Southern Elite Van Lines

Initial conversation went well with booking my move. Movers who packed up my belongings did not handle my belongings with care. Left their trash at my front door. Lack of communication regarding when my belongings would be delivered. I was told my belongings would be delivered on a certain date. Date came and went, no delivery. Getting through to someone about my delivery date was a hassle. My belongings were finally delivered . The gentlemen who unpacked my belongings were much better than the gentlemen who packed up my belongings. My tv was not wrapped probably and was delivered damaged. I have reached out regarding my damaged item and no return call as of yet. Highly disappointed.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3690

From the very beginning, their communication was clear and professional, and they made the entire moving process stress-free. The crew arrived right on time, handled everything with great care, and worked efficiently without cutting corners.

What really stood out to me was how courteous and respectful the movers were. They treated my belongings as if they were their own, making sure everything was packed and transported safely. The manager, David, went above and beyond to ensure everything ran smoothly and that I was comfortable with every step of the process.

The pricing was fair and transparent—no hidden fees, no surprises-just honest, reliable service.

Moving can be stressful, but Southern Elite Van Lines truly made it easy. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a trustworthy, professional moving company.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

Southern Elite Van Lines promotes themselves as a full service moving company that says on their estimates “ Southern Elite Van Lines performs every type of relocation service while standing committed to integrity and goodwill to our customers. Our method of service eliminates the questionable pricing practices that many moving companies impose, while providing quality services at competitive prices. We are licensed and insured.” This is the exact opposite of the service and pricing you will receive. My move had two pick up locations about 2 hours apart. They were supposed to pick up at the first location on Thursday between 12 and 3 and then pick up at the second location. They called at 11:30 to say it was now between 4 and 7pm. I asked if they still planned to do the second pick up that day because it was 2 hours away. They acted completely confused even though that was on the original reservation and reviewed multiple times the day before when they provided the 12 - 3 window. Well at 6:35 pm they called to say they were 30 minutes away. I should have gone with my original instinct of refusing service and requesting my deposit back because they were now outside of their pick up window. I told them there was no way at that point they could pick up the second location that night because even if they took an hour at the first location 10:00 pm was too late to load a truck in a residential neighborhood. The driver put me on the phone with David the Manager and he “they have to do both tonight we are very busy” I said “I’m very busy too and you aren’t going to load a truck in a residential neighborhood after 10:00 pm” he then confirmed the zip code of the second location again and finally agreed they would pick up the second location the following morning and then do delivery after. Well the following morning turned into them showing up at 2:30 pm and then trying to tell me I had double the amount of items on the truck. Their estimate that says “ Southern Elite Van Lines is providing you with this binding estimate based on the list of items provided by you in this estimate. Any changes or modifications made after the execution of this estimate can be altered up to 3 days from your pick up date. This estimated price is guaranteed for the list of items you provided.” Will not be honored and according to them is not actually binding because this is a business and they aren’t working for free. My estimate included 67 items for a calculation of 680 cubic feet. At the time of pick up only 62 items were actually put on the truck because I packed less boxes and removed a lamp and book case. However Southern Elite Van Lines tried to tell me that they were putting double what the estimate was on their truck. They were driving a 26 foot ryder truck. My items took up 10 feet of the back of the truck, they asserted that was 1000 cubic feet claiming every foot was 100 cubic feet. Ryder trucks are not 10 ft wide by 10 ft high. They are 8 by 8.33 ft. So that would equal 664 cubic feet if it was actually stacked all the way to the top which it was not because “then my items would be damaged”. Even so 664 cubic ft including the 5 or 6 ft of dead air in most places is still not 680. They continued to refuse to honor their original estimate. They did offer me a 400.00 discount because they were late. After refusing to allow David to intercede in my behalf with the owner I supposedly got him on the phone. The owner and I settled on me paying 720.00 additional beyond my estimate only because at that point pretty much all of my stuff is on this truck. I think the most telling statement in my conversation with the owner was that he was speaking with me and he doesn’t do that, that he’s the owner he doesn’t deal with customers. If you are an owner that doesn’t speak with your customers that really shows how much integrity you run your company with. On top of all this I’m missing pieces to the platform of my queen bed. Which I would have known before they left had the furniture they took apart that they say they will reassemble had actually been reassembled. But I guess when you unload your truck at someone’s home at 9:00 pm you don’t really want to actually complete the full job. Let’s add what professional moving company shows up to unload their truck without a single hand truck or dolly? They had to hand carry my washer and dryer inside! Pretty much everything is just stacked in the garage. Oh also the moving blankets they say they put on your items nope, not a single one. They just wrapped things in plastic. My wooden table was wrapped so tightly the legs are now bent. Also don’t be fooled by the “all our own people” the people that came admitted they are subcontractors and not employed by the company. So sure book with them if you’d like to work with a company that doesn’t respect their customers time, stand by the information they claim and wants to overcharge at every turn.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4127

VERY VERY VERY !!!! DISSATISFIED with this company, communication was great when they were trying to get me to go with them for my move. Once I booked this is when everything got shaky, I did my quote over the phone and when I did I told Heather I had two TV’s a 50 inch and a 65 inch tv. Unfortunately when the movers arrived they did not have the tvs on the bill of lading article list and I was forced to pay an extra 200, just for them to bring my tvs. Also the I initial quote that I was given said I had 16 boxes, and when the movers got there the list they had stated I only had 12, so they tried to cut my list down but charge me the same price. Additionally it was listed on the paper that I had a three piece sectional couch and while my mom is at the storage unit she has to once again call me and tell me they said my couch was too big for the truck, and I would have to pay 1,000 extra for them to bring it, when I told the person who quoted my move the size of the couch from the beginning. This is due to them trying to move serveral house holds at once. Once the movers left they told me they could bring my stuff Wednesday, but I had been relayed the message to them that I could not move into my place until the 19th of April, which was a Saturday. David the manager was suppose to call us back to schedule a move date and time based on when the truck would be coming this way and he never did we had to keep calling him back. Then he told me it would be on Saturday from 12-4 window that they would arrive, well here comes Saturday 3pm and I haven’t gotten any calls from him or the movers stating that they would still be delivering my stuff that day, so I take it upon myself to call him back and he tell me oh the truck broke down in Nashville Tennessee, and I asked him was anyone going to call me and he said yes, but that wasn’t the truth. Sunday around 3pm I get a call saying that they were on the road headed to me, and they should arrive by 7:30-8pm. It’s not 8pm on a Sunday and I texted the driver and he states they’ll be to me around 11pm, they arrived at 11:45pm at night to my apartment complex. After the delivery a week later I unpack all my stuff, as noticed my 65in tv was completely crushed and shattered, the box spring to my bed is broke in 3 different spots, my dresser is scratched up on the top and my 2,400 couch is scratched up at the bottom. I call David to let him know in which he then ask me did I pack the tv correctly and I tell him no your movers packed my tv them selves in a tv box, he then tell me to send him pictures and he will take care of of it, a week goes by and I hear nothing I call him back then he tells me did I submit a claim when he told me he would do it for me. Just giving me the runaround. At this point I’m frustrated and he tell me I should be glad he’s helping me because he’s trying to get someone else booked for a move, which I careless about because they got my 2,500 dollars damaged my stuff so now I don’t matter. He then gives me the website to do the claim, so I do so and it gets kicked back because I need an updated bill of lading stating that he moved two tvs for me, because the initial one didn’t have them on the article list on tues June 3rd he tells me he will send it to my email never does. So I call back on Thursday and he once again tells me he will send it by the end of business that day.Then ask me can I call the claims number and call him and he will speak to them and that’s not the process they need those documents to be able to do anything. They will not process a claim without the proper paperwork! After 7 days the claim gets erased and I have to go back in all over again and refile it due to David not getting me what I need to get this done. My stuff was moved April 26th, it is now June 7th and I have not been able to get what I need to replace my items that were damaged. Very unprofessional 0/10 do not RECOMMEND! Do not use this company they are a scam, will damage your stuff, then give you the runaround when you need to file a claim.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2400

My movers were hired through the U-haul site. The only complaint I have is they removed the mattress protector and completely soiled my brand new, expensive ($2,500) mattress. They specifically removed the plastic protective cover I purchased from Lowes, and now my mattress has many stains that cannot be cleaned. I've tried Resolve, baking soda, etc...When I called the company to let them know about this, the guy said it wasn't his company. So, either U-haul is lying or this company is. Very disappointed.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $300

After jacking up my price and charging my account without permission, the driver refused to deliver unless I paid an extra $400 for “unloading,” which was already included in my contract. When my stuff finally arrived days late, boxes were crushed, fragile items destroyed, some of my belongings were missing, and I was even given items that weren’t mine. They showed up hours late, unprofessional, and careless. This was extortion, plain and simple. Do not trust them with your move.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $3043

I had to move my elderly mom from Sc to Fl. I decided to use this company. Beware the sales person Andrew is very convincing that the company is above board. The movers are trained for two weeks, there is insurance for missing or broken items and they will disassemble items and reassemble items at new location. Prior to quote we did a visual walk through with Andrew and he quoted us a decent fee. READ THE FINE PRINT before sending deposit! We then had another visual walkthrough with quality control after deposit was sent and move was scheduled and the price of move was increased by $1100! This was Friday before the scheduled move on Tuesday

Movers did arrive, everything was packed pretty good it seemed. More space was used then necessary and imagine that ANOTHER $1200 increase in price!

Get to new location and upon arrival the driver is calling wanting $400 in cash because he doesn’t have money to pay his help,which by the way he hired off the local Craigslist, and only 1 of the 2 guys showed up. We of coarse said no we have postal money orders for the final payment that’s all you get. The 1 local untrained guy came to unload and he alone unloaded the ENTIRE house. The actual driver,employee of the company sat in his truck and did not help. My husband who had bending and lifting restrictions had to assist to get the job done. There was NO REASSEMBLYof items as promised. Truck got done and left and while unpacking noticed missing item and broken items. Called and am still waiting 2 months later for that return call! DO NOT use this company you will be a nervous wreak and much lighter in the pocket by the end of it.

Highlight: our company hired the local guy who unloaded the truck alone because he was such a hard worker.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7400

Unless you are prepared to wrap your belongings well enough to be dragged behind the moving truck and punted out of the side of the truck when unloading.

This company is borderline fraudulent and simply careless. I would not trust these clowns to move a pile of scrap wood from behind a barn, to the street for pickup. Please save yourself the trouble and hire a trusted company to move your belongings, not someone only in it for the money.

TL;DR

Read below for full experience:

When comparing a professional moving company to a DIY move, we called SEVL. Their quote came in only slightly higher than the cost to do it ourselves. Their representative was very friendly, led the questions so he knew how many items we have to move, etc. and explained how “cool it is to know we could have our belongings professionally moved, for nearly the same price as doing it ourselves.” We appreciated his expertise, because we would not even begin to know how to estimate how much volume our belongings take up without his assistance. Through this question and answer process, a quote for “5 cubes,” was established.

Once our move was underway, a crew of 3 men showed up to load a Uhaul truck with our belongings and this is when the “bait and switch” took place. Once our belongings were mostly loaded on the truck, the crew leader let us know that “the amount originally quoted, was only half of the actual amount of items that were loaded up. He explained that we were quoted “5 cube” and we actually have twice this amount.

Funny how they seemed to know what size truck to send for the job though, hmmm?!

He gave us our new total (10 cubes), asked for the second payment and then stated, “we do not accept credit cards, we only accept “cash, check or wire transfer.” Weird that we were able to pay with a credit card to secure the job with SEVL via website? Whatever, we found enough unaffected roads that were still open and drove to our bank. 3 hours of our time later, they had their 2nd installment of the new, much larger total. Our quote was for $2130 and the actual amount totaled $4,368.

Once SEVL had their funds, we were directed to wait 1-10 days for our items to arrive to our destination - MI. In the meantime, David (manager) was informed of our dissatisfaction with this process so far and we requested further conversation with him. David made the choice to ignore this request, hence this review. David was extremely quick to reply to any messages involving money, or payment to him, so we will let his priorities speak for themselves here.

4 days later we received a call from the moving truck in MI, to let us know when they were scheduled to arrive with our belongings. The driver showed up by himself. He explained that the crew that was supposed to meet him at our location to help, backed out last minute. He offered to move all of our things by himself and warned us that he may be there until midnight, or even after, “because we had so much stuff!” He informed us that we had “9 cubes of stuff,” despite the fact that days earlier we were charged with “10 cubes?”

Many of our items arrived damaged. Bent legs on tables, bent adjustable feet on cabinets. Many dents in a metal storage cabinet that was wrapped in moving blankets secured with tape. anything that was metal is now dented. Anything that was wooden has paint scuffed off the corners and edges. We have a solid wooden chair that has slats broken right off and cracked, as if used for a ladder?! Multiple pieces of furniture were destroyed, a large hole punched through the top of a table. Our washing machine was damaged beyond repair.

It is obvious that little regard for care was even attempted, during the handling of our belongings. We had a box clearly labeled “FRAGILE,” containing an irreplaceable item (crafted by our late son) smashed to pieces in its bubble wrapped packaging. The movers were observed climbing on our items as they loaded up in NC to reach the very top spaces in the truck. I guess time is money?

David did choose to respond to our complaint of rough handling and damaged items as a result. He sent us a copy of their policy on how to file a claim for damaged items. Insurance might cover something to the extent of 60 cents per pound, if the claim is approved and will net us approximately $200 towards replacing our 1 year old washing machine that cost $900 a year ago. Most of the other items fall under a protective clause how they don’t cover certain items prone to damage, etc. blah, blah. In other words – you are out of luck for the items they WILL damage, as a result of their overall carelessness in handling the personal property of others.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4368

First off all the 5 star reviews HAVE TO be from people who work at this company or bots because NO WAAAAAY LOL! This company has ZERO care for the customer, their time, their property or their intelligence! These people are not profession what so ever! They treat you like you need to be grateful to even speak to them but between the pushy sales men and the movers that do not speak English, this move was a nightmare that will never end! They were over and hour late outside of the pick up window! They disassemble ALL of my furniture that I JUST BOUGHT this year and is now damaged due to them taking it all apart and misplaced screws. Oh yea mixing my property with someone else's! They even tried to give me the other persons ski's because they had it mixed in with my property and "forgot". I went to the BBB and found a claim number through another customer who's property was damaged because of their incompetence! They closed my BBB complaint without taking any accountability nor a solution to rectify their wrong doings. This company is a brokerage, they will deny deny but they sell your reservation to a third party, this was told to me by their movers (both pick up and drop off).You my want to tell them to stop saying that to customers entrusting your with their property! Their movers opened a case of MY waters during the course of my move and helped themselves, no they did not even ask!! Numerous smoke breaks. If you want your property held hostage to get dumped with a bunch of other and get your stuff lost hire these jokers all day! Their customer service is deplorable, they will hang up on you unprovoked, make up fictitious names and tell you what you want to hear to rush you off the phone but they have no means of making good on ANYTHING! They lie to get your business!! And if anything goes haywire they blame you for "not reading the contract" that their sales people rush through to get your deposit because once they have that and you see them for the scam artists they are they will not give you the deposit back lol this company is such a joke lol

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1525

From start to finish it took 9 days to get our things from our old house to our new house, when the contract we signed said 2 days from pick to "first eligible day of delivery". Communication was almost nonexistent, and getting anyone on the phone was near impossible- spoke to a different person almost every time I did finally get a person on the phone. Original estimate was $4700, ended up paying $6008, but just finally having that truck show up was a God send. The actual movers on both ends were very good at what they did. ​

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000