American Van Lines

Contracted American Van Lines for a 1100 mile move. Was told we would have packers on the 9/12 and our coordinator would call the day before. At 5 pm the day before I called them to see what was going on and was informed that they would be here on 9/14. I have to be out of my house by 9/14. I’ve called another moving company because this whole deal seems like a scam. I will probably have a fight to get my $7k deposit back but will deal with that later. Total scam operation. Save yourself the headaches and go with a reputable company Update. Movers showed up with a U-Haul and 3 people to pack and load. 3000 sq ft, 4 bedroom house. Not a single person can be identified as an American Van Lines employee. Appears someone cruised Home Depot and hired day labor. Movers have said it’s not going to fit. Not feeling good about this. Update to update. Showed up on day 2 of a move I was told would be completed in 1 day @ 2pm. It’s 9 pm and I just got into with the driver when he bent the mower deck of my zero turn. And for kickers, they brought the same uhaul and am told I have to leave items behind I could have done better grabbing some illegals at Home Depot

This was the worst moving experience imaginable. The quote was a very easy process and they were happy to accept the first charge. But then things became challenging. First, the person assigned to my move never answered the phone. Every time I called, a new person picked up and we started from scratch. I wasn't called with my pick up window. I had to call. The pack up was fine. But then things went from bad to worse. Thy put my stuff in storage and then missed the delivery window by over a week. Every time I called it took 2 days for answer to a question. When delivery was finally scheduled the driver was 2.5 hours late, arriving at 8:40PM. It took 2 hours to get the credit card charged and then they started delivering my broken and mishandled valuables. Terrible company, will never use again and will think critically before using any moving company in the future.

Save yourself the stress and go with another company. These people called me 3 days before our scheduled pickup date and said they’re canceling our pickup because of “mechanical issues” with the truck that was supposed to pick us up. They left us without a moving truck and I have a job I need to start and a lease expiring in my current location. The absolute worse moving company!!!!

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1/4 of my items were not delivered (8/37). On July 25th I was told that my delivery would occur on the 26th. I called to say that I would not be in town could they do the 28th or 27th. They refused emphatically. I had to find someone or have my stuff stored at my expense and find a way to move it from there to my house at my time and expense myself. There was no compromise and no wiggle room. They had a schedule to keep. "Ken" would not look into it or change it. So being new here and not knowing anyone I asked the superintendent who does not have english as her first language. I called the moving guy the day of the move and left a message and got no reply. When I got home the 27th and counted my stuff I was significantly short. I called to leave a message and received no reply. I called this morning the 28th and spoke to a bored sounding woman who refused to give me a number to talk someone in claims to hear the entire process of locating my things, to talk to her boss or anyone in claims, or the owner of the company (even the name!). Bad service and bad customer service. Apparently instead of talking to clients they prefer to do it by correspondence via email, fax, or mail. This is unacceptable especially since the service was not done correctly . Over all I've been treated like a number once they had my stuff they essentially had a hostage and treated me like a supplicant to be dictated to and dismissed and since they have my check they intend to do nothing apparently. Also, my table is scratched on the sides and my mattress has water stains that it didn't have before - which is no wonder- since they didn't wrap it very well.

I would not recommend them. They promised me that they would come on one particular day and they didn’t come. When they did come, they came late. I had to spend an extra night and extra day in the hotel because they didn’t come to pack. When I called them, they told me that they would give me $30 for hotel fee. All I was asking for was reimbursement of the hotel room charges. They charged me more when I got here. We just had them move everything to the street because it was so late. When I called, they did not even answer the phone. They told me that they were on their way. Then they called me two hours late and told me that they had a flat tire on their van. I would not use their services again in the future.

As I was dealing with American Van Lines's estimators, the estimate kept going up until we had an estimate of 8200 pounds of household goods - very high but based on the refund policy I went with it. The agreement was the truck was to be weighed empty, loaded, then re-weighed at a CAT-certified scale. Then their contracted mover, All-Coast Moving, showed up late. They offered me no weight documents in Houston. All-Coast loaded my stuff and left. A few days later they called up and told me the weight was another 500 pounds heavier, resulting in higher fees. I immediately invoked my right to re-weighing here. End result was I got my goods in reasonably good shape - I have no complaint about the service - but the reweigh was 2800 pounds lighter than they told me. To date, I've received my refund from American Van Lines but their contractor has not paid, rather alleges they have paid but refuse to return my calls and can't provide me documentation of their payment of the money back to the credit card. I realize I'm violating the guideline of talking about two companies in one post but in order to tell the story, I must. Dealing with American Van Lines is easy on the front end but beware their contractors! Updating, once I finally got American Van Lines' attention, they were helpful in getting the carrier to send me a check for the amount they overcharged. The confusion about American Van Lines' refund arose from the Contractor's business practice of transferring all quality issues back to American Van Lines, so the service agent at American Van Lines was seeing that a refund had been sent out. Once that was clarified, American Van Lines did help in getting the refund, two months after the discovery I was owed one. I upgraded AVL's rating to an overall "C", again, not because of AVL's actions specifically, but due to their poor choice of subcontractors.

At time of the move, which was December, I was informed that they assigned my job to All Coast Transporters (which were great)---AVL were not moving me and I owed $6,000.00 more. The initial $2,000 did not go towards this cost. The $2,000 was referred to as ?booking fee?. This company misrepresented themselves.

Mike had urged me to go to Home DePot to provide my moving material which was way cheaper than using company materials. I did - They NEVER used a single box of mine, none of my tape and none of my bubble wrap. SUPPLIES ALONE WERE $450ish!!!!!! Long story short-they sent 3 young men - Not professional movers. In fact, one guy said this was his first "real move" and then told me HE WAS ON PROBATION FOR DRUG ACTIVITY!!!!!!!!! AND HE WAS AS VERIFIED ON THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ARREST RECORD SITE..... None of the guys knew they were to help pack. They "laughed at the bid" and said the company ALWAYS over-charges without customer knowledge of all the "additional expenses". And if you don't pay, they told me they just lock the truck until you pay. They told me of the move they did the night before in Ft. Myers. A young guy moving back somewhere home after college. That he had been quoted like $1,200 - and the bill rang up to close to $3,000 - he didn't have the money so they put the lock on it and waited for several hours. The young man had to have money wired to him from his mother. Back to my move....They arrived 2 hours late to my move (although they did call to ask if that would be OK)...... By the end of 7 hours, they told me that the truck was full and they have to come back the next day - mind you, over half the job wasn't done...... then I walked out to the truck and see the furniture from the other move was in the truck!!!!! And that I'd have to pay for another day AND pay the $89.oo for driving again a second time just 15 miles. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!! They were also aware (as was Mike) that the move needed to be done THAT DAY-THAT MY X-HUSBAND'S MOVERS WERE COMING THE NEXT DAY TO PACK AND MOVE HIM - WE WERE CLOSING AFTER HIS THINGS WERE OUT. Since I had met my minimum I Let them go after they delivered my few things to my storage. All that was moved was my China Cabinet, an entertainment center (no tv) - with 1 piece missing and another broken. A washer/dryer (the water softener piece missing) A dining room table, and a couch/love seat. And a Chair and several boxes. THAT WAS ABOUT IT!!!! I ultimately had to have 8 men come over and finish my move that night AFTER I HAD TO RENT A TRUCK FROM U-HAUL. I SPOKE ENDLESSLY WITH A MANAGER NAMED GIL......ABOUT THE SLICKEST "MANAGER" I HAVE EVER SPOKEN TO!!!! He was horrendous - even said he'd call the police for "harrassment" - what I called about was WHY HE SENT A GUY WHO HAD BEEN ARRESTED INTO MY HOME WITH VALUABLES......Also all the additional fees!!!! And the truck that was 1/2 way full with someone elses furniture. When I say slick, I mean dishonest, "vague", ultimately close to yelled at me. Said they owed me nothing other than a phone call to the police; of which I said I'd be happpy to call. Then he wanted me to PROVE that the young man was arrested. Can you imagine a "manager" challenging a customer to PROVE something about an employee????? I told him to go to the web site and there's the guys' mug-shot. When I asked to speak to his boss, he said he IS the boss. When I asked him to speak to the owner of the company he said thats the "stock holders" - HELLO, THEY ARE NOT A PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY!!!!!!!!!! When I checked that and called him back, he went bonkers on me.......I asked for an appointment to see him/ his boss/ or the owners, and he just kept saying NO. NO. NO. I think you can see what a HORRENDOUS experience this was - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....SAVE YOURSELF THE AGRIVATION AND THE MONEY. Because "Mike the Salesman" seemed so professional and helpful on the phone, I WAS AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT NOT TO RESEARCH THE COMPANY. I was not on Angie's List at the time (I was a member prior) AND I RE-SIGNED UP JUST TO REPORT THIS. (Although I have also used the list for many services and every company I have ever used from Angie's List has been nothing but SUPERIOR service.) Best of Luck for anybody moving - it's tough enough without having to deal with American Van Lines!!!!!! Thank you for reading this! Respectfully submitted, Alexis, Tampa/Zephyrhills PS - My X-husband used ATLAS Van Lines; and yes, they were professional, worked quickly, wrapped everything properly and were "out" in about 6 hours. And they vacummed leaving his areas immaculate! You may want to consider them for your move.

Horrible! I fell victim to a moving scam!! Maria Gonzalez/AVL on February 9 assured me that that AVL was not some front company or some broker, assured me that AVL would take American Express as payment for the entire move, indicated that she was making special note that a very expensive and fragile marble dining table already packed and crated should be handled with extra care, had me sign a binding not to exceed price order and took a deposit from me on American Express, again reassuring me I could pay the rest on American Express when the goods were delivered, checked her schedule and told me that AVL would be the carrier moving me, and assured me that my price wouldn't/couldn't hike given my items were already packed, weighed, and in storage (5225 lbs)....I could go on and on about all the smooth talking that occurred resulting in my falling hook, line, and sinker for what I heard, resulting in my trusting her, resulting in my hurriedly asigning and faxing documents back so she could immediately get me on AVL schedule to have my goods picked up and moved by AVL as quickly as Feb 11-12 and delivered during the period Feb 17-28. I then made arrangements to fly from Honolulu to Seattle so I would be in Seattle to take delivery of my goods during the period Feb 17-28. I made very, very clear to Gonzalez that if AVL wasn't moving me or if American Express wasn't an acceptable form of payment for the entire move, then I would keep shopping around for a mover who could meet those two bottom line requirements. She assured me that neither would be the case. Two deliverers showed up in Seattle on February 23 who claimed they were from United, Inc., who had no idea who or what AVl was, who indicated that my move had been sold to their company by AVL for $3000 (approximately $500 more than what AVL had in their binding not to exceed price estimate that Gonzalez had me sign), who threatened to drive away with my goods unless I paid approximately an additional $600 beyond the balance due (because they claimed my 5225 lbs that had been picked up now "weighed 5880 lbs," who refused to take American Express for the balance payment, who demanded an additional $118 because I was then forced at the last minute to use a bank card in order to avoid their threats to drive away with my items, who attempted to extract an additional $100 in cash in order to uncrate my marble table (which once uncrated we discovered broken because of their careless handling of it despite my pleading with them to please be extra careful with this extremely fragile item)....the entire delivery experience was a horrible nightmare of an experience and caused a great deal of personal stress to myself, my daughter, and my grandchildren!! (And AVL cannot put a dollar value on this stress.) I have no idea who United, Inc. is and they appeared suspect to me but they had my items in a PENSKE truck!! It felt horrible to know that Gonzalez and AVL had duped me. To date, AVL is refusing to resolve this matter, Gonazalez has not returned any of my calls or responded to my email communications, a Sheryl Jones/AVL has indifferently told me that I should take up any concerns I have about the weight discrepancy and hiked up charges with United, Inc.(the first time I even heard of this latter outfit was when these men showed up in Seattle and they brought no completed paperwork with them; they appeared as though they were just two guys who were going to collect as much money as they could from me if I were to get my stuff and I would never have agreed to have an outfit I had not even been in touch with move me)!. Jones indicated she would reimburse me the $118 that these delivererss extracted from me for using my bank card because they would not take American Express but then went on to send me a "Global Release of Liability" document that I must sign in 30 days if I want $118 bank charges reimbursed....I could go on and on with other details but the bottom line the way I see it is simply this: I have been duped by AVL and I wish for no one else to experience what I currently am experiencing...and I hope Angie's List will help me to do this. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone who may have had a similar experience with this rogue outfit do this for me and I am paying a price and it cannot be measured in $$$$.

This company provided the lowest- quality movers that one could imagine: lazy, slow, clumsy, rude, and aloof. Some of my most expensive stuff was damaged, and I could get no one on the phone to reconcile the issues afterwards. As a consumer, this is one of the worst companies that I have ever dealt with.

This was a nightmare. It was like pulling teeth for them to pick up the stuff and then deliver it to the new house. They lied to us several times saying that the driver was in the hospital, but then they refused to give us another driver. We were sleeping on the floor for 10 days because of them. They also had my computer that I needed to be able to work. I work from home, so they had my job. The price was outrageous as well. There was not one thing they did that I liked!

THEY DID A VERY GOOD JOB, THEY GOT HERE IN A TIMELY MANNER. AFTER THEY UNLOADED ALL OF MY THINGS FROM THE TRUCK THEMSELVES. THE ONLY THING THAT WAS BROKEN WAS AN OLD CUP. I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THEM.

WHEN THE MOVERS ARRIVED WE WALKED THROUGH THE HOUSE TOGETHER NOTING ITEMS TO BE MOVED. NOW THE ESTIMATE WAS 10 HOURS @$89/HOUR, TWICE THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE. FURTHERMORE, TAPE, BUBBLE WRAP, AND THE FEW BOXES REQUIREDS FOR THE 3 COMPUTERS AND 2 TV'S WAS GOING TO BE AN ADDITIONAL $347.50 ACCORDING TO AN AGREEMENT THEY EXPECTED ME TO SIGN PRIOR TO THE MOVE COMMENCING. WHEN I REFUSED TO SIGN IT THEY SAID IT WAS ONLY AN ESTIMATE AND THE FINAL AMOUNT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE LOWER. I POINTED OUT THAT WE KNEW EXACTLY HOW MANY TV'S AND COMPUTERS WERE INVOLVED AND THAT THEY WERE SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF US SO I EXPECTED AN EXACT PRICE, NOT AN "ESTIMATE." I REFUSED TO SIGN. WHILE I CERTAINLY WOULD EXPECT TO PAY FOR SUCH ITEMS - AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO MORE THAN HALF THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE GIVEN FOR THE ENTIRE MOVE TOLD ME I WAS DEALING WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE. AT THIS POINT I ASKED THE MOVERS TO LEAVE. ESTIMATED CHARGES WERE APPROX. $630 AND FINAL CHARGES WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN $130.