American Van Lines

We had an awful experience. We have moved several times before and never understood why moving was so miserable until this experience. They sent too small of a truck so they had to send another truck the next day. Since my husband couldn’t be at two places at once and he had to receive the items at our new condo, multiple things that were not supposed to be moved were moved. We then had to pay for storage at American Van Lines which was a mess until we sorted everything out. We paid American Van Lines for two moves because the truck was too small for one. It’s an effective strategy. Underquote and then charge for a second move. The company is completely unreachable. We have been trying to get the invoice on the second day of moving for a month. We have left more messages than I can count. We had such a bad experience that we hired another moving company to go to American Van Lines storage and pick up our things and take them back to our old house. Awful company. I would move My whole house myself before I used this company again.

I am very pleased with the team at AVL. They were very responsive, and followed up well throughout the whole process. Both Dawn and Helen were wonderful on the front end, and our driver, Ricky Martin was amazing. All of my things were delivered into an awaiting storage locker and organized into the space as requested, after a cross-country shipment. I cannot review on the condition of things, as I haven't unpacked, yet. However, I feel pretty comfortable about the way things were handled overall. I highly recommend AVL.

The move went very well. The crew was excellent, especially the lead guy. They did exactly what I wanted...packed, moved, and unloaded our stuff all in a matter of 3.5 days.

We used American van lines to move from Ohio to Georgia. Our moving coordinator Helen V, was amazing. She was very helpful,a professional and continuously kept us up to date on our move. We had 3 movers, they were great, fast and on time. We would definitely recommend them

Such a great experience! I moved from NY to Louisiana. I was so nervous since this was my first interstate move! My first contact was Joe and he helped me step by step. I was made to feel so at ease and whenever I had a question, he responded quickly. He was professional and amicable! Rebecca was my contact person with the movers! She was always in touch and followed up daily! The movers arrived on time and were professional, courteous and the estimated price stayed the same! I had read such horror stories online that this could change! It didn’t! As I stated, Rebecca stayed in touch daily! The furniture was delivered within a week and everything was in tact!! I highly recommend this company! Rebecca also followed up after the delivery to make sure all went well!!

The staff, Teressa and Emily were exceptionally courteous and responsive! They rearranged my dates when asked and put me on a smaller van which I was the only pick-up. Great! They delivered the next morning, as promised. My belongings were placed in my apartment in the rooms that I requested. One concern that I have is in the way the price and procedure is presented and carried out by the sales/corporate office. That concern and misunderstanding effected the first three ratings. The customer service staff was excellent!!!

Don’t believe the biased high ratings for American Van Lines (AVL) seen online. AVL buys people’s silence if not 100% satisfied. To accept their “settlement offer”, you sign a contract saying you won’t say anything negative about the company. AVL caused over $8000 worth of damage to our belongings (not counting damage done to either house) for which they offered a settlement of $1483. The movers’ attitude was great. Whenever I tried to help box items or carry items to the truck, AVL repeatedly informed me that I paid them to do the work and I shouldn’t be doing anything. But one worker clogged our toilet. Rather than saying anything about it, he closed the door. I found the mess 2 DAYS later. I had to purchase another plunger to unclog the toilet. Also, items were not packed carefully (e.g., 1 sheet of paper between 2 glass pie pans). I was expecting an 18-wheeler to carry our belongings like we had before. AVL showed up with a small truck, realized not everything was going to fit, and rented a trailer to pull behind the truck. AVL strapped my grill, wagon, & plow to the outside of the trailer (they wouldn’t fit inside). I rented a trailer to carry what AVL couldn’t fit. Our belongings were emptied into AVL’s storage unit, then reloaded when we were ready for delivery. The day we closed on the house, AVL called to make arrangements; dispatch gave me a delivery window of 2:00-4:00pm. I told them that we wouldn’t be closing until after 1:00. AVL arrived at the house at 11:00am. The driver chewed me out because I wasn’t there to take delivery and if I wasn’t there by 2:00, he was going to charge me a waiting fee. I arrived at 1:45. AVL wasn’t there, and didn’t return until after 4:00. I told my wife what happened. She posted a bad review on Google. Within 2 hours, Theresa (caseworker) called me and said if we removed the post, AVL would give me $200. The post was removed, but I never saw the $200. She told us we had 90 days to file damage and loss claims. Just a few weeks ago (way too late to add to the claim), I discovered that my 2 sets of handcuffs & keys were stolen. I repeatedly told them to take extra care of some items due to their sentimental or intrinsic value. Several were damaged. Not expecting that much damage, I foolishly signed Option 2 of the contract, which waves full replacement cost. It allows for replacement cost of $0.60/pound of that item. AVL’s settlement offer for some items was $508. Because the damage to the house was not noted in the log when the movers were here, AVL only allowed $725 as a “courtesy allowance” because I had pictures. There was a long list of other items that AVL did not offer fair settlement because their damage or loss was not listed on the bill of laden. As the homeowner, apparently it’s my responsibility to assess loss or damage to EVERYTHING as it’s unloaded. I guess I was supposed to go through every box while the truck was being unloaded to check for damage, but had 90 days to submit the paperwork? There was a 5-man team unloading items and entering the house through 2 entrances, some boxes and items were left in the garage. I could not keep track of everything. AVL used a $200 rain barrel as a packing vessel. It was filled with tools, then a chain was taken out of a tool box and thrown on top of the tools. The weight and sharp angles wore a hole in bottom, which wasn’t discover until I emptied it. A wood cabinet was destroyed. AVL put it in the garage and buried it with boxes so that I couldn’t see it. Out of “good faith and customer service”, AVL offered a settlement of $250 for the items damaged or lost that were not listed on the bill of laden because of the photos. As per their agreement, AVL had 120 days to respond to that claim. After 121 days I called them. For me to accept their pitiful offer of $1483, I must promise that I “will not, directly or indirectly, make any negative or disparaging statements”. I would rather be out the $1483 and inform others of our experience.

The bottom line? NO, NO, NO!!! DON'T USE THEM!!! DON'T DO IT!!! The whole story; We needed to move from Birmingham, AL to Denver, CO. After getting several quotes, we called American Van Lines- they were not quite the least expensive- they were mid-priced but they are a national "brand name" and that seemed safer. We spoke to someone on the phone to get the quote, then we were assigned to an account manager. We had a lot to move- a 4 bedroom house and a home business so he said we would have the movers at the house on Sunday to pack AND Monday to load. Because we moved for a new job we couldn't be gone long. Had to fly back Tuesday and we explained that. We also explained the house closing was on Tuesday so we had to be gone by closing time. We are very careful and wrote it all down, then confirmed: Sunday and Monday. Great. Paid them 50% down, flew to Atlanta late Friday, and rented a car to drive to Birmingham ( flights are much less out of Atlanta). We needed to have some things hauled to Goodwill on Saturday by a local company. Saturday American Van Lines called to confirm, "Be there Monday morning, 9am". What??? No, we told them, you said Sunday to pack, Monday to load. They said they could do it in a day. We have moved to different states five times and were pretty sure it would take more than one day, but it was "Go Time" so we had to agree to it. Our account manager said they would be there 9:00 Monday morning. Well... Monday morning came. 9am, no movers. 10am, no movers. 11am, called left a message. No movers, no call back. 12 noon we call again and are told the truck broke down the night before and they would be there Tuesday morning- THE DAY WE HAD TO FLY BACK TO COLORADO. They knew the truck wasn't coming, and didn't have the decency to call and let us know. We had to call them (twice!) when they were 4 hours late to find out they weren't coming! And, with all the contractors they use, they didn't even try to resolve the problem. We fired them and, in a panic, got on the phone to the realtor, the airlines, the hotel and the guys that hauled our stuff to Goodwill- they had mentioned they were now doing moving services. Someone came out that afternoon and gave us a quote and were there the next day. They packed and loaded from 8am until 2 o'clock in the morning- that's 18 hours!!! We did a lot of packing ourselves Saturday and Sunday and that helped the loading time tremendously- It would've been even longer. American Van Lines didn't want to give a refund, but they did give it to us in the end. So at least that was good. But look at what it cost us when they failed to do their job; Airfare- a flight back cost us an additional $525 Hotel- additional days, $150 (they gave us the special rate) Rental car- Our great deal was only for the original time period. The extra days were $200 Kennel expenses- 3 extra days for 2 dogs was $150. Vacation Time- My husband's company gave him 3 days off with pay to move- with the weekend it should have been more than enough. Still not sure, but the extra 2 days may come out off his PTO. So that is an extra $1025 we had to shell out because of American Van Lines. Not to mention the stress above and beyond what you have with a "normal" move. American Van Lines made our move a financial and emotional nightmare and they just walked away, no admission of wrongdoing or even an apology. They are deceitful, irresponsible and callous. You are warned.

It went really well. They were good and thorough everything made it here. I would use them again and I would recommend them to everybody I know. They were very fast and efficient. They had clean trucks and everything was packed up nicely! They were very good!

- We were told our move could take place on a Sunday. That is actually the day their crew resets their hours and only 48hrs ahead of time were we informed that we needed to move on Saturday instead. - The rep pointed out that American Van Lines is the company to move you from A-Z and said they never subcontract out. This was not true as our dealings from then on out were with an entirely different company. - We were told that everything was itemized and weight was an estimate. The rep said that we were bound at a maximum to the contract price but that after weigh-in it could be less. This was UNTRUE. The movers arrived and asked for the same amount of money even though I was under the estimated weight. The crew told me "it was all lies". A supervisor got on the phone and agreed to honor the actual weight. Then I was sent a document to sign stating that in exchange for the reimbursement I would never speak badly about the company!! It is a form of bullying to try to silence customers. - We were told by the rep that the delivery window was 5-7 days "max" however once our items were picked up and stored we received a document that stated a much larger window. Our things ended up arriving on the 7th day of the window with less than 24hrs notice. - Boxes were pretty banged up and several items broke, but everything was accounted for. I would also say that the crew who initially picked up our things was professional and courteous and did a good job.

WORST EXPERIENCE AND COMPANY EVER! 1. May 31st, Damage to apartment on move out in front of landlord resulting in deduction from security deposit. I filed official complaint/report that day. Photos etc. Landlord sent letter confirming incident. Almost 2 months later and no refund, and no response to my repeated attempts to follow up. 2. Signed a binding contract. On contract they gave latest date of delivery as Monday June 13th. I was told the week before the movers would arrive Saturday or Sunday the 11th or 12th so I sat there all weekend. No contact. No returns calls to my messages or emails. No contact from anyone in the company until end of day 4:45PM ON the 13th at which point they didn't even know where my stuff WAS let alone when it would arrive. 3. That week I filed a complaint about the delay. Living in an empty house for 1 week I expected, not 2. Added expense of hotel for my mother. My customer service rep had not returned calls or emails for a week. I was offered $350 and told that is far more then I should be offered for the inconvenience (hotel stay for mother, eating out for an extra week etc etc). I was then sent a legal order to sign that instructed I was to never review them in a negative light on any forum if I wanted my money. I refused. 4. Saturday June 18th movers finally call they are here. 3rd party moving company that AVL outsourced to and blamed for all the problems by the way. Despite me having an entire empty construction lot next door opened for their use I was told that the "truck won't fit, so they needed to do a shuttle service". Driver told me AVL would have been aware of this from the day I signed the contract as the address was in center city Philadelphia, his truck doesn't fit and they should have planned for it. Driver was then faxed the gag order again and told he MUST get me to sign it if I wanted my stuff!!!! . I again refused and luckily Driver did not intend to withhold my goods but his company then directed him to charge me an additional $2,000 more in order to have my things "shuttled" from truck to my house 1 mile away. 5. The amount of furniture broken while coming off the truck was SO extensive a mover said "I have never seen so much damage in one move in all my life" Boxes marked FRAGILE came off ruck crushed and looked like they had been run over. MASSIVE amounts of crystal, china, glassware all packed securely in bubble wrap were destroyed. Frames on art, broken mirrors etc. Finally BOTH flat screen televisions from my apartment, packed BY THE MOVERS were destroyed. (I had to pay $60 to recycle them and of course buy a new TV). 6. Communication with the company expressing my displeasure, list of damages and that there was limited to no communication with me regarding delay or initial damage claim from FL have all been completely ignored. Even when I emailed that we discovered watches and jewelry missing from my mothers jewelry tower and I wanted to speak to a manager immediately - all IGNORED! I have given them a MONTH before writing this review. Damages that can be added up in dollar amounts: Damage to apartment and loss of deposit: $250 2 Broken televisions (1 six months old) :$600 Cost to recycle: $60 Extra cost for move in day: $2,000 Cost of broken furniture, antiques, chairs, table legs, art frames, mirrors, glass, china and crystal; far too much irreplaceable to determine. The photos attached are only a small sampling of damage.

The move went perfectly! The movers were extremely professional and courteous. They were very careful with all of my belongings and did not damage anything. I have been using American Van Lines for the past 10 years with all of my moves and I recommend them all the time to my family and friends! I am always a satisfied customer when they move me.

I originally hired Atlas Moving and they sent American Van Lines to move me instead. When I questioned why, I was told that they are a parent company and that they sent who was available. They were very unprofessional. They damaged my furniture. They ended up getting their trucks stuck in my lawn. My lawn was ripped up in two places. They had to use my pick up truck to pull their trucks out of my lawn.

I had written a review prior to this because there were several issues we encountered with this move, the company that we contracted with at time of contract did not mention that we could be subbed with another mover, this happened. The other company did not have a professional looking truck, it was pretty rough looking. The loading of our belongings went smoothly and the crew were professional. We had to make the drive from CA to NC in 4 days, with 2 cars and a pet. This was another thing we had not counted on and were told that if we could not meet the date we would pay a high penalty because of their loss of another load. We made the time constraints.. The off loading crew were not organized and did not work well together-too much talking and they were there late. We realized the next day we were missing 4 items, the driver was called and he confirmed they had them, said he would return them on his next trip through-that took 2 1/2 months. I had to call customer service and had one rep that was very helpful. After writing this review, we received a call last week from the President of American Van Lines, Anthony DiSorbo, he had just seen our review on Angie's List and wanted to know what had happened. I spoke with him and went over the concerns we had. He reached out to us in a very professional way and asked if he could compensate us for our problems and the one damaged item. .I felt that this was extremely rare for someone at the top of their company to do and my husband and I were very impressed with his sincerity and wanting to make things right with us . We feel that this act was what will drive their company in a positive way and hopefully result in more positive reviews. I give Mr. DiSarbo an A+ for reaching out to us. Thank you. Pam Mullis

We used American Van Lines in March 2015 to move from Florida to Georgia and the overall experience was very good, so we had no hesitation using them again moving from Georgia to Arizona. This too was a positive outcome. Would definitely Recommend.

This company was very professional and did a wonderful job.

They were fabulous! I have never used a moving company that can speak so highly of.

Everything they moved out here arrived in perfect condition, including a Grandfather clock that I had bought in Germany. They did all of the wrapping and packing. They repacked some of the things that had been packed by another packing company there in Augsta Georgia. I was just impressed with the professionalism and the packing and the timeliness.

was told that my stuff would be picked up on the 15th of June and delivered on July 6 2013 but it took them until July 17 to deliver it and told me if I wanted my things I would have to pay the full price for the move even though they didn't fulfill their end of the contract it's only 2655 mile trip should have only taken 4 to 5 days when I would call American Van Lines or B&B Transport to see about my things I would get the old run around then when I would ask to speak to a supervisor at American Van Lines the supervisor would give me attitude and tell me to call the driver

I did not really like them. I will not hire them again. It is hard to reach customer service and they promise what they can not do, and they broke and lost some of my stuff. They contacted movers on my behalf. For the long distance move, the movers were pretty good. For the other move, they were not very good. The packing skills were not that good but they were nice people. It was not a total disaster. They had a good price.

I hired this Company to move my family from Charlotte, NC to Rochester, NY. My first mistake was that they did not come to the house to do an estimate. Everything was over the phone. So of course the quote she gave me was wrong - too low on the weight. The truck showed up as they said they would. The driver was immediately rude and distasteful his helper however, I will say was a nice gentleman. The driver informed me after looking at everything that I had I would be overweight and that he could save me from the Company screwing me over (as he proceeds to tell me how awful this Company is and he can?t wait to quit). He informs me they will be charging me at least $1,000 or more but if I give him $600 cash he can make it so they will not charge me any more money???? I?m like what? How the heck can you hide that I?m over my estimated weight? it just seemed extremely shady to me. Plus the fact that I?m a single mother and this move had spent every last penny I had. I had no additional funds to fork out. (Not that I would have given him a penny). So I told the guy to leave certain items behind so that I would not have the additional charges. After, I had told him to leave out half of my items he started to feel bad I guess because he told me I could probably add items back in and be okay. I had a few new pieces of furniture and they appeared to be taking care of it when packing and wrapping things. Well, that?s a joke because by the time everything arrived in NY Two Weeks later!! Every single one of my new items were broken! My Marble top Dining table and 2 of the four Chairs, My Bed and my leather couch! They even tried to repair my bed I can see where they painted it (of course they did not mention a thing to me about it). Everything looked great before we left Charlotte. Now it all is in horrible condition. I wish I would have never bought new furniture before my move and just sold everything and bought all new furniture in NY. I tried complaining to the company about what there driver was trying to do with asking me to pay him cash. They did not apologize; they did absolutely NOTHING about him trying to extort money out of me. In fact one woman told me that she did not believe me that he was great guy . Dealing with their corporate office was an absolute nightmare every single time I spoke with them. Not to mention being tossed around from one person to another and one person would say one thing another would say something completely different. The whole experience was awful. I would NEVER recommend them and I absolutely will never hire them again.

Movers were over a day late. Banged up several places of furniture-delivered a cultivator which was not ours. Omitted a rug which was ours.

They did a terrible job and refused to deliver where we wanted them to. The driver was very rude, mouthy, and even cursed at me. He even already had a full explanation of where he was delivering to and agreed to it and then when the time came, they did not. A $500 mirror I had was missing and I also ended up with some things that were not ours. They were in a huge rush and didn't give us time to look things over efficiently because damage was done and they didn't want to claim it. There was no recourse by the time I discovered what had happened. The guy even asked for my vacuum cleaner as a tip. I would never ever use them again.

I just met them online when I was getting ready to move. It was a little complicated and I cannot explain it. They took two and a half months to deliver my furniture, and they lost my big screen TV and some other little minor items, and they also ruined my furniture with gashes and scratches, and I have all the pictures that I am submitting to all of the different attorney generals’ offices because there is nothing else legally I have been told by an attorney that I can actually do, so that is really comforting, but I don’t know now I am having to present proof that I actually had a television. Although they have it listed on the manifest, they did not put, and I didn’t notice it because I have never moved across the country before. I did not notice that they did not put the size screen of the TV. They just put flat screen TVs, two of them, and they had them in separate boxes of audio. So the little one came, but not the big one and the movers had even told me when they came here; they said on the last load there was a sofa and a chair missing. I would never use their services again in the future and tell every body not to use their services, and I have also posted a negative feedback on Facebook regarding the same.

They were horrible and we would never recommend them ever. They do a lot of subcontracting and they don't inform the clients that they actually subcontract their job out to smaller moving companies. We had a very bad experience with the company. They were hard to get a hold of once you paid your money in and it was not a very pleasant move. Their customer service in the beginning was very helpful when we started, but once we got the quote we found that it didn't match what we would end up paying. We never knew that our job was to be subcontracted to kind of like two college students. It was a nightmare and I hope that no one has to go through that kind of stuff. We thought that it was a national company and I think it was the availability and time that pushed us to use that company. It wasn't that that they had a lot of good reviews but we didn't see too many negative reviews either. I would tell others to definitely ask them if they are going to subcontract their job to smaller companies and to ensure that company is going to have the same care and consideration for your valuables.