Van Lines USA

April 15, 2023

To Whom It May Concern:

This review of a moving company, VanLines USA out of Hollywood, FL, “Your Out of State Mover”, DOT#579922, is written to share my horrendous moving experience with them. They were hired by New Lead Moving Group, a moving broker.

First of all, they were late. They arrived at night, instead of morning, on the agreed date for the move. My house closing was scheduled for the next day. All day they made excuses and pushed out arrival. In the second place, when they finally arrived about 7pm, the immediate concern was to raise the price of the moving cost, citing unforeseen work that my move would entail, this in spite of my very precise inventory list. The boss Israeli guy said if I didn’t like it, I could cancel the move. He knew the sale of my house was the next day. I felt like a hostage held for ransom. The new price was almost double. Third, with only 2 men on the job, it would be very tight to get everything moved out for a walkthrough by the buyer to take place and closing to occur so my realtor called the Isreali’s boss and asked to hire some additional workers to help with the move. That offer was declined. All was not moved out of my home in time, and my buyer, both realtors, attorneys, and bankers, who had been waiting all day, went home. The closing could not occur the next day as scheduled, inconveniencing everybody involved. In spite of the disaster so far, I tipped very handsomely because my furniture had to go into storage (makes ins unavailable) for 1 month, before moving from SC to RI as my home in RI was not ready. Fourth, after arrival in RI and unpacking, I saw several items damaged, or in pieces, and a very pretty and almost new contemporary glass and silver foyer table was “missing”. Despite their efforts to “find” it in storage, it never was returned. I firmly suspect it was “targeted” to become missing. Lastly, despite numerous phone calls which the owner rudely never returned, I was offered a paltry sum of $108 by their customer service rep which was unacceptable.

So, based on my experience with VanLines USA, I would never, ever, hire, or recommend VanLinesUSA, as they were a totally disreputable, careless, and unreliable company. Rated F by mymovingreviews!

Cheryl Martone

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11890

First beware that moving companies play on the name of the company itself and use names very similar to other companies names. VanLines Usa Inc. is a very disturbing company. DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR AT FIRST NICE AND ACCOMODATING pretense. They come across as caring, concerned and throw in this and that. If they find out you are a religious person they will be a religious person. If they find out you give to a charity they have also given to that charity. PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT. They do not guarantee a delivery date of your moved items and it is possible that you could wait months to get your household items at your new location. Here is a quote from when of their emails "All of your valuable possessions will be carefully packed and crated, stored in their modern warehouse and delivered to
your destination safe and sound." They only move items when they have enough business to include yours so your items could sit in a storage facility for months. They also use the time frame of your initial move out date to trick you into moving a day early. Once you find out what is really going on, they want thousands of dollars to actually deliver your items on time. All this bait and switch happens days before your move and you feel helpless and stuck. DO NOT LET THEM TRICK YOU! Anthony is the name of the representative I talked to. Here is the contact information:

Anthony Cotilus
Moving Consultant
VanLines Usa Inc.
800-517-7789
info@vanlinesusa.com
www.vanlinesusa.com

I was left in tears and they just did not care at all and just refunded met my deposit and moved on to the next target which left we high and dry. Luckily I contacted PODS who was able to service me but because of VanLines Usa Inc. I still had to stay in a hotel for 5 nights. If I can save one family from being misled by this company I will be grateful.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

Quoted me one price and doubled it AFTER my furniture was packed. I moved from FL to PA. I could not be in FL had a husband in hospital. No problem they said(did have a friend in FL watching). Said I could use my credit card to charge first half and then next day called me to tell me there was an extra fee for the card. They put my furniture in storage and told me they would not deliver unless I took the bad review off the internet. Held my furniture as hostage. Now remember, this whole time my husband is in hospital in PA. I found a 3rd party mover to bring my things to PA. By the time they got here 40% of my furniture was broke, scratched, dented or just not usuable. I filed an insurance claim and never heard a word. They wont take my calls or answer my emails. Every word is the truth. Almost had a nervous breakdown.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4541

Move from FL to WI. They delivered my 75 inchSONY tv (on Christmas Day) COMPLETELY BENT and cracked. It was metal and sturdy frame. I paid over $100 for tv boxes from Home Depot with foam protectors, foam covering, and plenty of bubble wrap in there. Completely neglectful, and very DISRESPECTFUL to offer me 30$ for the damage. Customer service is by far the worst I have ever dealt with. They will portray that they are going to assist you but in reality they take your money for the move and leave it completely in the hands of others who have NOT ONE OUNCE OF RESPECT for your belongings. I packed very well. The amount of force needed to bend my tv that way tells me they did not know what they were doing or just DID NOT CARE. I was also told initially that my tv was insured by United Moving Company which it was not. DO NOT USE THESE COMPANIES!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1500

Horrible company. If they were the only company in the world, and your life depends on it, DO NOT USE THEM.
First, they give you a low estimate to ship your stuff to real you in, and then on pick up day they charge you an extra $400 to $500 more because your stuff will require more space. Next they can't tell you when your shipment will arrive, yet they asked me when would you like it to arrive and I specified a date, and that date has come and gone and my furniture is somewhere out there. I called last week and they said 5 to 7 days, and when I called today since its been 7 days, they said "oh minimum of another 7 days." You ask to speak to dispatch, and they are never there, and they never return your call. You ask for a manager or supervisor and there is no one there. After reading the other reviews now, I am waiting to see how many items they have destroyed during this move. The staff is rude and incompetent, and the company needs to be shut down for being a scam company.
Again .. DO NOT USE THEM EVER!!

Update:
I just called to find out where my stuff is at exactly, and they hung up on me multiple of times, and then transferred me to a very rude person who asked me to be nice to him, when they are the ones who are not giving me information, he wouldn't give me his name, and then threatened me to either change my attitude or I will never see my furniture again and hung up on me. I kept calling and they wouldn't answer my calls, or pick up and hung up. I am planning to file an official complaint about them and sue them for threatening me.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1444

I would never use this moving company again. I was originally quoted a price just under $1000 to move furniture for a 1-bedroom home. I specif Calmly asked if there were any possible additional fees and wa still there wouldn’t be any as long as there was no additional furniture. Well moving day came and after they packed up the van they informed us that it would cost $2500. I tried calling the company to speak to someone about this huge price increase and was told I would be called back but never was. Absolutely horrible company with no form of customer service.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

How do you give ZERO stars!?!?
I went with Purple Heart movers and they subcontracted with VanLines USA out of Hollywood Florida, and things got progressively worse. I was extremely low balled on the estimate. A 1 bedroom apartment, with only a kingsize bed, standard dresser and nightstand, 1 high top kitchen table and 4 barstool type chairs, 1 wine cart and about 19 large boxes that they sell at Walmart( so not that big). I was quoted $1671. I thought that was ok considering the small size of the move. I indicated that I lived on the 3rd floor, and thought that was factored in, or why else would they ask? The parking lot of the apartment was very large, so no problem getting a truck or even tractor trailer in there. The day of the pickup, of this one bedroom apartment, the driver parks the truck a great distance away and sends video to the “manager”. They charge me for having to walk more than 75 feet, but then move the truck to the front of the building to load. CRIMINALS!!. I was already in Mississippi at the time of the move, so I had my sister there for the pickup. She sent me a video of them loading the truck from directly in front of the building. 6 hours by the way, for an apartment that was already in boxes. They tacked on additional fees saying that my dresser and nightstand were larger than normal. LIES!! The day of the move, more fees were tacked on for the mirror, standard dresser, and nightstand, and the manager called to tell me that my wine cart was not normal size. WHO DETERMINES NORMAL SIZE? It is a wine cart not a wine rack and holds only 4 bottles…so… yeah, they charged me and said I was free to choose someone else and they wouldn't pick up if I didn't pay the additional fee by money order or a wire transfer. No credit cards because they'll foot a fee. As brokers or whatever, Purple Heart customer service did nothing to help me and the VanLines Manager was rude but then offered a $93 discount, you know to get my fee to an even $2700 and said he wanted me to be happy. Right! If you go with this company for your move, you are at the mercy of SHIFTLESS, SHAMEFUL SCAM ARTISTS, and in my opinion, if Purple Heart chooses to subcontract to such deliberate scammers, they are in that category too. Scammers and Shame on you. They also did not take their own packing materials and left the trash in my garage.
Service cost: INITIAL $1671 day of the move $2700 the day of.
Move size: 1 bedroom apartment, with MINIMAL furniture.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2700

A friend of mine moved recently, and her experience was so bad she can't even bear to relive it to write this review and she asked me to do it for her. She hired another company, who subbed it out to Vanlines USA. The first company doubled the rate on pickup day, then Vanlines tried to jack it up again. Her house was closing the next day though, and she couldn't find anyone else last minute. Vanlines damaged almost every piece of furniture, dropped boxes from height (she heard crashing glass more than once), and damaged the house she was moving out of (which she'll now have to pay to have repaired). They refused to move any boxes above the 2nd floor in the new place, left her fridge on the back patio, and absolutely destroyed a desk. When she started unpacking, she discovered that they had opened multiple boxes, STOLEN items out of them, then repacked the boxes. On top of that, they STOLE her credit card info from the contract and ran up a bunch of charges. So she's dealing with that mess too, and of course both companies have gone dark.

If you're unfortunate enough to use this company, know your rights. You DO NOT have to give them the final payment (or all of it) if there's damage and you've got a claim. Hold 20% (or more, depending on the amount of damages) back until your claim is filed. That way you aren't stuck waiting for them to honor the claim (which they likely won't do anyway). For example, if you owe $2000 and the damage is less, then you can pay them the difference. If the damage is more, you can try to get the rest back but good luck. You generally have 30 days to file a claim.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2000

MOVE FROM WINTER PARK FLORIDA TO TOWSON MARYLAND.

--PICKED UP (5) APPLIANCES AND SMALL ACCESSORIES ON 10/15/2021. DELIVERED ON 10/23/2021. IN THIS SHORT PERIOD OF TIME A $4,000 COOKTOP IS LOST. NOBODY IN THE WAREHOUSE CAN FIND! ITEMS WERE PICKED UP IN A BOX TRUCK. THE EXCUSE IS THE MOVERS CAN NOT REMEMBER IF THEY DROPPED OFF IN THE WAREHOUSE! IT WAS A BOX TRUCK! THE HEAD MOVER AND I SIGNED OFF ON THE ITEMS THEY WERE TAKING WITH THEM TO THEIR STORAGE IN HOLLYWOOD FLORIDA. HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER! YOU ARE NOT UNLOADING A TRACTOR TRAILER.

--WHEN I CALLED THE OFFICE TODAY, 10/26/2021, I WAS TOLD THEY FORGOT TO CHECK IF ALL OF THE ITEMS WERE DROPPED OFF. THEY ALSO DID NOT CHECK TO SEE IF ALL OF THE ITEMS WERE CHECKED OFF BEFORE THEY DELIVERED.

--I WAS TOLD THIS IS A MISTAKE ON THEIR PART. IT IS OBVIOUS SOMEONE TOOK THE COOKTOP---A PURE JOKE AND BUSH LEAGUE THING TO DO!

--I HIRED ALL AMERICAN MOVING IN FLORIDA FOR THIS JOB. THEY ARE A BROKER AND DO NOT TELL YOU WHAT COMPANY WILL BE HIRED TO DELIVER. IF I HAD TIME TO KNOW IT WAS VANLINES USA I WOULD HAVE REFUSED! JUST READ THE REVIEWS!!

--NOW THEY SEND A CLAIMS REPORT TO FILL OUT. YOU WILL GET 60 CENTS PER POUND OF THE ITEM REIMBURSED. MY MISTAKE IS I SHOULD HAVE READ THE FINE PRINT BEFORE SIGNING AND MADE THE MOVERS WAIT!!!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1485