Atlas Van Lines

We have recently moved from Ohio to New Mexico. Atlas was our moving company, and our move has turned out to be a total disaster.

Federal employees are required to use whatever company holds the national contract—in our case that company was Atlas. As we have continued to unpack, we continue to discover box after box after box of broken items. We have furniture damaged or broken. We found power tools packed on top of rafts (we have children and love boating with them)… as you can imagine, saws and drills packed in a box that is using rafts and other floating devices as the “wrapping” for those power tools means that all the rafts are now ruined. We have pictures of boxes containing items from our children’s rooms documenting that expensive music boxes and collectibles were literally dumped into the boxes containing Lincoln Logs and other toys. Things were not individually wrapped—they were dumped into a box. A fair portion of the art our children created over the years—pottery and other special, irreplaceable keepsakes—busted and broken.

The crating service damaged literally every item they crated. Speaking of crating, I requested that a beautiful Stanley Furniture Company mirrored-console-table be crated. I showed the Atlas representative during our move consultation why this piece needed to be crated. The day of packing, the movers decided the item did not need to be crated. It’s an expensive piece of furniture. Of course, Atlas broke it. To reconcile: Atlas wants to send a woodworker here to glue the piece back together. We have an entertainment center that the movers not only damaged in moving or storage (who knows at what stage they started breaking everything), but that their local representative on the unpacking end--screwed back together incorrectly. So, Atlas’s offer for this piece: they will paint or paint-marker over all the scratches and then they will seal the holes that should not be there with wood putty.

We have a missing weed eater. We have a missing drill. We have missing outdoor furniture. We have a missing food processor and other kitchen items. What else is missing? I could write ten pages worth of things broken, damaged, or missing.

Additionally, Atlas requires that you tell them within something like 24 hours if their movers damage the physical property of your residence. A large family move with children and pets is chaotic. It took us a week or so to notice the flooring damage and the chunk knocked out of our quartz countertop by the movers.

Early on in our moving process, the Atlas representative who came to our home went through and told us everything that Atlas would not guarantee on the move. Basically, we were told to sell everything purchased from IKEA in garage sales. Later, her coordinator who worked out of a different office in a different state, told us they would have insured those items and that we, in fact, did not have to sell any of them. Too late. Already sold for a fraction of what we paid for them (bear in mind: we didn’t want to sell them to begin with!)!

Then the contact person who was supposed to be our go-to contact person for this move, lost our phone number and email. We tried to reach her for a couple weeks and finally called our agency contact (who had to reach out to this Atlas contact on our behalf). It turns out the Atlas contact had lost our information. A government move happens on a strictly organized schedule. If this was a personal move with a moving company of my choice, I would have dropped Atlas at this point. However, in our capitalist society, our government works like a communist organization. I HAD NO CHOICE of movers. There wasn’t a selection of movers for us to choose from—we were assigned to Atlas. I had to keep moving forward with them because there was no other choice! Which begs the question: should this company keep their government contract?

At this point in the moving process, I have entered the stage with Atlas where they basically do not want to pay for what they broke or damaged. They want to send a wood worker to faux paint and wood glue furniture, mirrors and art back together. Maybe that will work for a very few pieces, but that’s what Atlas is trying to do for all big-ticket items that they damaged. All totaled, our reasonable estimates to replace (or in some cases just repair) broken items are around $18,000-$25,000 (we have continued to find broken items in almost every single box since the original $18,000 submission). Atlas’s offer to compensate us is just under $4,000.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $24000

After a different moving company completely fell through on the move, I called Trina Lokey at Atlas (Las Vegas location) literally a week prior to me needing to move (sold my house)And she was able to come through last minute! On a Saturday!! She got a dispatcher notified immediately and a quote ready to go. I got a quote from her initially when I was shopping for a moving company, and trying to "save" I went with one that was cheap. BAD MOVE. That cheaper conpany showed up totally unprepared, unprofessional, and wanted $7000 more to do the job!!!!! Luckily Trina saved my quote from months earlier, and jumped on it like we were loyal customers. LIFE SAVOR. And Atlas showed up right on time, were all so nice, and so professional. They wrapped up all of my furniture beautifully. They even wrapped my kayaks in moving blankets and tape!! They put our mattresses in boxes!! They took apart furniture and organized all pieces into a "parts box" that also held randoms we forgot. They took care of everything. It was such a relief I bought everyone lunch and had to give a tip!! Then Trina is kind enough to contact me later to see if the move went well. I WILL NEVER STRAY AGAIN. Thank you to all of the Atlas team for making such a stressful thing so easy and worry free. Your the best!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

I wish I could do ZERO stars. This company is horrible. We moved from Austin to DC. We got everything on the truck on June 11. We were told that the latest date that we would get our things would be June 23. Well, I'm writing this on June 28 - and our things are STILL in a warehouse in Texas with NO plans of shipping it out.

They've been uncommunicative, rude, and unaccommodating. In short, they lied to us, then stole from us, and then complained to us about the fact that there are no drivers IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF TEXAS. We regret using this garbage company SO MUCH. Don't do it - trust us.

To Atlas: GIVE US OUR STUFF BACK NOW.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6099

I wish I could do ZERO stars. Picked up items on JUne 8 in Arizona - did not deliver until July 5 in florida. Originally wanted to deliver on a Saturday June 12 - reiterated to them that Condo did not allow deliveries on weekends. The driver then asked if 14th or 15th would work. I said yes. Then found out from their arrogant and unhelpful office staff that because they were "busy" could not deliver until July 5th and I would have to pay for storage. They also refused to pay for hotel and accommodations due to their holding my goods hostage. Then when finally get bill they tried to invoice me for extra weight and non existent piano. Finally deducted piano but when they lowered weight charges went up. Also despite being scheduled for weeks on 5th - drivers were late because no one told them until that morning they had a delivery. Also damaged bed so that footboard cannot be attached, damaged desk and nightstand. Move was complete sh_tshow

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11024

Company is extremely unorganized. They took over a month to get back to us on a date of when our stuff could be moved out of their storage in BC to Ontario. We ended up moving into our new home and being without furniture and our belongings for 3 weeks. When the mover finally did arrive , he had no crew assigned to help so some random people were contacted that did not even work for atlas and moved our furniture. Our huge sectional couch got completely smashed and the wood frame in it busted, patio table completely smashed that didnt even make it here, broken bookshelf, solid wood legs smashed off a coffee table. Alot of things badly scratched and dented. Dont use this company they are an absolute joke. While they may come across as ptofessional they are the complete opposite. You would have better luck with a small local owned company.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $16000

The crew and drivers who handled the packing, loading, and unloading were great. While friendly, the contact at Atlas was incompetent. Throughout the process she provided inaccurate, incomplete, or incorrect information--this included a low weight estimate (resulting in a higher than expected cost), surprise need for crating on day of move (resulting in a higher than expected cost), incorrect updates on delivery day, short noticed cancellation for delivery, etc. When I tried to discuss this with Atlas management, the contact was unable to hear my concerns and was rude (cursed at me), dismissive, and uninterested in truly resolving the situation. This was my third time using Atlas, and unfortunately, it will be my last--the first two jobs were great, but clearly they've experienced a decline in quality of service. I would strongly recommend finding a moving company other than Atlas.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12134