Proud American Vanlines

Last year I moved and I had the worst experience ever. I had countless things that were lost broken or stolen. So I can honestly say I was scared to move this time.

I found Proud American and they shocked me in all ways possible. They are absolutely amazing at moving.

They were on point in every way shape and form. They deserve way way more than 5 stars. They made sure my family was handled from start to finish.

I do and always will highly recommend using Proud American they are absolutely amazing. Thank you all!

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $19007

We used Proud American(PA) for a move from CT to WA this summer, and honestly very little of it was pleasant or went smoothly.

TLRD: $16K to $23K up-charge, delivery was 40 days after our desired date, and many boxes were only packed 1/2 to 2/3rds full. AVOID USING A MOVING BROKER. You have little control or recourse over who is actually doing your moving.

We originally were quoted about $16K for ~1600ft3. I was a little bit nervous from the beginning as there are no guarantees that the virtual walk throughs are going to estimate your volume well. But we decided to take a chance, based on some good online reviews. My initial interactions with my moving coordinator were good ("I don't like to pressure you, you make the decision you feel good about"), but then within a month they got a lot more pushy ("we need to lock this in today...."). So we signed a few months out from the move. Payment options aren't great. You can pay with a credit card for the initial downpayment (which I believe directly goes to PA, but that will incur a 5% additional fee). Then you can only pay by check or cash (I mean who really gets money orders these days?) at the time of pickup, and then pretty much only pay in cash at the time of the delivery (I had to get $12K in cash out of the bank).

Communication before our pickup was not great. We were getting calls/messages from the moving company and PA that were contradictory on arrival time. Then Proud American called me to tell me the movers would be there later when they had already been there for 4-5 hours. Our move window was 10-12AM, and when I called Proud American at 11:55AM to tell them we hadn't heard anything, their response was "well they still have 5 minutes". Movers didn't end up arriving until about 4PM! Because of this they then had to take almost a full 2nd day to pack (we were paying for a full pack), which was never communicated to us that it would be a two day process (luckily we had a little flexibility).

After an initial look around the house, the movers told us the PA Estimate was way off and we really had 2200ft3, which bumped our cost up to $23K. From reading other reviews, it's a pretty common thing for brokers to under-estimate your volume to give you a cheaper price, and then you have little recourse on the day of the move since you have no other option.

When the pack was finished the moving head told me that they loaded only 2050ft3. However, this was never documented on any of the forms (so we were charged for 2200ft3).

We were drawn to PA because of their promise of 60 days of free storage. We were going to buy a house when we arrived but had no idea where/when that would happen. We were lucky to find a house pretty quickly in a tough real estate market, and I quickly informed PA for the address and our desired delivery date (Aug 25, the day after we closed on the house) on Aug 8th . I figured this gave them a pretty good lead time.

Well Aug 25th came and I had not heard anything from them. When I called I was informed that "That's just the initial date of availability, we have 21 days after that to make the delivery". So we waited, and called, and waited and called. We would constantly get incorrect or just straight up false updates (Your stuff is loaded on the truck and leaving soon, only to be told the same thing the next week). Reps were often short/rude, and rarely compassionate or understanding. Then the delivery window changed to 30 days. Meanwhile we're sleeping on air mattresses with no furniture and borrowing dishes to be able to eat. We had to constantly fight with PA who had now come up with a new delivery availability date of Sep 4th, even though I pointed out to them multiple times (and sent them documentation) that I had emailed them the correct delivery date and address, and gotten confirmation from our moving coordinator (who all of a sudden after pickup apparently wasn't supposed to be our point of contact any more). Thirty days came and went and still no delivery. Finally we got an answer (from our multiple weekly calls) that the truck was actually loaded, and I got a 2nd call from the actual moving company. The delivery finally arrived on Oct 8th. Except now we had to pay an additional $1000 because they couldn't fit an 18 wheeler on our city street (why no one could have simply looked at a map to figure this out ahead of time is beyond me, as they had had the address for 2 months). So then, with a small crew of 2, the delivery took 2 days (again not explained ahead of time to us). Amazingly not a lot was broken in the move, but upon opening boxes, we found many of them were only 1/2 to 2/3rds full. We definitely feel a bit cheated by that.

The moral of the story is don't use a moving broker like PA, they don't do a very good job vetting the movers they contract your work to. They have very little incentive to fight for you to get things right, as they already have your money.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $23860

Knowing what I know now, I would have rather put my possessions in a landfill than have Proud American move them. You will pay at least double their “binding estimate,” because after PA takes its cut of the fabricated total, your goods are picked up by a carrier that cares not a whit about your contract with PA and charges it's own prices, which are considerably higher than you were told. You have no recourse with PA, which is totally done with you and deaf to your pleas, because if you refuse to allow the carrier to pick up your stuff, you are out the thousands you paid PA as a deposit on the total. You’re lucky if the carrier that delivers your belongings doesn’t charge you under its own calculations, regardless of the fact that you have a contract with the first carrier. That did not happen in my case because the original carrier was honorable. No thanks to Proud American. If you are willing to accept that nothing you are told is true, that Proud American’s contract has no merit or validity, and that you will pay at least double the original binding estimate, then Proud American is the company for you.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7500

Hired this company based on sales rep, who is another story (for starters, clearly lied about whether stair charges applied to indoor or outdoor stairs). Ended up paying nearly double of original estimate. Communication with this company was awful. Good luck getting responses to email or getting accurate information when you finally reach someone.The crew carefully wrapped our furniture, which was to be stored for approximately 2 weeks, or so we thought. Well, upon delivery, we saw damage after damage and have 100 photos to show it. Large hole in the back of a buffet. Damage all over our hand made Amish dining set, including deep gouges. Only 1 chair was left unscathed. Cracked the leg of our headboard. The list goes on. We had to wonder if the damage was intentional or the service was just that poor. I’ve moved interstate several times and have never seen so much damage to so many items.

The crew that delivered our items was great so this review is no reflection on them.

This company now goes by Always Moving. Avoid them at all costs.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000

I asked to get a quote because I'm moving out of state by a couple hundred miles. The first company to call me (not this one) quoted me $4,000. The lady who called me back from Proud American Vanlines was amazing. She didn't just give me a quote and that's it - she actually talked with me and told me a long-haul moving company might not be the best fit for my move, and she pointed me in some directions that might help my move be faster and cheaper. I didn't expect such honesty from a company, and it was so refreshing to hear from a company that also cared about the customer.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

I need to move quickly cross country from San Diego,CA to St Paul, Minnesota and have limited resources to do so. Though Proud American was beyond my budget, agent Catherine Jones went above and beyond recommending an alternative company she's familiar with. Further, her care and consideration during a stressful time for me was much appreciated.

As someone who works in customer service myself, I value her efforts even more.

Thank you,

Deb Fenwick

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4500

ZERO STARS - Stay away! This is bait & switch operation

Proud American Vanlines subsequently brokered the actual move to Vango Van Lines ("Carrier"). Shipper was not involved in the selection or approval of the Carrier nor were their qualifications to complete the move in a professional manner provided. Brokers failed to provide a list of Carriers they use on their website/advertisements as required by law. The resultant move was subject to delays, damaged/lost/stolen items and missing boxes. Boxes were opened and items removed

Shipper was 1.5 days late on the pickup after being confirmed by Proud American.

Both Broker and Carrier did not provide us with a copy of the "Your Rights And Responsibilities WhenYou Move" pamphlet and the "Ready to Move" brochure.

Law requires:

Carrier did not provide a copy of a published tariff. The Law requires that movers provide notice of the availability of the applicable sections of their tariffs for shipper's examination or have copies sent to them upon request. Sec. 375. 213

Carrier must provide an inventory of all items involved in a move, assigning each item an identification number. Sec. 375.503

Requires that a Carrier prepare a bill of lading. Sec, 375.05. When asked for a copy the "Driver said what I have no carbon copy".

Allows shippers to sign partially completed orders for service, bills of lading, at origin provided it contains all relevant shipping information except the shipment weight and any other information necessary to determine the final charges for all services performed. Sec 375.505

No weights were given:

The Carrier did not provide an opportunity for the Shipper to observe the weighing.

No initial tare weight was given when the Carrier arrived

No weight was given when partial delivery was made

I asked the mover to re-weigh the shipment and they refused. The Law requires that the shipper's waiver of the right to observe a re-weighing be in writing. Sec. 375.515

I asked Driver for the weight of load or copies of weight tickets, not provided.

The pick-up and delivery had numerous problems including:

Carrier did not notify Shipper of a delay in picking up the goods and showed up on the last possible day2-1/2 hours later than promised and did not have a big enough truck, requiring a 2nd trip to finish thepick-up.

Carrier decided to split the load and deliver one load on one day and another load four days later.

Carrier did not deliver all of the goods nor will not provide their location.

Shipper was not notified of a delay in the delivery of the goods.

When the deliveries were made the Shipper was not afforded the opportunity to sign off on each itemand to note any damages, missing items or opened boxes on the bill of lading. The bill of lading was never provided to the shipper until final sign off was made and with no time to mark it up.

Smashed items that were later found in the truck

Shipper provided 35 shipping blankets which the shipper wrapped around furniture and other items.The tags were placed on the blankets by the Carrier. The Carrier took the blankets with them with thetags so it isn't possible to correlate to the bill of lading.

None of the boxes were identified on the bill of lading beyond "box" but didn't show location or anyother notes so Shipper cannot identify what was in the missing boxes.

Items were stolen from belongings that were indicated as not to be shipped by the Carrier including, but

not limited to:

a. Watches

b. Cuff Links c. Cash

d. Coins

Shipper has prepared a list of damaged items and opened boxes since he wasn't afforded the opportunity to mark up the bill of lading as the items were unloaded.

Carrier stopped the delivery 3 times on the first delivery therefore losing 3 of the 4 laborers that were hired via Craigslist before the delivery was complete.

We were disparaged by the movers boss to laborers on a speakerphone call

Delivery driver stated "Sam" - "We broke all your stuff."

An explanation of the problems could be the Carrier and its procedures:

Hired workers off Craigslist - Some of which were homeless, sleeping in their cars, obviously not professional movers

Driver got into verbal altercations with moving labor hired over not being paid.

Damaged several areas of both the pickup location and the delivery location

Verbally assaulted Shippers calling them liars

Smoked inside the pickup location

Left food trash, cigarette butts and other trash at the pickup and delivery locations

Hired workers off Craigslist - Some of which were homeless, sleeping in their cars, obviously not professional movers

Driver got into verbal altercations with moving labor hired over not being paid.

Damaged several areas of both the pickup location and the delivery location

Verbally assaulted Shippers calling them liars

Smoked inside the pickup location

Left food trash, cigarette butts and other trash at the pickup and delivery locations

So our review is ZERO STARS This company is a fraud and a scam.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10662