Midwestern Van Lines

I am just going to state the facts and let you decide if you want to risk using this moving service.
I worked on a quote with Paul from the Chicago office on my move from Iowa to Massachusetts. I was told that the quote I was given was guaranteed. I was told a van clearly marked with Mid Western Van Lines would pick up my things and deliver them to MA. I was told that Paul would be my go to person for the whole move and would always be available to me for question. I was told I would get 1 to 2 days notice both on pick up and on drop off. I was told my belongs would arrive in the condition they were in when picked up. I was told the price would be just over $3900 dollars. I paid a deposit of just over 2K and was told by balance was $1945, 1/2 due at pick up and 1/2 at drop off.
Now here is what occurred. The crew called on the back up day to say they would arrive in 20 minutes. They arrive an hour later in an unmarked truck. They walked around my apartment and wrote up paper work and told me I actually needed to give them $1500 on pick up and delivery. I called a supervisor since Paul did not return my call, text or email and the supervisor took $150 off the cost and I gave way a bedroom set and got the price down and gave the driver $1190. I asked the foreman if it was common to have the quote be off and he said yes. He said 50% of the time the quote is wrong. At the end of the process I was given a survey to rate the moving team with the statement that it was customary to tip the drives 5 to 10 percent of the cost. I tipped them 5% of the original cost.
On Wednesday I got a call saying it would be 2 to 7 days and I owed $1475. Obviously the $150 was just added back in. Then yesterday at 10 PM I was called and told my belongings would arrive today. I explained to the mover that I was not available between 1 and 4 today. So much for the 24 to 48 hour notice. He left me a message at 11:30 this morning and said he would be there at 12:40. He actually showed up just after 1 pm and I was not thrilled with changing my plans and well I wasn't my nicest. If I heard "I am just the driver" one more time or "I just got this last night from the other driver.. Now the storage building elevator was down so they had to take things in the back door and I got hit with a $75 long haul fee. They start unloading my belongings and I am noticing that legs (chairs, couches, dressers) are no longer covered and all scratched up. Then the boxes come out and they look like they had been thrown around and beat into weird shapes. My belongings had obviously been transferred multiple times. My dining room table is very damaged. My tv box has a HUGE gorge in it, who knows if it'll work when I get it out of storage. One box was totally open. Who knows if everything packed in it is still in it. My lamp boxes are so messed up I am afraid they are broken. I will spend tomorrow on the phone to file a claim for the damage but I have no hope that that process will be any easier than the move itself.
So no matter what your salesman tells you, his quote is not guaranteed. The final cost is determined by the driver that picks up your belongings. Unless you fill an entire truck your stuff will go to a consolidation unit and will be handled multi times increasing the risk of damage.
Buyer beware is what I would tell you. Unless you can pack everything and measure it all so there is no doubt on the cubic feet do not bother to use this service. 50/50 are really not good odds of getting the price right. And the drivers are trained well to say "I'm just the driver".

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4780

I moved from Ohio to Connecticut because of my new job. Very unfortunately, I chose Midwestern Van Lines. They picked up my stuff on 1/14/2018, and my requested delivery date was 1/18/18. Until this very date (2/13/18), I still don't have my belongs, and I've been sleeping on the floor and living out of one carry-on suitcase since 1/14/18. The communication was poor and not transparent from the company. I emailed dispatch manager initially, and received no responses. I tried to call the sales person that I talked, no responses. I ended up have to "constantly proactively" call the dispatch department through the 1-800# asking for my delivery status - because none of their associates would pick up the direct lines. Every time I called, I received the answer of "we will let you know once the driver is assigned, just wait for our call, right now we don't know when your stuff will be delivered" instead of providing a concrete solution of how to solve the issue. I also had to push very hard to speak with the supervisor (and not to mention, she failed to call me at least 4-5 times when her associates promised that she would call). I also found out that a lot of information dispatch department communicated might not actually be correct. In addition, the actual cost is $1,000+ more than what was estimated initially. The experience with Midwestern Van Lines has marked the worst moving experience I ever had, and I had moved numerous time in my life both across the country and oversea. This caused a lot of mental burden on my end, especially starting a new job at a new location. If I could give zero star rating, I would, unfortunately, that is not an option. Please consider carefully when you are choosing a moving company to help your move.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2648

My wife family and I had to move rather quickly across the country from Minnesota to San Diego California due to a great job opportunity. The Company gave me 10 days to report and I had no idea how we could do it, at least move our whole home so quickly. My wife put our information out for estimates to see how we can do this. Luckily she was reached out from Jon Jameson with Midwestern Van Lines. He was very professional and showed his concern to our situation. Luckily Midwestern was able to get us picked up with in a week. Now we didn't have a home yet, so they were able to store our belongings for a month free until we found a home of our own. Luckily once in California my wife, who is great was able to find us a home within a few weeks. We notified Midwestern and luckily they had a truck available to get us delivered. All being said, with the stress, Midwestern made this new venture for our family easy. we had received lower estimates but it came down to the service and how Jon made us feel at ease in this stressful time.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6850

We have been taken to cleaners like all these other poor people. I did research before hiring them and nothing bad came up on BBB web so we hired them & at first Jack acted like we were best friends telling me about his family etc. Once we hired them & of course paid them is when it went south! Quote was $3700 which we were somewhat expecting. We packed up and were ready to have movers come on a Fri. They never came because now John said they have a “window” time frame. Came on Sat after MANY CALLS! Mover showed up & came in apartment to look at the inventory we had- he agreed that the amount of stuff was exactly what we were quoted BUT now the quote is $8000!! After he admitted it was the same amount of boxes etc. We of course tried to contact John, Chris or anyone at the company- no one answered. We sent movers home after they told my husband that he needed CASH on top of all else. The mover also said that Chris has no idea how much it takes to move people & should not give quotes. We DID have a contract showing the original amount. Finally after a dozen or more calls we got ahold of Jennifer who said that they would get new movers out to us next day which they did- but that the double quote is still in effect & they would now need more money, we were a bit desperate because we gave notice on apartment & we had house to close on in Fla. So we decided to just do it because John told my husband we would get a dedicated truck which is for us only! This was 9 days ago- they wont call us back, their “tracking” system is leaving voice mails, which we have done daily. Jennifer finally called back stating our truck has not even left Mn yet! God knows where it has been sitting for 9 days. She said they will assign a driver & have him call us- Nope not heard a word! She also made it clear tgat “contract” states they have 10-12 days to get it to us! We have had to stay in hotel because no furniture in new house. They don't care & I cannot believe they are still in business. The fact they are throwing the “contract” in our direction is going to be a problem for them if we do not get our furniture & household. They have until Friday to get our stuff here according to the contract!! We will also be contacting the proper people to register a complaint & thank you to whoever gave the info out in your review! We all need to be sure these scam artists go out of business. Can anyone tell me if you ever got your stuff & if you ended up paying tgem. Thank you.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $8000

Picked up my stuff over a month ago.
Still have not received items as of August 4th
Movers were very unprofessional.
Van did NOT say Midwestern van lines on it.
The moving receipts were illegible and just describe items as "box"
Have tried to contact them multiple times. No-
one answers phone or returns phone calls.
Customer service is non existent.

Suspect many of the good reviews on this web site are fake.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4100

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
They are scam artists will charge you more than you expect after you down pay a huge deposit then they will not answer the phone or deliver on time it's been more than a month since they picked up my items and I have not yet recieved delivery.
I cannot contact them at all.
I strongly suspect that many of the positive reviews on this website are fake and posted by their employees
I will be filing a complaint with the Attorney General's office and the Better Business Bureau and every other Legal Office that I can think of.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3900

Signed a contract on June 14th, told 10-14 days. We were buying a house and we timed it so we would have the stuff when we moved in.

15 days later tried calling, no answer, left a message. No return phone call, tried customer service no one answers, left another message for our "Personal Rep" Randy and again no return phone call. This is after Randy told us if we needed anything don't hesitate to call him and he will take care of us. We NEVER heard from Randy after at least 15 messages and 50 phone calls. We tried every number we could, and occasionally we got someone but..

If you ever get anyone in the call center they just lie, we were told, "Yup the truck is loaded they are headed your way", "oh the driver had a family emergency we are getting a new driver", "oh the truck is still waiting to be loaded", "oh I don't understand he should be there within a day" etc etc etc

It is now 8/19 and we FINALLY for our stuff. After over 2 months of waiting, lies, no answers, no return phone calls etc.

Then after everything we got $30 a day for every BUSINESS day after the contract was up (mon - fri) even though they delivered on a SUNDAY.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

I must say that Midwestern Van Lines is the biggest scam and biggest joke of a company I have ever encountered in my life.

I worked with a sales rep named Randy Peterson, who seemed great in the beginning. He kept assuring me know how reputable the company was, it’s BBB A+ rating (another joke and total BS) and how I need to be careful whoever I do decide to go through for my move. He was there to answer all my questions, he was always available and seemed super genuine.. until I gave him my credit card information.

I decided to go with Midwestern Van Lines and put an initial deposit down for $758. My total quote to move a 1 bedroom was $1750, which seemed super reasonable. I was informed that I had 1 week to cancel my move in order to receive my deposit back. A week and a half before my move I called to provide Randy an updated inventory list, because I finished packing everything and I did not want the price to go up drastically. He said to me, that everything is fine and the price will not change. 2 days prior to my scheduled move, I talked to the qa rep, Chris, to also provide the updated inventory list, he emailed Randy and said nothing has changed in price and everything stayed the same.

The day of the move came and the movers arrived 7 hours late, which was very unprofessional. When they came to my house, they told me that the inventory I had was more than what was quoted and in order for them to move me, I would need to pay them $5000 cash. What type of shady bait and switch company does that? Of course I did not trust that, and because it was Saturday night at 8:30pm, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone from the company, so I sent the movers home. I have been calling, the texting, emailing, doing everything I can to get in touch with people from this company. To this day I cannot connect with anyone to see what was going on with my move. Their customer service is the worst, and I have been ghosted completely by everyone from the company.

I finally sent an email to the customer service address just asking them to refund me my deposit (because no services were rendered) and big surprise, they said that because I refused service, they cannot refund my deposit (even though they completely pulled a bait and switch on me). I am currently in the process of filing a dispute with my credit card company to get my money back.

My boyfriend then requested to get a quote from the company, to see if he could get a hold of someone that way, and of course right away another sales rep called him immediately. He then explained to them my situation and wanted to get in contact with a manager or higher up and they were so apologetic and that they would call him back immediately, but then he got ghosted too.

This whole situation has been so stressful,
Not to mention that I’m 7 months pregnant. I just cannot believe companies and people like this exist. They are so unethical and seem to be fine with it, which completely shocks me. Please be aware of working with this company in the future, and be aware of Randy Peterson (Senior Moving Consultant, Midwestern Van Lines, Direct number (720) 507-0057), he is such a horrible, conniving human being.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE!
This company is a scam! Since doing an inventory over the phone (1st Red Flag) we over inflated what we would need to move to allow a little of a buffer. Late in the afternoon of the day before our scheduled pick up date we received a call informing us they needed to reschedule as they could not make it because their truck broke down. We attempted to call our original booking agent Michael but every phone call would go directly to his voicemail, it was not until we called from a completely different number that he picked up right away. At that time he stated the crew was over booked and still working on a previous job and they would be there to pick up by noon the next day and that he was working on compensating us for the delay (2nd red flag for conflicting stories). The next day the pick up crew showed up an hour late in a rented Ryder moving truck. After doing a walk through of our home the we were informed that it would cost an addition $2000 to load everything. Since knowing we overinflated our original estimate we were floored by this! At this time I requested for them to show me how much square footage in the truck our original quote covered and informed the to load as much stuff to that point and we would have to figure out another option for the remaining stuff. Now this is where our move got interesting. At this time we were informed of all the additional hidden fees like;
If you have steps it cost $75 per flight and that 7 steps is considered a flight, and if they can not park with in 75 ft of your door it will cost $75 per 75feet covered and lastly that you will be charged for every packing blanket ($25 each) and roll of tape ($5 each) the crew uses when they are wrapping large furniture items. Let me tell you they don’t skimp on the amount of tape rolls used either and they do not keep you informed as to how much is being used until the end! Luckily for us we were able to pull out a hard copy of our original quote that stated blankets and tape were covered so we were able avoid this. Be sure you print all of the original documents the day you are quoted because on our pick up date we were unable to log into in of the information provided. Once the crew had finished and we paid the next installment for shipment we noticed they had left out a piece of our bed frame so I informed them it needed to be loaded since it was apart of our original quote when they reopened the truck I noticed that there was still about 3 feet of unloaded space up to the tape line that they marked out. Since we had just paid for that space I requested that it be loaded with additional items since they refused to take everything unless we paid more. At that time we had to scramble around town to find a uhaul trailer to pull behind my truck for the remainder of our stuff. The next day I attempted to call our booking agent to figure out compensation for breaking our original contract and once again he was unreachable. We attempted to contact him daily for the following week and contentiously we were ghosted. We attempted to call the original booking number and went through the entire automated directory leaving multiple messages and still were not contacted by a single person. It was not until 37 days later we finally got a phone call stating that our stuff was out for delivery. On day 42 our stuff finally arrived via a semi truck. Come to find out the driver of the truck has ZERO affiliation with midwestern van lines and informed us that we was contacted and hired third party to pick up our stuff and move it to us. Once unloaded we found significant damage to some of our items and have started the process for compensation but in all of the paper work we have received not a single one informs you how to file and you guessed it no one is returning any of our calls! After reading other reviews it sound like it is common practice for this company to conduct business in the manner that we experienced and I suspect they are inflating their reviews to give the appearance of being a reputable company. Please save your self the headache and hassle and do not book with this company!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5400