National Van Lines Inc

We moved from FL to VA Dec 15th. We had several months to prepare, this was our first ever move more then 10 miles from where we grew up. Aaron Bacon was our sales Rep and was absolutely top notch, he answered the tons of questions we had all hours of the day and night.

A few days prior to moving day Sal our driver contacted us. He walked us through the day of process and gave us his cell so we could call him with any questions. Once he got on site on time as he told us things went better then expected. Sal managed both crews like well oiled machines. He arrived right on time in VA and the unloading went great as well. Both move teams were great. Sal stay engaged with us the entire time making sure we were happy with everything going on. As well as calling us on the days In transit to make sure our travels we're going well. And keeping us posted on his location. Mike running the loading team in FL was excellent, as Well as Curtis's team in VA. They treated our stuff like it was theirs.

Thanks to Sal, Aaron & National van lines for making a nerve wracking life event into a stress free event for my family.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

At first the sales person was extremely helpful. When the move went horribly wrong, he disappeared and sent me to the National Van Line Customer Service team. The customer service name is false. They were never available and never returned an email or phone call. Then they denied the expenses incurred during the 12 day delay. Once the goods arrived I had approximately $15,000 in damage to my household goods. This company DOES NOT stand behind their service. Do not use them!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9600

Moving is a multidimensional project. At one level, NVL did an very good job moving us from Oregon to Maryland. But there are a couple of things to be on guard for.

First, their contracted packers in Portland were, to put it politely, lazy. After working slowly the day before the van showed up, they had to be called back the next day to finish a job that they should have finished the day before. This isn't necessarily NVL's direct fault but it is they whom we hired and were in job.

More problematical is making sure all your stuff gets loaded. After a walk through with the driver before loading and making specific reference to an extension ladder and stabilizer attachment, the ladder did not get loaded on the van. Okay - it was missed. But as it was missed, there was no inventory tag. So in NVL's eyes, it never existed.

We filed a claim for about $300 (note: we took the 100% insurance option). Our claim was denied despite my repeated comments to them that the driver and I had identified the ladder (which was in our backyard) and past which other items were brought to the truck.

The moral to this: do NOT sign off on any papers until you have personally ensured EVERYTHING is recorded and loaded. A corollary is when the goods are delivered, go through each line and cross-check it to the item(s) that are tagged. It is a hectic day, to be sure, but despite the 100% full insurance coverage, if initial something as received in the haste to get things done and later you realize it is missing, you're screwed. There is no negotiation, period.

Some years ago moving to Oregon, we used United Van Lines. This episode left such a bitter taste in my mouth, I wish we had used them instead of NVL.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $17000

DO NOT Move with National Van Lines. They deceived us into buying consumer insurance and protection and then proceeded to lose multiple boxes from our move, scarred up floors and walls in both our pick-up and destination and broke many delicate items like my wife's jewelry. When we tried to contact them, they did not respond at all. No emails, no phone calls returned, nothing.Finally I had to email their CEO who did not respond, but I was able to get a hold of Gerry Mundt, VP of finance. He claimed that the paperwork was filled out correctly, even though we were able to prove that multiple papers were actually forged by the driver and members of the National's moving team. DO NOT MOVE with this company if you want to receive all your household items at your destination.  Finally, we are investigating possible theft by their movers. We lost $15,000 worth of jewelry that they packed and loaded and an investigation is pending.

Service cost: $7000

Our move was complicated by the fact that we were already living out of state, though all of our belongings were still in our home in Texas. When we were certain the house was going to sell, we wanted to get everything packed and shipped quickly so the buyers could move in. I chose this company primarily because they were able to accommodate my timeline for a move very quickly.  They gave me a non-binding rough estimate for the pack and move over the phone, since I did not have time to get someone into the house for a written estimate.  The estimate was far below the actual, but I knew it most likely would be, given that we had a lot of heavy books, and plenty of artwork to pack.  Al, our driver, was excellent: prompt, communicative, cheerful, energetic and very efficient.  The guys who did the packing and moving were also very professional.  Everything arrived when they said it would, and half of our belongings went into a large storage locker that I had found, with the rest coming to our much smaller apartment.  (Again, a complicated process from the packing point of view..and because of the topography of where we live, the driver needed to rent a smaller truck for part of the day.)  Al didn't even complain about my dughter's IKEA bed, which he had to take apart and put back together!  We have not found anything chipped or broken.  It was very nice to have them handle the complicated process of moving and know that I was in good hands.  I would absolutely recommend them!

Service cost: $13

My move was from az to FL. I probably should have read more reviews before booking. Unfortunately, I did not and here is the review I left them on my customer survey they sent me, I am sure it will get put in the trash with the rest of their complaints. Several things happened on this move which will ensure I do not recommend you to anyone.
1) I was given a delivery date by the sales person and sent an electronic copy of the agreement. When the driver arrived it was changed to 2 weeks later. I needed my stuff moved that day so I had no choice but to sign. When attempting to contact my sales rep I received no response.
2) I was also told by the sales rep that my shipment would only be loaded once and not taken to a warehouse to be loaded again onto another truck. The driver told me after they packed the items that they would be taking it to a bigger truck to reload it as the driver did not work that day. Great.
3) the driver did not bring all of the necessary items to load my shipment and thus had to take my 50-inch plasma tv and pictures to the warehouse to pack and load them without my viewing, I was told to just sign the sheet because that is how it had to be done.  I could always go to the warehouse and watch them if I wanted. Too bad I didn't plan for an extra trip to the warehouse and had to work that evening otherwise I would have loved to spend 8-10 hours with them.
4) Documentation of the condition of my items was very unprofessional.  I asked where he marked the condition and he said oh don't worry everything will get there the way they picked it up and everything was in good shape. Upon later re-examining through the entire itemization, I started to decipher the letter codes he had put for items and turns out he put scratches for everything to cover himself, even though he told me the condition was good on everything.  
Overall the sales and loading was all about deceit in order to get my business, and once you have my items what am I going to do?  
5)  the delivery went a little better until I started documenting items that I found chipped/damaged.  The driver tried to convince me that certain things were already there, but now knowing how your company operates, I ignored him.  
Next up, filing my claims which I am sure will go swimmingly.  For a $5000 moving expense I will next time sell all of my stuff, buy new things, and avoid the terrible customer service moving companies like this one provide.

Service cost: $5000

RUN, DON’T WALK from NATIONAL VAN LINES! Our experience with National Van Lines was a nightmare. The representative who signed us up just seemed so professional and efficient when we met her. We never dreamed we were getting into a terrible mess. Everything they say in their PR materials and on their website is a laughable lie! We were moving from Ohio to Florida. The big day the movers were supposed to arrive to pack, they never showed up. The next day it took their 3 guys and my husband and myself (in our 60s) working in a sweaty heat to get in the truck – all day until 6:00 pm. The truck was nothing like the rep described it - just one small truck and it’s a miracle everything fit. Then the driver told us he didn’t intend to begin driving to FL for 4 days. Late the day before they were supposed to arrive, the driver called to say the truck was broken down in Cleveland! When I told the driver I never gave him permission to take all my worldly possessions to Cleveland (5 hours NORTH of our departure in Cincinnati) he said “I don’t need your permission”. We called who we could but no one was in charge. Someone named Lisa said she worked for people in Rhode Island, the driver said he worked for people in Illinois. No one knew what caused the break down but we were told that no one could even LOOK at the truck for days.
Quote from NVL website: “Our movers are also equipped with the latest in technology to carefully pack and transport our customers’ belongings anywhere in the world with ease.” I called the rep who signed us up and she said all she could do was tell me how to file a complaint. We didn’t want to file a complaint – we wanted our stuff!  She said: “I never heard from you people before an hour ago.” I told the rep her PR packet reads:  “Your moving counselor is like an architect, possessing a solid understanding of every facet of the moving process.”  Here we thought she was directing the move!  Her entire response to this mess we were in was to send us an email with the email address for customer service.  She was just a salesperson who wiped her hands of us the minute we signed the contract.
Quote from NVL website: “Your items are unique and personal to you, so our movers take the extra time to ensure all your belongings, furniture, and specialty items are carefully packed, moved, and unloaded in your new destination.”
When the truck finally arrived it was a different truck with a different driver, everything had been transferred. The new driver made an elaborate show of having us watch while he opened the seal on the truck.  This was such a joke since this was not the truck that left our house. Boxes marked “fragile” were smashed, an expensive chair was broken. It was clear whoever did the transfer was not interested in the “special handling of fragile items”.
The guys who unloaded the truck were local people contacted at the last minute, not employees of NVL. They were decent, but refused to unpack mirror crates that the movers in Ohio packed. They showed us the movers’ instructions saying they didn’t have to unpack them. We finally got them to do it – it took them all of about 3 minutes. 5 weeks later received a bill for $50 for this unpacking! I never saw such a level of incompetence and arrogance. They obviously didn’t bother to sit down and map out how they were going to accomplish this move.  Everything was done by the seat of their pants. In the end they subtracted $125 for each day longer than the contract allowed. We run a business with our computers and took a big hit for those extra days.  All it cost them was $125 a day to do whatever they pleased with our possessions. This company could not care less about customer satisfaction. They count on folks like us to buy their PR lies and trust them. Of course, they’re not worried about our repeat business -- obviously, this is the last move of our lives.
Don’t make the same mistake we did.  RUN DON’T WALK from NATIONAL VAN LINES!

Service cost: $7000

We downsized and relocated from Roswell, Georgia to Jenison, Michigan in August 2015. We selected National Van Lines as our mover. National is an excellent company and it's because of employees, such as Lisa Varzino of the Broadview office. Lisa is the primary reason for our five star review. We have moved many times during our 61 years of marriage and Lisa was the best of all moving coordinators we experienced. Lisa was tops in guiding us through the technical maize of moving and the icing on the cake was her personality. We are very grateful for having had Lisa Varzino as our guiding light.Thank you so much, Lisa.Amy and Bob S.

Service cost: $3000