International Van Lines

I wish I could give this company Negative Stars. From start to finish this move has been rife with incompetence, lies, misdirection, passing of buck, phone calls not returned, not even being able to get through when calling (EVERYTHING goes to a voicemail system to include customer support), biding estimate not even close to actual costs (mine went from approx $17k to $27K).

At the time I contracted with IVL, I had extensive and explicit discussions with Justin in regards to my delivery date expectation. I was told they do not guarantee dates but give a 3 day window. The contracted conversation with their booking specialist was that they would pick up my stuff on 25/26 May in Virginia to be delivered in Texas within the agreed upon window of 17-19 June. (22-24 days should be plenty or so one would think)

However a few minutes after the booking conversation, I received the contract by email and saw the 21 day standard language. I called the booking specialist back and I was assured that as with all contracts this was standard language that was printed on all contracts to safeguard for extenuating circumstances such as natural disaster, truck break-down/accidents etc. but was told the 3 day window (17-19 June) superseded that and I could disregard or so I thought

IVL would then go on to apparently subcontract with American Knights Van Lines, which I was never advised they would do. Had I know that, I would have NEVER contracted IVL. I went with IVL because they were very highly rated. This must be another industry where you can buy your rating.

Due to the horrendous customer service and blatant lies being told to me at every step of the way, I can say I have spoken to almost every level of management within the company only to get the same terrible treatment and for them to hide behind their lies. Their customer service has been completely inept at their job.

On the day of pack-out American Knights ( which is an absolutely HORRIBLE company ) showed up and my "binding estimate" increased by more than $10k and was told take it or leave it. They know you wont leave it because it most likely too late for you to re-contract with another carrier. So you're stuck and they know - scam artists). I was informed that they (American Knights) does not guarantee delivery dates and the dates I requested for delivery is what they refer to as "first date of availability". At NO TIME prior to 3/4 of my shipment already being loaded on their truck did they communicate that. The driver goes on to state that the "standard language" of 21 days from "1st date of availability" is what they WILL use and that nothing in the contact negotiation discussions will be honored and they WILL tell you to take it up with IVL. Which I did, only to be told they will "make every effort to deliver on your 1st date of availability. There is very little IVL will/can do and you will not be at the complete mercy of American Knights Van lines. [Just for clarity, for example, you ask for your stuff to be delivered 15 June, they can choose whenever the hell they want to deliver it between 15 June and 6 July. They hide behind this crap and must be the only industry that you pays tens of thousands of dollars to and they can do whatever the hell they want and show up whenever the hell they want.]

Then when you call (vecause they never call you), they will tell you, we will be there tomorrow between 10 and 11. Then 11 comes and goes, you call back only to be told, "oh the driver got mixed up, he wont be there until tomorrow". and so on and so on.

I cannot describe to you just what a nightmare this entire process has been. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT contract with IVL or America Knights.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $27000

International Van Lines (IVL) is NOT a moving company it registered as a broker on the Department of Transportation website (dot.gov). This means that the company will get a contract for your business and immediate sell it to another company.

IVL will obtain the sign contract, after receiving the contract and the large deposit. IVL’s concerns with you as a customer end. The company contracted by IVL increased the price by $1,200.00. Any concerns or question from the customer will NOT be addressed.

Worse than the increase in the “binding estimate”/contract quote, is the total lack of customer service. IVL has no process in place to address customer complaints or concerns, the company is slow responding to emails and returning phone calls. The arrogance of the employees is unbelievable, why should they care they have your money and your belongings.

Overall BEWARE, I would not recommend this company. Based solely on the lack of integrity in business practice, appearing as a mover when you are a broker and the poor customer service. If I could have rated the company a zero, I would have.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7302

We did virtual walkthroughs with four different moving companies and decided to go with the most expensive and the highest reviewed company (International Van Lines). They were scheduled to move us out of the house on a Sunday and guaranteed us they would arrive by no later than Monday morning. After Sunday and Monday morning passed we received no word from anyone in the company when and if they would still be arriving; finally, we received a call that night that they would be there Tuesday morning and that the delays were due to a truck axle breaking (although this was never communicated until now). Pressed for time due to the threat of not being able to close on our house, we took their word that they would be there on time and able to move us out before the closing process. Due to their lack of communication and transparency we were unable in such short notice to obtain the service of another moving company. Early Tuesday morning there was no sign of the movers showing up until we got a call closer to the afternoon letting us know they were on their way and there was traffic from another major city over an hour away holding them up. After a chronic lack of communication and every excuse in the book thrown at us, finally the movers arrived in the afternoon on Tuesday. The first thing they did when they came to the house was inform us that they typically receive a 5-10% cash tip, something we usually honor but have never been presented with in such a manner before. A few minutes later they informed us that instead of the $11,000 price that was given during the virtual walkthrough they later told us the price was now $20,000. We did not hide the amount of items we had, in fact we already personally moved 20% of our belongings and furniture. The manager had the gall to tell us this after being three days late and not contacting us appropriately putting us in a very awkward position with the closing and walkthrough of our house happening in mere hours. After a stressful afternoon we had to go to the bank in order to fulfill the new demands given to us. After all the delays, excuses, and utter lack of communication they had the gall to present us with this information as they were packing our belongings into the truck full well knowing we had no other option due to their lack of transparency. While the workers were very hard working, fast and efficient, at this point due to the delays they were not done in time for the closing and walkthrough and thousands of dollars was withheld by the buyers of our previous home while our property was still in the household with the movers, fortunately we were still able to close on the house. Further delays happened when some of the trucks left to go to other households to move and they were lost for hours trying to return back and find the location they were previously at that day. After everything was packed into the trucks and the movers left they informed us they would not personally be taking our property to our destination but we would maybe get it by Friday (three days later). When they left and we moved to a new location we were contacted by the owners of our previous home to tell us that the movers forgot to pack drawers and drawers of silverware and appliances that they were directly told multiple times to pack. Fortunately the new owners were understanding and a family member personally picked up these items and drove them tens of hours across the coast to our new residence. The movers also were not aware that we could understand the language they were communicating in, multiple times they were heard making disparaging comments towards us and scheming about getting us to sign a new contract as soon as possible. It has been twelve days and hundreds of phone calls to every number we had available with not a single return call, voicemail, or message to update us where our missing property is. Finally after the twelfth day we called the number for an estimation on a move and got to speak to a representative that was not only unprofessional and unable to explain what was happening, but hung up on us when we told us about our experience. The only information she was able to tell us is that the company was backed up and our belongings have not even left the state. At this point we are evaluating every option to proceed. But after dozens of cross country and international moves our family has experienced, we have never had an experience this terrible. This moving company as far as I can tell is not interested in giving reasonable expectations to customers or fulfilling their duty to deliver goods safely. We will never use this company again or recommend it to anyone we know that values transparent and realistic pricing, punctuality, basic professional behavior, packing and transporting your belongings on time, or the basic decency of communicating issues on the timeline of the move.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $20000

My experience here was very poor. Although it was limited to pre move communication. They never actually picked up my goods.

I contacted IVL based on their reputation for a cross country move. When it came time for the move date I was informed that I would be notified between 4pm - 7pm EST the day prior to confirm my move.

I received six calls from the mover between 1:47pm and 2:02pm. I responded within another 45 minutes to confirm the move at which point I was told that my move had been cancelled because I did not answer my phone in time...

I spent the rest of the day on the line with IVL asking them to line up a different driver, during which time their support staff laughed at my situation. They did in fact confirm the same driver for 3-6pm the following day, although he called to say he would be there at 8am. The driver I explicitly stated I would not work with after a heated conversation.

Following that they refused to refund my deposit and made false claims about particulars of our conversations, all of which are recorded.

I now need to find new movers, file a complaint with my credit card company, and possibly sue them.

Way to Go IVL.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

My comments are based on my current move situation. I am not sure how IVL made it on the list of best long-distance moving companies but they're far from it. They are quick to quote you a price (which will be far from what the guys loading up the truck will tell you after all your stuff is in their custody) and will not answer the phone, return your call, or respond to an email. None of them will. I've tried the three people that worked on my move and their customer service line. Regarding the price, the initial quote seems high but reasonable (I guess). When the guys are done loading your stuff, which is another company (Wayflowers Van Lines in my case) they will tell you that whomever quoted you that was wrong and that there are things they can't be stacked on top of each other; therefore, the cubic feet is more than what was quoted. Then you'll hear that if they cut down the cubic feet it will come out of their pocket. My initial quote was ~$5,100 and is now ~$9,300. I did add some stuff at the last minute but not $4,200 worth. No lie, I could have bought all new stuff for what they are charging me. Of course, I can't get anyone on the phone to discuss this or to give me an idea of when my stuff will arrive. I will say this, the guys from Wayflowers did an excellent job packing up the stuff. It took them a while but they did great work.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9300

International Van Line review

I should have read the reviews. As most people have written so far, the process to schedule the move and evaluate the initial cost worked seamlessly: the videos of all rooms can be made quickly and upload in no time.

But the problems started when the movers arrived. First four (4) movers were supposed to show up. Only the driver was there. He went through the house and evaluated what we had as if he had not seen the videos or the list of all our items. He told us it could be a little more expensive at the end because people in the office did not have his experience. We understood and signed the document, feeling we had no choice – it was not explained to us before the truck arrived and we were ready to leave our home.

Then they started to pack our belongings… I should have paid attention to this part; I did not because I paid for it and assumed they would do a good job.

Because they were only 2 people, it took two days to pack and load the truck (the second day two more people showed up at different time). Once the truck was packed they charged almost 30% more than what was quoted. We felt trapped and robbed, without realistic recourse. After getting our money, they still ask for tips.. We had to clean the whole house for food bags and boxes, empty bottles, empty rolls of tapes, broken boxes… it took about 40 minutes to clean what other companies have done after finishing their work.

Before leaving, the driver told us that since it was a small move, it should arrived in 4 to 5 days.

Two weeks and a half later, after multiple emails and unanswered calls, we received a text that the truck would arrive at 6 PM! We pushed for the next day – after back and fro, they finally agreed. The local movers were nice but completely clueless because half of the boxes were unidentified or scribbled in Russian. My wife had to stay by the door, opening each box, and directed the best that she could where they were going because nothing was packed logically. For example, my computer monitor was in a large closet type box with cloths, toys, some folding tables and chairs; large boxes – again meant for clothes- have been filled with books. They arrived at 10 am and finished at 9:40 PM.

Around 10 to 15 % of our items have been damage, either by their incompetence in packing, by loading the truck, or while waiting in the staging area (which they told us multiple times while we signed up for their service our move would not stay in the staging area); many boxes have a been stained by a weird black liquid (we did not pack any liquid) or left in the rain somewhere, chairs stained, bed frame broken, frames bent, etc, etc. We took pictures, sent emails and calls to this unprofessional company, and so far nothing.

After death in the family, moving is supposedly the second most stressful time in a family’s life. International Van Line made EVERY aspect of the move worst than it could be. Please, please, avoid them.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $14000

We hired IVL for my move from Minnesota to California in August due to its good review. Big mistake!

- The movers came one day later than what's promised.

- I was charged $7000 more than the original quote (~100% more) on the day of moving, even though the list of items I provided was pretty accurate.

- Various miscellaneous charges: packing fees, material fee, stairs. I emailed IVL specifically about these fees before the move and I was told there was no such additional fees.

- Two missing boxes. One missing glass table top and a broken TV that I paid extra for IVL to do a special handling.

- A number of damaged items, scratches on furniture.

- Talked to both IVL and the actual carriers. Nobody was willing to take the responsibility.

Stop using IVL!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $14000

DO NOT USE INTERNATIONAL VAN LINES. We had an absolutely horrific experience with this company. They were great and easy to work with on the front end—that’s how they get you in. We used them to move our belongings across several states and also stored our belongings with them. We were moving during COVID and searching for a home was more difficult than anticipated so we ended up storing our things with them for 5 months. This was our primary mistake. DO NOT USE THEM FOR STORAGE. Once it was time to move, they gave us an insane time window (we gave a preferred date. They “tried” for that date but stated it could be up to 21 days after that!!!!). Our stuff arrived over a week after our preferred time even though I called and spoke to someone at the company who said they should be able to get it to us on our preferred date. My experience is that everyone at that company will say what you want to hear to get you off the phone.

When our stuff arrived is when the real problems began. Notably, several of our belongings were not on the truck, including our big screen television, a very expensive family heirloom rug, one of our dining chairs (can’t have a set with one missing), several of my son’s toys, our patio chairs, and a few other things I can’t even remember right now. Obviously we were very upset and worried our things had been stolen. Though they worked to return our things, their communication was abysmal. The moving coordinator, who was the only person I could get to respond to me, was horrifically rude to me on multiple occasions. He didn’t let me know what was happening (when stuff was arriving, what steps they were taking to retrieve our things) and other staff simply ignored me. I had multiple messages be ignored. When I escalated things to speak to their complaints department, they were initially great (as with all of my experiences with this horrible company), but then went on to ignore me and leave messages unanswered too. They did return our TV and rug (most important things to me), but naturally our television arrived broken. They hid behind procedures and red tape saying I signed such and such so they weren’t liable and “just fill out the claim paperwork.” So our TV was just broken and we were not reimbursed enough money to be able to replace it. They never found our dining chair (which makes our dining set now unusable so more $$$$) or patio furniture or some of my son’s toys. They claim to have gone to lengths to find these items, but only communicated the steps they took after I was so angry and upset about what was happening, it did not help to hear they had called customers on the route to see if they had my things. Why not tell me that you were doing this from the start? It would have helped my experience to know what they were doing to help, and I only learned what they were doing after I complained and harassed people to respond to me. It shouldn’t be this difficult to communicate with people.

I waited to complete my review until I was done with the claims process. I haven’t even mentioned all of the belongings they broke in the move. Needless to say, after we spent over 5 figures with this company, they reimbursed us $700. That won’t even replace the TV with a comparable one much less the dining set or fix any of the things that were broken (my grandmother’s China cabinet for one). The claims department attempted to be reasonable but they also dropped the ball in communication. Letting emails go unanswered, saying things would be complete the next day and then not responding for 11 days, etc. I felt like a piece of trash during all of my interactions with them. They do not care about their customers and just want to get your money and get rid of you. I cannot beg you enough DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. It was an incredibly awful experience. No one should cry because of how someone at a moving company speaks to them. No one.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

We hired IVL based on their great reviews . They didn’t tell us they hired Road runner Transit (NJ) who has a terrible rating. Was over a day late without notice, not prepared to pack us even though we prepaid for packing. Damaged over 1/2 of the things they moved. Mixed up items that werent ours and refused to pick up these things without charging us because they said they didn't care, and doubled the original estimate with no explanation. IVL has ignored our request for explanation or reimbursement. The movers threw a fit when we tried to correct the way they were packing super fragile items, after we started assisting to wrap these items. Everything we packed arrived in piece except for the boxes they crushed. They even broke a piano which we paid a lot of money to move. We think they must have hired these guys off the street as they were clueless how to pack the many fragile items that were listed in the move list to start with. They made us sign documents before they left our house with no backup to the information including additional cost and then held our furnishings for ransom when we disputed the doubling of charges even though we had fewer items than originally listed. They dont return any calls and if a third party mover had not contacted us to say they had a piano left on their truck that wasn't part of their packing list.,(In a totally different city), our piano would have been lost. We were moving my 89 year old mom cross country which was very stressfull for all to begin with. She downsized a lot to make this move so to have the few things she did want to take to move into a 600 sq ft living space be destroyed is heartbreaking.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

What began as an exciting and happy experience quickly turned into something awful. From the actual scheduling of loading the truck we should have seen the warning signs. This mover did come in with the lowest quote, and the assessor was friendly. However, they only contacted us at 6 pm the night before their scheduled arrive. It was then they informed us we needed $7000 up front to begin the move and personal checks were not accepted. We didn't have time to get to the bank ahead of their arrival. The truck they brought was not big enough for the job so they had to do the move over 2 days. The 1st day, they put a huge scratch in our dining room floor (which they denied saying it was there when they arrived), that would end up costing us $500 to fix. They overflowed our toilet in the downstairs bathroom and did not say anything. Simply shut the door, and left; as the dirty toilet water leaked through the ceiling onto the carpet in the basement of my newly sold home. This required more money as I had to have the carpet cleaned and disinfected to remove the smell.

While the movers that returned the next day were hard workers, they did not care much about my belongings. I watched as they banged things together, hit items off my walls (leaving marks), and showed more concern over finishing than being careful with my things.

When we requested our items to be delivered to our new home, we were told they had up to 21 days to deliver from our requested date; we waited 2 weeks in our new home without any of our belongings. The moving van showed up without movers. The original scheduled moving crew was a NO SHOW...so, the driver took to Facebook. They hired a rogue Facebook moving crew to unload the truck. While 3 of them unloaded the truck, 1 of them was walking through the house surveilling the situation. There were many items broken and significantly damaged, that cannot be replaced. My son's bed frame was destroyed. My grandmother's china closet (Bassett furniture) deeply and irreparably scratched in multiple places just to name a few items. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THEY STOLE $5000 cash FROM MY HOUSE. They rifled through our closets and drawers and stole my son's hard earned cash for college; including, money from my husband's wallet. We filed a police report and immediately called the IVL. The company informed us that since we cannot prove the amount of money taken, they would only return the money we had given the movers as a tip.

When they asked the driver about the incident, he LIED. He told them he had searched the guys before they left the premises and he knew they hadn't taken anything. They were long gone before we even realized anything was missing. I almost feel as though the driver was in on the whole thing.

We now are fearful that this group of guys may try to return to our house since they know everything we have in the house; after all, they unloaded all of our belongings off the truck.

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE. BUYER BEWARE!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $20000

Five stars for being the worst moving company we could’ve used. I’ll have to come back and add to my review when I have the energy but I needed to just make note to hopefully help anyone looking into a moving company. This was our 3rd cross country move in the past 2 years and it has been absolutely horrific. Customer service, communication, cost of additional prices, quality of packing our items, and then offering unpacking service only to subcontract out the job to a company who didn’t do unpacking. This company is absolute dog shit and I would never even consider using them even if someone paid me to. If you value your belongings, sanity, and appreciate good communication, reliable customer service, and assurance that your stuff is well cared for .. do NOT hire IVL.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $25000

International Van Lines severely damaged my couch, coffee table, piano, desk, dresser, bed and several other pieces of furniture. They ALSO scratched and gashed my floors and walls during the move to my new house by dragging heavy objects across the floor (rather than picking them up) and also banging my furniture into my newly painted walls, which left many scuffs, marks, and dings. I had the damage assessed by a repair company and they said it would cost several thousand dollars to address all of the property damage caused directly from International Van Lines. They refused to pay this amount despite the pictures I submitted as evidence for the claim. I am currently working with insurance to handle the rest of the claim for every damaged object... and the list is extensive.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $20000

Never, ever, ever, use IVL. This is the worst company I have ever worked with.

Starting from the beginning: the representative I spoke with during contracting significantly underestimated my belongings. I was quoted for a little over $8,000.

Second, my pack up and initial moving was outsourced to a third party company - Y & O Moving in the Bay Area. I knew this would be the case, but had assumed that I would at least get reputable movers. This was not the case. They did not come on the contracted day, and instead came a day late. They then failed to pack up half of my belongings, which I then I had pack myself to give to them. I watched them mis-handled my items, including denting multiple pieces of furniture, and damaging many other items. They then charged me an additional couple hundred dollars, which had not been explained, as the representative from IVL underquoted me.

My items were picked up on November 20th. I have gotten no communication when they will be delivered, except that it would be as late as January 3rd. I am currently sleeping on my floor with no way to cook, clean, or anything. I do not have the funds to buy all new items, nor would I want to as my belongings are being shipped. At this point I am considering flying back across the country to retrieve my own items, and drive them myself, as I cannot continue waiting with no updates.

The representative I am speaking to now is incredibly rude, and does not seem inclined to provide any sort of customer service other than telling me "I cannot tell you when your items will be delivered".

This is incredibly disappointing and unacceptable service. I would highly discourage anyone from ever using International Van Lines.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

They are up front and friendly when you contact them. The estimate they gave was way under the actual cost. They "broker" out the move, if you are not in a state where they have trucks. The pickup was just ok, they showed up in a rental truck. It took almost four weeks to get our stuff. The cost was very high, too much for what we had. The communication from the company was not very good. Some of the boxes were damaged. When the items were delivered you could tell they just wanted to get their money and leave. Shop around, you can do much better!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10300

TL;DR: DO NOT GO WITH THEM. They're a brokerage company and they will subcontract your move to the lowest bidder 1-2 days before your pick up date. Don't trust any of the good reviews, they're all generic review without any real story/experience cause they probably paid for those reviews. Trust what you read on Yelp.

Where to even begin...

Okay so, we were moving from Central to West Coast. My husband went on a full research mode for the best cross-country moving company and he came across International Van Lines. He told me they showed up on most sites as the #1 and even appeared on Forbes. I know you can pay to be featured on Forbes (red flag 1), but I trusted him so we went on with booking them, which also happened they gave us the lowest quote compared to anyone else.

The second red flag begins when he tried reaching Crystal, the salesperson, to book, he was never able to get to her on the phone when he called and someone else always answered the phone, and a couple hours later Crystal will either respond to his email or return his call. After we booked, this is when things started to get worse...

We're about 2 weeks out and no one has reached out to us. We had to call them to speak to someone to get a confirmation. At this point, Crystal was nowhere to be found and now we're dealing with the Account Manager, Melissa. After calling multiple times, she finally sent us a confirmation email and wow... we're both professionals and never have we ever seen an email from an *established* company to be so messy! Different fonts, font sizes, blue/red/highlighted texts, off spacing? Not gonna lie it looks like a scam email and this is when I started to question them so I went on a full research mode and found this Yelp page. They have 2 stars and I found over 400+ reviews were hidden on the page. After reading all the horror stories, my husband called Melissa to confirm with them who will pick up our stuffs in a couple days and she said "we don't know yet."

We were shocked. We were about to give our stuffs to an unknown moving company so at this point we wanted to cancel so Melissa told us Crystal will reach out. A couple minutes later Crystal called my husband and it's about to get juicy from here. (Also, be glad they recorded the phone call because I hope they listened to it again and realized how horrible their customer service is. Pro tip, maybe record on your side as well because they said a lot of lies.)

Crystal started off saying if we want to cancel and get a refund, we could but she just wanted to understand why. When my husband said it's because they weren't being transparent that they're a broker company, she said "oh, you didn't do your research?" which also translates to "it's your fault for being scammed". We went back and forth on how she should be telling us about their business model from the beginning and she firmly believes it's okay for her to withhold information because we should be doing our research blablabla. After we keep pressing we wanted to cancel, you can tell from her voice she's getting frustrated because she started 1) raising her voice borderline yelling at us, 2) threatening us saying we'll never get our money back ever when she clearly said in the beginning of the call we could, 3) telling us we'll never be able to find another moving company who's willing to pick up our stuffs in the next couple of days. Overall, horrible customer service so I AM GLAD the call was being recorded so hopefully she can re-listen to it and realize she shouldn't be customer facing.

We ended up cancelling regardless of her threats and I am thrilled to tell the world, especially Crystal, we were able to find a legit Cross Country movers who were able to pick up our items on that same day we were supposed to, delivered it safely and on time, and was transparent about everything.

We really dodged the bullet on this one so here I am telling everyone to stay away from International Van Lines. Trust the reviews on Yelp

Their BBB page - https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/coral-springs/profile/moving-brokers/international-van-lines-0633-18000007/complaints

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3400

I am shocked at the level of incompetence shown by this company. I went with them for my move from Chicago to NYC because they are highly rated online (by sites like Forbes). And they were the most expensive so I figured - they must know what they are doing. WRONG. Maybe they are fine for a simple residential move involving going from one suburb to another. Who knows. I can tell you they are awful when it comes to moving to and from a big city. As if they have never done it before. And I understand a big city move is a different kind of beast - but I specifically asked them about their experience with big city moves when I was trying to make my decision on what mover to hire and I was told they do it every day and have tons of experience. So that, In combination with their overall positive reviews, made me go with them.

My experience from the get go was awful. First I told them they needed to get a parking permit for Chicago. This comes from the city and would block the parking in front of my house on the day of the move so that no one can park there minus my movers. They told me the customer is responsible for that. Nope. Not in Chicago. You are not allowed to request that kind of parking permit as a regular resident - the moving company has to do it. It’s clear on the City’s website and I even called to check (and confirmed IVL had an account already with the city making this process even more easy). I told them that and then it was like - oh yeah, we reached out to our person in Chicago and you’re right. So they said they would handle it. 1 day before the move I get a call that the movers were coming the next day. “Where’s the parking permit?” I ask. After some back and forth they tell me they thought I was getting it and there had been a misunderstanding. WTF?! Luckily, I live on a pretty wide 1-way street in the city and I asked my neighbors if they would mind moving their cars for my movers. If I hadn’t had this particular situation, it could have been a nightmare. As you can see, things aren’t going well and we haven’t even made it out of Chicago.

Fast forward to 3 months later when I am ready to have my items delivered to me in NYC. I live in a midrise building in NYC. I was told I needed a certificate of insurance from the movers (a very, very common request). I told IVL about this a month in advance of the delivery. Considering how badly they mucked up the pick up I figured the more time I give them, the better. Here is how that whole process went:

1) month before first possible delivery date- I tell them I need a COI and provide the requirements (and that my building doesn’t allow weekend moves). I am told they noted both requirements.

2) week before - I ask them for an update on the COI since I have heard nothing. They ask me to send them the requirements again.

3) a few days before - I ask again. Nothing. I then get an email updating me my delivery is on the way. I tell them over phone and email I need the COI or no delivery can happen.

4) day before - mover calls me and tells me he can deliver as soon as Saturday. Remember that other requirement???? No weekend delivery. Guess no one told him. I tell him and I tell him I have no COI.

I know this is a godawful long review so I’ll try to wrap it up now. I literally asked for a COI at least 5x from different people. They literally kept asking me to send them the requirements as if they had never heard of it before. Not kidding. I was calling and emailing constantly over a 24-48 hour timeframe. I had to take on the job of coordinating with the delivery guy because no one was doing their job. I finally got that COI at 5:30pm on a Friday night. I had to beg my building manager to review it over the weekend so that the mover could come on Monday. Oh and there were all kinds of extra charges that the delivery guy charged me that was never mentioned up front.

It all ended up kind of okay in that I got my stuff and it was generally in okay condition.But the move only happened because I did their job for them. I paid them to coordinate this move and I did all the coordination. They are seriously the biggest bunch of incompetent people I’ve ever dealt with. And no one followed up ever to ask me how the move went, if the COI was ironed out, how my experience was, etc. I think it’s pretty obvious why this company doesn’t ask for reviews.

Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do. They made it 100x more stressful. I would never recommend this company to anyone - unless you enjoy stress, wasting your time saying the same thing over and over again to a brick wall, and calling and checking your email every 10 minutes praying for a helpful response.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

We made the mistake of trusting International Van Lines with our move from Illinois to California. There were many, many issues with customer service after they had our money, and careless movers did serious damage to our belongings. But, the biggest problem was that the final cost was 60% higher than the quote

The price of the move was raised by about 35% two days before our move, when we had no other choice but to move forward with it (our house had already sold and we needed to be in California for work). The cost was raised another 25% on moving day after our belongings were loaded onto the truck. They demanded payment by cash or check.

Beware International Van Lines.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000

BEWARE!!!!! Weststar Relocation via Allied International Van Lines will scam you! They (Rick Gray) will come into your home and will give you an estimate, then on the day of your move, Weststar Relocation will increase the amount by thousands and will refuse to move anything until you pay. They will damage your furniture, then Anthem (their claims management company) will go out of their way to make sure you are not reimbursed. Also, upon delivery, their driver, Azizbek Akhadov, shook me down for an additional $350 in cash to pay a 3rd party to move my furniture into my home. DO YOURSELF AND YOUR FINANCES A FAVOR AND LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR A MOVING COMPANY.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000