United Van Lines

Please please please my fellow Americans, I recommended you do not use this dishonest, incompetent company. No one should be subjected to this kind of dishonest business. If they will be dishonest with an American Veteran who has fought in 7 campaigns to give them the freedom to be in business, what won’t they do to the rest of our great people.

When it came time to load our house the following day a box truck showed up. When we spoke to the rep we were told an 18 wheeler would arrive and our belongings would be taken directly to TX to our new location. The movers who arrived at our house told us our belongings were being taken to a warehouse and then would be placed on a truck. That was the second problem, again not what we discussed with the coordinator lady. I was in a hurry to get to TX for obligations so I agreed.

Arrival day in TX. Communications were poor, I had to call several times to get arrival times. When we opened the 18 wheeler the first thing I saw was my push mower sitting on the brand new leather couch with no moving pads, protected anything, the couch was completely scratched and torn. When all furniture left our home it was covered, wrapped and protected. It now was not at all. The driver told me they unwrapped all of our items in the warehouse to "inspect them for damage". He then told me he noticed broken picture frames and stuff as the truck was being loaded. Part of the fees we had paid was for extra insurance and for movers to unload the truck upon arrival.

The workers never showed, the driver got into a yelling match on my cell phone with his dispatch (his cell phone did not work, a whole other story). The 62 year old driver, myself and my brother in law who had to leave work unloaded the truck. All of our 6 month old leather furniture was unwrapped and damaged, a custom built epoxy table that was an anniversary gift to my wife was damaged, boxes crushed glass shattered in boxes marked fragile glass. We paid a professional company premium pricing and got horrible results!!! The claims process is horrible, the extra insurance is actually a scam and part of United Van lines so they have their own best interest in mind. Bottom line, Move it yourself and do not trust this company with what you worked so hard in life to have.

We ended up with furniture which wasn't ours and some of our stuff, including my husband's work computer, went to the next people. The hardware for the elliptical (which we paid extra to move) was nowhere to be found. I filed the claim for damages more than three months ago and am still waiting for resolution. H. **, the customer service manager, was either impossible to reach, unhelpful or downright hostile. An absolute disaster.

The movers and packers were unprofessional to say the least. Their packing crew only packed our home for a few hours, leaving over 50% unpacked. After multiple discussions with the salesperson, one packer showed up on the day of the move who threw items in boxes without any packing materials, resulting in damaged and shattered items. The movers incessantly bickered and argued while disassembling and moving our furniture. Their hostilities got worse as they broke multiple pieces of our furniture.

When the disaster that was our move finally came to an end, we were forced to initial and sign a one-page paper with an illegible font size. We objected signing multiple times as we could not read the document. The female mover forcefully stated that she and the two male movers who remained with her would not leave until the document had been signed, pushing the paper over to us and pointing her pen tip to the areas requiring our signature. We had three strangers in our house demanding at 8:00 PM PST to sign a document we cannot read – predatory business practices.

They absolutely do not care about the damages they caused. They have a one-woman show claims person in Louisiana, but we are sure she is not there. None of our calls to her number connects, and the recording from the phone company states the international call cannot be completed. International? Last we checked, Louisiana hasn’t seceded from the Union and become its own country. More likely someone overseas handling their claims with some forwarding call going on. It took this so-called company over a week to pick up our certified letter. Calls and emails to the company owner, Dennis **, have gone unanswered. It sure looks like he is avoiding contact with clients just like the claims adjuster.

We even contacted United Van Lines. They say all the right things but refuse to do anything to remedy the situation they contributed to putting us in. It is apparent Unigroup, United Van Lines, Blue Chip, and Conejo Valley Moving and Storage have complete disregard for their customers and for righting the wrongs they have caused.

We were supposed to close and leave on Tuesday at 9am. They were still packing at 3pm on Tuesday. This was NOT the packers fault. Unfortunately, due to the last minute rush (and it was a last minute throw everything in the truck) we have no idea where many items are. We were trying to be as organized as possible but food items and things that should NEVER be in storage are there and we have no way of digging them out. Do your homework but realize that in this day and age the emphasis on customer service is relegated to here is your bill. Again, thank goodness for Rockie! He was very thoughtful and tried his best to make the most of a nightmare! I would never recommend United to anyone but I am not sure who to trust in this business any longer.

When our goods did arrive, there were many crushed and damaged boxes. Wood table ends were damaged and scratched. The first item off the truck - a Fisher Price Play Kitchen was cracked and broken. This shows very poor handling, with little or no respect and consideration for our property. The second delivery was only a driver. He had to move everything himself. If anything was too large or heavy, he just had to do the best he could moving the items. No mats, runners, or floor coverings were put down to protect our floors, carpets, and walls for the second delivery.

Aside from not keeping us informed of what to expect, they never mentioned the possibility of two separate shipping dates. Their attitude was one of “this is the way it will be”. Not knowing what was happening, and the condition of our property when it arrived, just added unnecessary stress and aggravation. I would certainly never use this carrier again.

He worked to try and itemize everything with replacement cost. As the crate was deemed lost he no longer qualified for the $150/day expense reimbursement. He worked on the claim and on the 15th of June, they offered him $10K. His claim was closer to $17K. The following week freight company in Missouri reached out and they had some suitcases, and other items and located a phone number on the suitcases. He put them in contact with the relocation company. NO RESPONSE FROM ANYONE.

He had been given July 1 as the date when the claim would be settled. On July 1, they refuse to settle the claim because part of the missing shipment had been located. They refuse to give a date of final resolution. Refuse to give a date when he would see his belongings that have been retrieved. No photos of what has been received. NO NOTHING. Just a list of what needs to happen before they will settle the claim. He has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Purchased the bare minimum of items to live in his apartment. Claims Team 5 has given mixed messages and DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE CUSTOMER.

I was confirmed with a phone call from the truck driver who was very nice and personable. The first day the truck arrived the driver asked if they could pack all the furniture the first day instead of the 2nd as he had alot of help that day and wasn't sure he would have them the following day so I agreed. They started to take apart bedroom furniture, couches, etc. I own a large jewelry box that was in my bedroom as they were packing my furniture said if you have anything loose in there you need to make sure it is secure. Most of the stuff in there was in drawers or cubbyies and was safe and locked but the top had a large area where I just threw most of my loose jewelry that I wore on a daily basis.

I had already boxed up and had my expensive jewelry in a secure location. I was planning to do the same with this jewelry but was not prepared as they came a day early. So, I threw all of my loose jewelry from the top of my box into cloth bags and put It in a box. I labeled it perfume and set aside to personally take in my car. The house was packed and ready to go the following day. The box went missing when I went to put it in my car and I could not find it. When I asked about they said they weren't sure but would keep an eye out for it. I would say that the staff was very helpful and the driver was extremely helpful and organized. The move was going beautifully. We agreed to meet at the UT residence in a few days and all was good. We arrived at the UT residence and everything went great, the move went very well and the moving staff in UT were very efficient.

We were very happy with the move. A few days later I looked thru all the boxes looking for my daily jewelry and found the box down in a storage room. I could tell the tape had been removed and the box opened. I opened the box and found 3 of the 4 cloth bags full of daily jewelry were missing. Most of the daily jewelry I wore was gone. I called the company and they were very sympathetic and told me I needed to fill out a claim form. I do not know all of what was stolen, I'm sure I will still be realizing pieces missing for years to come as I did not have an inventory of these items. I noticed that several rings were missing and a set my husband had just bought me in Maui for our anniversary. Not big ticket items but in total between the 3 rings I cannot find and the Maui set about $5000. So, I filed a claim for them.

A month went by and I inquired how things were going. They said they ran extensive background checks on their people and were conducting interviews. Another 2 months went by and I had not heard a thing. So, I emailed asking the status. I received a response that the person was no longer with the company and someone else would handle my claim. About a week later I get an email saying they will cut me a check for $1000. I was insulted as asked why. They said my jewelry had not been logged into the high value inventory and therefore didn't know it existed. I replied with, it wasn't high value, more sentimental than anything. My wedding ring is worth $68k and that was on their list and I made sure that was in my possession.

But I went with their company because they said they would take care of me if anything happened. I guess that is not the case. I felt they did a good job moving. They stole from me and then hid the box in the back of storage room. I feel violated and wonder how any company can make their claim to fame on "Yes, we are more expensive but we have your back", when they don't have your back. United Van Lines charged an exorbitant amount to move my household and then didn't back me up when their employees stole jewelry from me. Don't use this company. They are dishonest and will not uphold their promises.

The day of pickup, three men from Mesa Movers arrived and began loading up our things. We’d packed everything in heavy duty boxes and it was all stacked in the living room to make things convenient for them. We had also wrapped our 72 inch TV crudely in bubble wrap, assuming they would provide additional wrapping and care as we’d listed it as a high value item. The men hastily loaded up our items as my fiancé was doing some work from home, and assured us everything would arrive safe and sound.

We learned very quickly that was not in fact the case. Upon delivery we immediately noticed something was amiss. All our boxes had caved in on one another and had experienced obvious water damage. Our mattress or couch cushions had not been wrapped at all and were covered in grime. NOTHING had been additionally wrapped. Even the gentlemen delivering our items noted that whomever had packed our items did a very poor job. It honestly looked like our things had been sitting in a damp warehouse shoved in some corner. The delivery men then let us know that our high-value television had both of its legs snapped off. This tv had extremely heavy duty plastic legs so the only thing that could have snapped them off would’ve been some sort of extreme force. We weren’t able to set it up for obvious reasons.

Additionally, a picture frame of ours was smashed in and two of our dressers were missing several pieces completely. The delivery driver additionally told us we should NOT have left all our items in our dresser drawers because that increases chance of damage and the salesmen should not have told us it was allowable. The delivery men were very helpful and understanding. They filled out a list of damage, assuring us if we found any additional damage we would be able to update our claim and submit it to insurance. We said ok, signed for the damage we’d seen upon delivery assuming United had our best interest in mind, and the drivers when on their way. Huge mistake.

After ordering and receiving new legs for our television, we were finally able to unwrap and sit it upright. We then found the TV had deep scratches across the screen. The one item we had listed as high-value was ironically the item that received the most damage. My fiancé filled out an updated insurance claim and submitted it. Some folks came in to take photos of the damage and assured us we’d hear back in a few weeks. We had filed for the full value of the TV as well as a few hundred dollars for the destroyed picture frame and damaged dressers. We didn’t even mention the dirty, water damaged items because we weren’t trying to make things more difficult for anyone. We just wanted reimbursed for what United had damaged.

Several weeks later, we receive an email stating we’ve earned a return of $140 and that because the TV scratches or the busted frame hadn’t been on the sheet we initially signed with delivery drivers they wouldn’t be held liable. We responded, saying their delivery drivers had assured us otherwise. He had clearly told us if we came across any additional damage, we could simply update our claim. They even had the photos as proof, the damage their people dealt was clear. We were given a curt response, stating again that we should have assessed all our damage while the drivers were there and there was nothing they would do to further assist us.

We paid nearly 8k to United to avoid this very situation, and now they are refusing to take any responsibility for the items THEIR PEOPLE damaged. Now, no one from the company will get back to us. They got what they wanted and clearly they know exactly what they’re doing to people. The inconsistencies across their branches has caused us nearly $1400 in damages and we are now left high and dry with broken items and $140. United has shown a complete lack of integrity and I honestly wish we’d just hired a shady moving company again; at least with them you know what kind of service to expect.