Platinum Van Lines

Please use someone else! Pay extra to have your belongings delivered by a company who cares. My husband and I, along with our 4 kids, moved from California to Oklahoma and in the process now have lost nearly everything. I have no idea where to start.. everything from WHOLE bedroom sets that inluded the bed, night stands, dresser standing mirror all missing, clothes and I mean not one single box of clothing arrived, every single wall art and picture gone, not even a single mirror or wall sconce or bathroom picture, our computer and TVs all disappeared, kitchen goods even my recipe box to the rice cooker gone, backyard furniture, sheets, blankets, pillows & towels gone.. I mean everything.. gone. I keep expecting a phone call or delivery because so much is missing, but months have passed and we still haven't heard anything. They won't even answer the phone anymore. Please.. if you Want to keep anything you have then PLEASE pay extra for a company who cares.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1875

Platinum Van Lines is a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.
1. PLATINUM DAMAGED MY EXPENSIVE DRESSER BUT WON'T PAY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED PROPERLY.
PLATINUM'S MOVERS broke a leg on my expensive dresser, which has unbalanced the dresser so that you can't even open a few of the drawers.  But PLATINUM hands over all damage claims to another, separate, company.  After completing a time-consuming application and waiting for 2 weeks, I checked with the company, who told me that they are backlogged FOUR months. So I took it upon myself to get estimates for the repair and sent them directly to Platinum, who agreed to handle the claim. The estimates I got were $245 and $270 to fix the dresser, but Platinum tells me that their limit for this item is $90.  So I am now going to have to pay for most of this repair myself. VERY DISAPPOINTING THAT PLATINUM DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DAMAGES ITS MOVERS CAUSE.
2.  PLATINUM'S MOVING MEN WERE VERY DISORAGANIZED ON BOTH ENDS AND I ENDED UP LOSING AN IMPORTANT BOX.
I've used LIGHTNING VAN LINES in the past and I guess they spoiled me.  LIGHTING is super-organized and dependable but they don't work out of Florida so I couldn't use them for this move - too bad!

Service cost: $2866

I've moved more than 15 times in my life, and this was the worst by far!  They sub-contracted to a company I'd never heard of, and the lead driver immediately attempted to change the agreed to cost by nearly $1000 through what can only be described as extortion-like behavior.  To get them to load, I agreed to an additional $600 in "packing materials."  I'm retired federal law enforcement and threatened to have them arrested for attempted extortion..but even that did not deter them from jacking the price up. When I called to complain the next day, I was told that I "played the game pretty well" and to make sure I had the remaining amount due in a postal money order only.  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU ENJOY BEING LIED TO AND EXTORTED.

Service cost: $3350

IF YOU SUPPORT YOUR TROOPS, DO NOT HIRE THESE PEOPLE. They will give you a $50 military discount but have no problems lying to gain your business, only to get take advantage and take an additional $350 of a retired military personnel's hard earned money. **I have yet to receive delivery of my goods and will be updating this review in regards to the condition of my goods.** I wanted to post this review as soon as possible in the hopes of preventing any more consumers from being scammed/conned/taken advantage of by these people!!On 12/17/13, I entered into a contract with TransUnited under the assumption of some oral promises made to me. I was told that a long carry fee would not be assessed to me due to my request of needing a 26-foot truck for delivery. I expressly stated this need over and over because I knew that a semi trailer would not be able to access my neighborhood. In talking with a number of different moving companies, I shopped around for a moving company who would not assess such a fee. Alex, the moving consultant assigned to me, expressly stated that a fee would not be assessed. Platinum Van Lines, who TransUnited claims as a sister company, was the company who picked up my goods and is now scheduled to deliver it to my current location. On 12/19/13 dispatch called me to tell me that the men coming for pickup would be coming to my former address on 12/20/13 between 4pm and 7pm. On 12/20/13 at 6:30pm when the men had not yet come and I had not yet received any word from dispatch, I called dispatch and left a message. I was then called close to 7pm by the driver saying that they were held up from a previous job but would be finishing up in an hour and should get to my house at 10pm or I could wait for another driver, in which case they would not know when my items would be picked up. Fearing that outcome, I said to just come when they could, no matter how late. At 9pm I received a final call from the driver stating that they would have to delay the pickup to 12/21/13. My items were picked up on 12/21/13 and my first available delivery date was 12/24/13.Fast-forward to yesterday when dispatch called to let me know my household goods were in transit. An email was also sent to me stating that I make sure "no restrictions upon delivery" or a long carry fee would be assessed. I of course was upset since I had been promised that it would not be assessed. Platinum Van Lines and TransUnited now both say that I must pay and additional $350 to get my belongings to me because I signed contracts stating my knowledge of such a "shuttle fee" and that Alex did not note a long carry fee would not be assessed. As a consumer, I have been directly and expressly misled by this company to gain my business. I had originally planned on going with another moving company before Alex made the promises that she did to gain my business.I have sent complaints to BBB and protectyourmove.gov. These companies will SCAM you and CON you. Do not fall for them like I did! I was initially set to contract with Moving USA and Alex made sure to talk badly about them and pointed out two bad BBB ratings for the company to gain my business (for any representatives of Moving USA reading this, this instance is likely not the first time this company has done this to take away your business). Alex from Trans United Inc. pointed out their BBB rating, an A- for the Hallandale, FL location, but failed to mention the F rating for Trans United Inc Miami, FL. The rep from Platinum Van Lines (Stephany) confirmed a Miami, FL location for Trans United Inc.In total, my move comprising of under 200 cubic feet will be costing me $1,801.83. Neither of those numbers are exaggerations and I wish I had gone with a truly known and reputable company such as Atlas Van Lines or Mayfair (movers/brokers who moved me and my family while serving under the military). They cost just a little bit more but they never used deceipt or unfair practices on their consumers. You've spent this long reading this review, please take a few minutes longer to research another moving company, and DO NOT USE either Trans United Inc or Platinum Van Lines.

Service cost: $1852

We had a HORRIBLE experience with Platinum Van Lines-Hotlanta Movers.  The following is  5 reasons not to choose this company. Oh, and they are not accredited by BBB, which should have been our red flag warning.
1. This company may not subcontract, but apparently they have a sister company, Hotlanta Movers. This was never mentioned until the day of our move when a Hotlanta truck pulled up. They may have other sister companies, so watch out!
2.  Inventory list you create with the reservation specialist is relatively useless. a.   First of all, they do not have specialist to come out and take inventory of your belongings. You have to estimate sq ft of stuff on your own. b.  Driver/packers may not be given the updated list, plus they don’t read through it so any items that may need special packing may not get the right treatment, which equals broken items!
3.  Along with the “useless inventory list” (driver’s words, not mine), beware of overcharges! a. Our initial bid was close to $2500 and I knew we would have more stuff and pay accordingly. Turns out instead of approx. 700 sq ft of belongings, we had close to 900 (nobody actually does any measuring). Our price went from the approx. $2500 to approx. $4500. After we called customer service, who connected us to dispatch they realized the driver never had the new inventory list and was pricing wrong but ultimately said, he will give you a price and you take it or leave it. After a quick phone call with his boss he gave us what seemed to be an arbitrary number of $3500. My husband is an Actuary and does calculations all day, and did the math of the driver’s inventory and we should have paid $300 less than we did, but at the time we had to settle at $3500 just to get or stuff on the road! b.    We were also charged for several boxes we provided, a mattress bag and they also used some of our packing supplies- again, could have been avoided had they taken a look at our inventory list.
4.  Reservation specialist deceived us and customer service is rude!!
a. The reservation specialist was EXTREMELY cordial and helpful at first (I even requested to speak to his supervisor just to compliment him on his customer service. He articulated himself well and promised us no surprises and also said he would be available throughout the process. WRONG!! The minute we signed the contract, sent the check, he disappeared. We called several times and he was always “out of the office” so of course we didn’t think anything of it but kept trying. Then we emailed and never heard back. Finally, after tons of stress and agony from the moving day, I sent him an email titled “BBB Complaint” because we knew we would be filing a complaint but wanted to give him a chance to make amends. , Finally, his supervisor wrote back saying that the reservation specialist didn’t have access to our account after we signed the contract which is why he never returned calls/emails. Well why the hell did he say he would be available and why didn’t someone tell us earlier instead of making endless excuses?? b. Customer Service is rude. I spoke to a lady by the name of Stephanie the day of the move because I was horrified at the pricing issue we experienced. She was condescending and defensive. She also claimed she would go through all of my paperwork once the truck and driver returned which was a lie because she clearly should have known that they don’t actually deal with claims in the office (See number 5).
5.  If you mistakenly select to use this company and have a bad experience, the filing of a claim will be even worse. It is a huge hassel, and you will feel like nobody is on your side. Keep documentation of every email, every broken item (pics, receipts, etc.,) and all the moving paperwork bc you will have to scan it and submit it to the claims company. a.  You file a complaint with Platinum Van Lines with a brief description of what you were overcharged. They fwd you to a claims company, who requires you to set up an account with them, get approval of registration, get a password and then finally you can login.  Then you go through line by line to put in the info, with weight, description, value. Upload pics (I had to email them bc the site wouldn’t allow me to upload large files, and provide a written complaint. All the while, they are supposedly getting info from the company and once they review documents, they will get back to you.   b. We were in a situation where our broken items don’t add up to the deductible so we prob won’t ever be able to recover our broken items! The only reason we didn’t hire an attorney is because we aren’t really litigious people, but we still went through with filing the complaint because we want to have supporting documents to present to the BBB.

Service cost: $3500

We moved from Ohio to Illinois. They pick up our stuff as planned. Charged us 300 extra for extra packing. Any how they also promised delivery in 3 days almost 380 miles. Delivered after 6 days. A big suite case is lost with precious items inside. Coupe things stolen from other suit cases. Tried to call broiler dispatcher and drive with zero luck. However they use to call you 100times until you sign contract. Then you are stuck with this garbage. I won't recommend it at all. Punch of liars and thieves. Be aware.

Service cost: $3200

 BE WARNED BEFORE USING THIS COMPANY. They stolen my big suitcase which has all my expensive and new stuff. they damage my new leather sectional sofa very big cut in the leather while they took rapping off from it. Never. Ever use this company.
 BE WARNED BEFORE USING THIS COMPANY. They stolen my big suitcase which has all my expensive and new stuff. they damage my new leather sectional sofa very big cut in the leather while they took rapping off from it. Never. Ever use this company.

Service cost: $3200

I had a minimum sized move -- 200 cu feet. At 200 cu feet and under the price is $5/cu foot. Once you get to 250 cu feet, the rate changes to $4.20/cu foot. So essentially -- a 200 cu foot move is the same price as a 250 cu foot move. I orginially went with this company because they charged by space and not by weight -- this method makes it so that there is a lot less variable..and really no surprises..in cost. What they quoted me was a binding quote and it did not change throughout the process. I paid about $1100. My sales person was Miles -- he was awesome and made me feel really comfortable about the move, as this is my first long distance move. However, after I completed my inventory, they would no longer connect me to Miles. Instead, I would always be directed to a different Platinum Van Lines number, where I spoke with a woman named Barbie (as well as some others). I 'booked' my pick-up time almost 2 months before my pick up date. They gave me a window for pick up between the 27th and 28th of the month. Then, the night before the 27th (end of business hours) they called to say they would be 3 or 4 days late. This ruined all of my travel plans -- and cancelling things last minute and rescheduling is always expensive. Then, they gave me a delivery window of 3-10 days. However, THAT'S JUST AN AVERAGE! They have in the fine print on the back of your Bill of Lading that they have 30 business days (no weekends or holidays!) to deliver your stuff. So, my pick up date was late, my delivery took 17 additional days after a late pick up. I called many times requesting that they give me an update or could estimate delivery time, but they must not have a clear schedule for deliveries as they frequently said they would call me back and didn't. I was told many times that they would call me when they left their warehouse in Chicago (for a more to Virginia), but only got a call 4 hours before arrival saying that they were in Maryland. With all of the inconveniences, customer service (the only lady who was kind on the phone!) said that this was a rare occrance and I would be compensated, and thanked me for being flexible. But, I doubt this is a rare occurance. Customer service sent an email to billing asking that they credit me a discount. On the phone with billing, they verified this email several times -- so be sure that if someone tells you you will get a discount that it is recorded in writing. On an $1100 move that took 17 days to deliver, they gave me a $50 discount. Didn't come close to compensating me for cancelling and rebooking a flight to my destination and having to live in a new apartment without any of my stuff for three weeks. That being said I WOULD NEVER USE PLATINUM VAN LINES FOR A MOVE AGAIN. I would much rather hire a local moving company at my destination to unload a UHAUL that I could drive myself and ensure that I got to my destination on time. I expected to use a moving company to ease the stressful process of moving. But Platinum Van Lines did just the opposite for me -- dealing with this company was the MOST stressful part of my move. And to be honest, I am a pretty flexible person. But in this case, I would never recommend this company to anyone. I would hate for anyone to have to go through the hassle and poor service that I did.

Service cost: $1100

Terrible eperience. Pure Extortian. Company did not honor estimate.  5 movers showed up to load us out of house. 1 mover showed up to load us in. The job was to big for 1 mover. He stacked the boxes. Crushing the fragile contents of several. He just bascially dropped them off and left. Would not move items upstairs. Antiques were not protectes and several pieces are broken and scratched. Some items are value are missing.  BE WARNED BEFORE USING THIS COMPANY. WE DID NOT SELECT THEM, UNBEKNOWNST TO US, WE WERE SUBCONTRACTED WITH THEM THRU BUDGET. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. WE WERE (OVER) CHARGED 3500.00 FOR BROKEN, SCRATCHED, and LOST ITEMS.

Service cost: $3495

We had been working on our move from Michigan to Florida for a few months, obtaining many quotes from various movers. We narrowed it down to Platinum and 2 others. We had a very strict budget and had sold much of our furniture prior to our move to facilitate staying within the $1400-$1600 budget we planned. We were honest with Platinum on what we could afford and ended up sending Inventory lists back and forth numerous times over a couple of weeks. Our inventories were very accurate, having taken the time to measure items that could not be boxed and packing our boxes to stay within the 35 boxes figured into the final inventory. We ended up going with Platinum because Simon had worked diligently with us to hit a final estimate of $1575. I felt good about the move and scheduled a June 26th pick-up. We got a call from Platinum stating that a "crew" was in our area and asking if we could accommodate a pick up 2 days earlier than our scheduled day. We agreed, figuring they have been good to us, we don't mind helping them out if we can. My fiance had worked very hard at packing a whole house by herself since due to my inability to leave work to help her. She rushed the last minute packing so that everything would be ready by the time Platinum arrived at 7 pm Tuesday night. The truck showed up and it wasn't a Platinum Truck, it was a truck from Swift Moving Company". I got a frantic phone call from her shortly after 7 pm stating that the "estimator" told her the move was going to cost another $500 due to being "95 cubes" over the estimate. Over the phone I argued with him stating that we had accurately measured everything and even came in 3 boxes shy of the 35 allotted in the estimate. They had not loaded a single box but told me he could tell it was "95 cubes" over just by looking at our items. We followed the Platinum requirements in box size and I pointed out that being shy the 3 "3 cube" boxes, that we were 27 cubes short of the original estimate. The driver told us that if we didn't agree to the extra they would just leave. Talk about feeling hijacked. I had no choice, figuring I would work this out with Simon and in the end Platinum would be professional and at least listen to our plea. On top of this while loading, they had ripped all the tape off our boxes, re-taping them no different than we had, just using their own tape. (yes we were charged for packing material). I had a glass bookcase that, as I was told, would have to be "crated in wood" to protect it, at an additional charge. The bookcase was wrapped in a blanket and taped with cardboard, not a single attempt to crate it or protect it. After our items were loaded, of course came time to make a payment according to the agreed terms. The amount the driver wanted did not include the $320 deposit we had made and when questioned he replied "you didn't make a deposit". Another argument ensued. After going back to email and printing a copy of the receipt showing that yes we had, his reply was just a "grunt" followed his rushing to fill out the bill of lading and other paper work. They were extremely unprofessional and just plain rude. The very next morning our phone calls started, trying to reach Simon. My fiance and I both called and called, each time being told Simon was busy and would return our call. After 2 days of calling we have yet to receive a return phone call from Simon. Eventually I was successful and talked to "Allie" who seemed to make a sincere attempt to help. Since it was almost quitting time for her she asked me to call back the following day and to ask for her. My phone call the following day resulted in both Allie and Simon being busy with the promise to return our call. I have yet to receive any return call from anyone at Platinum. Last night my fiance was successful in talking to a person named "Connie" who offered a $100 discount for our frustration but when we called tonight to obtain a final cost, the discount was nowhere to be found. All in all, Platinum is a prime example of a "bait and switch" type of scam. They lure you in with the promise of a fair price and when they show up, tell you it is going cost much more. Since you have made all your plans, the last thing you can do is reschedule a moving van on short notice. In my opinion, the fact that nobody at Platinum will return our calls or help us is evidence enough for me. Tonight we were told our final payment will be $885. I would bet my life that when they show up to deliver our items, they will want more money. In looking at the bill of lading they listed that we moved 12 chairs, we only had 8. They said we had 39 boxes, we only had 32. They were suppose to crate our glass items and they did nothing more than wrap them in a blanket. Due to the extra cost, I have to wait for another paycheck to make the payment and had to delay the delivery. Supposedly they will store our items for 30 day for free. I truly bet that will not be the case. For the people who had a good experience with this company, I salute you. Hiring Platinum Van Lines for our move from Michigan to Florida was the biggest mistake I have made in years and I would never consider them or any of their "sister companies" for a move in the future. In my opinion they are crooked, extremely unprofessional and and just out to take your hard earned money. I will be filing a report with the Better Business Bureau as well. A large move like ours is stressful enough and the last thing you need is to be scammed by a company like Platinum.

Service cost: $2000