International Van Lines

I spent 3 weeks looking for a moving company. It appears that movers get tons of complaints which is very confusing when trying to select the right company. Even the largest movers have a lot of bad reviews. I chose IVL because they were referred by 2 consumer watchdog websites that claimed they are one of the best. My relocation was from NC to NY for a 4 bedroom house and car. IVL managed the job well!! They sent a crew of 5 guys to pack, load and deliver. I had my own truck and delivery time of about 3 days. Very pleased with their service!!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5625

IVL is just a broker despite whatever they tell you. I initially picked a different company but Ryan convinced me to go with IVL telling me their moving crews work for IVL and they own their trucks. NOT true. After they took my deposit, they detached themselves from the move. Go directly with a moving company for your move.
My move was screwed up big time, neither Ryan nor the customer service rep Karen called.
My pickup was delayed twice and 32 hours later with a small truck with other people's stuff in it. I told the guy it's obvious he cannot fit all our stuff in it but the lead guy told me to just trust him. The two movers ended up leaving quite a bit of furniture and stuff in the garage. The next day is my house closing day, the new owners are not happy with our stuff left in garage. The new owner took $1000.00 in escrow and asked us to move our stuff before their July.1 vacation otherwise they will remove them. It was very stressful. Eventually the moving company Honest and True Moving crew came through and did a second pickup. Throughout all this, neither IVL sales rep or customer service rep was not much of a help and never bother to call even after I called them multiple times and left messages. Now I am trying to deal with insurance because 2 lamps are missing, piano keys stuck and lots of furniture scratched, new house scratched and bumped. But their service rep is non responsive.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3978

They seemed to be great up until the night before we moved, I had a dedicated contact and she always answered the phone and was polite and courtesy. All that changed when I tried to confirmed our move date, she became exclusive and impossible to reach. Then at 6:00pm the night before the move I finally got a call back from Justin, who said that their van had broken down and they needed an extra $500.They had me between a rock and a hard place. Their whole business model is using contractors so I'm not sure what van of theirs broke. I was then charged exorbitant amounts of money to "pack" the cushions of the couch and wrap the chairs. All in all I paid 50% more than their quote. I should have used UHaul pods. If I could enclose a picture of the way some of the boxes arrived you would be horrified. They looked like they had been dropped and kicked. What a mistake!!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

This company is taking advantage of my 74 year old parents who are currently waiting for their belongings to be delivered from Huntersville NC to Pueblo, Colorado. A $8000 quote turned into a final bill that they now estimating will be between 19k. Please note the following horrible interactions that describes not only taking advantage of senior citizens but also HORRIBLE customer service and POOR actual moving services.


To book this company two movers had to be involved and they WOULD NOT come out to provide an in person physical estimate. All items were estimated by a phone call, and a disclaimer signed electronically during the phone call protects them with this practice. I have moved from NY to CA 2x and have never worked with any company that wouldn't come out to physically inspect the items to have a more accurate estimate. BUYER BEWARE all moving companies that I have contacted have said that this is a highly unethical practice and this can lead to these grossly underestimated BINDING moving estimates. Let's be clear if the estimate were not the lowest my parents would've used another company. My father took detailed notes about what he told them. This is an ethical and unlawful practice. IT'S a scam!

The actual horrible moving company is named American Family movers and is based in Ga.

Day 1: Movers showed up after lunch on moving day.
Day 2: The truck broke down on day 2 and they did not come out at all.
Day 3: A full crew came back on day 3
Day 4: the crew showed up at 6pm!
- by this time the lights and power were cut off because the move should not have taken 4 full days and should not have required any nighttime work. The crew worked until 3am, by cell phone light to finish. My parents never got copies of the inventory from the last day because at 74 years old they are not able to stay up until 3AM in the dark.

Any special accommodations or support offered?

My father Got attitude and belligerence from the supervisor when He told him this service was unacceptable. He was hung up on by a supervisor at the company. My dad ran a small business in the local Huntersville area for many years. He's pretty diplomatic and understanding, and has trained many employees on customer service skills. On day 1 and 2, he left an email and 2 voicemails to International with a formal complaint and request for an explanation.

No response.

It then took American Family over a week to call my father back about the delivery. No chance of delivering by 10/2, as promised. This is when he told my father the overage (DOUBLE the estimate of 8k and now up to 19k!!) No bill of sale from the actual pick up- NOTHING IN WRITING. The total bill needs to be paid in cash or they don't give the belongings. No accountability for their horrible service, disastrous customer service, and SCAM of under selling and then hiking up the rates. Have you know shame? Taking advantage of senior citizens. Actual estimate below.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $19000

Our domestic household move with International Van Lines ended up taking 31 days, 7 to 8 truck loads, and cost almost twice the original estimate. It was a nightmare from start to finish. Our belongings were damaged, and some are missing. There was no inventory control--we even ended up with someone else's things. Nothing we were promised when we hired IVL was performed. Before the nightmare was even over, they first offered us money to be quiet, then threatened to sue us if we spoke out about our experiences. I've never experienced such deceptive and/or incompetent business practices in my life. Read more about what happened to us at www.internationalvanlines.info.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $19940

I contracted with International Van Lines after reading many positive online reviews. The move across country was trouble right after I signed on with the sales person. The communication was terrible, their attitude was not helpful, the cost went up in the process and they insisted on cash for thousands of dollars. The worse part was that 1) 6 pieces of antique furniture were seriously damaged, 2) several boxes of china and crystal disappeared and were never delivered, AND 3) several family heirlooms were stolen (empty boxes arrived but not their contents). The staff were not helpful, and they said that they only owed me 60 cents/pound for loss/damage, but would go up to $500 total (for an estimated $25,000 in lost/stolen items) if I signed a release. DO NOT USE INTERNATIONAL VAN LINES.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $15000

We were picked up in April in Arlington VA and delivered on July 8th in Tampa FL.

I think it’s safe to say that our load was mishandled. Furniture, TV, crystal and china broken, boxed crushed. There was not a single wardrobe with the clothing hanging. We were missing 23 boxes on the sign off sheet. The driver took no responsibility-the unloading team said they had never seen a delivery so badly loaded. We put our trust in a professional organization and the people they hire. We very disappointed. We will not use IVL again,.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $11735

I hired for a long distance move with storage for a few months. To my disappointment, when my belongings arrived, I had multiple pieces broken beyond repair and "lost" items. If you don't buy their insurance, IVL claims they are only legally liable for $.60/lb. So, $18,000 worth of damages and missing items that they only want to pay $1,200 for. They are NOT PROFESSIONAL! You DO NOT get what you pay for. In addition, IVL will add roughly 30% to your quoted amount as they will claim you have more that you tell them.

Finally, their sales team lied to get the business and them claim it was not in writing, so there were no lies. The whole experience is not what I thought I was paying for!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12000

International Van Lines is highly rated so we chose to call them first. This is the 3rd time I had to hire movers and I learned from my last experience not to look for the cheapest price. I’ve been burned by a “low baller” in the past and I was not about to go through that nightmare again. My relocation guy Mike J. Did not try and force me to pay a deposit. He actually spent a lot of time with my husband and myself talking about options and a game plan. IVL Mover’s were nice, polite and did more then we expected. The whole experience could have been very stressful had I picked the wrong mover. Anyhow, the guys did the needful and all went well. I’d like to thank Mike, Lisa and Jason who were all involved. I’d use them again without a doubt.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $12583

Maybe I'm spoiled after moving 10 times with the military but International Van Lines is by far the most incompetent moving company I have worked with in 30 years. Sadly, this was my final move for retirement. They did poorly from start to finish. Sent 3 people to pack out a 5 bedroom house. When they realized they needed help they hired a 3 person local team to augment the pack out. Then they didn't want to pay the new team insisting that they collect from someone else so the new team left. Coincidentally, the majority of the items missing were from the area that the unpaid team had wrapped. By the third day, the team was extremely tired and consequently did a poor job of wrapping. Poor pack out, lost shipment, missing items, partial delivery, extreme damage, and horrible claims service. Once again, I must be spoiled because this company is the most incompetent group I have ever worked with. If you are going to use them remember two things, 1) make sure you have insurance and 2) install cameras around your house to record the pack our but more so to record what actually makes it into the boxes.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $16244