Patriot Van Lines

I used patriot van lines in 2022 and strongly dissatisfied. A furniture pick up that normally takes 1-2 to days at most took 5 days as the driver initially loaded some of the furniture and promised to return the next day but did not return for another 3 days even though we informed him of the time constraints we were under to move out of the home we were renting. The movers also not on time for the pick up and the final unloading . We were finally able to get our furniture unloaded to the storage site but the entire ordeal is not something I’ve experienced with any other moving company.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

The most frustrating part of the experience was the first part but it certainly didn't get better. 
I paid a premium to have my two day window for pick-up over a weekend.  This was so I could get back to work for an important meeting Monday.  They didn't arrive till 2 PM Sunday.  Obviously that meant it wnet very much later than it should have.  The movers weren't out until after 9 PM.  When I complained about paying a premium for this, I was told by Patriot that they wouldn't do anything unless their sub-contractor was willing to give me something back.  Of course the subcontractor isn't the name on the door so he could care less.  I paid Patriot so I hold them responsible.
During the packing most things went well and they did a good job of disassembling a three piece glass topped desk.  Some boxes were crushed but damage to my items was light (a single dish).
It only went down hill from there.  The packaging of my kitchen was very slipshod.  Compared with my last move where dish packs were used and a mix of paper and bubble wrap where needed, Patriot and their Sub MS Moving provided normal boxes and truck stop news papers.  Worse, as far as I can tell little care was taken as to whether a box was right side up or not.  The last time I paid movers, every box was right side up and never was any box packed upside down, moved upside down or flipped during moving.  This time around several of the boxes were upside down at one point at least.  Fortunately only one dish was cracked that I can be sure of.  Many others were chipped but since I know I had some chipped ones before I choose to believe none were broken by Patriot.  I am not planning to make a claim for my one dish because I am mostly glad not to have to deal with this company any more.
One box belonging to another customer was unloaded in my house and only the fact that I was unpacking as they unloaded enabled me to spot it and give it back.  I hope the customer gets it in the end.
The movers were personable and trying to be customer service focused but I really got the feeling that they were under a lot of pressure around schedules and that any money they saved came back to them personally.   On that basis, I blame the bosses for my exceptionally bad experience more than the actual movers.  I recommend against Patriot Van Lines.  I have paid professionals to move me before and seen nothing but success in the past.  I blame myself for not reading these reviews before hand.

Service cost: $3500

Do not ever trust and believe what they say.
They kept changing my order even though I already signed up on the contact paper. I was almost about to sue them!!

Pick-up was scheduled for 1/3 from 10AM to 6PM but, they came the day before and even parked over night. I had to deal with my apartment manager if that huge truck could had parked on our parking lot. How many people have their own parking spot to have 9 by 28 feet long truck?

They overcharged me and lied with the price of total. They said that adding each one foot will cost $196. But then they suddenly changed up to $256. I tried to call the person that I talked at the beginning of the contract, but he put it on his voice message and I couldn't talk to him again.

They should know how to keep their business in more professional way instead of lying to people! Now, I want to ask to patriot van lines. "Are you happy to make money in such a dirty way? go to hell!!".

Service cost: $2640

I would give -10 rating if they had that option. Patriot Van lines is the biggest scam. These people ripped us off which we didn't deserve. When they first gave the quote, they said for 1br and below 3000lbs, it would cost us $2200 to move to madison, WI from CA. Even though other movers also gave the same quote, due to lack of knowledge of how bad this company is, we eventually hired this service. On moving day they said they would come around 3PM and they came at 6PM which delayed our travel to Madison. They were very harsh with stuff that were written fragile. When I mentioned to them that they were fragile then they would correct it. How irresponsible. While picking up the stuff, when we asked them when will the stuff arrive they said if we call the next day, they would be able to tell. When we called the next day, nobody would say anything. so we called them for 5 days continuously and nobody has any information where our stuff is and when it would be available. Then all of a sudden the 5th day driver of the truck calls and he will deliver our stuff the next day and then he says, that our stuff weighed 4500lbs and we would pay $1500 more. We don't even have much furniture. All we haev were a sofa and a love seat which me being pregnant can move with single hand. We bought those bcoz they are lightweight and comfortable to move while vacuuming, one queen mattress and box, and a wooden dining table. Thats the only furniture we had and rest are clothes and kitchen utensils. I am still wondering how that little stuff can weight 4500 and if we assess all our stuff, it wouldn't even be closer to $3500 which we paid for the movers. For crying out loud, my sofa set costed $500, mattress and box costed $300 and dining table was bought second hand for $50. we could have bought nice stuff with the money we paid for the movers. So coming back to the driver's call, he mentioned that he would only take cash or money order and wouldn't take credit card, check or any other payment which nobody told us before. He tells us this the night bfore hez delivering. By that time all the banks were closed and there is a limit on how much you draw money from ATM in 24hrs so even if my husband and I both take money from our bank accts, we wouldn't be able to draw that much amount. se we thought we would do moneyorder from USPS the next morning. Turns out the post office is closed for next day as it was a public holiday. When we called the driver and said that, he was screaming at us rudely saying he needs money at any cost and he wouldn't spare us. we didn't want to argue with such rude person so we went to walmart for moneygram and it costed us $155 for money gram. so another ripp off..Also the driver again called to make sure our address is not showing up in his GPS. We were trying to tell him the directions and he was screaming at us saying he cannot understand the directions that we are telling him. How can he understand us while hez screaming at us, when we are explaining him patiently the directions. He screamed at us for sometime and then disconnected the phone saying he will be at our apartment the next day. The next morning, I was waiting for the truck at home while my husband left to work. He was very scared abt how that driver is going to behave with me. OK so the driver came 2 hrs late,cam home and took money from me first and he waited another hr for his unloading guys to come. Then they started unloading. The local madison unloading guys were really nice people. They were very polite, patient and helpful. I found somewhat safe after these guys came. As I am new to Madison, they were giving me tips and advises abt madison and they were really sweet. These 2 guys were the only good thing among all this moving massacre. So they unloaded the stuff and since I am pregnant, I asked them to kindly assemble the bed frame and they also did that without any questions asked and unwrapped the sofa sets so that I can sit comfortably. The truck driver came up in the last, said he would like to use the restroom, turns out that pig didn't even flush our toilet properly. Ugly nasty pig.. yaakkk..
So they all left after unloading and when I was unpacking my stuff, I observed that 3 of my boxes are missing. When I called the claims department, they said that they would try to find out in a day and if they are not able to locate my boxes, I need to fill out a claim form. They didn't find my stuff as expected. We had some costly kitchen equipment and coats and stuff in those boxes. When I sat down to mention that in the claim form, I found written there that they would pay by weight, not per the cost of our stuff. They would pay 60cents/lb. So our $150 worth coat would weight 3lbs and we would get $1.08 if we file a claim. That's so unfair. Now I am not even bothering to file the claim as clearly they are robbers stealing money from people for which we can't even file a compliant at a police station. From now, we decided that whenever we move its better to sell all our stuff, and buy new stuff at our new location. That way we don't get robbed by these people and can enjoy new stuff for the money atleast. People, please be aware of Patriot van lines and don't hire them if you want your money in your pockets and not their's. Please don't be fooled by their sweet talk when you call them for a quote. They will be sweet till your stuff is in their truck. Once it gets into their truck, you are their slaves and will have nowhere to go. We lost so much money for them, we still are mad at ourselves for not researching much abt this company and giving them stuff in rush. Please don't do the same mistake.

Service cost: $3700

Patriot van lines is a total rip off!!DO NOT MOVE with them. They are liars and scammers. I was told my stuff would arrive on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving and that the driver would call to confirm on Sunday. I was told this by 3 separate people. Once Sunday came and gone I called first thing Monday morning.

My associate was Eric Coulanges 1-800-741-6743 ext 221. He was very quick to sell me his moving company and very eager to help with paper work and to take my payment. But, when I called with a problem he assured me he would get right on it and call right back, and of course he lied. Seven hours later I placed another call, they too had to get back to me later on. An hour later a costumer service rep called to inform me that I would receive my stuff Friday and that was that. Friday? I called back because surely they were mistaken. All I got was Im sorry mam, but a sorry mam doesn't get my stuff here. I then asked what they could do to either get my stuff here or compensate me, I again got Im sorry mam. So I called back again and they told me they would try to get a hold of the driver, I informed them I had the drivers number and I would be happy to give it to them to get the ball rolling. They said they had a seven day window to deliver my stuff. But today, my delivery day, was the first I had heard about it from all of the people I had spoken with.

I again called the driver and informed him he worked for a terrible company. His response, was that he knew. They have had many complaints brought against them, and im positive all of the reviews on their site are fabricated. I tried to write one, and its not possible.

long story short, I paid a lot of money, got horrible customer service and won't get my stuff in time for my first Thanksgiving. I am making it my mission to inform all people of the horrible moving company patriot van lines so at least someone will be saved from the headache of this scum bag company.

Service cost: $2400

This is the first time I hired a "professional moving company"  because my husband just had back surgery and I just had a baby, so we were trying to make it easier on ourselves.  This is also the first time I've written any online review about a company - so this shows how much Patriot upset me.   It was a horrible mistake hiring them to do our move and we will never use them again.  This is what happened..They told us they would arrive on one of two days for pick up.  Fine. Since we no longer live in the city where we were doing the pick up, we had to fly into town to be there for the movers.  This took some coordination being we were leaving our 2 month old baby with family at home and had to be back at work a few days after our scheduled move.  Patriot said they would call us a week before the move to give us a more approximate time of arrival.   They never called, so each day of the five days leading up to the move date, I called them and each time was told that my move was "still in scheduling" and that I would be "updated throughout the day."  Not!  They never called me and each time I called them I would have to wait on hold for 20-30 minutes before being told, yet again, that the trucks were still "in scheduling."  That was the first sign of trouble.  Don't understand how just days and hours before my move and I could still be in "scheduling?"  Isn't the schedule something they figure out before taking my $900 deposit and agreeing to do my move?  OK, guess I will be patient..  Days went by and we became more and more nervous as we were not hearing anything from them at all. Then on our actual moving day we were told by customer service that our truck "had been cancelled" and they were trying to schedule another truck.  Being that we were on a tight timeline (we had to move out of our sold house, and catch a plane back home for work and to our baby) we told them that if they weren't coming at all, we needed to know that and wanted our security deposit back. They then said that it was a 50/50 chance that the moving truck would come and that we therefore wouldn't get our security deposit back until the "window of arrival" was completely over.   That was just so inconsiderate, because if we waited for "the window" to be over, it would be too late for us to find an alternate way to move our stuff across the country.  We certainly would still have been mad if they never showed up, but not nearly as mad as we were being that they were holding our security deposit and leaving us in limbo trying to guess whether or not to wait for them or find another way to move our stuff.  We guessed that they would never show up - which was right.  So we had to scramble to get a UHaul at the last minute and hire some guys off the street to help us move. We also had to change our flights home since we now had to drive the UHaul ourselves.  The complete change in moving plans at the last minute cost us an extra $2000.  It was one of the most frustrating experiences ever.  I didn't know that them showing up was optional and that they would be so inconsiderate as to not give us our security deposit back even when THEY canceled our truck and couldn't guarantee that they would even show up for our move.  Unbelievable.  I will certainly check online reviews next time I hire any movers.  Looks like they have pissed a lot of customers off.  Have they ever made anyone happy?  I only see bad reviews online. Makes you wonder how a place like this stays in business.

Service cost: $2100