Ally Vanlines

Back in June of 2013. (company hopefully has been shut down by now.)
Wife moving her father with early stages Alzheimer from Mississippi to Texas. Ally took her 600 dollars deposit over the phone pressuring her to lock in price. Had difficult time contacting the company after they got the deposit. We knew something was wrong when we could not get them to answer the phones. But then the day before the move they called my wife only to try and get a larger deposit as costs tripled. They wanted us to have cash on hand to pay driver before he would start loading. Could not give us a date furniture would be delivered. Added cost for boxes, packing materials. Added cost to unload at destination. Cost just kelp going up above quoted price without an end insight. I had worked for a moving company when I was in my 20s and knew some of the stuff they were saying and adding in was not the way it's handled with a reputable company. So we cancelled the move and rented a Uhaul. Wife and I in our 50s loaded everything and drove to Texas. We even told them the reason for the move. An during a very stressful time in my wife's life these scam artists took advantage of her. Run from these people, you can't win. Need everyone who's had problems with them to get a class action lawsuit against them just to make them squirm. I would give up any settlement just to watch them squirm for a change.
None of this is EXAGGERATED.
We were out 600.00 because we would not fall for anymore of their lies. It would have been much more if we would have stayed with them.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $600

Please don't take all these negative reviews lightly- I don't know how companies like this can legally operate in the United States.  They take your deposit after they completely deceive you on what they are- they then completely disregard you after that.  Every thing you read about these guys is true- complete scam artists.  I ended up canceling with these guys after the mover showed up and wanted another $2,500 on top of the $5,126 quote attached to this review.  I rented a Uhaul myself and probably won't get my deposit of $2,666 I paid these guys.  I will do everything in my power to let as many people as I can know about this before they get taken to the cleaners as well!!

Service cost: $5126

I will tell you my experience. We gave them a 2 day window to pick up the furniture. Not only did they not show up they never called. I tried numerous times to talk to someone but my calls went unanswered. They finally called 4 days later to tell me a truck was on the way but it was way too late. We only had a short time window since we were moving from Arkansas to North Carolina. I had to rush to make other plans. Now they have charged me $1700 which I have disputed on my credit card. I never write reviews and obviously some people were satisfied with their service but for me never again. I would not trust this broker and futhermore as I saw on the news recently..never deal with a company that makes you pay upfront before any service has benn rendered. Charles.

Service cost: $3178

I was contacted by Sal at Ally who took all of my information and gave me a quote that was within my budget.  In order to "lock in the rate" I had to agree to a deposit, but was told it would not be binding until I reviewed and digitally signed the agreement.  After reviewing the agreement, the items that were listed were no where near the amount I told him and he claimed he estimated high, so I would most likely not even pay as much as the quote.  I started reading the fine print, contacted SAL, and at the point, his job was done, so he couldn't be bothered.  Said he was busy and would call me right back.  I never received the call back, so I did not return the agreement.  Received a follow-up call the next day and told them I was making alternative arrangements because I was just not comfortable with the experience.  They assured me my deposit would not be processed, as I had not actually signed the agreeement, so we had no contract.  I was then contacted by their "QA" department to discuss my experience.  I received an email several days later stating my deposit was being processed and I emailed the contact I had.  She said she would be sending to their "book keeping" department to ensure it is refunded.  It has been 2 weeks and no action was taken and I am unable to reach anyone at ALLY.  I contacted my bank to do a chargeback and get my money returned.  DO NOT fall for the pricing - they deliberately give a low price by leaving many items out of the quote, making it seem like a great deal.  DO NOT give them a deposit to lock in the rate.  Beware!!

Service cost: $2000

The whole experice with All Van Lines was horrible.  They under estimated my move by $1,000.00 after they told me what I had to get rid of to stay in my budget.  They state on line they will refund the deposit if you choose to to not go with them - WRONG - I had asked to cancel and they said they would but would not refund my deposit.  They changed the pick up time/date 4 times on me and the delivery was 6 days late.  I have damaged furniture and have been trying to file a claim with them but they will not respond.  I have even reported them to the Better Business Bureau - they sent one response to the Better Business Bureau asking me to contact them to arrange a settlement - I tried but they will not return any of my phone calls and will not respond to the Better Business Bureau either.  I strongly urge you to read the complaints against this company, not only here but also with the Better Business Bureau.  They have the worst customer service ever - they were not only rude and disrepectful to me once I signed on the dotted line but they were also very rude and disrespectful to my daughter-in-law.  Again, please read all the compliants before signing with them!! .

Service cost: $2800

This mover never showed They still have not returned my deposit. Very hard to get anyone on the phone. Totally blows you off. They cancelled the move with me and have not sent my deposit back. When I finally get someone on the phone they state to contact my bank if I want my money back. Total scammers!! Beware!! I learned from this move to never trust a broker. They are not the person that moves you. My move cost $1800 more than the quote they gave me. Beware beware beware!!

Service cost: $500

We contracted with Ally Vanlines in April 2013 for a move that was originally schedlued for October 2013.  We paid a deposit of $1126.28.  Since we didn't have a specfic date we asked Ally if it was OK to change the date once we really knew what it would be.  On June 4 2013 we contacted Ally and told them that the actual date of our move would be August 1st.  They thanked me and said no problem.  Two weeks befroe our scheduled move I again contacted Ally Vanlines to confirm or move and they said it was scheduled for August 1st and there were no problems.  We cancelled our storage unit and moved out of our home scheduled for August 1st and were excited about our move to our new home in Arizona.  The day before our move, July 31st, Ally called us and said they could not move us because the truck was full.  WHAT??  They said they could pick us up in 4 days.  NO STORAGE UNIT, NO WHERE TO LIVE.  I said this can't be happening but they would not pick us up.  We scrambled to find another moving company at the last minute.  As the new moving company was picking up our stuff Ally again called and wanted our business back.  We told them it was too late we had to move and had someone else to do it.  I asked for our deposit back which they agreed to do.  They said 7-19 business days.  No problem.  That time came and went.  Still no deposit.  I contacted them again by email and got a call back from Ally saying rudly "dispute it with your card company"  I did this and contacted our State Attorney General, the Floriday State Attorney General and the Better Bisiness Bureau.  Still no depost after 4 weeks.  The response they gave to the BBB was we changed our move date and didn't five timely notification.  We gave 2 months notification.  So they lied to the BBB to keep our deposit.  I then wrote them another emai threating legal action.  I wrote this by email.  They blocked my emails from their system!  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!  USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!  They are scam artists and fraud.

Service cost: $4824

Do not use this company. They are slezy and criminal in the way they do business.  I originally was quoted for $2500 @ 4700lbs and was told no matter what I will not have to pay more than that, but could pay less if I came in under that weight because "you pay for what you weigh"  a day before the truck was supose to come they call me to go over the inventory of my move again for accuracy.  I actually had sold things to lighten my load and removed items off of the original list and somhow he upped my quote to 5000 lbs and $3100. He told me it was to be safe but not to worry I pay for what I weigh.  Long story short when my weight was 3500 lbs the amount I had to pay to get my stuff off the truck did not drop and I am still fighting for a refund. Never ever use this company!

Service cost: $3600

I was checking into companies to move from Ohio to Colorado. The salesperson Dave was very persistant with calling me and trying to get my businesss. He seemed very knowledgable to any question I asked. He gave me a price that was within our budget and told me that someone would call one week prior to the move to adjust items shipping and give me additional details. At that time, I had to give him a deposit and he said this good pricee was locked in based on the rates for that day. When I did receive the call about a week prior to the move I adjusted the details of everything being moved. I did realize that the weight (that is what the dollar amount was based on - not space but pounds) had probably gone up a lot. My first estimate on a 3 bedroom home was just over 4000 lbs. When I went over the additional items with the quality control person he estimated my weight at over 10,000 lbs but not to worry since they over estimate so that it may not cost so much in the end. My price did triple and when I asked him he advised me that he had to get a different truck to come out. Ally ia a brokerage company and they do not do the moving but they utilize actual moving companies so they felt there actions ended at the time the moving company came. When I had problems with the moving company Ally was rude and stepped back saying I need to deal with the dispatch at the moving company. My suggestion to anyone considering this company. Think again since I felt it was more of a bate an switch. .

Service cost: $9932

I read another complaint about "Sal" and had a similar experience. Deposit to "lock in" move. Got a call days before the move from "Quality Assurance" to review the inventory. What? Couldn't we have done this closer to when I engaged with you? Bottom line: Sal didn't estimate the load properly. In fact he underbid it. When QA came in, they estimated it at twice the weight and price. Cut to escalation: Max Bruno, Regional Sales Manager who really likes to hear himself talk essentially tells me that since I accepted what Sal gave me, unless I come up with the rest, according to the contract, I'm screwed. No effort to 1) understand that his charge made a big mistake, 2) put forth some kind of "let's-make-this-right" option 3) do more listening than justifying why they do what they do in the way they do it. Blathering Max will tell stories starting with "90% of my clients" to the point where you just want to inflict physical violence. Take it from me. If you're moving and Sal calls, hang up.

Service cost: $5440

Pick up was 4 hours late, keeping the movers at our house until after midnight.  We were told that Ally would store our household goods for 30 days at THEIR  location.  We would be charged for additional storage after the 30 days.  They called us and wanted to deliver after 5 days.  Told us that if we didn't accept the delivery that our household goods would be put up for auction.  Driver then was almost 1 day late in delivering after we had to go out and find a storage unit ourselves.  When he did show up, he had no crew to help unload.  Thanks to a local at a truck stop, he found a couple of day labors to help him.  We ended up having to help unload our household goods along with the "hired" help. The original contract said that Ally would deliver to our new address and set up beds, etc at no charge.  Now, we have to move our goods ourselves out of the storage unit.  Two items were damaged, I hope that we don't have similar problems trying to make a claim.  One piece that arrived broken was a shelf to a century old antique china hutch.  That will be a problem trying to find an antique restorer in NE Oregon.  I am VERY unhappy with their service and their over abundance of false promises that the gave to us.  I would NOT recommend them to even take out our trash barrels.

Service cost: $3000

They will call you and offer the best price and even they match it with your move with Uhaul or any other option and then they will call you again and again until you agree and will give you discounts like check on phone discount etc and they will send you the contract atleast 4-5 times. So every time you will not read it you just sign it. Very important their agreement says: You will get full refund if you cancel the move with in 24 hours but they will say you that you can make changes before 7 days of scheduled pickup and they will refund the amount: News flash they will not. Once you make a deposit you stuck after 24 hours and they will engage you for that time.   They promise 2000 pounds but actual calculation is by Cubic feet so even if you have a very light weight sofa which is of big size they will charge by cubic feet X 7.  Ally Vanlines is just a broker not a mover, it is written on their site too. So how can a mover make money by setting a high rate at the time of pickup from you so initially your contract will say 288 or 299 C.f but they will make it to 500C.f and then charge for extra 200C.f multiply it to 7 and then price per cube which will double your cost.    If you stuck with them then just pray that your stuff is not wet and destroyed.  Initially they will say that you don't have to pay the movers but when it comes to delivery and pick up mover will not pick stuff with out money and will not deliver without taking money from you and it something doesn't fit to your apartment they will leave it on the road and walk away.   Their customer care is [EDIT], they will not pick your phone after initial deposit and now you cannot cancel it as you made the mistake. If you reach to customer care they will not respond properly and thier moving partner may yell at you like you were asking for things which you don't deserve even if you paid alot.

Service cost: $1894

They are only the brokers, so they take NO responsibility for QRS movers, who are:LATEDAMAGINGDON'T DELIVER EVERYTHINGLIARS (my sister died, our truck is on the way, don't know where it is, but we'll fast track it)SCAM ARTISTSEXTORTIONISTS (pay us in cash upwards to 3x our quote or we take you items back to the warehouse where we stored it for 1-3 months without your permission) They cause you to miss your entire summer of recreation for your kids (just got their bikes, foosball table and NOT their solo skateboards Sept 1), family reunion/weddings/trips, ability to clean your house, cook/refrigerate food, launder (oh wait, what clothes, they're on the first too small truck!), eat from a table/with chairs (dining room table on 90 day late truck/kitchen table never delivered/neither is patio table or chairs), self medicate with OTC meds/nebulizer, clean (Rainbow vacuum/steam mop/carpet shampooer/stainless indoor dryer never showed up). AND, you're out $12,000 to them and about $10,000 more than you planned so far, due to money for recreation, eating out, cleaning services, laundry services, lodging (since the beds didn't show for a month).  BEWARE, you'll be in financial ruin if you use this company. PS: LOVE TO ATTACH PHOTOS, BUT OUR SCANNER/COPIER WAS BROKEN IN THE SECOND LOAD, AND CORDS TO CAMERA STILL CAN'T BE FOUND.  Damages include: broken copier, broken antique/discontinued wedding china and crystal, vases (not all of it, just what was obviously thrown on the truck), numerous cracked/gouged/broken pieces of antique furniture, foosball table gouged, MISSING furniture - antique/vintage, missing irreplaceable family items (furniture, antique farm sign from family farm)  Suffice it to say, it's the worst transition EVER.  .

Service cost: $12000

Ally is a total scam!  This company is a broker and once they get your deposit they dump you.  National Logistics was the third party that handled my move.  The driver showed up at my home a day early with a 2 hour notice.  He could not speak good english and did a terrible job of labeling and inventorying my items.  Plus, I had to leave them unattended to go to the post office for a money order as they only accept money orders or cash.  What kind of reputable company does not accept credit cards??  I was never informed that  I would have to pay the driver in cash.  When the driver arrived at my home in a 18 wheeler, he ran over the sidewalk crushing it, then gave me a story about how his boss would make him pay for it and he would make no money off of the job.  All he was worried about was getting his money!  When my goods finally arrived in Atlanta, the majority of the furniture items had broken pieces, scratches or dents. There were broken items in my boxes where goods had been wrapped with bubble wrap, and I have missing items.  My washer and dryer have dents all along the top like something heavy was stacked on top of them and on top of this, they tried to give me other peoples furniture and computer monitors then got mad at me because I would not accept them!  The move ended up costing double the amount I was quoted and there is no complaining to Ally.  The moment they book your move they ar finished with you!  Jordan sounds great on the phone but will sell you a load of crap! I had a short period of time to get out of my home and did not do the research that I should have done on movers.  Do yorself a favor, go with a reputable mover as Ally will not save you money and insure your property being moved!!

Service cost: $3800

We did not use this company for our move.  I had two calls from Christian (Chris) about our move.  I was silly enough to think that he could provide me a quote over the phone for our four bedroom move accross the country.   I cannot comment about this companies moving skills but I worry about their honesty. Before seeing the quote I received my second call from Chris.  As I am getting several quotes, I asked him what company he was with as I am having a difficult time keeping them all straight.  He clearly said he was with Allied Van Lines when I asked him on the phone.  My wife and I thought this was starge and a representative from Allied was out to our house the day before. So I finaly open the quote and found out that Chris has misrepresented the company he works for.  I have good enough hearing to understand the difference between Ally Van Lines and Allied Van lined.  Chris clearly said he was with Allied. Needless to say, Ally could offer to move my stuff for free and I would not use them. Next Stop BBB.com.

Service cost: $6500

This is a broker not a mover. They will send unethical movers to your house and you will not be happy. They quoted us a weight quote and then sent Quality Relocation Services from Colorado to our house.We were told after the truck was loaded that they would not accept the contract.They made us go with cubic footage. QRS never gave us a paper contract. They made us use our I Phone to take pictures of the contract. Josh their driver should be fired. He even brived us. He told us that he could make 1000 of the move go away if we paid him 450.00 We did not pay it. We were pretty sure we would have missing furniture either way. We called Ally after the fact and Jack told us he would have a manager from Ally call QRS.If they did, it did not change anything and we never heard from either company till our items arrived. You cannot get ALLY or QRS to return your phone calls. After they get your deposit you will have to call back over and over again because all thier phones voice boxes are full. This mover showed up at 6pm at night and did not leave out house till 3pm in the morning. After the fact we are sure it was a tatic so we could not contact anyone. We paid about 3500 dollars more for our move. We did get our furniture. It actually was in good condition. The movers in Tampa were very professional. They were polite and helpful. After this experience I have decided to get a security system in my house and other protection.

Service cost: $85000

Absolutely avoid. here is what happened. (1) Sarah Miller who was the first contatc sale person by telephone promised delivery within a week, specifically to pick up 6/22 and deliver no latr than 7/4. Well, deliver made 7/18. The qoute was for about $2,000 and they immediately charged $700 to ihold the dates and nititae the process (2) pick up was supposed to be between 12 and 2PM, but the driver did not show up until 5:10PM. I told him that the gate to the storage facility will close electroncally at 9PM and no ne will be able to leave after that. We had to put the truck in the way of the gate to keep it open. then at 9:50PM when everything was loaded on the truck he asked me to pay for packing and boxing (see below). (3) Sarah Miller said that all packing, wrapping and boxing is included, but the pickup driver after loading everything on the truck demanded about $1,300 for boxing and packing and asked me to sign a contract. I refused to sign the contract as is, so he wrote on the contract that I refused to pay and I wrote that this was supposed to be included. When I told that to Melissa from Ally Van lines she said that that was a misrepresentation. (4) to arrange for delivery, Natalie from Ally Van Lines called and said that I have to pay the balance before delivery is made, and they took my credit card number and charged $3,188. So, now the cost had jumped from about $2,000 to almost $4,000 and they are holidng our stuff hostage (5) when delivery was finally made, everything is soaking wet, and some items are damaged and broken, and some are missing (6) loading and unloading was supposed to be included in the quote, but they asked fr $75 for unloading claiming that they culd not get close enogh to the house (7) we found out that the driver had picked some one from the street to hel him with the unloading.   So, bottom line, they are brokers, it is a scam and a rip off. I will be filing complaints with the BBB and considering taking them to small claims court. If for nothing, but to help others avoid them and may be put them out of business.

Service cost: $2000

We originally hired Colonial Vanlines who notified me the day before our move that they didn't have a truck available and we likely couldn't move until the following week - like they were changing a nail or hair appointment.  We fired them (and fought for our deposit back) and hired Ally Vanlines.  Ally was great when initially speaking with them - they guaranteed they had a truck available and would be there on Saturday (still okay as we had to vacate by Monday).  Saturday came and went - no truck - no phone call - no-one answering the phones at Ally.  Hired yet a third mover for $2,300 more and they showed up and we moved successfully on Monday.  Have been fighting with Ally ever since trying to get my deposit refunded.  They broke the contract by not shwoing up.  The last person I spoke with, Frank the manager, was all apologies - "this never should have happend - I will expedite the refund for you today but, of course, it will take seven to ten days to post to your account."  That was on July 12th - have called Frank no less than ten times since the 19th and not one call has been answered, not one message returned.  Have now hired an attorney in an attempt to get the refund plus have them reimburse me for the additional expense of the thrid mover.

Service cost: $4200

"My specific experience with Ally Vanlines are that they are a scam.I was quoted $1,700 for a move and asked to place $488 deposit to hold the dates of the move with their freight driver. My room mate paid the deposit using a credit card.We never got an invoice or any paperwork at all and when we tried to call the company all we'd ever get is voicemail, no matter who we tried, or what time of day it was. Scared that we were being scammed, my room mate requested a chargeback on his credit card for the deposit and we moved on to just rent our own moving van.Two weeks after we'd given up on ever talking to anyone at Ally Vanlines again, they called to schedule the movers. I told them we charged back the deposit and wouldn't be using their services. I told them we couldn't get a living person on the phone and they acted like that was crazy talk. The person I spoke to was named Tony Gousgounis and he assured me it had all been a misunderstanding and he was sorry we wouldn't be using their moving company, but that he'd need my help to cancel the freight driver they'd contracted on my behalf.Then they proceeded to send me documents for the price quote, saying that in their system, they had to have a signed estimate on the books to do anything with the job, including cancel it. I didn't believe that I should have to sign anything to cancel the job and I argued with out signing for the majority of the day and through several calls. Tony Gousgounis spent 6 hours begging and calling and convincing me to sign, so they could cancel the subcontracted freight driver they'd scheduled so that the driver didn't show up to move us, expecting the remainder balance. I did not want to sign, but he wore me down, and eventually I signed to get the ever more panicked Tony off my phone. When he took my paperwork, he said he'd be canceling the job with it, apologized for the misunderstanding, and then told me he'd give me a great deal in the future if I ever needed to move and was willing to give them another shot. I figured signing was harmless because my room mate ad already requested the credit back for the deposit through his bank. I thought they couldn't use my signature with my room mate's credit card, because I'm not an authorized signer on his card, so I figured signing the price quote would not be damaging.I was wrong. They used my signature to fight the chargeback at the bank level and have it overturned, keeping the deposit. They did this knowing we were not going to use the service, knowing we'd given them plenty of time to cancel the work, knowing my signature wasn't authorized for the card they were charging.This company knew exactly what it was doing to scam that deposit, did it willfully, and should NEVER be used.Assist me in spreading the word however you can so others don't get scammed. A moving company should never require a deposit. Legitimate moving companies do an on-site free estimate of what it will cost to move you. The *real* moving company, Allied Van Lines, did just that and required no deposit. Ally Vanlines is a scam.

Service cost: $1700