Atlas Van Lines

I moved with them three times before but this last experience was very unpleasant. Delayed the shipment delivery by 31 days. Damaged several items of furniture throughout the move. Overcharged me hundreds of dollars because of a bad / inaccurate weight at the origin. Charged me based on quoted / estimated weight even though an actual weight was available based on which the bill should have been created. Did a reweight at destination but refused to reimburse me back the money that I was overcharged due to the inaccurate weight at origin.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $21000

Atlas was a great choice. I highly recommend them to anyone who has a long distance move and is uneasy about strangers taking their belongings. I read many reviews before going with Atlas and I am so glad I did my homework. The bottom line that customers should remember is CUSTOMER SERVICE: where is there office? can you visit them? is the deposit needed? how do they weigh the truck? if it goes it over the estimation how much are you required to pay? My move went over the estimated weight but I was only responsible for 10% more than my quote!! That is great! By locking in a percentage of what you owe the company cannot take advantage of you. The actual movers were awesome! Though they arrived late on pick-up they were fast yet careful with everything. They even wrapped paintings that were not boxed. The movers that picked up my belongings were the same ones who delivered them; THE SAME MOVERS WITH THE SAME TRUCK!! That was amazing to see that they literally just hit the road after my packing my things instead of stopping off at a warehouse. I could even track where they were en-route as I was driving to Colorado as well. They were friendly, funny and very polite. I am very pleased with how everything turned out. They arrived on time and everything was in tack; it was as if they followed my car the whole way it was great to see that everything looked the same way as I left it. Great company! Go visit their local office and make sure they know who you are and you know them because the relationship makes the business!

Service cost: $4000

Be warned – Atlas Van Lines/Ace Southwest Moving & Storage are the worst movers ever! We have moved numerous times – in state, across the country and overseas – and we have never had a more horrendous, unprofessional moving experience than we had with these companies. It started with an Atlas crew and truck that brought our things to Austin. Once it arrived at the storage facility (all parties involved knew well ahead of the move date that we were storing our things, including the Atlas rep who came to assess how much stuff we had and how much storage space we would need), an Ace Southwest crew took over, and that's when the nightmare began. First, it turned out that the Atlas rep had misjudged how many storage units we would need, telling us that two would be enough. But the Ace Southwest crew, instead of telling us right away that two units weren't enough and that we would need to rent another one, proceeded to try and cram everything we own into the two units. It wasn’t until after many hours of offloading our stuff from the truck that they finally told us we needed more space. By that time, it seems, the damage was underway. We didn’t know to what extent our things were damaged/broken/destroyed until 11 months later, when we moved out of storage into a house. From the minute the movers we hired to move us out of storage opened the units and started looking around, it was obvious that things weren’t going to go well. Maybe it was the way the Ace Southwest movers had apparently piled out things into a 15- to 18-foot-high tower (tables on top of armchairs and wrought-iron outdoor furniture on top of that; heavy furniture on top of boxes marked FRAGILE, etc). Or maybe it was the way the same Ace Southwest movers wedged things in so tightly in an effort to cram everything into two units that resulted in several expensive items being gouged and permanently broken, including a fairly new freezer. Either way, it was clear to everyone there (us and the movers, who were not from Ace Southwest or Atlas Van Lines) that the movers who had packed our things into the storage units (Atlas Van Lines/Ace Southwest) were responsible for the damage to our furniture and other belongings. So we moved into our house and started unpacking. The Atlas crew at our original location was apparently in a hurry to get going because when many of our things, from lamps and lampshades to dishes and appliances, were jammed into boxes without any paper or protection and ended up broken, dented, ripped or damaged to the point of being useless. We took an inventory of the damaged items and contacted Ace Southwest about filing a claim. They passed the buck and told us that all claims had to be filed with Atlas. So we spent an hour or more typing it all in online and filed it. A few days later, Atlas denied the claim, stating that it was more than nine months since the move and therefore the claim wasn’t valid. We went back and forth with them, via email and telephone, for several days, pointing out first and foremost that, in fact, it had only been one month since the move because our things had been in storage. As we pointed out, the storage units were so tightly packed to the rafters that we couldn’t even access our things to assess any potential damage. Atlas has attempted to skirt its responsibility by telling us that regulations require movers to complete all claims within nine months; however, when we requested a copy of the regulations, we discovered that it says that a mover “may not be required to accept your claim.” In other words, there is nothing prohibiting them from accepting responsibility for the damage they did. Moreover, it isn’t as if the claim was for many thousands; in the end, it probably would have totaled about $1,700 or so, since they did manage to damage a few antiques that needed repair.The indifference and unwillingness on the part of Atlas Van Lines/Ace Southwest to take responsibility for what their crews did is stunning. The lack of accountability is appalling. We can only hope that this review helps others avoid this kind of experience by exposing exactly how Atlas Van Lines and Ace Southwest treat their customers: with contempt and callous disregard.

Service cost: $20000

This was a miserable experience, period. I moved from Ca to KS and was sold on this being a concierge type move - with only their people who were highly trained and professional. NOT.  The pickup was ok - there were enough people and they seemed to know what they were doing. However, upon the furniture arriving there were many flattened boxes, furniture damaged clearly from being packed too tight or jammed in improperly, etc. A silk chair was damaged because it wasn't even shrink-wrapped at all.  The driver and his people had messed up the delivery days on the KS end with the local people from their company so.. no one told us that and no one gave us the choice to wait a day until they could get their own people. Instead they hired two (not 5) guys with no good experience at all who had a MAJOR attitude, were sullen and cutting off shrinkwrap with a switchblade (have a witness to that - our contractor was here during part of the move it). They were angry about it being such a big job, the driver who was with the company whined that we demanded he help in that these two couldn't do the job ,they  were weak and were refusing to even help each other - they were picking things up by the legs, banging into walls, etc. We ended up helping carry in things only so they didn't damage more furniture. The driver when helping finally admitted, "these two are worthless" yet, he insisted later to the company that the crew was "fine". The woman who was involved in the whole concierge sale of goods found out that it was going badly within two hours of the miserable day starting and managed to run the charges on the AMEX card for $12,000 but couldn't manage to get actual real movers there. They took a nasty attitude when the move was over and we filed a major complaint, they lied to the BBB and frankly behaved abominably. There was no apology and certainly no meaningful offer of any reimbursement. The manager at one point said he was doing a $210.00 reimbursement as a means of trying to settle the dispute (never asked if that was acceptable) but then their claims person said it wasn't a reimbursment but an overcharge in the first place. On top of that our three large golf bags with hoods and expensive clubs were "accidentally" left on the driver's truck despite us having the checked our part of the truck which was empty. Our golf bags were returned when we contacted the driver two days later upon noticing they were missing. He was "going to mail them back when he got to his next place and didn't call because he knew we would be upset.." yeah, right.  It was a horrible horrible stressful experience and I would never ever recommend either Alexanders or Atlas to anyone - EVER. .

Service cost: $12000

Dinning table: Now wobbles.
Chairs: 2 of 4 broken.
Vacuum: cracked.
Fridge: Not working.
Mattress: rolled up coils, so now it doesn't work.
Sectional couch: Lost 1 of 6 pieces, the remaining 5 pieces ALL have broken legs
Boxes: Most are broken some are missing
Dresser: Missing!\
Valuable wall paintings from many countries: Missing.
The worst part, I knew the weight of my goods; as a broker they hired another moving company who REFUSED to weigh my goods in front of me and inflated the weight to double. I was extorted to pay more. When they delivered, the truck was only 1/4 way full. I called local police who said that Atlas was an out of state company, so nothing could be done. Quote went from about $3,000 to $9,000 for a two bedroom 900 sq ft apartment!
Atlas will happily sign on your contract and pretend that they care; once they have your money, they don't care. Quote from their customer service manager: "You signed a bill of lading with the shipper and now you have to deal with it" The problem is, I never hired the shipper, Atlas did!
Buyer beware.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9000

I have moved several times in my life time and never experienced the incompetence of Atlas Van Lines. My furniture was stored with them for a month and upon delivery, the movers put two large holes in the walls, scratched wood floors in several places (some very deep), and scraped the wood molding; also nine boxes are missing and every piece of high end furniture is scratched or finish is scrapped off. The movers also broke the glass on my curio cabinet, broke a wood mud room shelf with hooks and baskets, broke an antique marble table, a roller from an Asian chest is missing and the box packed by the movers marked screws that put beds, tables and furniture together is missing. After making many calls to the Indiana office and told they were working on it, they stopped returning calls and I was given excuses by operator that the person I was dealing with was away from her desk. It is now three months since I moved into new house and I have not heard from them even though I left phone messages and emails. Although polite they do not resolve your problems. DO NOT USE ATLAS VAN LINES.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6636

I chose Atlas SmartMove because they feature individual vaults which only hold one household's goods.They are securely padlocked and every item is tagged to ensure  easy locating on the initial inventory list.As smooth as the pickup went,the arrival was a nightmare.The initial time was given as 9:30am.As noon arrived,my daughter called them to ask when and where the truck was.They arrived at 4:30pm.The two movers proceeded to drop and drag the boxes and furniture across her hardwood floor.Boxes were put upside down and stacked 3 or 4 boxes high.My daughter could hear glassware breaking as the movers walked up the stairs.They did break about $100 worth of goods,but Atlas would not reimburse,stating their policy is $400.The issue was the damage to the floor.Pictures were taken and sent to Atlas,but unbeknownst to me they contracted out the Virginia delivery to another company,Paxton,and Atlas will not act on my behalf,I am now on my own with Paxton,even though I had no decision in using them.Paxton has said that I can't prove that their drivers cause the floor damage.They would not send a rep to view the damage and they claim I did not act in a timely manner.Mind you,I reported this the next day June 9th to Atlas,and Atlas sat on the claim for 7 days before forwarding it on to Paxton!I tried to call Paxton today and the person handling the claim was: on another line, out to lunch,and in a meeting.I paid $3200 to have moving peace of mind.Terrible customer service,rude treatment, no one admitted fault.My next step is to reverse payment on my credit card.

Service cost: $3200

I was overcharged $475 for an unnecessary shuttle truck. When I moved to Florida I agreed on a price with Atlas van lines. When my belongings were delivered they were delivered in a shuttle truck. I had not authorized a shuttle truck, but the delivery crew said it was necessary. They would not give me my belongings unless I signed that I agreed to pay an additional $475 dollars. I complained to Atlas, who reviewed the case and refused to remove the charge. The shuttle truck was unnecessary. Also, I had given the delivery address to Atlas at the beginning, and if a shuttle truck was necessary it should have been in the original quote. I consider Atlas van lines to use dishonest business practices. I refuse to pay the additional $475 overcharge. .

Service cost: $2000

The sales team and more coordinator were excellent and I felt I was in good hands. Then my worst nightmare happened. The driver/loader/packer team. A father and son team, didn't pack our items with any sort of care. I was promised that every item of furniture would be blanket wrapped and shrink wrapped. When they came they didn't do any of that. But driver promised once our items were moved to the bigger truck he would properly wrap them. Alas when our items came off the truck my couch was only partially wrapped with a blanket and the cushions were laying on the dirty floor of truck. I paid for our mattress to be boxed, which they did but not the box spring. Both the box spring and couch were dirty. They broke our dresser, side table, a vase, and a mirror. The claims department offered us 600.00 for the damages. So $100 after our $500 deductible. I am still awaiting a response from the customer relation dept. so we will see if they make things right. I chose atlas based on two recommendations by personal friends. A company is only good as their weakest link. It all depends who your driver/packer is. Our driver actually laughed at how much bubble wrap and shrink wrap we used. Glad we did! Only items that broke were the ones they wrapped. If you can, pack yourself and drive yourself. I was hoping for the price of $5600.00 I would be stress free but not the case. I could have moved myself for $3,800.00 but justified the extra cost for the ease of someone else moving us. So not worth the money. Unless you get lucky and have no issues.

Service cost: $5000