Budget Van Lines

We had a short time frame to move from KS to AZ and Budget knew we had never completed a long distance move led us to believe things would be okay.  We understood they were a broker, setting up a company for us to complete the move.  However the information they gave us to review on standings was just for budget and not the trucking company we were forced to use.  The guys first showed up a day early and we weren't ready, then the day they were supposed to show up they were two hours late.  They failed to properly remove boxes from the home and or stack them proper in the truck so we had a lot of items broke, we had items like a small file cabinet well wrapped just mangled we needed a crowbar to open the drawers to see if there were items inside.  They lost 35 boxes of our stuff and still 6 months later can't find them.  We have tried working with the CS agent at Budget who keeps referring us back to the trucking company who keeps referring us back to budget.  We are in a horrible loop, with lost damaged items we can never get back and it seems no one wants to take responsiblity to reimburse us for this horrible move.  I swear if it kills me if I have to move again I will load it on a truck myself, how can I ever trust anyone with my belonginsgs again?  Oh yeah..we thought the truck would be here when we arrived in AZ only to find out that they had two weeks to deliver our items and the holiday time didn't count.  They used every single day of the timeline before they devlivered our stuff, on top of that they showed up late in the afternoon evening time so taking stuff off the truck there wasn't proper lighting so we could see all of the damage until they were long gone.  they unloaded so fast there was no way to check off boxes against the inventory and we had no idea we could call AZ weights and measures to help us.  Just bad..

Service cost: $6820

I looked over the reviews for a number of companies, and chalked up plenty of the poor reviews associated with this firm to inexperience. I have relocated five times in the past 10 years, so believe the veracity of my opinion in contrast to some others. Firstly, I'm a artist, so I know paper tare weight is substantial. Secondly, I LOVE books - another weight issue. Thirdly, I have some very nice heavy antique wood furniture. So why did my final cost come so close to the estimate proposed by Kellis at Budget? HONESTY! I did go over my box count (packing heavy items in small boxes instead of medium boxes), but came in only 700 pounds over the estimate - which I thought was pretty good! The weight tickets were presented to me before the truck was ever loaded in Missouri, and again when the truck arrived in Texas. I packed all of my belongings BEFORE the movers arrived. For those of you that believe movers will pack without charging a fee I suggest you shift your brains to THINK before expressing any displeasure about the charge. The movers (Oasis Moving from Dallas) were very kind and professional. No slouchers on this team! They packed up the truck efficiently while taking great care with my furniture. Upon delivery (in this case to a storage firm) during a rain storm, again great care was taken that none of my belongings got wet in the process. In fact, because they tracked some moisture into the storage area, the movers were conscientious enough to place cardboard boxes on top of the plastic bins I also moved. I tipped them, but wish I could have given them a better tip.  The only "ding" is to the office staff at Oasis that neglected to phone me the morning of the delivery with the final payment amount - I had to have the movers call them for me. I could rave on, but suffice to say, I am an exceptionally pleased customer. I would use Budget Van Lines to broker my next move in a jiffy.

Service cost: $2466

Budget Van Lines subcontracts to Metro Relocation Services Inc who subcontracts to an annonymous gang of coked up derelicts. The driver was erratic, texted bizzarre messages with lame excuses, was obviously hopped up on cocaine or speed when he came to drop off our stuff. He tried to pick a fight w my spouse. I called the police who stood around while he unloaded "our" stuff. And some other people's stuff. Anybody missing a white headboard? It's at our house. Anybody find an extra mattress? It's ours. I found one couple's items mixed in with ours, contacted them and they had the same experience with this dope crazed paranoid individual. He actually came back and tried to toss their mattress looking for "more cash" that he thought they owed him and screamed at the wife, slammed furniture around. Where is the subcontractor in all this? Nowhere to be found. They won't return my calls. Where does Budget Van Lines stand in all this? Cowering behind their desks, doing nothing whatsoever to take responsibility for this disaster. What do I want? Replace my missing mattress. (If you find an extra Sealy posturepedic double size with memory foam topper it's mine, let me know and I'll come get it. On second thought, never mind. It's probably got who knows what. Coked up van driver has scattered the belongings of his victims all across the United States. The other couple who's office supplies happened to contain their check book were nice folks I tracked down and we have already put their carton of personal items into the FedEx delivery system ($111 dollars we won't ever see again because Budget had "no liability" in this and it's "all the carriers responsibility" even though the "carriers" have gone AWOL. So if you like having strangers' items delivered to your home, are not especially attached to ever seeing your own stuff again, don't mind for example if a piece of your bed went to someone else's house and you got a piece of another person's bed, and if you like to have a big Jerry Springer Show drama all over your front yard when the delivery guy comes, because hey, doesn't everybody like to go ape and scream and yell their heads off and shout at their customers? If you don't mind calling the police when the driver shows up because he's so out of control and off the chain that you get concerned for the safety of your husband, and if you like having corporate entities take no responsibility for it whatsoever, the BUDGET VAN LINES is perfect for you. All the frustration, violation, humiliation, obfuscation and pure retaliation you could ever dream of are wrapped up in one sweet little "we just take your money, we don't accept any responsibility" corporate entity. At your disposal. Simply the best in negligence, criminal misconduct and incompetence. Outstanding.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

They bragged for 2 minutes about how great they are then pawned me off to a second rate contractor. I left all of my belongings in the back of a 28 foot truck at Estes Sure Movers (wasn't even Budget Van Lines) and secured the partition after stacking all of my stuff. It arrived 9 days later completely trashed. BVL did not care and said it was my fault. I loaded the trailer, put up the partition and fastened it in place using the 6 straps it comes with that snap in place on the sides of the inside of the trailer. It arrived unsnapped and with my stuff in a huge pile in the middle of the truck. They insisted I fill out a damage claim form, but then sat on it for a month before telling me it was my fault. Big time liars and scam artists. This is not a dumb customer who is just angry that they didn't read the fine print. This is someone who trusted these guys with everything they owned and were let down big time. No apology, no repairs, no replacement, no refunds, nothing. I'm totally on my own. And I payed these a**holes $1700. They probably read these reviews at lunch everyday and laugh at them. "Serves them right for listening to our sales pitch." Stupid f**king marks is all we are to them. I pray to God this company goes under fast. I have pictures of before and after if anyone wants to see them.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $1712

Budget Van Lines was an asset with my moving experience. Through all the frustration I had at various points, I always had a direct line with John at Budget to help me out when I needed it. He fielded my phone calls multiple times a day, was always understanding, and helped to the greatest of his ability. Moving is stressful, and unfortunate things tend to happen, especially with a cross-country move. But John was our biggest advocate when it came between myself and the moving company, and if I had to go through a few headaches, I'm glad John was there to help.

Service cost: $1800

Our son was moving across country and we found Budget Van Lines online when we were looking for options to renting and driving a U-Haul ourselves. From start to finish things went very smoothly. We had great communication with Budget and with the carrier they contracted for our move. The quoted price of approx. $2,000 (basically enough furniture for a one bedroom apartment) was exactly what we had to pay. They did a great job of estimating what we were sending.
The only slight issue we had came with final billing, but was rectified easily and quickly. If you are uncomfortable with paying in cash as we were, it would benefit you to buy a POSTAL money order for payment rather than a bank money order. Because we used a bank money order from a local bank, apparantly the moving company held it until it cleared which made it appear that we hadn't paid yet.
Regardless the problem was easily solved.
Our mover, Ray, was great. He was careful and professional both with pick up and delivery. He wrapped large pieces like the mattress, love seat and Lazy Boy, and all our son's items arrived with no problems well within the time limit set by the moving company.
Based on our experience, I could definitely recomment Budget Van Lines to others. We saved both time and money, elimated the stress of loading, unloading and driving.

Service cost: $2000