 59 items. They lost my Samsonite Samsung 30 inches Black polycarbonate luggage bag which had all her new pair of clothes which were more than 20+ set, perfumes, purses, important government documents, cosmetic kit, sweaters, and men's clothes. The overall estimated loss including the bag is around $3000.

The other 2 boxes has electronic items such gaming console and expensive speakers which is around $2000. It is unfortunate that their claim policy states the it will take 120 days for their resolution. They do not have delivery commitment that's for sure but they can't even deliver all the items in totality. I am 100% sure they do not have the capability of them claiming as they are into this business. It is unfortunate and one of the worst experiences that I have engaged with them. I took their services which have made my life lot distressed, miserable and frustrating. They also keep pushing on the legal and contract languages.

I have paid of their entire payments. But they haven’t confirmed on their process to resolve this in time. I have sent them several emails and Claim forms but they haven't come back on any confirmed resolution, except for mentioning that they have received the Claim forms and will take 120 days to resolve. A couple of weeks back I received call from their Sales manager who wanted to settle by offering an unacceptable refund amount of 6% of the claimed value. I appeal and request all of you to stay away from American Van Lines as they would Delay, Damage and Lose the items.

Original Review: Aug. 24, 2019

This is not just the worst moving company I’ve ever worked with, but one of the worst overall companies I’ve had the experience of hiring. From the late pick-up and rude/slow movers, to the damage and loss of our items upon delivery, this company has been nothing but a disappointment. Many of our items were delivered scratched, damaged and dirty. The worst overall however was the loss of a coffee table that my late father had hand-built in high school. This table had moved across the country with other companies twice and I never had an issue, so I never imagined I had to worry about losing it. My dad died last year and this was one of the few items I had left of him. When I called Sam, our contact at American Van Lines, he never called back (left 2 voicemails).

Finally I called and talked to someone who was kind and seemed to want to help. I received a couple of follow up emails that said it was being looked into, but after two weeks still had no update. Finally, after my fourth follow up, my email was forwarded back to Sam who said he has looped in the claims department. The fact that the claims department had not already been notified was heartbreaking. This piece of my father is gone and this company has not shown a bit of urgency, remorse or follow up about the fact that they lost it.

I strongly recommend you go with another company. This one had a lower quote which is why we chose them, and I will regret that choice for many years. These people are manipulative, careless, rude, and unprofessional. There are also many negative reviews that have been deleted because after they “resolve” an issue they send you a bogus contract that says if you want any compensation for their mistake that you have to remove the negative Yelp review. I made that mistake once and won’t again. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have during such a stressful and transitional time. Avoid American Van Lines at all cost.

Original Review: Aug. 21, 2019

I contacted few months back the American Van Lines regarding move from Providence, RI to Carmichael, CA. The initial contact with Harold ** was excellent and we discussed in details all my needs and concerns and he assured me that they are very experienced movers specializing in piano moving, as our move included my wife's baby grand piano which is needed for her to perform her job as a church musician and teacher. Our house was for sale and we agreed that I will let them know in advance the exact date of the closing so we can schedule the pick up.

They scheduled the pick up window between July 26 and July 28 and they executed the date perfectly on 26th. But, in contrary to our verbal agreement that the pick up will be done by their truck, they called me three days before the pick up date and told me that they do not have any trucks available in our area and they will send a subcontractor. That was the first problem at the pick up. The second problem was that the subcontractor didn't even know that they should move a baby grand piano and arrived without piano board which is mandatory to move instrument safely. There were only two movers and they did an excellent job wrapping furniture (everything else I packed myself).

The third problem was that they had to use a shuttle rental truck supposedly due to the fact that 18 wheeler couldn't get to our street. I understood that, but they immediately added $700 to the original estimate. So, after already paying $3000 deposit I also gave movers at the pick up $2000 and there was a balance of another $2000 due at delivery. The original estimate was $5000 and now it went up to $7000. I was fine with that and did not argue or complained, as I was prepared to that. The subcontractor who picked up our belongings on July 26 told me that we will receive our load in TEN days. Today is already 26th day from the pick up, but we not only did not have our belongings, but they don't even respond to our requests to give us a date.

Two weeks after the pick up I called our personal move coordinator named Leslee with my concern. She told me that their contractor will make the delivery between August 10 and August 12. It was a lie, as when I called her around August 14th she told me that our belongings are still in the warehouse in New York and the subcontractor is planning to start the move from there around August 19 to 21. Today is August 21 and we still haven't heard from them. After I expressed my dissatisfaction to Leslee I was contacted by her superior Sam, who told me that he is taking over our move and will personally control the process. He promised me to call me on Friday, August 16, which he did and told me that he will call me back on Monday the 19th. NO CALL ON 19.

On Tuesday the 20th I left TWO messages - one for Sam and one for Leslee, but nobody responded. At that point I left a one star review on YELP, and literally 90 SECONDS after that I received a call from Sam, who expressed his dissatisfaction with my review. I explained to him ONE MORE TIME that we live already for almost a month in California either in friends home or in the hotel. We had to buy a bed and a mattress which we do not need to be able to sleep in our empty apartment which we are paying rent for.

My wife is a piano teacher and she MUST start teaching in a few days, but she would be unable to do so without the piano and will lose her wages. We are unable to register our vehicles, take care of health insurance as all our documents are still in the load. There are also many other inconveniences and complications in addition to enormous stress which affects us both dramatically. I am 66 years old cancer survivor with heart condition, and I can not continue to live under this conditions.

Original Review: Aug. 15, 2019

I received an original quote and ended up paying almost three times the quote due to double packing charges (they make you pay for the same amount for the packing material and the packing so you pay twice for the same box). The person giving me the quote started off bad mouthing the competition and saying they hire out their movers and all the one American uses are their own - FALSE!! They are contract mover too from other companies. After the original contact for setting up the transport/packing it was a nightmare getting a hold of anyone to talk to.

I called three different people and left several VMs with no response. I called to talk to a supervisor and the first time was put through to the same person I left three previous VMs for, called back and never spoke with a supervisor but was put through to one of the people I had left two VMs for and was told by that person the other person would call me back but NEVER DID! When the movers were supposed to be at my house there is a three hour window of time they need to show up in, they didn't. 15 mins before the end of the three hours they called and said it would be another hour till they got there. It took the deliverers twice as much time to bring the boxes/furniture into the house as it did to pack and load, and when reassembling my furniture they did a half ** job and I had to tighten everything before I could sit, or use it. I could go on and on but I just don't have any more time to waste on this company!

That was a bit of a disaster. But the guy didn't mean to. He felt horrible. And the other crew members felt horrible because they felt like it reflected on them. They took like an hour off the cost of my move. They called the manager immediately and the manager said they'd adjust the cost of the hourly rates some way. Also, the guys were really nice. I went out and got breakfast and lunch for them. They were really good men. They were really accommodating with the stinky rug. I had them turn it one way because I really wanted it rolled out and put out so it could start to air-dry. And I had it put in one place, I didn't like where it was, and they were really nice about moving it to another place for me. I would use American Van Lines again.

We had a crew of four the first time, and a crew of four this time. My husband interacted with them more than I did but it went smoothly. We just noticed yesterday a little bit of furniture that we did not notice until last night from this time, so I will be reaching out to Toni about that because I'm not sure how to handle that. Other than that, American Van Lines got things in and got it taken care of for us.

Still, it was a really good experience especially considering how stressful a move is and the fact that we had so many antiques. We retired and sold our house, and we had 30 days to close. We got all of that done and moved out in 30 days. We were really stressed, and they were very considerate of that. The movers were friendly and you could tell that they were a team, that they work together and they enjoyed working together. I really enjoyed watching the interaction between them. If I moved again, I would call American Van Lines.

The following day, they showed up and they picked up everything. They were very fast loading and unloading. It's just took an extra-long time to get the things over here as it was a little longer than what they had estimated. And even though our load was underweight than the original estimate, they wouldn’t give us any discount. I was told that if we persist, we can get a little refund, but we didn't bother. Another thing, our ceramic umbrella holder was damaged. But it wasn’t a big deal and it’s not something we need to replace. Other than that, the people were very personable and helpful.

They bought a white wicker chest and I took one look on the inside to find out that they switched mine, and now I have who knows wicker chest that reminds me every time I look at it how I am a victim of a criminal act. I'm not just writing these things to get back at this company for the wrong they have done. I'm writing this review so that maybe I can save someone all the misery that this has caused me. Please people beware and cautious about this place. I have all the proof pictures and everything I need to show proof of these things. Before I hired them I read the reviews, but decided to use my own judgement and give this place a chance, WRONG choice. People can do or hire who you choose but beware. I knew I was making the wrong choice when they brokered out my contract to another company.

After I paid a deposit, very deceiving. I will not back down and be cheated this way. I could go on and on about how wrong I was done. Someone had stolen electrical cords that I use for Christmas decorations outside, I have a white comforter that someone or something had urinated on it. This is a vicious and cruel act. Cause me so much heartache and money because I paid someone to steal from me and destroy valuable items that cannot ever be replaced. Yelp I'm very upset, and will take all I have to get recovery from this devastating criminal activity.

I ended up having to call several times and had to leave a message, never getting a call back. It wasn’t until the 21st which was the first day of the 3 day window that they called to say they overbooked and were basically pawning me off to another company they apparently use when they overbook (traditional express) to pick up my things and that they would be there the next day on the 22nd. The 22nd came and I called yet again when I didn’t hear anything and was told they were behind and I wouldn’t get picked up now until the 23, the last day of the 3-day window. If I hadn’t sold my house and was closing the 24th I would have cancelled with them and went with someone else. They finally showed in a truck that wasn’t even going to be the actual truck taking my things to my new location. There were only 2 men and one couldn’t even speak English.

Apparently they were taking my belongings to NJ from my location in NY to get unloaded then loaded again on another truck to be delivered. A week went by before I ended up calling them yet again having to leave yet another message as usual with no return call. Every time I called I could never speak to anyone that could help me. I asked to speak with a manager a couple of times when they did answer and only got put through to voicemail and still got no call back. No nothing.

It is 3 weeks now and many many calls later and I still don’t have my belongings or when they are arriving. Their customer services is the worst ever. After leaving numerous messages and probably speaking to everyone in the company by now and getting passed around I finally got a call saying my belongings were leaving NJ July 6th and should be here in 3-5 days. It’s is now July 10th, the 4th day of the 3-5 day window they gave me and again having trouble reaching my customer service rep or anyone for that matter.

I finally get through to them only to be told my belongings are still in NJ and that they must have gotten me mixed up with someone else. Needless to say I am extremely pissed. No wonder they make you sign a binding contract. They want to make sure they get their money and screw you. So now who knows when I will get my belongings or if they even know where the hell they are!!!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!

I was put in touch with the local representative who came by and gave me a moving inspection and figured out what had to be crated-in. From there, the driver showed up and he exercised great care in moving my personal possessions. He moved it all up and let me know well in advance when the delivery date would be. He coordinated the delivery to storage. On the arrival date, he showed up on-time. He got help and they knocked it out in no time at all. They drove away and they were happy. I’m happy too and it was a good experience all the way around. From start to finish, it was a top-shelf job. The whole process was very smooth and with little stress just like the first one.

We had a remodel going on in Spirit Lake and the flooring just barely got in under the wire because they delivered it three days after they picked it up. It gave me leverage on the people getting the flooring done. American Van Lines could be a little more customer-friendly in terms of giving us more notice. I have a hard time believing that they figured things out the day they told me the move was gonna be three days 'cause they had to notify all the other people.

Even so, we’re glad the move happened the way it did. During the move, the crew was very good. The people who packed my things and traveled with the driver are different people and so were the guys who unpacked. The driver was the same. He found an issue during the move which was a stand which was a stand for an outdoor umbrella on which a plastic piece broke. Overall, we had a good experience with American Van Lines. Going with them worked out well for us.

Our coordinator, Elena, was phenomenal. She kept me informed at all times. I made several changes and there was no hiccups, no obstacles, no anything of the sort. She was right on it. She made the changes and sent me the paperwork immediately. Everything went smoothly. Our consultant, Kevin, was very, very informative. He didn't leave any small print. He explained everything from A to Z and gave me a ballpark of what was gonna be the final quote. With the changes and everything, there was no problem. Actually, it became lower than what he had quoted originally with the first inventory which I was extremely pleased as well.

The two guys that came and moved my stuff were clean-cut and very polite. They were right there at the dot when they said they were gonna be there. They were fast and very conscious of whatever was to be moved. I was amazed that they were done. I had the rest of the day to myself. The crew that delivered my stuff down here in Texas came a day earlier, and they called me to see if it was okay to deliver. They didn't just show up like other companies. They were also very courteous, very kind, and very conscious of what they were moving. Every single thing, they were like, "Where do you want this? Where do you want that? Where do you want this other stuff?" That was perfect.

Had put my dogs in day care for 8 hours (which should have been enough time (if they would have arrived on time and had all 4 people)). Had to pick up the dogs at 5, and now they’ve been outside in 90 degree weather for 3 hours (yes, I had ice and water for them), I couldn’t take them inside in the AC because the movers still weren’t done. Incurred extra costs for a hotel due the extra time it took to pack and load. The “coordinator” Rebecca was basically useless and shouldn’t be in a customer facing job! Once the quote was complete, couldn’t get anyone to call/email me back when I had questions. My recommendation is FIND SOMEONE ELSE. If you must use this service, buy the insurance, you will need it to replace your household goods. Oh, and of course, document everything!

The crew was great. They were two guys from Greensboro and they were very friendly and knowledgeable. They were very careful with my stuff and they packed it very well. They showed up on time. They told me it would be delivered the next day so, I drove down to meet them at the house, but they called me that day because something came up. They had to do something else so they were gonna be about four hours late, which was no problem. I was gonna be here anyway, but he kept in touch with me to let me know and was very communicative which was good. They were just so nice. I had a good experience overall, and I've told some friends about it. If I were to move again, I would call American Van Lines.

I also had trouble getting through to the customer service person once and then I called back to the person that set everything up for us. She got through to them and they called me right back. And we got what we needed. There was just some damage to our stuff, and part of that has been handled. I paid extra $85 to have a washer and dryer in there, and things were put on top of it. The dryer had some dents in it. It was a brand-new dryer, which I had for less than a month. When I talked to them, I got a refund on the $85 for each item because there were things stacked on it. Truthfully, I don’t think they would have been able to get everything in there if they hadn’t. And then, one of my sleigh beds got some things on it.

But if you compare it to what they were moving and how hard they had to work at it, it was a minor compared to what it could have been, what other nightmares I've heard about moving. The highlight of the whole thing is that the crew was excellent. They really did a good job. Both the crew that loaded and the crew that unloaded were excellent subcontractors. It was a lot of work but they stayed on the job and got my stuff loaded in one day.

The move was approximately 12 miles and it was 98% planned out. There were a few minor things that we didn't understand but the 3 guys were exceptional, and I'm comparing that to many local moving companies over the past 10 years that we've had to be abused by. Those 3 gentlemen were concerned. They were working so hard in horrible heat, but they kept going. They concerned me 'cause they didn't take any breaks. They were willing to stop and answer questions. They knew what they were doing and they had it organized. The driver was organized and they did have a new person who was training, and they all just did a fantastic job. I couldn't be more pleased. It all went well.

I let American Van Lines know what had happened. They said they would make it right. This was a full pack move by the way due to my health which American Van Lines know. I drive two days to AZ, American Van Lines calls me the day after I arrive and tells me they fired the driver and picked up the trailer, which they wanted to deliver that day. Truck shows up and they hire to people of the street to unload it. They finished at 3am in the morning leaving furniture on the curb and a bed, sofa, loveseat, large screen tv and chairs in the detached garage. This move was a nightmare and completely unprofessional. I don't post reviews but this had be said.

But I can't say enough about the movers (I'm sorry I am not sure of their names. I believe one was Jay but I've forgotten the other). They arrived exactly on time. They were personable from the moment they got out of the truck. They were very professional. They went to work immediately and did not stop working until everything was packed an on the truck. They scheduled the time for the next day and worked with my schedule. Again, were on time and were diligent with the unpacking and assisting us placing furniture and boxes. They were courteous, respectful and polite at all times. It was a pleasure dealing with them. Moving is a stressful event. I hate it. But my experience with American Van Lines made all the difference.

My suggestion stay away, Also, if you use them and they don’t deliver as promised. File a complaint with your respective states PUC (public utilities commission) along with leaving an accurate rating of their less than stellar services here on ConsumerAffairs and Google and Yelp and any other form of social media review you possibly can. A supervisor has offered to rectify the situation via “compensation” but couldn’t even give me an idea for that. $5.2k for the move alone. I expect far more than being sent to voicemail and being told “We can’t reach your pick up company.” This is a very unprofessional and dishonest company. Stay away. Far away. Let my lesson be warning to all. This isn’t the company you want doing any work for you.

When the three guys came out the first comment was “Oh you have real furniture... Not Ikea furniture. We can pick it up with one hand”. They sent out a truck that wasn’t large enough to hold my load (it already had two other persons' furniture shipment ). An hour into the move all my neighbors started telling me, "There’s no way they’re going to get your furniture on this van." I keep questioning the driver and he assured me they could get everything on this load. Of course at 5:00pm that afternoon he admitted all my belongings weren’t going to make it on this load. So he put in a request for another truck. It caused all kind of issues for me. I had to be at my closing the next day and couldn’t wait for the truck... So I had to give one of my neighbors “Power of Attorney” to allow the second shipment.

The first load was delivered two days later and second shipment over a week later. I had an expensive new rug that was still in original plastic wrapping... They used box cuter to open it and apparently put a 6” slice in the new rug. I didn’t catch the damage until several days later when I vacuumed it. Also the most expensive piece of furniture (Link Taylor armoire) I have was damaged. When the movers were bringing it in the head guy in charge also went into a panic when the other two put all the weight on the legs. I thought at the time how strange a reaction. A couple of weeks later I noticed the legs separating! I had a furniture repairman come out and he told me someone had tried to glue this together... truly think they damaged it in moving from my previous home and attempted to repair while this shipment was in storage for a week.

No way can anyone account for all damage or missing items on the day of delivery... I had a hand painted book case missing, a TV. And damage to the rug and dinning buffet. I sent the pictures of missing items and damage. My move pick up was on Dec 6th and 7th. Just today I received a letter asking me to settle for $150.00. They operate a bait and switch type operation. Unless you take out additional ins. They only pay .60 on the dollar based on the weight. Just a warning... Be extra careful dealing with these people. Lots of fine print. And don’t be fooled by the sales dept that “they do estimates all the time over the phone”. Use a company that sends out their rep and is somewhat bound to honor their representative est of cost... Not a lay person whose belonging are being shipped!! My move cost me $7500+ in lieu of the $3800. That was quoted to me.

2. Movers (NOT AVL - A THIRD PARTY in "Sprinter vans") showed up 4 hours late to pick up our pieces. Original window, 2-6. They showed up between 7:30-8PM. We didn't have much, a 1 bedroom apartment. We had to miss our going away party with friends we had scheduled for the evening. 3. Still feeling positive about the choice our consultant said the pieces left NJ on May 1 and should arrive the following week. Great! 4. We arrive in Seattle and wait... May 7th turned into Wednesday the 15th. The driver, a NEW THIRD PARTY not affiliated with the company who picked up our things, said they couldn't deliver to our apartment with the larger truck and we would have to pay an ADDITIONAL $300 to transport to a smaller truck (literally a U-HAUL) to get to us. Meanwhile, we live on a large, open, 4 lane road where many busses and trucks commute regularly. We argued this but to no avail.

5. Our pieces arrive, IN SAID U-HAUL, with a driver who was lovely, but said he was the middleman and had no say in if the truck would fit on our street. As pieces started being brought in EVERY BOX looked like it had been through HELL. Things marked fragile/glass were clearly beaten up and broken, boxes with clothes had busted at the seams. He said it was because we used Home Depot boxes. If movers see HD boxes not withstanding cross country moves, why not alert us of that AVL?

All in all, we felt extremely taken advantage of considering that we were sold on working with a company that is excellent, an A on the BBB. Meanwhile we feel we were forced into paying more money, our things were NOT handled with care, and the whole experience left a bitter taste. We will not be working with AVL nor recommending them ever again.

As far as the move goes, my stuff had to be put in a storage locker. And when we finally were able to get our stuff out of the storage locker, there were some items that were not sitting in the right way. They were stacked too high up and the heavy stuff was on the lighter boxes so we had some crushed stuff. But the two guys that were doing it, were very nice. They let us know when they were coming, where they were at, when they’d be there, when they’re leaving and when they’d show up -- the whole nine yards. So, they did a good job about that. They have good prices and the staff are awesome.

They were real honest about the weight of the truck as well, because they showed us the ticket when they weighted it empty and then when they weighted it full. Anything you could challenge them on about kind of ripping you off, never happened. They’re really upfront. They always called us and were on time. They were very pleasurable to be around.

The bad part was, the things that were supposed to come did not come and the things that were not supposed to come did come. And it wasn’t really till I got here in Florida and moved into a place and started unpacking that I realized what happened. It's been very disappointing. But I lived in a house that had a large upstairs and basement, and at the time, I was trying to run up and down telling them which ones would go and which one wouldn't. So, there was kind of a miscommunication with the guys because somebody else would come and pack there and didn’t know that I said that it should't be packed. Also, I did not tell American Van Lines about that because there was no way to go back and get those things. It was done, so I didn’t know what else should be done.

The only other thing was, when they had to pack some of my stuff, they used paper. But my things should’ve been packed with bubble paper or something else that was more protective as I have found several things that have been broken and they're not replaceable. Other than that, the crew was great, very helpful and very professional.

Original Review: April 30, 2019

I hired American Van Lines for a 90 miles move that I had and they were easy to work with. And the lady, Toni, was extremely helpful. My house was for sale so she went online ahead of time to look at all the pictures to get an estimate as to what the weights may be, and then worked from there. She was flexible in scheduling.

However, the way American Van Lines did their billing was very unfair. I told the guy who came over about that, and it took him probably two hours on phone calls to go back to whoever he would go back to to work out. And then they went in my favor, but it was just frustrating because that was two hours that my household goods sat there in front of the apartment. So there was a delay with the service. They had ran out hours and that put me in a real bind because I got this thing scheduled two months in advance. I was extremely frustrated and disappointed that American Van Lines didn’t do something to work with me as a customer. I had to be out and then get the house cleaned for the move-in, and I had to move in an apartment.

Even so, the moving crew was fine. They did their job and they were easy to work with. But I would definitely make sure there’s a big clarification financially. And the way it worked is - we had an agreement that I would be charged X number of dollars per hour for a pod that had to get loaded. But then I ended up getting charged not only the per hour cost. I get charged for the weight of the boxes as well. So it was almost like I was double-charged. I was so frustrated that when I disagreed and we did it, I still really felt I was not treated fairly.

When they came to Florida, they put everything where I asked them to. They put things together that they had had to take apart, like the legs off of tables. I have some glass top tables and they were careful about that. I also have two china cabinets that have glass shelves in them and they very carefully put all the shelves in. They were really good workers, and very thorough. It didn't seem like they were rushed or they were trying to get done in a hurry.

I had a couple of broken dishes, but it was no big deal. Everything was wonderful. My only problem was that it took three weeks for them to deliver my furniture. I had thought it would be faster than that. From my house in Arizona, I was told that they went to California, and then they went to Texas. But then, they had to wait for some time for some person in Texas to pay them. And then eventually, they were able to get to Florida. I had to sleep on a cot while I waited and it was uncomfortable for me. I just kept thinking any minute, they would show up. When they got here, they were efficient, extremely courteous and very capable. If I have to move again, I would use American Van Lines and I would recommend them to people that I knew were moving.

Then, the times were long. Both the pick-up and the delivery happened outside of the windows that were given to us. While we were given something in compensation for that, still, it happened. But in the end, the move went well and all of our goods were delivered without harm so we were pleased with all that we got. The movers on either end were very responsible as well. One of the movers who loaded my stuff was the warehouse manager. Overall, we were relatively happy with American Van Lines.

However, we had to put our stuff in storage because we didn't have a house when we relocated to Florida. We had to sell our house first, and the company puts us here, and then we had to find a house here. Our experience down here was good but, when we were moving into our home and getting our stuff, our experience was completely different. The crew handled the transport well. It was fine on the way but one of their guys forgot to pack a whole bathroom. He also forgot to pack up some stuff in the garage. He told a guy that he needed to hurry because his niece was dying of cancer which I did not know if it was true.

Also, they didn't have enough space in the truck for us. They had two other homes in there and they had to put some of our belongings on the outside of the truck. They accidentally packed up my keys and they found they had to go back through the boxes and found my keys. It took them maybe two days to pack up our house and load it up. I called about a week in advance and told them that we're moving into our house. Our closing date was like the 15th and I asked them if they could bring all of our stuff by the 19th because we were getting the house painted. At first, I was told no and that I wouldn't be able to get for another month. And then, I was told if it could be a day earlier and it was fine with me. Then, I got called again and they said it will be on Saturday. I said yes but that was the last day because we had to be out of the company housing on Saturday.

An hour before they were supposed to be here, I got a call asking if they can book it back until Monday. I told them I needed them here that day. They were supposed to be here in an hour and we had no place to go. So, the lady said that the crew won’t be able to get here until around 3 or 4. I said they gotta work through the night and my stuff gotta be put together in the house. The crew got here about 3:00 and at first, it was going pretty fast. Then, about halfway through, they started slowing down.

Around 8:00, the sun started going down. We brought a brand-new house but it did not have any lights in the bedroom. They crew started complaining that they had to take stuff upstairs. They didn't have time to put our stuff together. They had to go or they would have to sleep in the truck. It ended up that my daughter’s dress had holes stuck in the back of it, our couch was damaged and a lot of our personal coats and glass was broken. The guy who brought it here stuck some of our stuff in a very small truck and it looked like he just piled stuff on top of each other without any cause or care of how he did it.

My dresser is missing a hook as well and they did not know where it was. In fact, half of our stuff was in our garage and they didn't even put it in the rooms that they belonged in. My husband works, so it was just me trying to bring stuff from the garage inside the house. It was horrible. The unpacking outweighed the good of getting everything here. The bad is up in our mind more than the good does and one bad thing erases a lifetime of good. I may use American Van Lines again but I'd be sterner on how I would want things down instead saying they are professionals and they have it.

They took off overnight and the following morning, they turned up to the new house and unloaded in a day so it took them two days in total. They did good work. It was impressive as there was one breakage in the entire thing but we just found out about three weeks after the move that we are one small box short. I must call them to find out but I'm sure they didn’t locate it because they would have called if they realized it by now. Despite that, they're very good.

There was a driver who coordinated with crews both in Oregon and in Wyoming, and the interaction with the driver was very good. He was amazingly competent and getting the truck packed and getting our things here safely. He hired a crew in Oregon and they did a good job of getting boxes packed and on to the truck. When he got to Wyoming, there is a moving company here that he contracted with to come and help, and they were not good. The driver got here late in the first place, again, because of weather. So it was late in the day when they got here. But we ended up with boxes in the wrong rooms. We ended up with boxes in the basement that should've been upstairs and vice versa. They ended up moving probably the last 20% just setting them in our garage. And so, we had to move them into the house. So, I was not happy with the crew in Wyoming at all.

Still, that was no reflection on American Van Lines. They hired the best they could find. I've used different moving companies for different reasons, and American Van Lines has performed better than anybody else I've worked with. I especially was happy with the estimate because I got estimates from other companies, and theirs was comparable. And we actually saved a couple thousand dollars from the original estimate.

However, the moving coordinator didn't live up to the excellence that we had with the rep. We didn't feel like her communication was timely enough. She said she would let me know about the move by a certain day or time. But then, she dropped the ball and didn't call. The date range was one of the hang-ups I was having at the time because our son had to get out of the dorms and I didn't wanna stay in a hotel longer than we had to see the items. There was a day when we thought their mover was coming but then the coordinator called me back and told me that they couldn't do it. Though we got the job done with her, it wasn't at the level of excellence that I expected given our encounter with Dory. Despite that miscommunication, the mover worked hard and got the move done the second day thereafter.

The way their movers loaded up my son's things looked very unorganized from the perspective of someone who's a type A control freak. Their mover pulled out other people's stuff out of the truck and had those things all over my driveway. At the time, I hoped that if they had three or four stops in between, that the driver would not be pulling out our stuff onto somebody else's driveway. Still, he obviously knew what he was doing.

American Van Lines people loaded, delivered and unloaded the boxes. The crew was good and the guy's skill level was fantastic. They thought they'd have to offload to a satellite truck because the driver had a big semi-truck and he couldn't maneuver that at the Orlando location. Instead, he was able to back the semi-truck at an angle that was like putting a square peg in a round hole.

We have a move coming up and I'll be calling Dory again to see what she can do for us. For a normal person, working with American Van Lines is a worry-free experience. Their coordinator gave a two-week window and the timing was good. Everything turned out great.

The claims process has been ongoing for over 2 and a half months. Today we finally get a letter stating they be doing absolutely nothing about it. There reasoning being that we did not immediately write the inventory log that anything was damaged. Well the TV still in the box. Even if I would have pulled it out of the box I would have had to set it up and turn it on before knowing there was a problem. Also their inventory list is a carbon copy jumble of unreadable text. If you are unfortunate enough to use this awful company make sure to make a clear, readable copy of your inventory list and DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING until you have unboxed and turned on everything of value.

Then, when they unloaded, they put stuff on the shed that I had delivered to the property. I would recommend that they put a little forethought into it when they start unloading stuff. They didn't leave any access for me to get to the back of the shed so I can get stuff back there. I ended up having to unload a bunch of stuff to get to it. I hired a moving company since I have had back surgery. I'm 63 years old and a disabled vet. I can't do heavy lifting stuff like that. Despite that, they did the job and worked steadily.

Original Review: April 9, 2019

I recently moved from Houston, Texas to Clover, South Carolina. My move was work related. After reviewing several companies online I chose to go with American Van Lines. The initial experience with the sales team was exceptional. I worked with Harold and he held our hand through the entire process, even when things got ugly.

Our nightmare experience was with the movers and drivers. In Houston we had items in the garage that we planned moving into storage once the items got to South Carolina. When we loaded we asked the driver and movers if they would load the items first or last because they'd go into storage. We also asked if the items would be labeled. The reply from the driver was that "It didn't matter because the items were being loaded into a larger truck". That turn to be the biggest mistake! When the items were delivered the driver in South Carolina hijacked our property because he did not want to make two stops: one at the storage and one at the apartment. He refused to unload. We had a back and forth with the office and the driver but he continued to change his story. He then said he couldn't unload because we had not paid. This was not true.

We called the office again sorted that out and then he still refused to unload because he said the items were not "tagged". We ended up in a back and forth with the driver and the customer service desk. We even had the customer service desk doubting our accounts of the driver's behavior. Harold ** and Cicely were superstars. Both tried to intervene and resolve the issues. In the end the damage had been done. Our experience had been ruined by the drivers and packers. When we started going through our items we found several damaged and loose items. How can you not pack something? After our nightmare experience we're hesitant to file a claim. If you're a customer looking for movers I would recommend you look harder.

Cost is rising quickly. This we feel is something they should have told us from the beginning and shame on us for not asking every detail of moving, such as the length of the trailer that is coming to a neighborhood home. We knew our belongings would fit in a 26 foot truck and didn't consider a trailer that large. Should have been upfront with that information. We were told that the shuttle truck would leave our home and go to scales to weigh our belongings before being transferred to this 80 foot trailer for shipment to Michigan.

Now it has been 8 days since picking up our belongings that we are charged by the weight and American Van Lines have yet been able to quote us an exact weight and cost of our shipment. They have 2 weeks to deliver our belongings to a storage unit in Michigan. This 80 foot truck/trailer would have to go to a location to transfer our belongings to a shuttle truck and then our storage unit. This is where we are in limbo. 8 days after our household has been picked up by American Van Lines with no quote on the cost that should have been calculated by April 1st, maybe even April 2nd. It is April 9th people.... Bad April Fools on us. Beware of movers. Ask every little detail. To be continued....

I cannot say enough about Roberto, the driver and on-site leader who conducted the packing, loading, and delivery. He and his helpers were professional, experienced, very careful, courteous, and everything was packed, loaded, and delivered with NO damage!!! I was extremely impressed. Roberto was amazing! His experience and performance exceeded all of my anxieties and concerns. I went with American Van Lines because they are the one-stop shop for all moving issues rather than a broker who not only farms out the move execution but also the related responsibilities. American did not disappoint. Roberto did not disappoint AND he exceeded all expectations! Go with American.

So it was after 9 pm until they started and after midnight till they left. Neighbors with young children were upset because of how late their truck and movers were there being loud. They didn’t wrap most of my stuff and all of my bigger items were damaged in some way. Several of my shipping containers were totaled. Just a bunch of hired bodies who what had no idea what they were doing. I have an email from AVL trying to buy my silence and never mention this experience. They said, "Here is 150 for your troubles but you can never say anything bad about us and you have to change anything already out there." It was for $150. No joke. This is a legit review. Don't use this company. Be forewarned. You will be disappointed.

Lo and behold, the driver calls us back and he can make it on the 27th. When he shows up, he asks my husband why he called American Van Lines as "They don't know what I have on my truck." He was extremely argumentative and confrontational from the get go. After he loaded my mother's goods he left to the weigh station and sent my husband a text and stated that the weight of the items was almost 7000 lbs! My husband immediately called American Van Lines to dispute the weight. They advised us that when the driver came to drop off the items, we could meet them at the weigh station to watch them weigh the truck full and follow them back after they unload the truck and watch them reweigh. We were completely fine with that. The driver called Friday (March 1) and let us know that he was swapping our load with another driver from the same company.

My husband called American Van Lines to assure that the initial driver would inform the new driver of the reweigh that we requested. We sent our credit card information to American Van Lines along with a copy of my driver's license. The New driver calls my husband on Saturday morning and advised my husband that he could deliver Sunday morning, and my husband reminded him about the reweigh. He said he would call my husband 30 min before he arrived at the scale so my husband could meet him there. The driver arrived at the scale then called my husband Sunday morning. When my husband arrived at the scale (which was almost 30 min away from our home), he informed us they didn't receive payment from American Van Lines. My husband showed the driver the email where we sent the payment information to American Van Lines, but he said they did not get it.

He then asked my husband to talk to the original driver who was on the phone, who then accused my husband of trying to skip out on payment. When my husband offered to provide the credit card information that we provided to American Van Lines, the 3rd party carrier refused to accept the credit card payments and stated they would place our stuff in storage and we would have to pay daily storage. When my husband stated that the contract with American Van Lines states we can pay with credit/debit/cash/money order, the 3rd party supplier refused to accept any form of card, and demanded we pay cash or money order for the initial weighed amount which was roughly $7000. This is almost $4500 more than what our initial quote was. When we asked about the reweigh, they then said they would not give us a refund. We would have to take that up with American Van Lines.

American Van Lines stated we were to get the refund from the driver. The 3rd party carrier proceeded to leave and place our stuff in storage and my husband followed them and proceeded to call the authorities because it was obvious we were being scammed by this 3rd party. The officer tried to reason with the 3rd party, but could not intervene as he stated this was civil matter and not criminal. During all this, since it was Sunday, we were unable to get ahold of anyone at American Van Lines, including the after hours contact number. We had to leave without retrieving our items. I immediately emailed all our contacts at American Van Lines to let them know what had happened. They responded first thing Monday morning apologizing profusely for the incident. They then advised us that our items were to be delivered March 5th.

March 5th came and an agent (Rebecca) called my husband and asked if our items had been delivered which they had not. We never heard back from American Van Lines. My husband sent a follow up email that evening around 5:30EST asking for an update, in which we were told by the manager we were working with (Yesenia). She had forward our issue to Samuel (the leading Manager) who had been working to get an update. Samuel reached out to us around 730 EST and let us know that we should have our items delivered on Monday, March 11 and again apologized for the inconvenience and that we would be compensated and he would reach out to us on Friday to let us know what that would entail.

He left us a message letting us know that once again, the delivery would not happen until Wednesday through Friday. We are now WELL outside the 10 day guarantee of delivery as the items are sitting in a storage facility near our home. We attempted to contact American Van Lines today March 11 3 times, and have not heard back. My card has been charged for the FULL AMOUNT of roughly $7000 plus the $1200 we initially put down to have them come in the first place. We did not sign a contract with the 3rd party supplier that American Van Lines used, we signed it with American Van Lines. Today is day 12 with no real solid information on when we can expect our items to be delivered, with my cards fully charged for a weight that we strongly believe is incorrect.

Original Review: March 6, 2019

Stay away from this company! They destroyed a bedroom dresser (not repairable), misplaced a leg for an expensive China cabinet, and damaged (fractured off the trim, and scratched the finish) on a $7000 dining table. 3 floor lamps worth hundreds of dollars are damaged (fractured ceramic, and bent iron stems). Several pieces of our China was broken into pieces, despite being in boxes labeled "fragile" or "glass." Those boxes were crushed by the movers. Our aluminum patio furniture have scratches all over them, and they fractured the axle on a metal antique gardening cart. Two original oil paintings were not packaged at all, and exposed to pieces of furniture. The glass shattered in a few picture frames, and scratched the photos inside them, and one of the frames has to be thrown away due to severe damage.

I am glad that more pieces weren't damaged. I am still opening boxes, so hopefully won't find too much more in damage. I wish they could have been more careful, especially at the prices I paid. Their packaging rates are so high. They took more than 12 hours to load my stuff into the truck. I hired a different moving company (who I gave 5 stars to) to take the same items out of storage and into my house, and the entire load and unload only took them 6 hours. And the new guys were much more careful, efficient, and reasonably priced.

Do NOT use American Van Lines!!! I filed a claim in December 2018 for the damages, including clear photos, and they responded in March 2019, saying I should consider a $444 settlement to drop my claims against them. What an insult, for such a paltry sum, considering the damages and inconveniences they caused to my family and me. My huge mistake was I was not physically present when the movers delivered my items... so they took the liberty to be careless and downright destructive. They are using that against me, to defend their horrible actions. NEVER AGAIN!

Original Review: March 1, 2019

Disorganized is the best word to describe my experience. I was given 10 hours notice for pickup and only because I called the main line to ask. According to the site, it should be 24 hours. The pick up movers were nice guys but unprofessional and slow. My things were haphazardly shoved into the moving truck and it took 2 hours to move a 1 bedroom apartment from a storage unit to a moving truck parked 10 feet away.

Also, know that I was given a 3 to 25 day window for delivery and it took 22 days. I wasn't quite prepared to live without my belongings that long. From the sales rep, I received multiple emails regarding my bill amount due and how to pay it but was not able to secure a delivery date. I had to call the main phone number to finally get a date, which according to their records they had known for 3 days. My delivery date was delayed by an additional day, but I understand that these things happen.

The delivery guys were AMAZING! They came on time, were professional and quick. But now that I've unpacked I realize there are things missing. It's nothing huge (lamp shades, trash can, linens) but it all costs money to replace. Be aware that their refund policy for damaged/lost items is $0.60/pound, so I will not be getting much for my trouble. Moral of the story: They aren't the best and they aren't the worst. Just very mediocre. I'd pick another company, if I had to do it all over.

We did have some items that were marginally damaged though, and we only found out recently. We moved into our house about two weeks ago and some of the stuff had been in storage for a couple of months. But I reached out to American Van Lines and they seemed to be willing to address it. They provided me with an email address to send photos of the damaged stuff. It's some stuff that had some meaning to us but it's nothing too significant and other than that, I'm happy with the service.

I had two gentlemen during the move and they were very nice and friendly. They came in and worked hard from the time that they came in to the time they left. It took two hours to box me up and get me moved and another two hours to get me into the new place which is about six miles down the road. American Van Lines is good and I am gonna use them again when I move again in the spring. I had a good experience between the move, packing up, moving out and putting everything together. It was better than I thought it would be.

American Van Lines said that when they picked up the stuff, the move could take up to two weeks, but they got there in three days. The only problem was we were missing a bunch of boxes and don’t know where they were. I think there were three moves on the truck, and they called us at one point and asked us if we had a couch. But we didn’t have an extra couch, so they lost somebody's couch and they also lost a couple of boxes.

I had put in a claim but unfortunately, I couldn’t prove anything because I didn’t have the barcodes for the boxes. One box contained a couple of antique, Chinese jewelry boxes and there was some cheap jewelry in there. I don’t know what the boxes themselves would be valued at today, but I’ve had them for 30 to 40 years, so they’re sentimental. However, at the beginning of December, they said it could take ‘til the end of January for them to evaluate the claim.

We were called around 11:00 AM on 11/6/18, the day that they were supposed to pack and pick-up, that they could not come that morning because the truck had broken down and would call us when it was repaired. We did not know at that time that they were in Fresno, CA which is 119 miles away, approximately a 2.5-hour drive with normal traffic. It was also at this time that we found out our job was brokered out to Energy Moving. At that time, we looked up this company to discover that their online reviews were horrible. We were called later that day to tell us that they truck was not going to be fixed in time to pick us up that that and would “try” for the next day.

We had arranged for a hotel that evening at the Best Western in Gilroy, we called, explained our situation and they graciously canceled our reservation with no penalty. The next morning, we waited for word from the movers and they finally arrived mid-afternoon. The packing and loading began and quickly became a fiasco. I went through the house explaining what need to be packed, what stayed and showed them an area where I had put everything that was not to be packed and was going with us.

Numerous times we noticed that breakable items were being put into a box with no protection or wrapping and not necessarily with like items. Example one box contained: a lamp, the shade, yoga mat, silver mantle clock and clothes from master closet. Nothing was wrapped, and the clothes were just laying on top of it all, instead of being hung in the wardrobe boxes.

About 2 hours into the packing (by this time it was dark outside) boxes were all over the carport and street, I noticed that my purse was missing. It had been placed in the area with the other items that were not to be packed. When I told the driver about this, he explained that it couldn’t be, that I must be mistaken. No, it was packed. I went out with one of the packers and opened approximately 20 boxes and finally found it at the bottom of a wardrobe box. The box was also packed with hanging clothes and clothes that were just wadded up and pushed through to the bottom. It also contained other household items that did not come out of the clothes closet. During the search, I found numerous of these 20 boxes that were not properly packed - some items from all over the home just thrown into boxes with no organization at all.

We were supposed to be staying in Fernley, NV that night at the Super 8 Motel but had to cancel our reservation and pay over $120.00 for the room because it was taking long to pack. At 12:30 AM on 11/8/18 the movers finally finished what was supposed to be a 5 hour job. My husband and I drove to Sacramento, approximately 150 miles and arrived around 3:00 AM and stayed at the La Quinta Inn.

The morning of 11/8/18 we left Sacramento and drove to Winnemucca, NV spent a night. The next day we drove to Caldwell, ID. We stayed in the La Quinta Inn. We kept in constant communication with American Van Lines - numerous personnel trying to get a date for delivery. It was on one of these calls that we were told that they had until 11/18/18 to deliver per our contract. This was obviously very upsetting and explained that no one had ever mentioned this to us, but after reviewing the contract we saw that the date had been amended from what had been agreed to. It but still did not believe that it could take that long. In fact, the driver had told us that it could be there as early as the 11th. Our original reservation had been from 11/10/18 to 11/14/18. We had to extend our reservation at the hotel 3 times, each time with no guarantee of a delivery day, except to say that the contract said it had to be there by the 11/18/18.

The movers finally arrived at 7:00 AM on 11/22/18 which was Thanksgiving Day. While unpacking our belongings, we discovered that very important items were missing: a file cabinet with tax records, passports, military records, medical records; statue that was the last gift received from a deceased parent, and furniture. A couple of days later, fortunately it was found in a crate that was left behind in Fresno. They finally delivered it to us the following week. It was on this delivery that we found out that the crew had been overbooked by their office and should have been here days before. Instead, our delivery had been diverted. The crew was sent to a client that had a huge home with museum quality goods to pack and move, which took an additional 3 days.

Further, getting up the day after the initial delivery we discovered that our very expensive mattress, which had been wrapped and loaded on the outside of the truck had gone through a snowstorm, was wet. When we called to discuss this urgent matter, we were told to just file a claim. This was no help at all. We had to give up our holiday with friends, we had to extend our stay at the hotel, we were mentally stressed due to all of these factors. All of this is bad enough, but with all the extra days in motels and having to buy 3 meals per day we spent well over $1,400.00 that we had not budgeted for. What should have been a joyous move, retiring and moving to a new home turned out to be a nightmare which we are still financially and emotionally suffering from. Please never hire these people, they are a disaster.

However, the movers got there late. Plus, they didn’t have the tools that they needed to take the furniture apart. One of our family members had to run the supervisor to Walmart to buy tools. He thought he was gonna have to pay for the tools himself and finally got a hold of the right person at American Van Lines. I had asked for certain things to be wrapped, but they went overboard with it and were wrapping up everything in the whole house. I finally had to stop them because we had paid for a certain amount of hours. They were just eating up time constantly wrapping stuff. I felt like they were trying to add more time.

Once the movers got here at our new home, they kept watching their watches. They knew they were past the time that they had allotted for us to move. When they got there, they didn’t have to move anything, except for the refrigerator, the appliances, and the furniture. My husband had just about done it all for them. He ended up moving the majority of what we moved to our new house.

The movers tried fitting a French door refrigerator through a door that was obviously too small. Instead of stopping, all of them got in behind that refrigerator and tried to push it through that door. What they did to our refrigerator was awful. It’s dented, scratched and has white paint all over it from the house. It’s a black refrigerator. I mailed in the claim about a week or two after we moved in, which was in October and we have not heard anything back. I’ll never use American Van Lines again.

It's my understanding that they move more than one family at a time, so they have more than our stuff on there. I don't know if they rearrange things later as they move on to pack someone else's things in the truck, but we had a bad situation with a very expensive dining room table. They took my table apart, which I wasn't really thrilled about, and I didn't like the idea that they wanted it completely unassembled. But when they got it to this end, nobody could put it back together, and it was a fiasco. The table still does not sit right because they took it apart, so we're dealing with it as it is. I think what they were trying to do was take everything apart so they could fit as much in that truck as possible. By doing so, they could damage things. Still, the people at American Van Lines were nice and they worked really hard. They were not perfect and they made a few screw-ups, but for the most part, they were good.

Register a complaint on movingscam.com. Notify the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Lodge a complaint with the Department of Transport (DOT). File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). File a complaint with Consumer Affairs. Notify Move Rescue for assistance. American Van Lines Inc has consistent pricing with all other movers so be warned.

I was on the top floor of an old 1920's building in Washington, DC and they needed to move my one bedroom full of stuff. It was over 3,000 pounds of furniture and belongings, so they needed to move that out and down. Since I was in the city, they couldn't bring their semi-truck in, so they needed to go to U-Haul and get a shuttle vehicle to move all that stuff in. They were able to do all of that and then, they drove that 1,600 miles to South Texas. The crew was quick, pleasant, professional and good communicators. We liked them. The rep who assisted me with my move knew what I was talking about. She didn’t get any of the information mixed up which could happen when you are coordinating a bunch of different moves for a bunch of different people. She was able to keep everything straight so, it was easy. I never feared when I called her that she didn't know who I was.

We had a good moving crew. They were very helpful, quick and did everything that they needed to do.There was somebody who put a dent in the wall. But it was fixable. They did their job well and I appreciated them. We got along really good. They picked up the day before we were supposed to move into the new house, and it was right during the holiday too. But then the guy who was buying our house, had some problems at the last minute with his getting the approval of FHA. So there were some real questions about whether or not we would be able to move into the house.

When we checked the moving company they said, “Well, we had to take everything off of the trucks and put it in the storage. And then we’ll have to put it back on the trucks, and it’s gonna cost you extra for that time period because we need our trucks.” I told my realtor we weren’t gonna pay a lot of extra money because his realtor should’ve known that everything needed to have been finalized before they told us. But it eventually got straightened out and it was only a day delay by time they delivered it. Overall I would recommend American Van Lines. If somebody asked me who we had I would tell them and say that I was pleased.

I knew ahead of time that the initial amount was based off of an estimate, and everything with the move was done based off of the weight of the truck and the weight of my stuff. So, I didn’t understand why it was taking so long. It didn’t really matter if there were little boxes or not. I used small wine and beer boxes to pack things so they were easier to lift versus using bigger boxes. Instead of having the normal-sized moving box that would be three times as much in weight, I used a wine box. There might have been more boxes, but the weight was about the same. Yet that played into the fact that we didn’t get the move done in one day.

The other issue was that they said they would get there between 9:00 and 11:00. My thought was if you’re trying to move somebody in one day, you would get there at 9:00, especially when there’s a four-hour drive between locations. But they got there at 11:15, which kinda put it out of the same-day move. In my mind, at that point, I had to get a hotel room because my bed was on the moving truck, so I wasn’t overly happy with that. Plus, I have a dog, and there are always extra charges with dogs in hotel rooms.

American Van Lines had me talk to the lady in Texas that set up the move, and also to the local dispatcher in North Carolina. But there has never been any conversation with anybody about compensation for all the troubles I went through. American Van Lines did a good job with the actual move. They moved everything properly, and I only had one or two things that were broken, so I was happy with that. If I'm trying to get the move done in a day, I’d probably go with one of the smaller companies where I could talk to the people ahead of time and get them on the same page.

American Van Lines said they had tried to get in touch with me early in the week. But I was finishing out a job, and I work 12-hour days as a physician’s assistant, so there was no time to talk on the phone. But I was told everything was set up and I was told what was gonna happen. When somebody tells me there’s a 95% chance something is gonna happen, that’s my expectation. Still, they did not lie to me. They just didn’t exactly push the truth all the way.

that might have been what caused the problem with the door. Since too much time had passed, I didn't contact American Van Lines anymore. Besides, stuff like that happens when one moves and the people were really nice.

The lady that set it up the first part of our move was very helpful. And then the guys that came out and picked up our furniture were professional and knew what they were doing. They packed our goods up and they went to Greensboro. Then I talked to the coordinator. She called me and I filled out the necessary paperwork to have it moved on, and then I paid the freight charge to have it moved down to Carolina Shores. The group that came down here told us they were gonna be here at 10 o’clock, and they were right on the spot. They did what they said they were gonna do. And in two hours, they had the furniture unloaded and it was great.

They advised us that we had more modern marble top coffee table that was broken and I submitted a claim for that. The lady said we would hear something by the end of November and it's going into December now. Also, I have a small Road Trip grill which wasn’t broken when we've seen it, but it was broken when it was delivered. I had a thing in to American Van Lines for that. But 90% of the goods weren’t broken and everything is in good shape. American Van Lines did well and I was satisfied with them.

A threat right in the middle of loading was a ballsy and dirty move. Oh, and they didn't deliver the day that they said they would. We waited all day on the day the guy said they would come and they didn't show until the next day (didn't bother to call and let us know). These are just a few things that I had to go through with this company. I read a few positive reviews without looking deeper. Believe the negative reviews and save yourself the added stress and headache of dealing with this company. DON'T USE THIS COMPANY!

The moving team was fantastic. When they got delayed in Massachusetts, they asked if it would be okay to come the next morning and I agreed. They let me know ahead of time that they had issues with a different move. Also, they were thorough when they arrived. I do not plan to move again, but if I do, I will use American Van Lines.

During delivery, I couldn't tip the delivery crew because the bank was so far away, so I offered to buy them lunch for $75 as tip. However, they were frustrated about that. The lead guy came back and had gotten one of our heaviest piece of furniture into one of the bedrooms. He asked me if I wanted him to move it up against the wall and I told him yes. I ran out, grabbed something and came back. That was when I saw the furniture was turned upside down. I still have heavy furniture that I can’t move by myself turned upside down. We ended up taking care of it ourselves.

However, there was an accident that happened at the end when they unloaded our stuff. When they put our king-size bed together, accidentally, the headboard fell to the ground. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. I filed a claim for compensation because we didn't purchase the extra insurance. They gave us a good pay for the estimate of how many pounds of the king bed. They agreed to pay around $100 something. We agreed to that and they sent me a check.

The move was for a two-bedroom townhouse and it was the furniture in it and then a lot of the stuff that was in the furniture and stuff I thought the grandchildren would want. From there they took care of everything. They wrapped them, they boxed them they did everything that I asked them to take. Overall, American Van Lines was great. They had less than 24-hour notice and they were there and got everything up to Pennsylvania. I can't complain.