North American Van Lines

There are many small companies that work as representatives of North American. I was fortunate to find a south Florida company called Arnoff Moving and Storage after trying different international moving companies for an estimate. The owner personally came and provided the estimate. All was taken care of and a full schedule for pick up and delivery to my UK address was provided. All went smoothly. The second move was from north of Daytona Beach to another UK address. My partner called six international movers for a quote. Two responded but only one estimator turned up at the scheduled day and time! Finally, in despair, she called Arnoff some 200 miles south, who asked her to provide a comprehensive list of what was being shipped. Based on the list, they provided an estimate for everything from pickup and packing to unpacking at final destination at a very reasonable cost. The crew arrived right on time, did a superb job of packing and labeling including having us check their work and sign off on the sheets as they were loaded. All arrived in the UK on time with one minor breakage. FIRST CLASS OPERATION.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9500

We moved from AZ to NC. Watched all my belongings being loaded on the truck. Items were going straight to NC house, not leaving the truck at any time. Movers rushed to unload in NC, put boxes that were clearly labeled in the wrong places, and did not count/go over the boxes they left with me. They just put a paper in front of me and asked for my signature. As I unpacked, I found a few broken items (which I wasn't thrilled about, but would expect a few). I had 3 boxes left with me that were not mine. I called the mover and they sent someone out to pick the boxes up. I was most upset, however, by how much of my stuff was missing. They were not sorry and did not apologize or offer explanation. Since these items were never removed from the truck (supposedly) I can only assume they were stolen. These were LARGE items - 2 large/heavy watercolor art pieces, a desk top computer, a television, the glass top to my wrought iron coffee table, a large duffle with personal belongings.... I was hoping that maybe they had just been dropped at a wrong location, but after an "investigation" on their part, they just sent me a settlement check, which was $1500 shy of what the worth of the items was on my claim. I tipped their movers well (thinking all was good) until I started unpacking and realized that things were missing. I will never use this company again. I spent $20,000 on this move, and for that I don't expect them to "lose" my items.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $20000

They picked up my things 12/6/2021 in Oswego,Illinois and delivered them 12/13/21 to Bellevue, Washington.Very efficient loading and unloading, but they managed to lose a plant stand and two boxes. My husband died in the spring, so I was moving from Oswego (where he died) to Bellevue (where my sister lives.) I had a lot to worry about, and paid almost $6000..00 to move. Luckily my really sentimental things made it. I can replace the missing things, but I shouldn’t have to!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5800

Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever experienced! I moved across the country and chose North American. I regret that choice greatly! They failed to deliver on my guaranteed delivery dates which forced me to spend an additional 9 nights in a hotel. I filed a delay of claims as I was told I would get reimbursed for my hotel and food ( up to $100 for room and $50 for food). I was denied my claim due to my household weight being under a mere 280 lbs and have sent repeated emails back asking for this to re-evaluated and no one will get back to me. Completely unacceptable and a great disservice to me! This entire move cost me $7000 to relocate plus undue stress. Do not use this company whatsoever!!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7000

I enlisted North American to move cross-country. My belongings were packed and loaded on to the truck on April 20 with a delivery window of May 5-7. I was guaranteed delivery no later than May 7 and reassured that every day the shipment is late I’d get money back. Fast forward to today, June 16 and I still do not have my belongings nor do I have a refund/compensation to purchase new items given North American has not fulfilled their contractual obligations. I’ve called and emailed the booking agent, moving coordinator, general manger and even the president of North American and Lile with little to no response and no resolve. Do not book with this company unless you are prepared to deal with a lot of hassle. I thought I was coordinating a move with a reputable company who would handle my move from end to end with professionalism and communication, but that has proven to be far from reality. Had I known the company would enlist third parties and operate like brokers I would have gone with United Vanlines instead. I will not use this company again as it’s been nothing short of frustrating and heartbreaking to have sentimental valuables held hostage and no one is trying to help rectify the situation with any sense of urgency. I’ve been paying bills in an empty apartment where I can’t even use some of the services without my belongings. I’ve also taken off of work to accommodate the delivery dates which have come and gone with no communication around delayed delivery. It’s truly unreal to be 40 whole days past my delivery date with no answers or resolution.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $56832

I have won a small claims court case in Pennsylvania against The Moving Connection LLC (a Maryland affiliate of North American Van LInes) for gross negligence in delivering my possessions from Maryland to Pennsylvania. The amount awarded to me is over $12,000. The company in question has been ordered by the Baltimore district court to undergo an oral examination in June 2021 to account for its asserts in enforcement of the PA court judgment.

Avoid North American Van Lines and any of its affiliates; you can expect unresponsive customer service and corporate stonewalling.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $11000

For a move that cost nearly $8,500, I expected them to be professionals (L & J Movers, Pottstown, PA). But they were not. Chipped, marred, and dented furniture. A beautiful, expensive cabinet with sentimental value was chipped--too valuable to ever be replaced. The hauler actually left an executive desk on its side with a leg incorrectly attached by him in a back room with the padding blankets still around it. When I noticed, I called the company. The hauler said he was too far away to return. My son actually had to remove and put the leg on correctly. He, his contractor friend, and I put the desk upright, which we should not have had to do. When we removed the blankets, there was blue fuzz stuck all over the side of the desk. In investigating the dining room chairs, there was also blue fuzz stuck all over the feet of half of the chairs. My most poor moving experience ever!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8400

I contracted with North American for my move from Lawton, OK to Ft. Wayne, IN in October 2021. North American subcontracted with A1 Freeman out of Oklahoma City as their servicing agent. I am so disappointed and appalled by what occurred. Theft occurred the day that A1 Freeman’s driver and 3 movers came to load my belongings. Items were stolen from my home that were not loaded on the van. This includes $20,000 cash, $ 28, 000 in gold and silver coins, diamond ring, 38 revolver hand gun, $3000 in gift cards, photography equipment and some smaller items. Apparently, they did not vet these movers. One of them has a criminal record of theft. I would never recommend this moving company!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10200

DO NOT use this company to move if you value your possessions! They are extremely unprofessional & will treat your belongings like junk, I’m not kidding! For example, they put a used toilet scrubber & toddler potty in one of my wardrobe boxes, how gross! They didn’t even wrap our mattresses to protect them from grime & scrapes! Not to mention the huge list of broken/damaged items that I can’t replace and now have to sit & take the time to claim compensation for. They will cut corners in every way they can. Absolutely horrendous experience with our cross country move!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

We utilized North American Van Lines and Humboldt Moving and Storage for a move from Eureka CA to British Columbia Canada. I highly recommend you find another moving company.

The estimation process went smoothly enough, however, I did voice my concern that the inventory list was impossible to read. It appeared to be the 4th or 5th in a bundle of carbon copies.

Shortly before the move we were told that their driver, Barry, could not arrive on time and they would need to store our belongs at their warehouse while waiting for him. I expressed my concern about an unnecessary unload and second load of our belongings, noting that every time goods are touched there is an increased risk of breakage. I was assured utmost care would be taken.

I was informed when the driver was approximately 2 hours from the border and we went to meet him at 5pm. There were no issues at the border except that he told us he wanted to unload that night. After the drive, that would leave about 1.5 hours of daylight and we had, in no way, planned for this. We did not yet own our house and were unloading into the garage thanks to the kindness of the sellers. Disturbing them at 6pm was not our goal. We told the driver to pull into the alley and we’d meet him there. Instead, he went to the front door and requested the garage door be opened from the inside. He then proceeded to slam our belongs into the space for about an hour with no hired help. He was beyond irritated that we were going to stop him at dusk. The next morning, he continued his rage behavior slamming boxes, purposefully leaving items where they could fall on the next movers and blocking the inner backyard door so that the eventual final movers would have to carry all goods from the alley to the backyard and house.

I did not even keep track of the number of items brokens as we unpacked. We have moved many times and our packing methods have not changed. We have never had one-twentieth of the breakage that occurred. Of all the breakage, there were only two items for which we requested reimbursement: a 2-wheel dolly and 6 crystal glasses that were in a box that had been smashed on one end. I was told there would be no reimbursement because the driver was not notified at the time of unload that there was problem. 1) I think I mentioned the unreadable carbon copy, meaning we’d need to someone magically remember and see the dolly. 2) I think I also mention his rushed state and that checking anything as he unloaded would have been impossible even if I could read the inventory list.

Other than the woman who came to do the estimate, this entire move was a disaster resulting in significant loss to our possessions. However, North American Van Lines and Humboldt Moving and Storage don’t care one iota.

I highly recommend you use any other firm.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $15000

We moved from LA to Austin. Every single aspect of this move was horrible. The pack job was bad..they didn't pack everything..I had to move boxes..they forgot items..our sales rep cussed me out..the main office we worked with out of Oxnard was completely unhelpful..they broke many items upon shipping..they took 2 days to unload..they forgot, lost, or stole my son's video games..lost many personal items..and damaged our floors.

Now..to compound this we filled a claim for the games, missing dish..and floors, the true nightmare began. The insurance company claimed that due to the fact that we signed the shipment doc (the day they unload the truck) ..we agreed that the items IN the boxes were delivered in full. This is a sneaky way for them to get around reimbursing missing items. We had 230 boxes..and inside those 230 boxes were our items. it is IMPOSSIBLE to know what is missing until you dig in.

After 4 months of back and forth..we are still fighting, and this is their way out of fixing any damage or missing items.

Before choosing North American Van Lines consider the following-

1. Unless you unpack every box, your claims are useless
2. Unless you have receipts for any missing items, your claims are useless
3. They will take 45 days per "submission" to respond- the goal being to wear you down to the point you don't miss these items anymore
4. The service was horrible with each group blaming the other for problems. Truck team blamed the packers, packers blamed the truck team. Corporate blames Truck and Packing team.
5. Unless you want to pack some of your own items or have to manage the movers because they are "tired" at the end of the day, do not use this company
6. Everything you sign..which you have to sign..exempts them from any liability

No one is accountable. I have read Yelp reviews before in my past that you look at ..and think "it can't be that bad" If you look at my personal profile, you will see I rarely write a bad review for anything. I may have 1 or 2.

Avoid this company at all costs..or 3-4 months from now..be ready to write your sorry story online as well.

Zero accountability..bad service through out the process..horrible customer support..and a constant goal of trying to get out of fixing any problems with loop holes.

Service cost: $12000

At first these people gave us a quote we could live with-we got delayed moving and 5 months later they doubled the quote,saying their drivers and trucks hadn't had a break-should have been a "red flag"warning,but hubby insisted to .not worry about it as he didn't want to deal with another company...the driver had us believing in what he said-"oh i put a lock on this trailer and it doesn't get unlocked until we get to your new state",and he was SUPPOSED to take it and drop the trailer until we could close on the house in new state....NOPE he FLAT OUT LIED....he took another load to Dallas while our stuff went right along for the ride,because when he got here someone else's stuff was in with ours!-had to tell him "THAT ISN'T OURS!",and the way stuff was packed was shifted into different places,which if he left that lock on,then WHY was stuff in different places in that trailer?????....then if that wasn't bad enough he hired horrible help to unload and they got tired and disgusted and started cramming things in the out buildings-dropped box of my records that was thrown on my husband's tool cart....complained the whole time they were unloading because driver had to leave the premises and go to a ATM,and wasn't here to witness the chaos....upon loading at old house he allowed a propane grill bottle and 3 bags of charcoal from my husband's outdoor kitchen to be loaded....months later we find out that they "mysteriously disappeared"....i understand if they wasn't allowed upon loading,but to load them and make us think we were allowed to keep them,especially since he said"no problem" and allowed them to be loaded at old house and us NOT to have them all of a sudden is THEFT!....i would have GIVEN them to people back at old house if they weren't allowed to be on board,but to down right steal them is THEFT!....also when we had our furniture wrapped the way we wanted it ,he came along and redid our wrapping stating the way we had it would ruin the furniture....i had left things in my buffet,and the way it was when it arrived i couldn't even open the drawers because the contents had shifted....the lady told us we could leave stuff in drawers....now you have a $500 deductable to where if any small stuff gets broken or lost you are out of luck!-SO if we call or make a claim,they would tell us "the propane bottle and charcoal shouldn't have been on the truck"....OK HOWEVER it was YOUR driver that ALLOWED it!.....we even asked him "we thought that was illegal or haz mat"....he SAID "i haven't ever heard that"....go figure-a corrupt company making thousands off of situations like ours....i hope my review and other negative reviews here at least get enough people to not use them-that would be so NICE if they lost customers if the truth comes out enough times!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $26000

This company is a complete scam. They steal your belongings, break your belongings in transit, and hold your stuff hostage until you pay more money. Their favorite scam is to give you a low bid in order to get a "refundable" deposit (but you have to cancel at least 5 days prior to the scheduled move date), then they call 4 days prior to the move date to confirm your inventory list (which the person who gave the quote only writes down about a 1/3 of what you tell them) and then they triple the amount. If you cancel, you're out your deposit (which is a 1/3 of the quoted price) because they don't give the real price until after your window to cancel and get a refund closes. Please review all the BBB complaints against them before hiring this company. https://www.bbb.org/us/in/fort-wayne/profile/moving-companies/north-american-van-lines-inc-0352-90077877/complaints

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000