United Van Lines

By haranguing literally anyone we could get a hold of, we were finally able to extract the name of the three subcontractors involved and then spent the next 3 days instructing them exactly where to deliver our stuff. No one at United would ever talk to us, and no one even acknowledged that anything was wrong. To them, the completely useless move coordinator was doing a perfectly satisfactory job. They're broken to the core and have no interest in making any improvements. They promised to do a job and only did half of it; they kept 100% of the money of course. Stay away from these crooks!

After everything was picked up and loaded I got an email from my HR rep informing me that after picking up my items United sent over an updated invoice. Due to their negligence when I did the initial virtual call some of my items were left off my initial invoice. After Jason (the driver) did the loading in Michigan he contacted United to see how much he was getting compensated for the move and that’s when the discrepancy was caught. The new invoice after my company's corporate discounts were applied was $5,751 which exceeded my moving expense allotment and I now owed roughly $350 dollars on the day of my move.

Fast forward to the day before the move. I got a call from Jason that his truck could not fit into the complex and he needed to get a “shuttle” in Arkansas. However, the local company did not have the truck on hand at the store so he couldn’t give me an estimated delivery time until he had the truck, which is understandable.

For context, a shuttle is literally just a smaller moving truck. Jason confirmed once he picked up the truck he’d give me a call so I could meet him and his crew at my new place. On the way to meet Jason for the unload, I received a call from Jennifer, who is account agent for United. She asked how I wanted to take care of the additional balance, credit card or check. I told her card is fine, but wanted to confirm the final balance was roughly $351. To my surprise she said the balance was actually $2,173! Keep in mind my company has already dished out over 5k on their end for the direct bill.

I asked Jennifer how my difference went from being $351 to $2,173. That’s absurd. She was speechless herself. I asked for a breakdown of how in the world a total could increase that much. Additionally if a total was increasing that much why was I just being informed on the day of, as I’m driving to meet the movers. Jennifer said she honestly didn’t have a response and needed to call the billing department because this was the first time she’d ever seen anything like this. After speaking with the billing department she was informed the total increased because due to the size of Jason’s truck had to rent a shuttle both in Michigan and Arkansas and also had to pack some additional items (pictures, glass, etc) that wasn’t on the original quote.

I asked Jennifer how am I responsible for Jason’s shuttle. The size of his truck is not my issue. Jason was aware the has an 18 wheeler, I moved from one apartment complex to another. His truck being unable to get into a complex should’ve been communicated beforehand. Furthermore, it still didn’t make sense to me why I was responsible for the smaller moving truck. Jennifer again was speechless and understood my frustration but she still could not give me a detailed breakdown of how and why the total increased. She said she’d have to get the billing department to send over the final invoice, in the meantime she suggested I contact my HR rep. I asked her when the balance was due, and she said before the unload is complete. Jason and his crew actually stopped unloading my items mid move until they received confirmation from Jennifer that I paid the balance.

At this point I’m furious because again this was the first time I was hearing I’d owe $2000 additional dollars. I moved from a two bedroom apartment to a two bedroom townhouse. I’ve moved a lot for work and this is not a $10k move by any means, especially because I had ZERO appliances. I contacted my HR rep and she was speechless when I told her this new information, because again NO ONE FROM UNITED SAID A THING ABOUT THE BALANCE JUMPING FROM $351 to $2,173. This was the first any of us had heard of this. United sent over an invoice to my HR rep on January 24th for $5,751, which factored in the charges for the additional packing Jason and his crew had to do.

When I expressed my frustration to Jason about this surprise $2,173 total he ensured he contacted United and informed them about the shuttle services so he’s not sure why I was never contacted. United is pretty well known so for them to drop the ball like this is inexcusable. I am still waiting on a final invoice from the billing department to see how the new charges came about.

Everyone I’ve spoken to has given me the runaround. I contacted the corporate office on 2/1/22, and spoke to a rep named Bob. Per Bob, there wasn’t a description of how my charges occurred nor was there a final invoice present in my file, but he would do some digging and contact me with a solution once he had some answers. It's February 10th and I’m still waiting to hear back from Bob. I followed up with him on 2/9/22 and did not get a response. This has by far been the worst moving experience I have ever encountered. I would not recommend United to anyone.

When I received a check I could not believe it. It was in the amount of $15! It turns out my items were not actually covered. I was reimbursed for only 60 cents per pound of damaged item. I want everyone to know that United Van Lines will try to underbid other companies making you believe that your property is covered for damages. In the end, I have to be thankful that I "only" suffered $1500 in damages. I do not even want to imagine a situation, in which all items would have been damaged or lost!

Given that he had detailed info of my 2018 move, I had no reason to doubt that I was talking to UVL. I was rushed through checking the listed inventory, the estimated cost of the move ,and the signing of the contract online, collecting my deposit of $1504.67. Assuming I was dealing with UVL, I felt comfortable signing the contract immediately and paying the deposit. 4 days later when I printed out the contract and realized my mistake, I contacted NMS but was unable to cancel the contract.

I contacted UVL customer care on 12/8/2021 and spoke with Bob re this incident and my concerns with breach of my privacy. He stated there had been similar complaints. He took my info and stated the legal department will get in touch with me, but to date no one has contacted me. On 12/15/2021, I contacted integritymatters@unigroupinc.com (I assume the parent organization for UVL/Mayflower?) and filed a complaint regarding my concerns for breach of privacy. I was given a case number and told someone will contact me, but to date I have not heard from anyone. I did not at any time authorize any company to give/sell my personal info to moving companies, brokers etc. So how did NMS obtain detailed information of my move with UVL? Since I have not heard from UVL regarding my concerns/complaints, I have to assume UVL does not care about the breach of privacy, the interception of the phone call, or offer any protection to its customers.

Additionally they have refused to give me a deadline or timeline of delivery, and state they do not have any movers to move my property. However, in the same breath, they also state their drivers are busy with other moves. They have also not started a delay claim as I am entitled to in contractual agreement. I am also now unable to access/download my bill of lading or estimate from their website. During this time without my property, I have had to repurchase a plethora of items (already owned and held at hostage) due to this delay and to continue my daily living. As of this day of complaint, my property continue to be held hostage without a projected delivery date and company has been neglectful informing me of any updates.

When it was moved by the professional piano movers several spots were damaged-the keyboard lid had to be glued back together, rub spots on the finish, a piece of veneer off the front, and some wood shaved off in a couple of spots-all of which were repaired by a repairman. United did reimburse me for the repairs. Moral of the story--they can not move a piano.

When they got to my new house, they arrived not in the 53' trailer and truck my stuff was loaded into but in a U-Haul truck. I could see that furniture wasn't protected, that stuff was crammed in there. The driver, who was a nice man, said that our stuff was off-loaded into storage and that that morning the two of them had loaded it into the U-Haul. They damaged two nice pieces of furniture, one of them a family table passed down from another generation, and damaged my BBQ by crushing in the front of it and mangling the metal back brace. They allowed a white-painted chair to put a white scratch all across the seat back of a blue Adirondack chair and broke the leg off a small bench and lost the bolt to it.

There should've been more than two men moving some of this stuff. I thought they were going to dump my piano down the hill. It was precarious and needed more than two men. It took four to get it on the truck at the origin. The second man was in bad sorts the whole time. He did not want to be there and was testy a couple of times. We all go through stuff, but I didn't need his; I have my own stuff to deal with.

I think this is a good company. I think I was unlucky. Someone screwed up, but, after spending 90 minutes photographing all the damaged items and forwarding them with a completed claim form, I decided to call the company. Jessica was excellent on the phone and said she'd pass along our experience. She represented her company very professionally.

Today is 11-02-2021, and I'm adding to my review from a few days ago. I've since discovered items missing and my couch and love seat were damaged. The wood was chipped and scratched. The couch had a wooden decorative frame across the top where they broke off a big chunk and then someone just glued it back. Found a glass frame on a large painting broken, too. I no longer think this is a good company. A good company would tell you they damaged something so bad that they tried to glue it. No one said a word. All you folks giving them five stars . . .you should thank YOUR lucky stars you had a good experience. Because it's a crap shoot with Armstrong Relocation.

They used a whole box w tons of paper to wrap things that would never break like a foam finger used at football games while an old crystal ashtray they barely wrapped and was broke. They also left behind a ton of stuff like wheel barrel, shovels, rakes, hoses, an array of stuff that we had 1 day to find someone able to move on a Sunday and drive 3 hours away. We ended up paying 500 to someone to rent a trailer to move and store our stuff. They didn’t pack up games consoles w the correct controllers or controllers at all, the cords that went w our TVs and consoles were in boxes w our closet clothes, remotes for TVs I found on counter, bed parts for our adjustable bed we still have not found.

Every time I unpacked a box I would be so upset. They threw everything together and you either couldn’t read the writing on box or there was not any writing. The one guy brought along a speaker with him and he attached to his body somehow and turned it up so loud I could not think. They were so unprofessional and unorganized.

We are a middle class family. Family of 4. Our house is middle class. Not over the top things. The price was astronomical. Like I said I had a lot of our things packed already. They made a big deal about a chandelier- broken. They wanted to pack it we couldn’t pack it. Broke. I’m done calling them because I am so overwhelmed w everything I just can’t deal anymore. Do not use this company if you like things organized, clean, done in a matter that you can understand. They stole a script out of our home. It was a huge let down and for 16000 there is no reason for the way things turned out. They came in and made a mess. No respect at all. If you value your things pass on this company.

My concern with the 2 containers being 7ft high but only 4ft in width, my boxes would be smashed and items broken. He promised the moving men were professionals and knew what they were doing and would box everything into the container safely. I was hesitant and reluctantly agreed because we had a flight to catch and obviously couldn't stay in our home. We waited 2 weeks and got a call at 7pm our belonging were going to be delivered the next day between 9-11am. They lost our phone number and emailed us to call as they couldn't get a hold of us. Wow. So now we started to worry what did we do? The driver came in a box truck (not a flat bed with our containers) and was very nice but immediately told us before he started that most of our boxes were damaged and a lot of our belongings were broken!

We immediately texted our agent MICHAEL ** from AACTION MOVERS in Las Vegas and he basically told us through text it was NOT his problem and to call the office! He didn't have the decency to call and say, "What happened?" "How can I help?" or "I'll call the office for you and make this right". Nope. NOTHING!! He left the number to the office. We called and the guy who answered asked what was wrong and then transferred me to another person, when he finally answered it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk or ask me about what was going on. When I finally started to tell him, the finger pointing started between him blaming the warehouse where our belongings were delivered to before shipped to us. He put me in the middle of the blame game and wanted to pass the buck.

The driver told me they could hear how broken our things were in the containers and had to take photos to protect themselves and said that the containers were loaded improperly back in Las Vegas and by the time they got to NJ it was a mess, so they had to unpack everything and move it into a box truck! Our items are going into storage temporarily but they want me to file a claim, fill out all the paperwork, take photos and itemize what is broken! How am I supposed to do all that at a storage unit in the middle of winter and repack all of my things (what's left of them anyway!).

I hung up on the man because I should not have been in the middle of the contractor and subcontractor's blame game. They seemed not concerned on how to make this right and to keep me satisfied and they did not make an effort to call back to correct THEIR MISTAKE!! I did not pay them. Why would I?? I don't want anything for free and if they want to get paid and make this right they will contact me properly and FIX what is BROKEN!

We took pictures of everything, tried to find receipts for what we could, tried to fix what we could, and went to UVL for reimbursement (since they said they were fully insured). They said we needed the original boxes and all the broken items in the exact way they arrived. Pictures would not suffice. Who keeps moving boxes and just leaves all their things shattered and broken? We took photos. They offered us $500 for almost $3,000 in damaged items. They chipped our bed frame in TWO places, which now looks terrible, and the bed frame was part of a set that cost $5,000. $500 for $3,000 worth of damage because we didn’t save the boxes and leave all of our broken, shattered, and squished, items in that condition. NEVER AGAIN, and I highly suggest that if you value your belongings, you don’t use this moving company either!

Today, my husband again spoke with a representative who stated an audit would not take place for an additional 3 months or up to 5 months. Understandably, we are all under strain in operating a business; however, the lack of concern and professionalism as exhibited by United Van Lines is egregious. This is a badly-run company. We would emphatically not recommend United Van Lines for your move.

RED FLAG- #3 "overflow" items still not here 30 days out. They kept telling me it would arrive in a week, then two then three now it will be 5 weeks from the quoted delivery date for my non-authorized overflow items. However I am not optimistic I will ever see these items. (22 of them worth tens of thousands of $$) One is even a scheduled 'high value item".

I know this all sounds bad but the worst part is the lack of customer service- The local rep keeps saying they need to talk to an "agent". Not sure what that means but gets zero results. Then I called 1800-948-4885 and got connected to a woman named Heather in customer service- (this is not an ideal job for her personality). She was so rude and indifferent about my situation- gave her my order number and she also needed to talk with an "agent". (I think this is an internal code for we have no idea where or when the things are and lets just get them off the phone.) I said this was not okay and I was going to dispute with AMEX (I have started that process). She said, "That's fine. We will just dispute it and we always win."

Then I said I wanted to talk with a supervisor- She said it won't matter- So at the end of the day I get it, things happen. Driver shortage... however United Van Lines has done NOTHING to help me out. I have one pair of jeans, 4 pair of underwear and missing artwork, office furniture, a grill, kitchen items and they simply do not care.

After an amazing number of emails and phone calls with an agent who really seemed to not understand how to help the situation (said she had a lot of issues like this recently) and gave absolutely no transparency nor was she the easiest to get a hold of, I was finally told my move would ship out to Wisconsin. When would it be delivered? No one had a clue. No one could give me an estimated time frame. How is that even the case? You have one job for which I'm paying a lot.

After another week of hounding my agent and then having to call the agent in Wisconsin, I finally got my move delivered - a month after the movers picked it up in San Diego! At this point, I was essentially my own moving coordinator and cut out the agent from San Diego. I received a "delay refund" every day my move was late from customer service. That is at least something. But the clueless, helpless, unprofessional San Diego agent I worked with who "had been doing this 20 years" really made this move complicated and stressful. Absolutely never using United Van Lines again.

Original Review: Out of state moving and used them to move and store our items while house shopping. They had us pay more because they had to wrap our items for storage in their facility. Took 1 and 1/3 truck to move us out and 1 truck to move back in. When I asked them where the 2nd truck was they told me it all fit into 1 truck. Many items are missing. My clothing, shoes, tools ladders the list is too long. Also many items were damaged, legs to my dining room table broken, TV smashed to pieces. They packed this all. Tried to speak to management but no return phone call. Of course I am filing a complaint but would not recommend them ever. I have moved 6 times and never had this happen. Worse customer service ever. So so sad.

On Monday, June 28th the truck was loaded. On Tuesday, June 29th, I was informed that there is a national truck driver shortage and that the window provided of July 1-6 for delivery of our belongings may not be met. It is now July 20th and I have been told we will receive our stuff Thursday, July 22nd. Today, I was told only part of our shipment would be here Thursday because our belongings are on two different trucks. I have paid over $12K for this move and this is unacceptable. I am a single mother of two kids and two dogs sleeping on the floor on an air mattress for almost a month now. I am told I will get $100 a day refund for each day the goods are late. That is not right!!!! I would hope that you care enough about your customers that you make this right and refund my money and ensure we receive our belongings promptly. The process failed miserably this time and it needs to be addressed.

The team is irresponsible and gave cookie cutter answers, as of day 18 they can't even give a new window, answer was we need the truck driver to tell us. An operations departments that can't tell me a date they will be able to make and a moving company that takes people's livelihood for granted. I do not recommend using them at all, it's profit over everything else, how do we jam as much into one truck so that we can make as much profit as possible, even if it means folks live without their items for 30 days.

When they unpacked at our destination, a valuable African drum (authentic made by a West Guinea master drummer) was demolished. I filed a claim. They responded it was “packed by owner” not by them. On investigation, I was told the moving agent had written “PBO” next to each of 8 drums I had moved. This must be because they feared one breaking because I only had a case for one drum - and I told them that case was not padded or protective. They wrapped them all in moving blankets as I watched. I warned them twice that if one fell over in transit the head would break. Because it said PBO next to each of my 8 drums - a clear lie - my claim & appeal went nowhere & I have a $1200 broken drum.

They also deeply scratched my dresser in front, & gave us $100 for that. Obviously that would not be enough to replace it & I probably couldn’t find a matching one anyway. I had read moving horror stories, and I thought choosing a reputable mover would be safe. I didn’t expect them to lie proactively to cover themselves if a drum broke. Not only that but we tipped 5 people $100 each for loading, and same at destination. Total charges were $10,000 & we did $1000 in cash tips.

Original Review: If I were able to give zero stars, or negative stars, I would. I moved from Wisconsin to Illinois, about 90 miles, from a two-bedroom apartment, with packing and full replacement value insurance, at a cost of $13,000. I sought out United Van Lines, having had a good experiences with them several years ago. This time, not so much. Here's what happened so far.

The estimator with the Milwaukee-based vendor (Schoeder Moving and Storage) was very helpful in coming up with an estimate and making arrangements...but dropped the ball on the day of the move. I ordered and paid for art boxes and for a crate for a chandelier. These were not provided, despite many calls on the day of packing asking for them to. The estimator acknowledged the problem and apologized. Now the claim adjuster, ClaimStream, says damage to frames are due to the packing and claims that the client (me) packed them (not true) and that they are not responsible for missing crystals, or any other missing goods. Note: there is no way to contact a human being with ClaimStream--no name, no phone number, etc.--just email correspondence.

The next morning after the evening delivery, I spoke by phone with a customer service manager at Schroeder. We discussed damaged goods (most notably, broken window on glass front of bookcase) and many missing items: two small chests of drawers, a glass top and cocktail table base, a moving dolly, pewter dishwater, computer monitor, etc. These conversations were memorialized in emails with the customer service manager and the estimator. At the time I wondered if the missing items had been left on the truck, since unpacking took place in the late afternoon and early evening. The customer service manager and I spoke several times the day after the move and the following day. Finally she said the items had not been located, but they would keep looking.

At that time, I also reported to the customer service manager that the movers were so disorganized in the unpacking that I stopped them midway. They were unpacking kitchenware in the living room; piling books on the floor in ways that were breaking the spines; acting peeved and complaining about the drive back to Milwaukee, etc. At the time, I also let her know on the phone and in writing that, if billed for a balance, I would dispute payment for a full unpacking, Note: I disputed the charge through American Express. American Express reviewed the circumstances and the email correspondence, and did not pay the disputed amount.

Months later, the claims adjuster (ClaimStream) said someone would come out to inspect the damage. I had to follow up twice with ClaimStream, since initial calls to the inspector were not returned. The inspector turned out to be a repair service. The friendly man looked at the bookcase and damage to the base of a walnut sideboard, which he said he'd be able to repair, but could not say anything about the missing items.

Meanwhile, ClaimStream claimed to have put a trace on the items, saying "A trace was done and the results are negative." I followed up two or three times to ask them to clarify the meaning, and learned that "we heard back and the items were not found." I asked who they'd spoken with, but did not get a response to that question. Note: the claim I submitted included photos of the missing and damaged items and copies of email correspondence documenting the phone conversations with the Schroeder representatives.

I was offered $500, to be paid immediately, to settle the claim. I did not settle. Months later, I received a second settlement offer for the same dollar amount, $500. The offer stated that I would soon receive a check and that cashing it would signal acceptance of the offer. I responded in writing on the same day I received the settlement offer, declining the offer. It's been radio silence ever since. No call; no reply to my email declining the offer; no nothing. I have spoken with an attorney.

The claim I submitted estimated the depreciated value of lost and damaged goods at $1,405. My disappointment is not over money. It is about principles and decent business practices. I was willing to pay the higher cost of using United Van Lines because I'd had good experiences with them in the past. This time, the absence of accountability, the multiple failures along the way, the unnecessarily complex claim process, and the unjustifiable outcome given all the documentation (not to mention aggravation). This is not the experience one would expect from United Van Lines or its contractors. I hope this review prompts others to think twice. I will update my review if and when additional information becomes available.

Now in the three months since then, they have not addressed this with their vendor, just continued to say it was outsourced, and for my lamp, they are claiming they found a replacement, which I can’t see before they take away mine. I’m ultimately going to just take a settlement, but that amount is less then what I paid for crating...crating which was clearly not worth what we paid. Don’t trust this company with your belongings or your safety based on who they decide to outsource to. It is the first time we’ve used United, all our other moves and we’ve done several have been with Allied. That is a great experience.