Northern Elite Van Lines

I was so confident that I invested hard earned money to hire the best moving company I could find. After doing a lot of research and listening to Chris Hall, Senior Moving Consultant sell me on why their moving service is the best I paid my deposit. Unfortunately I was unaware of mymovingreviews.com website until after I saw the damage after delivery. The only good thing I can say-the guys who moved my belongings were professional on both picking up and dropping off. What happened in between baffles me! My unpacking was a nightmare because well packed, valuable items were damaged. Double boxed and bubble wrap did not save my fine crystal. Do they use a wobbly conveyer belt when unloading customers belongings in the warehouse? My loaded two drawer file cabinet was completely disheveled. A castor is missing from a piece of furniture, causing me to spend money on a new set. What gives when you spend several thousand dollars for professionals? Seriously do your research and DO NOT HIRE NORTHERN ELITE VAN LINES!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4968

The NORTHERN ELITE VAN LINES company business model is to verbally gather all the information they feel is necessary and prepare a contract, which the customer is then requested to electronically sign. Their pricing is unit priced $7/cubic. During a preliminary call I explained the furniture and belongings were for several months temporarily stored in two (2) 8 ft. x 10 ft. x 10 ft. climate controlled storage units (1,600 cubic feet). Within a few days following this brief telephone call the marketing representative emailed me a single page contract with terms and conditions for my e-signature. I secured the contract with a credit card down payment of $1,568, leaving a contractual balance of $4,704. On November 30, 2021, I was called by the moving crew foreman while in South Dakota. After carefully listening to the foreman speak I came to the realization the volume of goods assigned to the contract (800 cubic ft.) was woefully underestimated. I reluctantly agreed to the higher cost being “over a barrel” which fits their business plan to a “T”. On December 1, I once again spoke with the same customer service representative I had spoken to on November 29th. I expressed my dissatisfaction about the inexcusable, substantial increase in contract costs because of a prolific underestimation made by the marketing professional (and admittedly signed off upon by me, the customer) who had firsthand knowledge of the volume of goods based upon the volume in the two storage units. The company did not call or communicate with me in any fashion for another fifteen days despite my obvious dissatisfaction over the completely avoidable increases. On December 8th, I took the burden upon myself to mail (next day priority) them my personal check in the amount $4,234 based upon anecdotal information provided by the pickup crew foreman. The check posted on December 14th, the third business day following their receipt. Lacking communication by the company I booked a flight to Rapid City South Dakota arrival due at 9:42 am Friday, December 17th. I did not feel the need to call and remind them that under contract they had until December 21 to make the delivery. During the late evening of Wednesday, December 15, I received three consecutive telephone calls; 8:07 pm, 8:07 pm and 8:08 pm. There were no message(s) left, just three vacuous calls. Thursday morning I was again called, this time from a different telephone number (a 551 area code in Bayonne NJ) by “the moving crew”. The crew was in Minneapolis and would be making delivery to the South Dakota residence that same day. I explained my circumstances to the crew member who told me he would need to contact Bayonne for further instructions. When Bayonne called me, it was the same defensive, attitude-challenged customer service representative I had had the displeasure of speaking with on prior occasions. She stated matter-of-factly the company had made their decision to deliver my goods on the 16th and there was nothing that I could do about that! This time I held ground, indicating that it was impossible for me to be there before about 10 am the following day. Her impassionate reply was that company policy is to call the customer within 24 hours of delivery; the travel distance involved was irrelevant. My “red-eye” flight leaving out of Hartford on December 17th arriving in Rapid City at 9:42 am MST was significantly delayed. I did not reach the house until 6:30 pm local MST on Friday, December 17th. Also on this day, during my transit, there were numerous, tense telephone calls from the same unfriendly customer service representative and someone identifying himself as the “Owner”. Obviously they were panicking; they needed to insure payment to their subcontracted crew upon delivery!! The crew foreman had the audacity to ask my 83 year old neighbor if there would be a gratuity offered the crew. The carnage they left behind in the house would suggest more a need for jail time than a gratuity; my furniture and other belongings were literally dumped in the front room of the house. I have numerous photographs of the horror I witnessed when I arrived. At least four articles of broken furniture, beds and small tables not reassembled per contract and smashed boxes resulting in broken glass and ceramic goods. There was a sixty (60%) percent increase in total cost to the customer based on a 79% increase in the volume of goods. This was completely avoidable if the company had submitted a “good faith bid” based upon the detailed information provided to them. This company called me less than 24 hours before their planned delivery despite the distance. Articles of furniture, glass and ceramic goods were left broken or shattered. The crew left me with their “dirty dishes” piled on top of boxes several feet from the front door as if to “rub insult into injury”. In a perfect world this company would have its DOT permit revoked or suspended depending further investigations.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10018

I recently moved from King of Prussia, PA to Seattle, WA due to short fuse military orders. I’ve been in the military for over 21years and have never experienced such a disaster move until Northern Elite Van Lines moved my household goods.

The company was subcontracted from Venture Van Lines LLC. Rob Matthews from Venture Van Lines quoted me $2,516 for 312 cf (1 bed room with no fridge, couch, or any major house hold appliances) on the initial quote. Kasey from Venture Van Lines called for the inventory prior to pick up date and gave me the 2nd quote at $3,176 for 369 cf due to 2 items (king size bed and small bedroom bench) I added.

On pickup date, Northern Elite Van Lines showed up with 3 men stating they were subcontracted by Venture Van Lines LLC to pick up my household good items. They proceed to charged me $100 for packing materials for the 2 big floor mirrors and $1,421 for another 131 cf. I am very sure that he overcharged me on pickup date. The total amount I ended up paying for a 1 bedroom with no major appliances is $4,697.

I’ve requested Kasey from Venture Van Lines for the truck weight ticket (empty & full) only to end up with disappointment. She informed me that she already communicated my request to the driver from Northern Elite Van Lines. I’ve asked the driver on pick up date about the weight ticket, he assured me that it will be send to me via email, which also ended with more disappointment.

I’ve contacted Northern Elite Van Lines more than 5 times via email and phone about my request. The female dispatcher constantly gave me the run around and have yet to provide me with a weight ticket. Not only that, they subcontracted another company to deliver my households goods way after the date I’ve requested.

On the day of delivery, the 2 young men whom delivered my things were 3 hours late, very RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL. They’ve threatened not to unload my things from the truck until I paid them the final installment and sign the paperwork stating it’s company policy. After I was forced to sign the paperwork and paid them without assessing or conduct a proper inventory of my household good items, they told me they will charge me extra to carry my things into the house (75 feet from the truck). After the unload was completed, a few items were damage, and a large box contained an expensive metal bucket I bought while stationed in another country to included some of my expensive beddings were missing.

This will be my first and last personally procured move. In my 21 years of service, I’ve always utilize the military to move my household goods. I made a huge mistake by hiring Unprofessional company like Venture Van Lines LLC for my move. To top it off, dealing with other companies like Northern Elite Van Lines has created more stress in my life.

DO NOT HIRE Venture Van Lines LLC or Northern Elite Van Lines (nothing about this company is Elite). Stay away from them and hire more creditable companies like Allied, etc…. Please tell your friends and family to stay away from these companies. I hope that they will go out of business so they won’t scam anyone else.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4697

Horrible experience with this company! Property was picked up in MA without any problems; however, when it arrived in AZ there were missing items and damaged items. The driver arrived without help so my significant other had to unload the truck with him. I filed a claim through CSI Pros, and recently received an email stating the case is closed due to "Lack of authorization to proceed." When I contact Northern Elite they tell me to contact CSI, when I contact CSI they tell me to contact the carrier. No resolution here!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3920

I will print facts provable in court…..

First they said my items would be picked up one day during a specific window…. They were not and I did not get a call until after that window saying they were not coming.

Then they said I would receive my items in 2 days… I did not and when I asked I was told verifiable lies by the scheduler. She then kept saying legally they had 9 days. I said, well if you didn’t have time to honor the quoted 2-4 days I would have hired local movers myself at both ends and then drove the van to save time and money.

When I got my items the driver tried to convince the local crew to drop all boxes in my garage - they were kind and didn’t. He tried to hide a broken desk, and dining table. I informed him of. The damages before he left so we all are aware that I will pursue a damage claim.

They bent the leaf on a drop leaf table in a way heretofore unbelievable so it it not able to open. Just HOW did they do that?

Had the movers not been absolutely derelict in their willingness to actually communicate I might not post a review same day.

But even when they left, my neighbor said, the driver left all his trash here.

I would not use this service ever. It made my kids feel uneasy in their move which impacted their impression of the new city. That’s the kind of stuff that never goes away. I’ll remember this company until I the day after my death!

Run. Don’t walk away. Run. Don’t use them.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6500

Nice people when giving you the estimate. Then when they came to pick up my belongings, half way through I was told that it would cost me an extra $2400. After receiving the delivery, they were missing 2 of the 4 table legs to my expensive dining room table and a 5x8 carpet. I called the person that did the estimate. Calmly asked who I would need to call to see if there was a lost/found department to get the other 2 legs. He told me to hire a carpenter to make new legs, if I saw the warehouse I would know why they would not be able to find my table legs, and the best was his comment about "what did I expect, perfection?" I did expect them to at least try to aim for doing a good job. About 25% of the boxes were crushed, including ones clearly marked dishes and glasses. Common sense should tell you not to put drinking glasses on the bottom of the pile. He did hang up on me when I pointed out it didn't sound good when their own employee is promoting losing/damaging clients belongings is the norm.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $5600

Northern Elite Van Lines made my tense week so much better. I explained to them the top priority, and they offered me a 9:00 a.m. appointment. I provided verbal details about the layout of the apartment and recommended that their crew wear construction masks because there was still the smell of smoke in the apartment - we even provided the masks. They gave me a very sensible rate, and the movers shower up a few minutes early. We even purchased two TV crates directly from them to keep safe the televisions, and a special wrap for the mattress. The men were friendly and polite.

As soon as we find a new apartment, we will be calling them to get our items from storage.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5370

Not going into much detail, We moved from PA to MI. It was traumatic experience. They lied in EVERYTHING, and compare to other reviews im fortunate at least my things arrived, Late, some missing, some broken, baby crib they deny to assemble...the list goes on and on...but at least they arrived. I have read others whose things didnt arrive. We hired Emerald Logistics moving and they hired them.. both terrible. Ups and we lost over 4000 USD between overprice they added, things we had to leave behind..PLEASE DONT HIRE THEM

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000