North American Van Lines

We picked North American Van Lines because they gave us a good quote and the sales person was nice. Well, they were awful. They outsourced our move. The morning of the move the driver informed us that all our stuff would not be going on the same truck. They picked up to much stuff at the first stop. But said no worries your stuff will be put on a second truck and all will be fine. Well, it wasn’t fine. The first truck came in good time but the second truck didn’t leave Florida until the date our contract said all would be delivered. We got the bulk of our stuff two weeks later. We had no clothes and when I contacted our movers they said not our problem call corporate offices. Well I did and two weeks later am still waiting for a supervisor to call me back because according to them clothes aren’t essentials. I had a funeral to go to and my husband had a job interview which we both had to buy new clothes for and they don’t care. The movers who packed the truck left my,house a mess. I had a friend lock up and they left McDonald wrappers and cans everyrwhere. They stole chicken wings I had in my freezer for my friend. They stole a check I had left in a draw and I had to put a stop payment on and we didn’t get brand new fishing poles and my piggy bank never showed up. We had damage to stuff. I don’t complain it isn’t in my nature. I hate to do it. But this company is awful. If I could prevent one person from using this company it is worth it. They give you a great price. The sales man is nice but than they have you and after that no one cares. Worst movers ever.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

Estimated one amount to get the business with low load weight and box count. They then attempted to charge 33% more once they had my stuff in their possession. Do not use - they will hold your household possessions hostage after lowballing the quote.As a side warning - the packing help is painful. Having moved a 3 bedroom house 2 other times with 3 movers, the standard time is 3-5 hours. This crew took 9 hours due to constant phone calls, breaks, and packing of near empty boxes.

Service cost: $4800

Here are the following complaints which I expressed to the moving company in my delay of claim form. They denied my claim because I was a small load.   1) I was told that my belongings would be delivered between June 26th and July 7th. My belongings did not arrive until July 17th, 10 days late, which is entirely unacceptable. University moving knew about my load needing to be delivered to Bozeman, MT between June 26th and July 7th since late March. 2) Although my belongings were supposed to be carefully numbered and loaded onto the truck at my original destination, not all of my belongings were numbered. When the movers came, I kept catching the movers loading unnumbered boxes. Some of the items that were delivered at my new apartment were never numbered and the delivery driver noted this when he loaded my belongings at the warehouse for delivery.   3)     Although I was told before I signed the contract that my belongings would be loaded directly on the truck that would take my belongings to their final destination, my belongings were loaded on a smaller truck and taken to a warehouse to be assigned a driver. 4)     The movers at my old apartment arrived 2 hours after the assigned time window and were completely unprepared to move me. They did not bring the required tie downs to secure my belongings in the truck. I had to drive one of the movers to Ace Hardware to pick up rope to secure my belongings. Additionally, they did not bring the mattress boxes that I requested to protect my brand new mattress and box spring which had never been moved. Both my mattress and box spring were loaded into the truck uncovered causing them to arrive at my new apartment covered in dirt and grass stains. Both of these actions are completely unacceptable for a professional moving company. 5)     At my old apartment, the movers broke my laundry rack when loading it into the truck. They then claimed that it was broken when they loaded it and that they did not break it. I told them that this was not true. Why would I want to move something that was broken? They did not apologize or offer any means of accepting responsibility. When they arrived at the warehouse they covered the break in duct tape. 6)     I was charged the full amount (a little over $3444) on my credit card. Because I was under on my weight, I am due a reimbursement. Since the shipment is so late, I will be charged interest on the amount due back to me since it takes North American Van Lines 45 days after delivery to provide reimbursement. It is unethical for me to be charged extra money because North American Van Lines delayed my shipment and has an extremely slow reimbursement process. 7)      The agent told me I could customize my delivery dates, which was not true.       8)The agent told me that he would be the primary contact on the account throughout the entire moving process. Instead, a customer service agent became the primary on the account after the contract was signed. .

Service cost: $3400

Shipper informed of addl load and delivery delay AFTER everything was packed. Shipper "padded" invetory by 8 boxes, but didn't deduct from total, even after discussing. Items weren't packed correctly and fatally broken (guitar), antique items were tossed about, dressers were delivered face to wall, broken objects were hidden in closets, and not notated, many 1/2 empty boxes were used, many unmarked boxes, many boxes delivered to wrong areas, computer devices/cords were separated from units. Was told that there would be an additional $3,000 charge to deliver shipment even after I confirmed with main office that this would not occur.

Service cost: $9514

My rights and responsibilities were never explained.  When I pointed out carpet damage that the movers caused, the supervisor stormed out and told the driver "I'm outta here, you deal with him". I purchased full replacement value with a zero deducible.  However the movers refuse to accept any liability for damage to woodwork, carpeting, and furniture as I did not annotate damages on the receipt of delivery form. There is not sufficient time to inspect the entire home and contents while the driver is shoving the delivery form at you to sign. If anyone uses this moving company be sure to perform a through inspection of your home and belongings no matter how long it takes the driver and crew to remain.  Do not believe the driver when he tells you that you have 90 days to file a claim.  North American will only pay you if you cite the damages on the delivery form. Also if you ask if the movers will pick up your empty boxes, do not believe them when they say that you can just call for a refuse pick up.  There is a $200 dollar charge for this service.  Get everything in writing from this company.  If you have other choices, seriously consider another mover.

Service cost: $6000

The North American Van lines moving company lacks of honesty, they do not have a good planning nor management of shipments, they postponed our delivery 4 times, we spent more than 20 days without our furniture, they are not professional in planning a shipment with the drivers, and they always say that they have shortage of drivers..
In summary, avoid this company at any expenses, honesty is a must in this kind of job and they lack of honesty.. Do not use the North American Van lines to move, if you want to be comfortable with no stress nor frustration just move by yourself !! or just look for another more respectful and loyal company but NEVER THE North AMERICAN VAN LINES..

Service cost: $2000

I used North American to assist with my move. I wish I hadn't.
 
Most of my furniture arrived soaked and moldy. I had to throw out a lot of items due to water damage and mold/mildew: two bookshelves, dining room table, pieces of my bed, an entire desk, and a lot of my photos. And I had to have a lot of other items repaired due to water damage and mold/mildew: a set of 3 tables for the living room (coffee table, tall table, side table), pieces of my bed that weren't completely ruined, my entertainment center, two recliners and a couch, my grandma's dishes, and the reamining photos that weren't completely ruined.
 
North American told me it was MY fault for not purchasing their full insurance. (I guess I apparently had too much faith in the company.) They reimbursed me, according to their basic insurance, 60 cents per pound of damaged/ruined belongings. I received a total of $480 to replace and repair everything that they damaged. They were very rude during the entire claims process. Such a headache! A headache that could have been avoided had I not used North American!!

Service cost: $2295

     I spent many hours working on a claim for lost/broken/stolen household goods that were moved by Roger Ward North American Van Lines in Minot, ND, to our new residence in Nine Mile Falls, WA, in May 2012.  I submitted numerous forms, photos, etc., as I advanced through the various steps of the arbitration process all the way to the top where I paid $300 for a forum (including a lawyer) to convene.  At each level, we received one letter of denial after another signed by people who don't even have to give their last names (i.e., Katie S., CindyB.).  If this review deters just one prospective customer from using this company's services, it will have been almost worth it to me.       We are in our late 60s and my husband is a 100 percent disabled veteran and North Amerian Van Lines was selected by the Department of Veterans Affairs for our move after we decided to move closer to our two daughters.  Being a disabled vet, he supposedly got a discount for the move.  We had one person from Roger Ward North American, the local moving company, come to our house one time, but shortly after that, he took a job elsewhere, so we had little or no point of contact or guidance for our move.  We did our own packing and, according to the form signed by both parties, our household goods were insured for $10,000.  Four men from Roger Ward came to pick up our household goods, but their semi-truck had broken down in Oklahoma, so everything had to be unloaded into their warehouse until it was fixed.  Several people had access to their warehouse and we believe it was there boxes were opened and things were stolen out of them and resealed, which would have been very easy to do.  Four members of our family were here to receive our household goods when they arrived, but we would not get to WA until almost three months later waiting for the sale of our house in ND to close.  In addition to our furniture, we had over 300 boxes, but family members weren't allowed to check them off on the forms as they were brought in (the driver stated that would take all day and he didn't have time).  During the unpacking process, we found items broken and missing.  Most notably missing was my jewelry box, which contained mine and my mother's wedding rings (my mother passed away in 1960 when I was 16 years old), all my sterling silver, copper, turquoise, and other rings, Seiko watch, Black Hills Gold jewelry, jade charms, and many keepsakes.  My husband had purchased the jewelry box in Taiwan and we submit the packing box it was in was cut open somewhere during the move, the jewelry box lifted out, and the box retaped.  We stated there is just no other explanation.  We found the carved bottom to it in a box I was unpacking and sent pictures of it with our claim.       We submitted a conservative claim of $3,053.27 for our lost/broken/stolen items.  Our claim was denied at each level.  Believe me, they will find a reason to deny your claim and the final denial of our claim was written in legalese that it would take a rocket scientist to understand.  Don't even bother to file a claim--or better yet, don't choose North American Van Lines in the first place.

Service cost: $7000

Awful experience with this company. I used them to move from Baltimore to San Francisco.  They use local moving companies contracted with North American to pick up and drop your things off. The local company in Baltimore picked my things up on a Friday and then North American was supposed to pick it up from them on the coming Monday but they picked it up a week late. The explanation I got was "it fell through the cracks." On top of getting my things in San Francisco a week later than promised, every piece of furniture they moved showed up either scratched, nicked, chipped, damaged, or broken.  I literally had to get a new couch because they damaged it so badly. I had to make multiple claims and they ended up sending me about $1,500 because there were so many issues. They sent out a local restoration company to verify the claims I made and then sent me the money. The whole process of filing the claims and getting the money took about 7 weeks which is ridiculous. Unless you want your things to show up a week later than promised and have them all damaged I urge to find a different moving company. .

Service cost: $4300