FEDERAL VAN LINES INC- Allied Van Lines

We had many issues with each step of the household moving service, However, the final straw was when they lost a wardrobe box of 18 slacks and over 100 pieces of costume jewelry, as well as a hand truck, and refused our claim after making us jump through hoops to file the claim. Here are the gory details: They cost $5000 more than their $11000 estimate. They took two days to pack when they estimated one. This required us to be ready for them a weekend early on very short notice. The first day of packing was done by a 6 person crew. This made it difficult to supervise the quality of the packing. The second day ran 6 hours over the time estimate given to us at the end of the first packing day. This left us very little time to clean and be out of the house by our closing date. They did not tell us until the driver and unloading crew arrived that we would be required keep track of all incoming items (over 300), checking each one off the inventory list as it came in. This was very difficult as there was a crew of about 5 movers, which we simultaneously had to direct to the proper room for unloading each item. This took 4.5 hours with no break for us. We signed off on the inventory list although we were uneasy all was accounted for. Unpacking was made difficult when we found items from one room packed with items from another without any indication on the labeling. This meant we needed to unpack all 230 boxes before we knew there was anything missing. It also meant we did not know how much cupboard space to leave for sets of things like china, until all the boxes were unpacked. When we finished unpacking, we realized we had the missing items noted earlier. We made several calls to find out the process for filing a claim. To file the claim, we had to fill out a lengthy form with complete description of each item, with documented value. We registered a claim and requested a trace. Two weeks later we received a letter that the trace was unsuccessful. We were also notified that because we had signed the inventory list, our claim was denied. Had they told us this was their policy in the beginning, we would not have wasted our time with the documentation. To top it off, when we unpacked a box we intended to store after verifying its contents earlier, we found many vintage 78 rpm records were damaged due to very poor packing. There were some things done well. All crystal and china arrived undamaged. The furniture was undamaged due to careful handling. The crew that crated mirrors was very professional. The loading crew in East Peoria was fast and efficient, although we do not know how the missing items were lost. Moving is one of those stressful life changes. We were ready to roll with many of these issues that surfaced along the way. However, the way the claim was handled was a tipping point for our dissatisfaction with Allied.

I had set up a move for the second time with this mover. They had all of my content information and I was only moving 20 minutes away. They showed up with the main driver drunk or high, he started vomiting on my driveway and passed out in the moving truck for 3 hrs. It took multiple calls to get the office to send someone else. Then I had 3 inexperienced movers and one passed out. They disappeared for over an hour for lunch and came back smelling like marijuana. They lost the keys in the snow after lunch and I lost another hour of productivity because they couldn't move the truck into the driveway without the keys. At the end, the move that should have taken 6 - 7 hrs, took almost 12 hrs. They billed me almost twice the original quote. I complained to the BBB, but they did nothing. I would never use or recommend them. This was the absolute worst move I have ever had. I have moved numerous times in 4 states and 7 houses....the absolute worst experience, stay far away from this mover.

The estimators were professional and courteous. We were offered free second hand moving boxes if we could pick them up from the warehouse. This estimate was close to one other company and dramatically lower than a third. Yet we were overall satisfied with the experience. We packed ourselves. On moving day, our team of three movers showed up early! They took all our furniture and boxes from our second story apartment plus additional boxes in the third floor storage, loaded the van quickly and carefully, and took it all to our new second story apartment. We had a lot of stuff to jam into the smaller new place, and although we didn't have a clear plan we did have all our boxes labeled by room. If we'd had a better plan, they would have placed things in a more organized way, but we really weren't prepared for that. We agreed on the spot we'd do the finagling ourselves and they could just get it all in. They were happy to oblige and didn't waste any time. I had to remind them to take a lunch break and they were prompt about returning as well. I had wondered whether since it was hourly, they might want to drag it out to make more money, but that was not at all the case. Both apartments had winding stairs and they did a good job handling it. The foreman was definitely the most knowledgeable and the other movers clearly followed his lead. We had been forewarned that the couches might need to come in the window at the new place, which turned out to be the case. It was an impressive feat, and the total still came in at the low end of the original estimate, which was great. Nothing was missing and nothing major was broken (couple of chipped things due to our own packing). They did accidentally bust the tube that props open the screen door at the new place, but I think it was malfunctioning and needed replacing anyway, that cost us maybe $10 at Home Depot, no big deal.

Overall I'm very satisfied with their service. Their crew was polite and courteous. They were careful with our stuff. They moved quickly. They had a very interesting message to inspire them to be efficient which said anybody who is caught going to the truck empty handed has to buy the crew a twelve pack of beer. They sacked up the things quick. They had the same row on the day and nobody went from the truck to the house without something in their hand. Both times they were quicker than they estimated that they would be. They ended up giving us all the boxes that we needed and we didn't have to pay for the boxes, which was awesome. Their estimate was right on and their office staff was polite. They were helpful, on time and accurate with their estimate. They were fair with their pricing and the whole thing was excellent.

Synopsis: This was an interstate move that involved moving an entire multi-family house that included 3 apartments, an atic, full basement and outside deck and garden furniture. The logistics of this move were compounded by the fact that the house being moved into was located on a dead end street that could not easily accomodate a large moving van. A smaller van would not work because of the number of items being moved. The entire move from start to finish took 4 days. All packing was also performed by the moving company. We interviewed on site and received quotes from 3 different moving companies. After analysis, which included criteria such as responsiveness, accomodating extra requests, courtesy and professionalism, and price, we chose Federal Van Lines, Inc. They priced in the middle of the three quotes but gave us the most comprehensive quote and the only one with a quaranteed price pledge; they were professional as well as easy and friendly to deal with. We were not disappointed. Packers arrived on November 15 and packed for 2 days. There were 4 men packing on both days. On the third day (Nov 17) the movers loaded the truck. Loading took until about 3 pm; it went very smoothly. On Friday, Nov 19, the movers drove the truck from RI to NY. We had requested that they deliver the furniture on the 19th and they accomodated us. We also had requested a stop-over with a drop off at a self storage place. On the 19th they arrived at 6:00am at the storage place, and because the office was not yet open the automatic gate did not stay open long enough to have the 45' trailer van enter. They did not wait until 8:00am to start unloading but walked every single box and piece of furniture to the storage unit through a small gate. Then they drove to the residence located at the end of a narrow, steep sloping dead end lane. The driver backed the van down the small lane with great dexterity so we did not have to use a shuttle system-quite a skilful maneuver. The men started unloading immediately and with great care for our belongings. Not one item was broken, scaped or dented. Some items (beds for example) were difficult to move through doors and up stairs that were very narrow. They worked uninterrupted until everything was in the house and reassembled. We had purchased lunch for the movers, but they did not stop for lunch. They took the lunch with them when they left to return to RI in the late afternoon. The Federal Van Lines movers were able to get everything into the house, at times having to take apart and reassemble items. The mastermind in this move was Bryan. He was able to see where everything would fit before placing items in boxes and then the boxes into the van. He orchestrated everything well, was extremely correct and very professional. His staff worked together as a team, they had a positive attitude, a good sense of humor and were all very skilled at their jobs. The whole team made this move, that could have been a traumatic experience, a very posiitve one. We highly recommend Federal Van Lines Movers and would use them again.

SINCE THIS WAS A LARGE COMPANY, I THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER. THEY WERE VERY EXPENSIVE AND THEY WERE NOT VERY CAREFUL WITH MY BELONGINGS. THEY DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING, THEY WERE JUST ROUGH.