Always Affordable Moving & Storage

I contracted with Colonial Van lines CVL to move my belongings from NY to FL in July 2023. They sold my job to East Coast Van lines, AKA Affordable Van Lines. It is the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I entrusted CVL to move my belongings in a safe and timely manner. I did not receive that and was put through an emotional nightmare for 29 days. I was laughed at, hung up on, and lied to repeatedly. I expected my belongings to be picked up at my home and loaded into the moving van that would deliver it to my home in FL in a timely manner, that I was promised. The nightmare started on pick up day when a Mercedes Sprinter Van picked up my belongings from a Moving Company from New Jersey, East Coast Van Lines. I immediately called CVL and asked why was there another moving company picking my belonging up in a van?? They told me that East Coast Van Lines was working for CVL and that CVL was responsible for my move. I was upset that it was being loaded into a van and told it was going to be transported to a moving truck waiting in NJ and reloaded again. LIE! What happed was my belongings were transported to warehouse in NY and stored. I NEVER agreed to have my belongings stored in a NJ warehouse for 6 weeks in the hot summer. Thats right, six weeks! I was promised that I would receive my belonging in 3-5 days from pickup, when I questioned the 10-window period for delivery the CVL representative assured me it was just a formality, and I would have my belonging in 3-5 days. LIE! I have since found out that it is common practice from CVL to do this to its customers. I was put through an emotional turmoil over these 6+ weeks not getting any answers as to when I would receive my belongings. I was lied to over and over by CVL giving me false dates that would come and go. I would call and be laughed at and hung-up on repeatedly. I literally became sick with worry as I did not know where my entire belongings were. I had nightmares that everything I owned was gone. Finally, on August 10th the moving van showed up and nightmare continued. My boxes were crushed, damaged and 7 boxes missing! When I began opening my boxes the first thing, I noticed was a horrible stench that overwhelmed me and was imbedded in a lot of belongings, and they needed to be thrown out. This was amplified when I found evidence of rodents in many of my boxes, I found rat feces and hair on many of my belonging which only sickened me further. Several of my boxes were missing containing valuable items such as my tools, office paperwork, and miscellaneous home items. I have been dealing with a CVL representative named Donna who has been useless in helping me resolve this issue. They also gave me a quote and then after the fact raised it by $1057 for additional weight! I reminded them that they did NOT DELIVER all my boxes so how can the weight be the same! They are parasites of the moving industry!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5656

By far the worst experience of my life. They lie to get your business. From the minute they got to my house to the last minute they FINALLY delivered it was a nightmare. I gave an accurate description of all my items including sizes and weights. I was told nothing would be left behind. As soon as they got to my house it was a problem. They left over 400 cubic feet of my stuff but still managed to raise the cost of my move by $1800.00 above the original estimate on pick up day. I was told my stuff would be 3-5 days behind me it was 3 weeks before it finally arrived. Two thirds of my boxes were split open or crushed. They had 3 other deliveries on the truck and 2 before me. They tried giving me the next deliveries items so i had to point out what was mine and what wasn't. I put everything into storage so i wont really know what is missing until i look for it and cant find it. It may have been easier if the movers spoke English, but sadly they barely understood me. I had to hire a second mover to get the stuff they left behind costing me an additional $2100.00. The driver could not drive the truck, he was terrible. He stopped 400 feet from my house and said he could not make the turn. Two other truck drivers delivering in the same area offered to make the turn for him but he refused. It cost me another $420.00 for them to carry it to the house. It was only 4 pieces, i put the rest in storage. I also found storage 75 miles closer then originally estimated but i did not see any discount from them for saving them the mileage and the extra 90 minutes of travel. When I called the office to complain about the driver blatantly screwing me i spoke with a manager who turned out to be a bigger A-hole. A real slimy character who was 100% aware of the scam they pull. This loser had the nerve to say " if its a few hundred dollars more whats the big deal" I am so glad i recorded that call. I'll play it for the Better Business Bureau when i file that complaint next. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. All they care about is your money. They treat your stuff like garbage. I will post as many negative comments and reviews as possible all across the internet They deserve to be out of business. Deceitful, lying POS's

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9376

This is going to be a lengthy review to discourage you from using East Coast Van Lines. The good, the bad and the ugly!

We made a quick decision to move from OR back to New Orleans. Due to the rural area where we lived, getting a UBox or Pod was not an option. I received several quotes online and went with one that was in the middle of the range. That company was a broker who used Affordable/East Coast Van Lines. We were able to book the service with a really quick turn around. When the guys who packed our stuff arrived, the were efficient and only required us to purchase their boxes for things we did not have boxed. The wait time for our stuff to arrive was not too bad either.

All problems began with the delivery! The 2 men unpacking our stuff were older men that we were actually worried about because some of our stuff was heavy. It took 4-5x the amount of time it took to be packed. Some of the damage was noticeable-a broken chunk off of a coffee table, almost all plastic packing totes were broken, our file cabinet was bashed in. When unpacking, I don’t think that there was one box that was left unscathed. Worse than the broken boxes though were the missing boxes. We did not notice that we were missing boxes until we began unpacking. When the movers left, they told us we had 120 days to make a claim for missing and damaged items.

If approved by an adjuster, damaged items are paid at $.60/lb. Our adjuster denied the claims for the 3 missing items even though we were able to provide exact packing numbers and contents because the delivery sheet was signed. If you are considering this company, I would NOT sign for your items until everything is accounted for. Coincidentally, one of our missing boxes was a PlayStation….which has been signed online and is currently in use, along with a selection of games! And that was denied……buyer beware!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3500

I had the misfortune of 'working' with Always Affordable Moving & Storage of Metuchen, NJ (AAMS) in the pick up and delivery of a 10 piece Duncan Phyfe dining room set: 1 sideboard, 1 table, 1 box table leaves, 6 chairs, 1 office chair. All of my preliminary arrangements and contracts were managed by Cross Country Moving Group of Delray Bch, FL (CCMG). While polite and on time the pick up crew had difficulty using English to communicate and had no record of instructions regarding the use of my debit card at the site for payment of the pick up AND delivery fees (which will make sense here in a moment) made with the 'supervising' entity, CCMG, because arthritic legs and nerve damage in feet make errands and moving about, difficult. My CCMS contact assured me there was no problem in paying fees up front and in full. The delivery was the 'rub' of this bad experience. While CCMS MAY have wanted to provide good service, AAMS had no intention of allowing me to pay for pick up & delivery at the same time. Why, you might ask? Well, let me tell you. I was called the evening before the delivery day not by the driver, but by an 'operator' at AAMS. I was told it had been determined by the driver that a 'shuttle' service and corresponding fee was necessary to add to my delivery bill because the truck containing my 10 pieces was "too big for your street." A 'post contract order of additional fees by the shipper' was invoked, costing me an additional $400 "cash or money order" to have the items brought to my apartment, AND!..I should be happy that they were giving me a deal because the shuttle fee was 'normally' $700.

18 wheel trucks deliver to businesses on my Dover street, regularly. That made no difference to the truly rude and unprofessional bevy of individuals handling the phones at AAMS; the language used, the abrupt and strangely juvenile delivery of their messages, "Yeah? well, you can pick it up on the street; it's in your contract - our decision, gotta be cash or money order, go to the post office, yeah, hold on, yeah?.." the one poor soul assigned the task of the delivery who seemed unable to understand the simplest of instructions, and the absolutely unjustified, probably illegal, and obvious ploy to bilk me out of an additional $400 to have 10 pieces of furniture brought to my home made my experience with ALWAYS AFFORDABLE MOVING & STORAGE of Metuchen, NJ (and their management co. CCMG of Delray Bch, FL) one for the books.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1846