Proud American Vanlines

Working with Proud American Van Lines is what i expected from a professional moving company. I spoke to many others but none of them explained in detail the way this company did. The level of experience every person within the company has and being treated with such a high level of respect and patience made them my number 1 choice to handle my relocation. Ive personally had 2 very bad experience in the past with movers working with Proud American Van Lines i never had any doubt and I never felt like i was being setup to be taken advantage of. Moving can be very overwhelming especially when getting quotes but do not fall for the cheapest price or the companies that just tell you yes to everything you say. Proud American gave me actual and factual information regarding my relocation so I made the proper arrangements so i wouldnt be put out. The movers showed up ready to work and took time handling all my furniture some of which is very valuable. I was able to get a status update at any point i wanted and the experience couldn't have gone any smoother. I just wanted to personally thank each and every one of you that played a part in my move and I will be recommending you to all my friends and family. Great Great job

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12400

The quote we received from Proud American Vanlines, LLC was doubled once the team they booked from On Track Movers, LLC reached our apartment, including $1500 of added fees. Not enough materials were brought to support our move and the packing assistance we paid for up-front was virtually nonexistent. Our multiple outreach attempts were ignored until we escalated to the BBB (and all that got us was a claim form for the furniture they broke).

Proud American starts with long calls to inventory all your belongings and verifies everything again weeks later. We needed a full pack job for our apartment because we had a 4-week old baby. After requesting an overestimate to avoid any surprises the day-of, they quoted us over $9,000, paid with an initial deposit of 40% with the other 60% split between pick-up and drop-off. The agent spent a lot of time explaining why payment needed to be in irrevocable formats (not checks or credit cards) and that they would not be able to drop off our belongings until the money cleared from pick-up. We now have to assume that this was to make sure we would be helpless against the last-minute demands on us, once there was nowhere else to turn.

They were late with the insurance documentation standard for NYC moves which wound up requiring multiple revisions and the team did not arrive until 3/4 of the way through our two-day moving window. Upon arrival, the foreman told us that the quote we received would need to be doubled to over $17,000. We needed to vacate our apartment and no one at Proud American would answer our calls, so we maxed out our ATM limits to gather the new round of funds. We were charged $700 for a "long-walk" fee, even though they were able to secure parking directly across the street. We were also charged $300 for having an elevator—a fact that had been communicated in every conversation with Proud American. It was at this point we learned that Proud American had contracted our move out to On Track Movers, LLC.

Despite those multiple inventory calls, none of that information reached On Track Movers, LLC. For example, we have two bookcases listed under furniture—not a single book box was brought (the standard boxes they used all split due to the weight of books). By the end of the night, the team was wrapping plates in our trash bags. As we unpack, it's clear whole drawers were just thrown into boxes with no packing even attempted: computer monitors without any support in boxes with exercise equipment, a box of 150 colored pencils exploded and snapped many into pieces.

As they were unpacking, they told us of a previously uncommunicated policy that prevented them from reassembling our crib due to liability. It turns out that they had not followed our clear instructions on how to disassemble it, and also lost several pieces of necessary hardware—rendering the crib completely unusable. They were similarly negligent with our table and bed, leaving screws and pegs in the wood, allowing them to fall out in-transit or be snapped off in-socket. The pieces for the bed were put in a bucket and then a box, so they simply laid the platform on top of the frame and did not tell us that none of the hardware was currently holding it together. We only discovered this days after, when we unpacked that box and found all the bed's hardware.

Among the broken items were a TV stand with glass shelving that shattered in-transit. The crew kept insisting it was still functional, and had to be begged to take the broken glass away with them (again, we have a newborn). We are still finding chunks of glass embedded in the exteriors of boxes as we unpack.

Hardly any box after the first few could be called intentionally packed, and we do not understand how the quote we received could have been so different from the final amount. If we had rented a 26' moving truck for three days, hired six movers (we received only four) and paid them $50/hour, that would amount to only half of our first quote and a quarter of our final cost.

I will obviously not be using either company again, but I wanted to make people aware of how this company hooks leads and then abuses that trust when it comes to complete the agreed-on terms of a move. Do not trust your money with Proud American or your belongings with On Track Movers, LLC.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $17395

Unfortunately the day before the movers were supposed to arrive they called and told us they didn't have availability for us and weren't sure when they would. Since moving is a huge deal and there are a lot of moving pieces (leases ending, planes to catch, etc.), it wasn't going to work for us to wait around until they were ready to move us with less than 24 hours notice. They refused to refund our deposit (40% of total cost). Needless to say, I don't recommend.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4750

In a world of unreliable moving companies, we found Proud American to be very easy to communicate with and very reliable. We booked this company for a move from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia, PA. We actually did not wind up using them, but only because their booking process is so thorough, and they were so transparent and communicative with us that we discovered the time frame between pick-up and drop-off would not work for us. They refunded our deposit via bank transfer within 72 business hours, emailing and calling me with a confirmation number for the transfer. I really appreciated their honesty. We worked with Ross, and he was great.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $5000

I was in a bind as the original company I hired was not able to service My move five days before I had to be out of my home. I had no idea what to do at this point, panic had set in. I called 15 companies and no one could help me. Finally found proud American and they saved the day. Their quote was spot on. Of course it was more expensive then the company that bailed on me, but my representative explained that was probably the reason I couldn't get picked up by them, my job wasn't priced correctly. I will say that I will forever be thankful to proud American for saving the day and providing excellent customer service!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $17000

I reached out for quotes from multiple long distance moving services, and many spent the call strictly selling the service to me. Catherin with Proud American Vanlines was more concerned with what would benefit me the most. We spoke briefly about how much stuff I would need to move and she immediately cut to the chase to let me know a rough price estimate and recommended that I would be better off buying new things. It was nice not having someone being pushy about making the sale and not caring about my needs and budget.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

This company is a brokerage firm for moving companies. With that in mind, after speaking with them and signing a lengthy contract I was under the impression that they would be my contact until my goods were delivered (they actually said to contact them if I had any issues). Unfortunately I was wrong. Once the movers showed up I was on my own when dealing with the movers they hired (as per phone conversation with Proud American Vanlines customer service). I had a few disputes and proud American Vanlines told me that my contract was no longer with them but with the moving company (there were 4 different companies involved for a move half way across the country) and that I needed to seek resolution with them. When I brought up my contract with Proud American Vanlines to the movers they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about.

I also had to pay extra money to two of the moving companies, they showed up at the wrong address which delayed getting our stuff a couple weeks later, even though the right address was on the original contract with Proud American Vanlines and they lost an antique chair. To date I have not been able to file a claim for the lost chair. VIP Moving and Storage will not answer the phone or answer emails. Also, I had an upright piano to move and they were not prepared to move it themselves. I had to hire extra help at the last minute when loading and a friend and I had to help when unloading. I hired a moving company in part so I wouldn't have to deal with the piano.

Proud American Vanlines made me feel like they would take care of me throughout the move which did not happen. Also, it was a very stressful dealing with the movers they hired. I had to negotiate by myself by phone which was difficult due to their aggressive behavior and language barrier. The two moving company's I had trouble with were A & H Transportation LLC DBA: VIP Moving and Storage from Aurora, CO and RA Moving LLC.

I would not recommend Proud American Vanlines!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $5800