Sky Van Lines

My move with Sky Van Lines was a nightmare, and I would caution anyone thinking about hiring this company to reconsider. I hired Sky for my move from Richardson, Texas to Palo Alto, CA in June 2013:   1) Who does the move? One of the first questions that I asked the Sky salesperson before hiring them was whether Sky Van Lines does the entire move themselves, and I was assured that they do (I had been cautioned against companies that farm out the interstate part of the move). Imagine my surprise when a company named Superior Movers based in Arizona delivered my belongings. Had everything gone well, I might have been merely annoyed, but things went far from well..   I don't know if Sky Van Lines ever does the long haul part of the move, but they certainly didn't with me. They pick up your things locally, bring it to a warehouse, and then subcontract with some other company, who you have no chance to investigate and have zero control over, to do the long-distance part of your move.   2) I spent a total of 3 weekends tied down at my new apartment waiting and hoping for deliveries (the first 2 weekends for my stuff and the 3rd weekend for the stuff that didn’t make it the first time around). It took just over a month to get all of my belongings. On June 1, my things were picked up in Texas; June 11, they called to say that my stuff was on its way to California and would be there in 3-5 days (June 14-16); June 16 came and went- no show/no call.   At 7:30p on Sunday June 23, a full week later, my stuff was finally delivered. Well, most of my stuff. 2 of the bedrails from my custom bed frame and a box with pictures and a mirror were missing. The following week revealed that these had been delivered to a different customer in San Francisco and after neither company was able to retrieve and deliver my items by the end of the following weekend, I decided to do it myself, and on July 2, I drove to SF and picked up the rest of my items.   I wound up sleeping on an air mattress over 3 weeks longer than planned, and when I complained about this on June 28, Rami, the head guy, asked me whether I couldn’t just buy another bed(!) Fortunately, the guy in SF was nice and was willing to let me come get my things (he too had items missing and had been at the mercy of Sky for the last few weeks and had horror stories of his own).   3) My belongings arrived battered and looking as if they had been tossed about. Boxes were smashed, most items inside were covered with some kind of white film (mold?) and stank. Everything had to be washed thoroughly. As bad as everything looked, it’s amazing that more things weren’t broken, but I did pack very carefully. One mirror was broken and useless, my leather sofa has some sort of stain that I have not yet been able to remove, and there were some scratches and dings. All in all, I was fortunate though as my things had obviously not been treated gently.   4) As soon as my belongings did not arrive June 14-16 as promised, I began calling, asking for updates, trying to find out what was going on. I encountered a series of broken promises, lies, unreturned phone calls, evasiveness, and apathy. When I inquired as to the reason for the delayed delivery, the semi driver said that he had been “driving all over the country” and that he had had mechanical problems. (Later versions of the story included a flat tire, a failed DOT inspection, and problems at a weigh station). In any case, my belongings had apparently been enjoying the Arizona summer for a week in a hot trailer (which explains why the little bottles of lotions and shampoo/conditioner in one of the boxes arrived in a solid state- they had been baked).   5) I complained to Sky and requested a refund for the move and received back an email that the company had fulfilled its obligations and that they did nothing wrong (!) I did not even bother replying and will focus my energies on posting reviews wherever possible and filing a BBB complaint and seeing if I can get the DOT to take some action. I hope that my sharing my experience will at least save others from having to go through this.   Moving to a new city and starting a new job is stressful enough, without adding this kind of frustration and anxiety. It’s terrible to want to get settled and not be able to. It’s a helpless feeling because once they have your stuff, you are completely powerless. I slept on an air mattress for 6 weeks; I spent 3 weekends tied down waiting for my stuff; I’m still getting settled in July, a process that I should have been able to get behind me in June. So, if you don't mind risking your belongings and your peace of mind, then Sky Van Lines is for you. If you value your things and your sanity, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. I wish I had.

Service cost: $1025

I will have to say, I had to make some quick moves on the fly and if it wasn't for Sky Van Lines I have no idea where I'd be right now, let me say I was dealing with a workers comp case, losing my job, getting evicted, I could barely function and then I spoke with Bruce Yarwood, and he said you're going to Illinois from Vegas, you have nothing to worry about that's what we do, then he walked me through everything and explained it in great detail and was very patient with me and my add-ons, then there was Tobias Rivera, another great guy very patient, helpful and everytime I called these guys I felt great about not having to worry they always said don't worry will take care of everything, I genuinely felt like they really cared and that was very reassuring. Loved everything you guys are awesome definitely recommending you to everyone I know. Isaiah Ortiz.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2971

I called Allied Van Lines because I thought they were reputable. The man I talked to walked me through my house and gave me an estimate. Then they send Sky Van Lines to pick up my stuff. Sky Van Lines said that the binding estimate from Allied was incorrect and charged me an extra $1,200.00 dollars. I had specially stated to the man from Allied that I needed a crate built around a painting that I was moving. The man from Sky Van Lines insisted that I did not need a crate as his packaging would protect the painting. The painting is ruined. The man from Sky Van Lines was nothing more than a con man. He told me my stuff was covered up to $16,000. It's not covered. I also lost items. Horrible people. Horrible companies. Do not use.

Service cost: $3300

Horrible experience!! Never did what they said they would do per agreement. Rude, unprofessional and unethical work practice. The mover dumped all our stuff and boxes in the room 4 steps from the front door, We could hardly open the door to get in the house. Ignored instruction on the boxes (kitchen box should be placed in the kitchen, etc). Because they delivered one week after the scheduled delivery, there was no one at home to manage them so they dumped and left. We would have done better and saved lots of money if we just rented and U Haul box, filled it and let U Haul deliever to Memphis. Now we have to  move all the stuff in the right rooms! What a nightmare! This company doesn't live by their mission, tag lines and marketing ploys! I have built 7 homes and moved many many times and this is the ultimate,horrible experience! Their customer servive guy Rami and the rep that we had, John didn't even give us a courtesy call to apologize! TERRIBLE!! PS. We haven't assess the damages if there is any to the furniture and the electronics. I am worried!

Service cost: $2000

I urge you use caution before considering Sky Van Lines for a long distance move. While we were initially impressed with their service and communication, this quickly changed after our items were picked up. While we were promised an average 1-14 business day delivery, we've received no updates along the way even after calling multiple times. Tobias continuously says he will update us when he knows more and that they are expecting a truck back soon. For a moving company to not have any idea when they will be receiving a truck and when shipments will be going out is concerning. This is logistics 101. We're now on business day 12 and after calling Tobias again, he let us know it will likely be another 10+ business days but that anything could happen to delay this further. He continued to say that 1-14 business days is an average and not a guarantee, but one would be right to assume that 25+ business days would not be the expectation if 1-14 business days is the "average."

Upon further investigation, we've determined most of the Google reviews to be fake accounts using celebrity photos. Seriously, look for yourself, you might see some familiar faces. Most of the "reviewers" are ranked as Local Guides but all of their other reviews are hidden. As someone who works in marketing, I am very familiar with this scheme to inflate a business's reputation. It's unethical, illegal and we feel deceived. Under 15 U.S. Code § 45, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the power to stop and penalize parties “using unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” This makes it a crime to break official rules imposed by the FTC. And the FTC forbids the use of fake testimonials.

When I mentioned this revelation to Tobias, he quickly got defensive and hung up on me. I would urge others to look into the other long-distance moves by Sky Van Lines on Google and Yelp and you will see a similar story to mine. For now, we're at their mercy as they have our belongings, and we can't help but feel we were robbed and deceived.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $5580

First of all, I hope I never have to move again, but, if I do, I hope that Sky Van Lines will have opened a branch in Tennessee by then. All the people that I talked to were not only helpful but friendly as well. John set up a time for Ramey to come to my house so that he could see everything I had and tell me how much it would cost to move to Memphis. Let me tell you, Ramey is not like a typical sales guy telling you what you want to hear. He tells you all the nitty gritty stuff about moving so that you don't have any surprises and so you won't have any reason to go online and write a bad review. Other estimates I had were lower, but after doing some research online I found out that those companies had a reputation for raising prices on people the day of the move. His price wasn't as high as the major moving companies so I decided to go with my instincts and move with him. The movers showed up to my place with three guys and I felt so bad for them because it was so hot outside and they were working so hard. Mike went over the inventory and the move process as well as what to expect at the delivery. They were so efficient and I really felt that my belongings were in good hands with them. I got the delivery in a week and I promised I would write a good review if I was happy and I really am. I know they're a small company but they do a great job of taking care of their customers.

Service cost: $3700

I tried for a very long time to get Rami to lower the price of my quote and he would not. I had a quote from a different company that was lower and sent it to him since he said he would price match any reputable company. Apparently the other company was just trying to give me a low price because Rami showed me that their quote had many items that were wrong, like a full bed and not a king and without any box springs which I have. There were other things as well that Rami pointed out, and he said that the company would end up changing the price to a higher one at the last minute. I did some research on the company and found that other customers had chosen them for the low price only for it to go up when the movers arrived. I appreciated Rami's honesty and chose Sky Van Lines. I am satisfied with the moving service they gave me and with the customer service as well.

Service cost: $1750

Sky Van Lines performed our move from Granbury, Tx to Dover, Ar on July 17.  Rami and John were excellent to work with throughout this process.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to make many adjustments to the inventory and move dates and they were easy to deal with each time.  On the day of the move, Mike and his guys came in and were inordinately professional and left me with a very confident feeling about the move.  The pricing was accurate, the guys wrapped the furniture carefully (we have some very nice antique items) and they loaded in a very quick manner. The delivery came just a few days later and everything arrived in the same condition that it left in.  With all of the things that happened before our move and as many times as I talked to them on the phone, I never once felt like Sky Van Lines was anything other than a professional and well-organized group and would happily use/recommend them again.

Service cost: $2900

I was contacted by John at Sky Van Lines at the end of June regarding my move to Tampa, Florida in July.  John took the time to assess my situation and provide specific answers to my many questions regarding the move.   I subsequently booked my move with them for July 8. When Mike and his crew arrived, they quickly went to work on my furniture and were very thorough with labeling parts and ensuring that everything would go together as smoothly as it came apart.  They loaded the truck quickly and I received my delivery within 6 days in Tampa. There was never a moment that I felt unsure of my decision to use Sky Van Lines and am thankful to them for the great experience.

Service cost: $7400