Long Distance Van Lines

I embarked on a search for a capable mover to handle my relocation from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. I needed to use the best service I could particularly because my previous experience with a mover left so much to be desired. I asked my friends and my colleagues at the workplace for recommendations. When two people separately recommended Long Distance Van Lines, I knew they were the right guys. As it turned out, they didn’t let me down, and that’s why I am recommending to everyone else. They did the job without any fuss and honored the set timelines, and it was a job well done.

Service cost: $2400

I was forced to cancel my upcoming move with Long Distance Van Lines as they did not follow through with their contractual obligations and misrepresented themselves. They lied about the services they would provide, and did not disclose pertinent information regarding the vehicle that would be used to transport our items.I initially booked the move with Nick and Roy who were very conniving in order to win my business. In fact, Roy went out of his way to bash the owners of International Van Lines, stating "they were brokers and that I would not want to get in bed with the owner of the company." Nick told me that he "looked up International Van Lines credentials and they were not listed as movers operating their own trucks, but instead, they were listed as brokers." Meanwhile, that's exactly what LDVL does. I received a call from Lisa in their logistics department Monday morning to confirm the details of the move and she informed me that I had to make sure the building we are moving into would except an 18 wheeler to unload our items at the building. This was never mentioned to me before. Lisa told me I should have asked and that it was my responsibility to find out how the goods would be delivered. I told her that there was no way of me knowing this and she explained that we would have to unload on to a smaller shuttle if the building didn't allow for an 18 wheeler delivery and I would need to pay an additional $750 minimum. I told Lisa that Roy and Nick never explained this to me and she said, it's in the contract, which is nonsense. It may be in the contract, but it's also something that they should have informed me of since they knew I was moving in to a condo building, and they charged me an elevator fee to move in to the building, so they very well knew it was a building. Lisa was so unbelievably nasty, and kept cutting me off. I told her I wanted to cancel the move and she told me that I can cancel, but I will not get my deposit back and I said, yes, I will because LDVL misrepresented the services and are committing fraud. I told her I would contact my bank and Lissa said, good luck, you'll never get your money back." Another thing I learned was that you are not suppose to give a deposit for a move is not common practice with legitimate movers.
I hung up with Lisa and immediately tried to reach Nick and Roy several times via email and by phone. They never responded to me. I have all the emails to back this up and phone records showing how many times I called! I finally reached another supervisor, Kelly and she told me that LDVL records all their phone calls and they could verify whether or not Roy and Nick told me about the possibility of having to shuttle our items. She also told me she would try to get the shuttle service for the min price of $350, which I was okay with. Kelly stating that they recored phone conversations is also a LIE, as every intelligent person knows it's extremely ILLEGAL to tape record conversations and not inform the other party. I think she used this as a tactic to scare me, but clearly, I was not scared as I wish this was the case, because then the truth would come out and expose LDVL for what liars and frauds Nick, Roy, Lisa, Kelly and every other employee working for LDVL are. I was not contacted until 3 pm on August 9th by a customer service agent, Paula. She was also extremely rude. I told her that I found information on LDVL and that are also known as Northeastern Movers, she tried to deny this, but I sent her an email with the link to prove they are the same company. Her response was, "well, this isn't your issue with us anyway, you didn't want to pay a shuttle service." I didn't want to pay a $750 shuttle service, because they never told me about this in advance, however, my lease is up this Monday, August 15th and I must be out of my apartment, so I had every intention of using them but their none responsiveness was also a breach of our contract and I could no longer trust them. The horrible customer service, horrific reviews/73 pictures of damaged goods on Yelp, and the Alert on BBB made me EXTREMELY fearful to use LDVL.There are several reviews about them low balling estimates and then doubling the fee when they load the truck, too, which also made me back out.
DO NOT USE LONG DISTANCE VAN LINES!!

Service cost: $1176

This was the absolute worst moving experience of my life. I was going from Washington, DC to Berkeley, CA. It started out fine, they gave me a reasonable quote for the move and the movers came on time to my house to pack everything up and label it accordingly. However, the arrival in California was not so smooth. I was still on the road and my roommate had a full list of every item to come off the truck. Sadly, that did not include my bedroom rug, which turns out had been forgotten about in their Maryland warehouse, and a glass top to my coffee table, which they spent weeks searching for at other homes they moved and still couldn't find. Additionally, I had a gorgeous old desk that showed up with very bent legs. So instead of enjoying my last few days on the road, I was in a constant texting conversation with one of the movers about all of these items and my poor roommate was so stressed about it all. After THREE MONTHS the rug arrived to my house. They kept saying they were going to ship it but never did until I begged them to put it in the mail. I had to get a brand new glass tabletop that cost me $100. I even submitted a claim for the tabletop and the damage to the desk but to no avail. I haven't heard anything about any sort of reimbursement. NEVER use this company.

Service cost: $3500

For making a critical decision on selection of a mover, these days I realize the importance of reading pertinent reviews on websites such as yelp.com, mymovingreview, consumeraffairs.com, ripoffreport.com beforehand. I come to agree with the reviews of MTJ (ripoff report #1243823), A.K. and Jose A. (yelp reviews 2/5/2016 and 7/6/2015) as a few examples given to the moving company- Long Distance Van Lines. My real-life experience with Long Distance VL is consistent with what’s in these reviews. I wished I had the realization of why a very low rating given Long Distance VL before.

Long Distance Van Lines was hired to transport my household goods for a cross-country move; they had damaged many of my items during the process. I had to sue them in court because they failed to pay my submitted claim as required by our contract, and after months of repeated requests. In going over the mover contract and evidence on damages, the court judge (Superior Court of California; Small Claim case 37-2016-00329483-sc-sc-nc) rendered judgment against Long Distance Van Lines. Long Distance not only failed to appear in court on service; the company fails still to obey court ruling and pay court judgment months after verdict.

Last year, as I was to relocate from Philadelphia area to San Diego area, I had to find a mover. A nationally known mover was first to give me a binding estimate, citing a quote of $13,100 after an in-house inspection. In subsequent search, I found Long Distance Van Lines with the lowest bid, giving over-the-phone a binding estimate of about $6,600. Blinded by this surprisingly low bid and by their appearance of being knowledgeable on the phone, I quickly signed an agreement with this company. Long Distance soon revised the binding estimate to about $8,000 after searching my house-sale-ad online; they re-assessed a higher volume for my furniture even though many of them were actually donated or not relocated. On the day of the move, Long Distance was quick to have me making additional payment and signing the lading contract. They were also quick to wrap my furnishings with taps, blankets, cardboards and more tapes. They had also changed the charge to $10,493 in the lading contract because of the volume increase, deliberately or not. As some movers charged by weight and some by volume, I would be somewhat OK with this final charge if no problem with move. However, many of my items were delivered damaged even with the supposedly heavy and careful wrapping. The company then required me to file a formal claim, which demanded much work in providing photos, old receipts, detailed descriptions and many paid notarized forms. Long Distance Van Lines then simply failed to pay for any of my losses. Sadly, this customer has to spend thousands to replace the damaged items, while some simply irreplaceable. Basically, at the end, Long Distance VL did a poorer job and costed me more than a normal reliable, reputable mover.

Our website reviewers also mentioned Long Distance Van Lines using other company names (such as North Eastern Moving, Abbey Road Moving) and different addresses on the web before. I did find confirmation of these name-changes through online searches, going to individual Secretary of State website and looking into business registration of the company involved. I agree with the reviewers that such mover is irresponsible and unreliable.

Service cost: $10493

I have moved before but always just with a few friends and a U-Haul. Finally making enough money to get professional movers! And 'professional' is the word with Long Distance Van Lines. Having heard all the nightmare stories, I was very picky and chose them after comparing almost ten companies. Their reasonable pricing was still the main reason but I definitely think I got more than I paid for with the great team of Boris and Alex who were quick and friendly. My next move will surely be with Long Distance Van Lines.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

We had a tough time with Long Distance Van lines for these specific reasons:
- Customer service would give timelines and call time details and then not call at those times / Customer service was vague with contract details and over promising verbally
- Quotes for pricing were changed several times by customer service and then on day of by movers there to pick up our stuff, resulting in a much more expensive move
- Boxes arrived damaged, crushed, ripped open, and with rat feces inside on our clothes
- Boxes were upside down, sideways upon arrival (we were told by customer service that the boxes being ripped and smashed was our fault for not using enough paper inside the boxes)
- Mattress bags arrived ripped and mattresses were dirty
- Boxes arrived without numbered stickers that were given by movers to account for our things
- Couches, lamps, and furniture were ripped and broken - contract states bumps, chips and cracks are not the movers fault and therefore not covered
- It was very difficult to submit a claim due to the lengthy claims form that includes a notary stamp, three estimates for repair costs per item, and weights of "leg of chair" only vs. whole chair - when the return is .60 cents on the pound
- Movers damaged wall bringing in the couch, and then shrugged when asked about it
- Refused to put together furniture that previous team had taken apart even though contract includes assembly of furniture
- All in all very expensive for 1,000 cubic feet furniture with terrible customer service and package delivery quality.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000

We must have called about 20 different moving companies before we chose Long Distance Van Lines. They are not the cheapest on paper but they are definitely the best value for money when it comes to getting the job done. We were moving to California from Washington, into a bigger 3-bedroom house. Having used movers several times before, we know what to look for. Mandy, the Long Distance Van Lines sales manager was a big factor in our decision. There’s a man who is straight with you. The movers we had were also good. Polite, careful and fast workers.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000

Hands down THE WORST experience I have ever had with any company ever. LIARS AND CHEATS! I'd give them a zero if I could.

1. Bait and switch. Quoted us one price then demanded several thousand more dollars when they showed up at the house before they would load the truck.
2. They took FOREVER to deliver only HALF of our things. They didn't know where the other half was or when it would arrive. We were not notified of this.
3. Our "representative" Paula was the most useless person on earth she was a liar and eventually started dodging our calls.
3. When the first half did arrive, half of our boxes were crunched and they didn't wrap half of the furniture so it's all scratched and dinged.
4. Dodged calls and would not tell us when or where the rest of our things were. FINALLY located it sitting in a warehouse in Indiana (we moved from TN to OR) and were notified that it would "probably leave in 5-7 days"
5. When that finally arrived, more crunched boxes, more dented and scratched furniture
6. They didn't wrap or protect in any way my clearly antique, 90 year old doll house, made by my great grandfather, tossed it in the truck, then broke it and lost the piece that they broke.
7. Every complaint we've had with them has somehow, according to them, been our fault.

I am beyond livid.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9700

I regret the moment I asked for a quote. I received a call from one of their sales people and he was an incredibly pushy liar. Told me he was giving me a great deal and that I should trust him because they're not a brokerage, they do everything in company. He also told me that the company's insurance would cover my TV, which is really the only thing I was worried about. I asked him multiple times about it. He essentially bullied me into accepting, saying that he would just match the price if I found a cheaper company that wasn't a brokerage but I had to sign right now.

Fast forward to when I'm about to move, I still haven't heard back from them about when the exact date is. I tried to call the person back because I was freaking out, only to find out that he doesn't even work there anymore. I tried talking with customer service but they were incredibly rude and unhelpful. I asked them when the van was coming, and even the day before the potential move, I was still waiting for a confirmation. They told me that they had to contact this other place so they couldn't tell me yet. If they weren't a brokerage, why was it such a process to confirm the time? To make matters worse, they told me that their insurance would only cover .60 cents per pound and that definitely wasn't enough to cover my TV so I had to rush buy additional insurance.

In the end, I felt so unsafe about giving them my stuff because this first part alone was so draining of my energy. It gave me too much anxiety feeling like I was being lied the whole time and none of them cared so I had decided to not use them anymore. It seemed like everyone that I would have to deal with at this company was really unpleasant and I just wanted to be rid of them. I lost my deposit and regret that but to be honest, I feel so much better with the company I ended up going with.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1253

They make Al Capone look like a choir boy. They have lied repeatedly to their customers and are like the other company in Ohio. They tried to charge me over 16k for an incomplete move. They even packed my garbage bin with garbage IN IT!
They lied and stalled with the wrong Fed and ended up losing BADLY. They are at it again but this time I want them out of business. They make up companies to hide their incompetence then they steal your things. Those 5 stars?? Friends and family plan. Didn't give up then. Not about to now! The longer they take the worse things will get
Everything was proven a LIE. They stole things. They even ignored the DOT!

Ms. Seales,

IF you read the top of the form your signed it
is called INTERSTATE REVISED WRITTEN ESTIMATE, that is what
I was referring to when I stated that it was signed by
you. There are initial spaces also on the bill of lading
that were initialed by you, that were not necessary, but
shows paperwork was filled out, and not blank. We do not
want your furniture, some of the packing was done, by you,
but a lot of it was done by our movers. The barrels you
refer to were not unpacked they are still packed with your
items. The shipment size has been verified to be 1650
cubic feet. We can try to resolve this issues, but we are
not delivering partial shipment, but would like to delivery
it together. Issues need to be resolved, the paperwork was
signed by you, it was filled out prior to you leaving for
the airport. If you call me maybe we can come to a
resolution.

SEE?

BBB
signed the Revised Moving Estimate for $12,815.00 (attached) and left to the airport. How was she expecting the bill for $4000 - we don't understand.
- In regards to "nothing packed at all which was a total lie". Was it a lie? Just take a look at attached picture. Does it look packed to you? Ridiculous!!

RESULT
After reviewing your
paperwork, I see you’ve added several charges increasing
the shipment from the original estimate of $3188 to over
$12,000. One such charge is for a “Handling Fee”
in the amount of $1200 with no explanation as to what
this is or entails. Another added charge of $3780 for
packing, but you packing materials order form is blank
except for the total amount of charges. Lastly, you
show a description of 170 added boxes with no indication of
their size as well as 6 misc. furniture
pieces added.

49 CFR 375.403(a)(6)(ii)
requires your revised estimate to “Accurately” list in
detail those additional items and services when the need
arises to increase the charges of the estimate and I find
your revised estimate is not in compliance
with this.

As a result, your company
is directed to complete the move based on the charges listed
in the original estimate only.

Advise by close of
business 6/2/2017, of your intentions to comply with this
matter.

That's what happens when you give my time to look into your mess of a company. This will be posted EVERYWHERE!! You want to hostage me. I'll EXPOSE YOU.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

If I could give this company 0 stars, I would. We very mistakenly used Long Distance Van Lines for a move from San Francisco to Chicago in July 2017. They drew us in with a really low estimate for our move (which of course turned out as too good to be true) and a charming sales person who immediately disappeared and could not be contacted after we signed up to move with them. We learned a good lesson for future moves that you should always get a home visit before signing up with movers so that they can provide you a reasonable cost estimate. The movers arrived 2 days late and then increased our moving estimate by $3000 after they had loaded all our possessions (some of which were hanging out the back of an unmarked van) into the truck. The movers spoke very poor English and when we tried to contact customer service (Paula), she was not accommodating, sympathetic, or flexible. Paula should not be in customer service - her personality is the antithesis of someone who should be in customer service. We felt that we had no option but to use them for the move (which was a mistake on our part), given that all our possessions were already loaded onto the truck. We were given a 2 week delivery range about a month out. This in and of itself is absurd. We had to wait at our parents' house in Minnesota while we waited to hear back from LDVL about our delivery in Chicago. As we got closer and closer to the end of the delivery date, I started calling them multiple times a day - about 95% of the time, I could not get in touch with anyone. When I did speak with Paula, she provided very little useful information about where our possessions were and when they would arrive. Because of that, we left on a week-long vacation thinking that we would be able to accept delivery of our possessions after we returned. Of course, while we were out of the country, LDVL decided to deliver our stuff. We PLED with Paula to change the delivery date so that we could be there, but she refused. On the first delivery attempt, the driver claimed that our alley was too small to fit a truck into, and they demanded $500 for a shorter truck to come in and deliver our stuff. That was a COMPLETE lie. I saw multiple large moving trucks in our alley successfully delivering other people's stuff for the 2 years that I lived in Chicago. On the second attempt, a successful delivery was made. When we returned, all our boxes were crushed, our white couch had 4 large black stains on it, nearly all our furniture was scuffed or scratched or damaged in some way (including a kitchen bench, our table, our dresser, our box frame, our couch, and our office desk). The movers also lost a box of expensive ski gear, including ski boots. The total compensation for this loss, plus the unnecessary request for $500 to get a smaller van? About $450. We had to threaten them with legal action to even begin the process, which took 6 months. PLEASE DO NOT TRUST THEM. They go through a few different names. Also do not trust reviews on Consumer Affairs - they are a scam review site and Long Distance Van Lines paid them to remove bad reviews. They go under multiple names and have switched names in the past to avoid issues. You can also refer to this website: https://medium.com/@ldvl.broke.me/the-sale-6876b14d02bb.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9000