North America Vanlines

So we hired North America Moving Systems in July to move us from Florida to Washington. On August 17, we found out their real name is Advantage Moving & Storage Inc located in Miami, Florida. We had a contract to move our goods.

The movers showed up 4 hours late, half-packed boxes, loaded stuff that was not supposed to be moved, didn't load stuff that was supposed to be loaded, no disassembly, hired a homeless guy to help pack, left the 2nd day for almost 5 hours and left homeless guy at our house, refused to cancel the order and unload the truck, refusing to deliver goods, trying to extort more money, trying to have us sign another contract, threatened to auction our goods, do I really need to continue.

Stay away from these moving pirates, they will hold your stuff hostage and demand more money, then threaten to put your stuff in storage, impose tariffs, and auction your stuff. We made them aware of all of our complaints, to no avail.

We filed complaints with the Department of Transportation, the Florida Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau, and writing this review of their shadiness.

They will hook you with a low estimate, then hit you for additional fees, or hold your goods hostage. This company, under both names, needs to be put out of business. It will happen to you if you hire them. I am sitting on a lawn chair right now typing this, our stuff was supposed to be delivered on August 12th, it is not the 17th and still nothing. I have attached the most recent email I received from them.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8075

Simple, I have a contract with the movers to pick up my things on a possible three days, July 29-31, 2018. I was told the pick up would be Tuesday, July 31 between 3 and 6 PM. Never happened, never showed. I got a call at 5:15 the 31st from the man who is in charge of the driver was a lame excuse about not being able to make it on time to another delivery. So it wasn’t going to be a few hours later that evening on the 31st but rather 24 hours more before they would come to pick up my things . I tried contacting the manager of the company but he never replied back or answered any of my calls. The following day when the driver said he would be here, I got a call again at the pick up time Saying he would not be able to make it again, but the job he was on was too big and It wouldn’t be until the following day again before they could pick up my things. This was just acceptable.. He said he would contact a manager for me right then and would call me back personally in 10 minutes, never happened never heard back from either. I made many attempts calling, it only goes to voicemail. There you go.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2700

On 6/20/18, I used North America Moving Systems to move from Laurinburg, NC to Corpus Christi, Texas. My original estimate, sent by Grant on May 31st, was for 1,692 cubic feet. I was told this was enough space to pack my four-bedroom home. I discussed with him the number of beds and couches I would be moving as well as other household goods. I was assured this space would be more than adequate when I questioned if this would be enough space. I was also told the $300 packing charge would cover the packing of a handful of large pictures as well as 2 larger TVs. It was implied by Grant that my household items would be picked up in an 18-wheeler and moved directly to Texas. He never mentioned using a smaller truck and placing my items in storage. I would not have used this service if I had known beforehand that my items would be moved twice.

On June 20th, the movers in NC arrived with a mid-sized rental truck that already had other items loaded in the front of the truck. I could easily see a large mattress with other items behind it. My items were added to the back of the truck. I was told my items would be taken to an air-conditioned storage facility until a larger truck could take them to Texas. When the movers arrived, I was immediately told that I would be charged extra for the TVs to be packed. I had them call Grant – the salesman that said this was included in the $300 packing charge. He agreed that he did tell me this.

Next one of the movers took pictures of my house to send to the company. Within an hour, I was called to the phone to speak with Yair Knafo in dispatch and told I had more than the estimated 1692 cubic feet and that I would have to pay an additional amount or leave items behind. I was told an additional $2696 was required before loading to cover an extra 1,100 cubic feet of space. (Bringing the total cubic feet paid for to 2,792) An additional fee of $2,195.97 was added to delivery costs in Texas as well. I was charged a total of $10,882.32 for my move, that is $4,891.97 more than the original estimate. I was also told if I did not require all the estimated space that I would be given a refund for space not used. When I could access the new estimate online the next day, I found out I was charged an additional $1150 for packing materials and another $130 for my TVs (the ones I had already been told were covered by the first $300 charge).


The driver of the moving van was Jamal Hall. He signed the Household Goods Descriptive Inventory paperwork from North America and was introduced to me earlier in the day as their driver and employee. The other movers did not dispute this claim. He was tagging and inventorying my items. At 10:00 PM that night, I was told by Jamal Hall that I had exceeded the 2,792 cubic feet of space and would have to pay an additional $1350 to finish loading. Cash was demanded for the loading to continue. At this point in time I had no choice but to pay. I had a closing scheduled on my home in less than 48 hours and needed to clean out the house. He took my copy of the Interstate Revised Written Estimate and made changes to it and signed it.

At 11:00 PM the movers asked if they could stop for the night and come back to finish in the morning. I was assured they would return at 8:00AM. The moving crew returned after 12:00 noon on June 21st. I spoke to one of the movers and asked why I was charged for additional cubic footage at the rate of $4.50 instead of the original $3.50. At that point, I was informed by one of the other movers that Jamal Hall was stealing money from me. I did call the police and had him arrested for theft. When taken to the police department, Jamal Hall – North America’s driver - did not present a valid driver’s license. All he had was a Florida ID card. The driver returned $900 of my money – leaving me $450 short. Yair Knafo the North America dispatcher (I think he is also the owner) informed me he was not responsible for his employee’s behavior or the return of my money.

The two remaining movers finished loading my household belongings that day. When asked where my belongings were being stored, I was given the name of a facility in Rockingham, NC thirty miles away.

On June 25th, Yair Knafo called me to ask questions about Jamal Hall’s arrest. He wanted to know the name of the police department and the case number. I told him to call the Laurinburg Police Department. Yair told me that Jamal Hall had been arrested on a previous occasion for stealing money. Yair also told my son during a different phone conversation, that he did not do a background check on his employees and had no trouble employing those with criminal records. Since my move I have found several arrest records for Mr. Hall just by doing a Goggle search.

I was originally told by Grant, the salesman, my furniture would arrive the week of June 25th. Yair Knafo informed me the furniture would be picked up no earlier than June 30th and probably would be delivered by July 6th. When I called on July 5th , I was told the furniture would not come until the following week.

A North America driver, Daniel Galla, delivered my household goods on July 12th. Before anything was unloaded I took a picture of the inside of the moving van. It is marked off in cubic feet. My belongings were the only items on the half empty van. On the attached photo you can clearly see that my household goods took up less than 2000 cubic feet. My son Lee and I tried to call Yair Knafo repeatedly to have the final cost adjusted. The driver Daniel threatened to drive off with my furniture if he was not paid the entire $4,353 before unloading a single piece of furniture. When we finally reached Yair Knafo by phone we were told to pay Daniel and the money would be refunded later.

Daniel Galla threatened a second time to leave if I did not sign the incomplete inventory list BEFORE unloading had even started. This I refused to do until all items were unloaded and accounted for. At this time, I have several items that were damaged, broken or lost by the movers. I noted as many as I could on the Household Goods Descriptive Inventory List. One wheel on a sewing studio cabinet was torn off completely, an antique sewing box table has a cracked leg, a sewing cutting table arrived with the frame bent out of shape and a gouge in the top of the table making it unusable, a small home freezer was dented and pushed in over the motor unit, a wheel on my gas grill was torn off the axel, a queen mattress was no longer wrapped and was covered with black dirt. All these damaged items were packed and wrapped in blankets and boxes by the movers. Several of my boxes were missing on arrival. I was told by Daniel that he had repacked some of the boxes. Many boxes arrived with no numbers whatsoever.

I have asked for a refund of $3,222. This will cover the overcharge on cubic footage not used of $2,772 (792 cubic feet times $3.50) plus an additional $450 to cover the money stolen from me by the North America employee. A known thief was sent to my home as a driver without a valid driver’s license to move my household items.

I sent an email to North America Moving Systems on July 24th asking for a refund for the overcharges and an additional $450 to cover the theft by their employee. I received a reply on July 25th stating “I’m sorry for that experience. I understand that it should be a refund back to you. I will be in contact with you this week to give you the amount that our company needs to pay you back.” No name was signed, and no one has called or emailed me to date. When I call to find out the status of my claim, no one answers in Dispatch, Accounting or Sales. I have left several voice messages, and no one returns my call. I have called the “emergency” number, and no one answers, and the message box is full preventing one from leaving a message.
Dealing with North America Moving Systems has been the worst possible experience. This company sent a driver to my home that could not even present a valid driver’s license to the police to drive a car let alone a truck. Their driver admitted to the police that he took money from me by false pretense. My original estimate of $5990 grew to $10, 882. That is a $4,891 increase that I had to pay or find another mover overnight and lose all deposits. Phone calls made to this company go unanswered, messages are ignored. Refunds are promised but none received. I would never recommend this mover to anyone. Zero stars.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10882

This was the worst consumer experience of my life! I moved a grand piano from NC to CA and hired this company as they gave me the lowest price, however they used the old bait and switch scheme to get my business. I got a low ball binding estimate and then they doubled it on moving and delivery days with threat of losing deposit or incurring storage costs. They were the rudest, meanest, most unresponsive, lying people I have ever dealt with (all of them). At one point I threatened to call the police with all the obscenities thrown at me. At delivery no one knew how to put back together a grand piano and left several pieces out of it. Then they tore up the driveway trying to get their stuck truck out and broke several wooden lawn pieces. Trying to reach these people is useless. They will not return calls, answer emails or texts. These are the people I dealt with: Chris, Liram, Yair, Yehuda, Eyal, DO NOT EVER USE THEM!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $2278

This company is a joke they did not pick up on time and day later. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since they picked up and we still do not have our belongings. They will not call be back I have to keep calling them. I contacted the BBB, I think that's the only reason why they even returned my phone call today. The staff are red and everyone there has lied to us about where our stuff is. Our price was 1900 but low and behold now they are trying to charge us 4500. Because they said we took up "to much space", but they showed up in a freaking rental truck. Of course if you show up in a pick up truck there will not be enough room. Scam artists. And mind you I still don't have my stuff and they are only talking about taking off 500. Unacceptable I will do my best to tell all my military friends in Fl to NEVER use this company.

Service cost: $6000

2/14/2016 (Sunday) moving crew arrived and began loading belongings, half way through I was advised that my "Binding estimate" had to be "Rebooted" after much figuring my estimate was raised from $1566.00 to $8727.00 and this was determined with only half the load loaded. Also, payment of the $8700.00 was demanded that day. (Sunday) I was told this would have to be paid in cash or (finally after heated argument) cashiers check. It's Sunday, no bank open to get cash or check and I don't have $8727.In the house. I threatened to call the police and "Teddy" advised me that this was a civil matter and police would do nothing, seemed he had some experience in situations like this. He advised they could leave (with our belongings) and let the lawyers hash it out or I could pay. My belongings are half loaded, I have a trailer rented that I'm pulling, cleaner scheduled to come on Tuesday and do a final cleaning, angry, frustrated and without any allies other than my realtor who happens by. I agreed to pay. But on the following Tuesday as the next day (Monday) was presidents day and banks would be closed. After much more arguing I finally convinced him there was just no other way he wouldn't take a check or accept a credit card what could we do?. He put me on his cell phone to a voice (have no idea as to who it belonged to) and finally, the voice, agreed that the moving team would stay in Tampa until Tuesday, but the full amount would have to be paid at that time.

Tuesday morning, teddy called me several times before eight o'clock to make sure I was going to the bank. I assured him, I would be at the bank when the doors opened. When we got home from the bank, terry demanded the 8700.00 dollars, I refused, the truck could be empty, I was not going to pay until I saw my furnishing unloaded. He refused, this time I did call the police, they arrived but could do nothing. Another call was put into the office and the "Voice" agreed that I should pay half when the door of the truck was opened and half when half the furniture came off the truck.
After the dust settled and everyone was gone, my wife and I sat on the floor and reviewed the re-boot paperwork. Here are some of the things we noted:

The company Web Site clearly states " no charge for stairs" I got charged $75.00
The company Web Site clearly states " we accept, cash, credit cards, money order or check" cash was demanded from me clearly written on the paperwork. The paperwork reads cash or cashier's check. since this was on a Sunday it would have been most difficult to get a cashier check, money order or even the extortionable amount of $8700.00 Who would know that the charge would go up by 5and 1/2 times??
the original estimate says that shipping charges of $4.50 per cubic foot would be charged. I am unable to find any notation as to the number of cubic feet that resulted in a shipping fee of $8700.00!! in fact, except for the dollar math, there appear to be no calculations for number of cubic feet x's 4.60 anywhere. Oddly the "extra" cubic feet was also determined with only (estimate) one-half of my belongings loaded. how does one do that??
the original estimate makes no mention of having a charge of $150.00 per man for loading, yet I was charged $300.00 for loading personnel. plus sheepish asked if I would consider paying the helpers an additional "gratuity" on top of the $300 on top of the $8700.00.
the original estimate indicates a fuel sir charge of 306.00 for a distance of 451 miles yet I was charged 706.00 for the same distance, plus an additional 900.00 destination fee not disclosed on the original estimate.

Service cost: $8722

Do NOT use this moving company! I am going out of my way to leave bad reviews on every website I can find!

They take pride in offering military discounts- when "the military discount" is only offered on the quoted price! They don't tell you this until the truck is loaded with your belongings and you're standing in an empty house! Being the wife of A Veternan who has done two tours in Afghanistan I find this VERY disheartening!! I feel very robbed and taken advantage of. I was quoted $2,600. In the beginning only to be told that I had more than what was quoted, I ended up paying a grand total of $6,600!

Customer service is a joke and you feel like cattle being herded through some dark valley. Brigette in particular has very poor customer service skills, as if paying them 6k wasn't enough for the company to treat you courteous they treat you like the enemy. I was yelled at and basically called a liar on several occasions, did not have any calls returned, was put on hold numerous times (25mins of my life I'll never get back.) and had to question if my things would even be delivered.

Once everything arrived I had several broken/scuffed pieces of furniture. Two boxes missing which contained all of my kitchen appliances and another that contained dry food.

I am just in total shock that a company that calls themselves "North America" van lines is anything BUT that!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!

Service cost: $6600

These people are crooks!! STAY AWAY.
BBB = F for a reason!! They do not care about ratings.
Schedules are made but not kept. Then they say they on their way and show up 2 days later.
Once stuff was picked up I could not contact anyone. Some numbers have been disconnected.
Then of course the price goes up for packaging although we had everything in boxes for them.
Then they hold your stuff hostage unless you pay cash before delivery .. you cannot see if anything is damaged until you pay 100% remaining in cash. WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH.
The are NOT North America"N" Van lines. They stole their name.
THEY SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO BUSINESS!!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1000

The pick up of our things was straightforward enough, ended up being a bit more than quoted but we expected that as we added a few more boxes. Transit only took 1.5 weeks from Atlanta to NYC and that's not bad at all. Lorraine at the office handled my crazy calls like a pro when I started panicking about where my stuff was, she was super nice and helpful and passed along any and all updates that she could. Also the guys that delivered and unloaded my things in NYC were great. Super quick, efficient and complete gentleman all the way. They unwrapped all of the big items and placed everything in the correct rooms per my directions. They had the truck unloaded in about 1.5 hours. The trouble started when we were unpacking and found several expensive items missing from our boxes. Electronics, jewelry, clothing. All of it had obvious logos on it so we know what they were going for. I feel like i've been robbed and its super unsettling to think of my personal belonging being rifled through by thieves like it was a free for all. Also, idiots you left half of the cords and parts of the electronics you stole so good luck using/selling them without it. Also have fun wearing my used and dirty Jordans that you took also as well as my gaudy high school class ring (really where are you going to pawn that with my initials and soccer jersey number on it). To the management team, try not to hire disgusting and crooked idiotic thieves for employees.

Service cost: $2695