Golden Valley Van Lines

1) Dave - was rude, was a snake oil sales man, seemed to disappear as soon as the "deposit" was made, seemed to faked illness as part of the scam. NOTE: For interstate moves, any good company is not supposed to take a deposit. They can ask for local charges if they are storing it before shipping, but you should not pay until the goods are delivered to the final destination.

2) Christine - Easily one of the worst human beings to her core that exist on this earth. She will beat you down and then expect you to apologize to her. She has the customer service that makes the DMV look like the Waldorf Astoria.

3) Overpricing - my price went from 4500 from OR to IL, to almost 10K. They hold your god hostage and refuse to deliver if you do not pay them these "extra charges". They add random charges.

4) Careless workers - They crew that loaded was okay, but did not fill out the paperwork very carefully. The goods came in three shipments, and they broke about 40% of what was shipped, including priceless Christmas ornaments from my family that I will never get back.

Bottom line - these people are unethical scum that will take you for all you are worth. Any good review are people that are either friends of theirs, or people they paid. Unless you know a good B size company from work of mouth or networking, stick with the big guys: Allied, Atlas, Mayflower, United, North American and Bekins. Always ask if they are a broker, and ask for their DOT certification.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9800

Absolute worst moving service I have ever used. Not only were they no shows multiple times, but our boxes arrived wet and smashed, the movers were putting boxes marked "fragile" at the bottom of stacks of boxes marked "books/heavy", one mover kicked our rug and a box off the truck. They lost a variety of things, including half our daughter's bed and a new XBOX, which magically disappeared from the top of a box. It was actually insane how terrible they were, and the lack of accountability from the owner was deplorable. We had water and dirt inside of our well wrapped boxes. DO NOT USE!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1900

My moving experience with Golden Valley Van Lines was bad enough that it actually made the Seattle evening news. You can view the clip below. It would take a lot of space to cover everything that they did so I'll let the clip do most of the talking but the bottom line is that they will lie to you and say whatever they need to get you to hire them and they won't follow through with any of it. They prey on people who have never used a professional moving company before. Their moving consultant, Aaron Petrolia lied to me repeatedly and used social engineering techniques to try and gain my trust. They give you a low bid and once they have your stuff, they jack up the price and hold your stuff hostage to force you to pay. The reporter from KOMO TV News researched them and said that the government has actually shut them down but they are still operating using shady practices. They have their contract written in such a way as to absolve them from any liability for anything. If you have the money for a lengthy legal battle, you will most likely eventually win a judgement against them but they will just declare bankruptcy and then just begin operating under a different name. It looks as if this has happened before so it's not worth the effort. I asked for a partial refund and they laughed at me. I'm not getting any money back from this but I'm making it my mission to warn others away from this horrible, dishonest company. Also, their BBB rating means absolutely nothing as it is based on their level of responsiveness to inquiries from the BBB, not on actually fixing issues or resolving complaints. I have gone through all of their Google reviews and they appear to be fictitious and paid for by the company unless you really believe all the people who are based in foreign countries who wrote them came here just to use their services and then returned to their home country. Of the US based people who wrote reviews, if you look over their other reviews, they have written several for other moving companies as well and based on the dates are apparently moving every two months and hiring different companies to perform the move despite how happy they claim to have been with Golden Valley Van Lines in their review of their moving experience with them. https://komonews.com/news/consumer/how-to-steer-clear-of-rogue-movers-who-hold-your-property-hostage-for-higher-payment?fbclid=IwAR1dcAl7jCJCe-xCv3wWoyhO8Fej2lHu7VPGyf.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

It has been the worst experience with this company. Christine ,who is the GM of Customer Service is a horrible person to deal with . To her the customer is never right , and she sticks to that . I had my stuff picked up on the 14th of sept . it is the 25 of sept and Christine told me it still has not left the dock in Washington and she can't give me a date when it will arrive . DO NOT USE THEM. I have never had a company yell at me . Christine has forgotten I and the customer and pay her bills.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $2000

My quoted price increased drastically at least twice. The woman I talked to on the phone, who said she was the general manager of Golden Valley Van Lines, was not helpful and rude. She would not listen to my concerns about the escalated pricing and instead responded to pretty much everything with “pay with a US Postal Money order,” no matter what my question or concern was.
The unload driver called me on a Friday to let me know he’d be there on Sunday around 3pm. He called Sunday morning around 10 to let me know he’d be there in about 30 minutes. Since it was much earlier than I anticipated, I rushed to drop off my dog at a dog sitter’s and to find an ATM….because, of course, there was another charge for stairs that could only be paid in cash. (The contract I signed said a flight was 10 stairs, but I was charged as if a flight was 7) The driver called again, about 20 minutes later, to let me know it would not be until three.
The movers showed up, and asked how much stuff I had. I said I believed it was approximately 1200 cubic feet. This statement was met with an “Oh dear, that’s a lot of stuff.” As they started prepping to unload, someone from my neighborhood came and asked the driver about the wires/cables they’d hit on the way into the neighborhood, and why the driver hit them, stopped, and then kept going. The driver said it was because he didn’t know what to do, and that he “was going to tell me.” They proceeded to have a verbal exchange for nearly 30 minutes.
My stuff started filtering in the house, and it was abysmal. Nothing was laid down to protect the carpet. My boxes where in awful shape, with many of my items damaged beyond repair. Plates and bowls were shattered, the movers dropped a glass TV stand in the driveway, and they proceeded to get upset when I told them I did not have a broom to clean it. (The broom was one of many lost items) They were also reluctant to move larger items upstairs.
The contract I signed, and the services I paid A LOT of money for include “full service white glove door to door moving experience” and “all standard furniture reassembled room by room at destination.” My bed is un-assembled. To be fair, they also broke it while moving it, so they could not assemble it. The furniture is not where I asked it to go, with some still in my garage, along with most of the other boxes. I have items still wrapped in blankets and plastic haphazardly all over my house. This constitutes a breach of contract.
I am missing a lot of items. I emailed the company as requested with a list of the missing items, and was told to give them "up to a week." It has been a week, and I have heard nothing. I'm stuck, not sure if I should move on replacing those things, or keep waiting. I also received a file cabinet that was not mine full of articles that were not mine. I can only wonder who has all the items I am missing..
Horrible experience from start to finish, interspersed with some of the WORST customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7900

I was moving from Colorado to Florida and asked for moving quotes. A very nice woman, Denise, contacted me and I measured everything and was given a very reasonable quote of $1400. I had to move the date once and was accommodated. When I called to confirm with dispatch after receiving their call, they claimed that it was a mistake that they called and I had cancelled. Dispatch went as far as accusing me of having multiple personalities, but managed to schedule me for 2 days after (landlord was NOT happy). I had all original items and 20 additional boxes, but my move suddenly became $4400. I called and requested callbacks for 1 month. I am now in Florida and requesting a live-in E.T.A., and after 2 weeks longer, I still have yet to have my furniture delivered and their V.M. box is full. Unacceptable all around.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $4400

My bill ended up being $1,022 higher than the $2,248 stated in the "Binding Moving Estimate" I received. That's almost 50% more - pretty hefty. After the move from Oregon to DC was done, I looked at the paperwork again, because of some damage to my furniture. It raised some serious questions. I thought the price increase wasn't justified, so I sent Golden Valley Van Line emails with the questions I had. I sent an email on December 12, 2018. I then tried again on January 5 and again on January 19, 2019. I never received an answer. By now I feel scammed.
I wasn't in Oregon when Golden Valley picked up my stuff at a friend's house. At the time of pickup the company representative claimed that it was much more than what I had estimated. He charged me $672 more. It was a take it or leave it kind of deal with my friend wanting my stuff out of her garage, and I wasn't there, so I agreed. When my stuff arrived, I did the math and found out that it was just 9 cubic feet more - kind of a steep surcharge. At arrival I was told that the large truck couldn't park in front of my house, so I would have to pay $350 for a shuttle. The surcharge for such a shuttle is in the contract. What's not in the contract is that the "shuttle" seemed to have been the main transporter. There was no large 18-wheeler outside the city, as the company representative had told me the day before and then again that day. The van and trailer combination that did arrive with my furniture had another client's furniture in it, and the guys told me they were in a hurry to deliver it to another city that day.

So, to sum it up:
Pros: It started outas one of the lowest priced offers (but of course it didn't stay that way). The furniture was well packaged with thick blankets all around. The guys delivering it were pretty careful and handled everything well.
Cons: One rail on my bed was damaged and my washer apparently dropped at one point. I feel cheated out of $1,022. Communication was terrible.

The last three emails being ignored was not the first time communications with "Christine S." completely dropped (there is no last name on any of the paperwork - interesting - I mean, social media is different, but there is no last name in ANY of her communications, not even the contract or receipt). When I tried to arrange delivery, I didn't hear from her for weeks and then only got phony excuses. When I complained about the surcharge for the van because the 18-wheeler couldn't get to my house, I was told that I was being "difficult" to work with. Same kind of take-it-or-leave-it deal, only this time with my stuff in the company's possession. At delivery the company representative immediately threatened to leave if I wouldn't sign the papers and handed over the money first thing. When I asked for a receipt from him he refused and didn't even want to tell me his full name (same deal as with Christine S., remember?).

Long story short, this California branch of Golden Valley Van Line is NOT a trustworthy partner I would ever recommend for your move.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3200