Emerald Van Lines

After getting a competitive bid from Emerald for a move within the state of California, I was offered the opportunity to make a deposit payment to secure the rate since we were not yet certain of our move date. I was prepared to do this when I received a terse email stating that they were not authorized for Intrastate moves within California. They didn't KNOW that?? I was abundantly clear from the start that we were moving within California.

It seemed insane to me to receive this information in a short email without explanation or the courtesy of a phone call!

After I got this piece of news, I called 4-5 times and emailed, John, my rep for some kind of explanation, or, at the very least, a recommendation for another company.

NOTHING!!

Upon viewing the home page of their website, they clearly state rates for long distant AND local moves, and California is one of the listed states.

All I can say is .... Buyer Beware.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

This company is just a 3rd party who first call you and give you a quote-based on the estimated move amount you expect (256 cfu, that is their minimum). Few days before the move they call again and ask you to pay extra just so that the movers don't ask more price for any of your extra stuff. For me I had a very small move for which initially they charged around 2091 but again they called for a check and charged me extra 700 dollars saying that this amount will be refunded if I don't use. I made sure to keep the least amount of stuff. The day the movers came, they are firstly a 3rd party who don't take stuff anything less than 436 cfu therefore in paper I have 436 cfu but my stuffs are much less than that. Even the movers who came told that its much less but the minimum for them is 436 so on paper nothing less can be written. emerald vanline takes advantage of this and end up saying I used 436 cfu but the reality is I never used that much space, even the list of my stuff shows that there was never that much of used space. Never use this and file a lawsuit against the company.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4391

We recently moved with Emerald Van Lines. At point of sale we were assured 5-10 from date of pick up and that the foreman stays with the items. It took 3 weeks for our stuff to arrive, without the same foreman. We have boxes missing, and two boxes marked “fragile” were destroyed. At point of sale we were told one card covers all costs, yet when they picked up and dropped off our stuff we had to make cash or money order payments. It’s shocking to me in this day and age of security anyone wants cash. Our stuff was supposed to stay in one truck the entire time, according to the sales person, but in fact it moved to at least 4 trucks. Finally our drop off date was a few different times confirmed, but on the Sunday date (Super Bowl Sunday) he was supposed to arrive at 2PM. At 145PM the driver called and said he was not going to make it. No worries, it’s not like we didn’t move around everything to accommodate his 2PM arrival-perhaps he should have waited until closer to 2PM to tell us. After the Super Bowl ended he was texting my wife about the game, clearly meaning to send it to someone else. Yep, he canceled on us 15 minutes before scheduled arrival to watch the Super Bowl. This really shouldn’t matter since most people don’t move multiple times in short order, but we happen to be those people who will move a few times in the next 6 years. Emerald and any company they contract with will not be called again.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

This company is a broker & sold our move to 2 other companies which have handled it so poorly. Emerald assured us that they only use the best delivery services and that has clearly not been true. It's been 21 days since our items were picked up and we have 0 update on where they are or when they will arrive. Last update was 3 days ago, that our belongings were still in TN but LARRY from Emerald Van Lines assured my partner that it would be here no later than the end of the week. Tomorrow is Friday and we've heard nothing.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

I requested a quote from this company it was about 2k higher than the rest of the places i got quotes from. After the call i recieved several texts requesting an update. I quickly responded that i found a place with better reviews and cheaper. The rep that helped me Casey was quick to start lecturing me through text message about how they were better than everyone else. I quickly noticed that 3 paragraphs of text were sent to me lecturing me. Instead of just them moving onto the next customer. Weeks went by and Casey texted me again. I thought i had made it clear the 1st time that they were not a fit for me. Well she still didn't want to take NO as an answer and got upset when i told her at this point its harassments. This rep posted my phone number on car insurance, health insurance and any ad she could think of. I now get about 13 to 20 calls a day all because she got upset and posted my phone number everywhere. DO NOT DO BUSSINESS with this company!!!! Police Reports will be filed on CASEY. A simple NO is not accepted by this company.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

DO NOT TRUST EMERALD VAN LINES. TLDR: They did not honor their contract, lots of my stuff is damaged and/or missing, and their customer service has been terrible at responding. This is not a trustworthy company.

I used Emerald for a recent cross-country move (Feb/Mar 2023). I hired them because they had good reviews online, but this is deceptive because they hire subcontractors who do the actual move. The subcontractors they hired (Movers Van Lines) were terrible -- lots of my belonging were damaged and STOLEN. I paid Emerald for "white glove service" where the movers are supposed to assemble and dissassemble all furniture. This was apparently not communicated to their subcontractor because Mover Van Lines REFUSED to reassemble my furniture upon delivery, so I paid for a service that was never rendered and am still waiting for the situation to be rectified.

The most significant damage to my belongings was also due to BREACH OF CONTRACT -- the movers did not pack items according to the instructions in our contract. For example, the contract states that their services include “Disassembly of all standard furniture required for safe transport.” The furniture that was not disassemble is now damaged because of the lack of disassembly (e.g., The legs were not taken off of several tables. Heavy things were placed on these tables, causing the wood to crack due to the distribution of weight on these legs.)

Both Emerald Van Lines and Mover Van Lines have terrible customer service. It took two months for Emerald to create a Bill of Lading which is required in order for me to make a claim for all the damage to my belongings. Emerald is shirking responsibility for this experience and says it's out of their hands. A quality company would care for its customers.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7718

The only reason that this company has a good google rating is because they 1. overcharge you and then 2. in order to get any money back from the overcharge, you have to sign a form stating that you will not file a bad review.

My move was supposed to cost $2500 total. The final cost was somewhere around the vicinity of $4100.

Of that almost $1600 difference, Emerald agreed to reimburse me $426 stating acknowledgment that I was overcharged that amount. However, they would only reimburse it if I sign a waiver stating that I could not post or review Emerald negatively on any social media platform.

Additionally, a portion of the overcharge they will not agree to reimburse was based on sq footage. Emerald takes a detailed inventory list and THEY estimate your sq footage based on that list. I was detailed down to the box and only ended up adding 2 small items after the inventory list was finalized. They have denied paying back the additional sq footage stating that “

What we gave you is an estimate and if it goes up 1-100 cf it is normal, it happens with estimates” Each cubic square foot costs $5.50. Their estimate was 88 cubic sq feet off which is an insane mistake on their part.

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to sign the paperwork acknowledging the new sq feet because they told me about the additional square footage after all of my things were loaded onto the truck and stated that if I didn’t sign the paperwork acknowledging the extra square footage, then they would not proceed with the move. I had no choice in the moment to sign this paperwork or find my things stuck on the side of the road in New Jersey with no moving plan.

- Side note, Emerald (the broker) stated my things would be delivered in 7 days. At pick up, Century (the moving company) stated 14 days. My things were delivered at 12 days.

- After pick up, and while waiting for my stuff to be delivered, the company then emailed me to inform me that I would have to pay a $750 shuttle fee because their truck couldn't fit on my street (I live on a major thoroughfare that allows trucks). When the ‘shuttle’ showed up, it was a Uhaul van that cost them less than $300.

Now here's the major kicker. At first, I refused to sign the waiver because I was not willing to give up my right to review them honestly and asked for additional information so that I could take this to claims court. However, I have had some health scares since then and lost the energy to follow up so I asked for the waiver to be resent so that I can at least recoup the $425. On March 17th, they agreed to resend the waiver via docusign so I could receive the refund. The last email I received stated "Stand by, we will send today." Since then I have emailed NINE times in 2 months with no response, no waiver, and no refund. I will be reporting to BBB but if anyone sees this, learn from my mistakes and STEER CLEAR.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4100

I wish there was NEGATIVE STARS!!!

I have moved 4 times in 7 years & this has been the worst experience I’ve ever had.the sales reps are overly nice & helpful & take your inventory, but now I realize they have NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING. This is a BROKER company who takes your info and sends it to whoever can show up at your door. They MAY OR MAY NOT come when you schedule your day & time, so be VERY FLEXIBLE as they come whenever they damn well please. And if you call, they MAY OR MAY NOT know who is coming to pick up your belongings, and when they show up they are in TOTALLY unmarked trucks & trailers.

When the movers do arrive, they will look over the inventory before they touch ANYTHING and tell you the contract was done completely wrong by the broker (Emerald) who by the way called you days ago to verify your inventory prior to your move and probably upped your total cost, they too, will refuse to load the truck until you pay them a couple thousand dollars. You see, Emerald doesn’t list things properly so the movers can come in and up charge you and literally hold your property hostage. THIS IS A COMPLETE SCAM. DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO THESE THIEVES!!! USE A REPUTABLE COMPANY ON THE FRONT END, AS YOUR COST WILL BE THE SAME AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE STRESS & HEADACHE.!!! US INTERSTATE & RAIL ARE THE MOVERS & THEY ARE JUST AS BAD! ITS A RACKET!All the great reviews out there have got to be fake! This should be reported to every news outlet, BBB & scam ring there is! It’s shameful!!???HORRIBLE!!

And make sure you read EVERY word of the contract! They charge for E V E R Y T H I N G!! And AFTER you pay out the wazoo and the truck is loaded, they send documents for you to sign that they ACTUALLY have 30 DAYS to deliver your shit!!! WTH?? And, if your stuff is lost, damaged or stolen, they ONLY pay .60 per pound so if a $1000 stereo broke, they’ll give you $6 WHOLE DOLLARS!!!? This company is a freaking joke!! I’m so beside myself right now. I just hope I see my stuff again.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8539

If I could give this company 0 stars I would. This was the worst experience I have ever had. They were the nicest people in the world at the beginning. Once the down payment was sent, communication basically ended. I did not receive my things for over a month. I was yelled at by customer service and told to stop talking because I don’t know what I am talking about. I was promised some sort of conversation near the end for potential reimbursement. I never received a call and I have called over 20 times and left multiple messages. It has now been 2-3 months and no response. Miserable company. Miserable people.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000