American Van LinesReviews of americanvanlines.com

Our interstate move with American Van Lines ended with a nearly $4,000 price increase on moving day, presented by a subcontractor we had never heard of and had no choice but to accept. After a two-hour phone walkthrough with their estimator, we signed a binding estimate of $15,578 four days before our move. On moving day, a subcontractor we had never heard of presented a new estimate of $19,571 — nearly $4,000 more. The increase was primarily driven by packing materials their estimator had just reviewed. With a house closing two days away, we had no real choice but to accept. We spent weeks disputing the charge. AVL offered a partial refund contingent on signing a non-disclosure agreement. We declined. Our request for a full refund was refused. A company that promises no surprise charges should not need a non-disclosure agreement to settle a dispute about surprise charges.

I rarely write online reviews, and I honestly can’t remember ever writing a negative one before this. However, after this experience, I feel obligated to warn others. My family moved from a 4+ bedroom home in New Jersey to North Carolina. I’ve been through several major moves over the past 25 years, and this was by far the worst. I compared multiple movers and narrowed my choice to American Van Lines and Allied Van Lines. I ultimately selected American because they repeatedly emphasized that they used their own trucks and crews rather than a franchise network. They specifically contrasted themselves with Allied’s model and assured me my move would be handled by one dedicated truck with experienced personnel. Because I was concerned about the proposed truck size, I even requested a second video inventory where I measured furniture on camera and stressed the importance of properly transporting our baby grand piano. I was repeatedly assured everything would fit and that they had extensive piano-moving experience. As moving day approached, they sent me a revised contract at a higher price, blaming a system error before eventually honoring the original agreement. Then, just days before the move, I learned American Van Lines had outsourced my move to Shields Movers without ever disclosing that this would happen. I specifically chose American because they represented that they would use their own crews. Concerned, I rented my own 16-foot truck before the move and transported a substantial amount of our belongings myself. Even after reducing the inventory, the outsourced crew arrived understaffed, lacked proper piano-moving equipment, initially refused to load the truck the first evening, and returned the next morning, causing me to miss almost all of my son’s high school graduation. Despite moving far fewer items than originally estimated, they claimed the truck was full and left a significant amount of furniture and boxes behind. I had to locate and rent another truck at the last minute, load it myself, and drive it overnight to North Carolina. Delivery was no better. I spent much of the day helping unload because the crew lacked both experience and basic equipment. They didn’t even bring a hand truck. The most alarming issue involved our approximately 600-pound baby grand piano. The crew clearly didn’t know how to move or reassemble it. They installed one of the legs incorrectly, leaving the piano unstable and creating a serious safety hazard for my family. I ultimately had to purchase a jack and figure out how to safely lift and reinstall the leg myself before someone got hurt. They also damaged our sectional sofa and improperly assembled our beds, including leaving one with unsecured slats hidden beneath the mattress. When I contacted American Van Lines afterward, I was promised that someone from customer escalations would contact me. No one ever did. What disappoints me most is the difference between what was promised and what was delivered. I chose American Van Lines because they represented that they would use their own experienced crews and equipment. Instead, the move was outsourced to an unprepared third party, resulting in unnecessary stress, damaged furniture, missed family milestones, and avoidable safety risks. I cannot recommend American Van Lines based on my experience.

This company reports they do not subcontract out their work and use their own vans/drivers. Turns out, not true. Its been over a month and we just learned that this whole time the point of contact has had no idea where our stuff is and wasn't even accurate about what route it would take. We continue to have no idea when our stuff will arrive. We are being charged 3x the quote and this company is sketchy. They don't like to put information in writing so you can actually make informed decisions. Their discount rate is $30/day allegedly for each day past the contractually obligated delivery date. That pales in comparison to the cost of their mismanagement and poor service. Do not use this company. We hope to receive our items. That they are all present. And there is minimal damage. We expect damage because we didn't realize they would take over a month to even know where our belongings are and some items are not intended to be stored for weeks in a hot van.

If there was a.way to rate with no stars, I would. I researched moving companies intensively and found American had the least. So chose American. Only to find out after the horrible move experience, they offered $100 but you had to give up free speech. If anything was said negatively on social media, reviews, radio or tv they could sue you. When the $100 was refused, they came back with $400. Said I’d take it but was not signing disclaimer away free speech. They went quiet. We lost tens of thousands of dollars of stuff. We were told things were never farmed out but an “unusual” circumstance came up and they farmed us out.the movers who showed up said they’d need a second day. They showed up at 11am! Half the day was gone. I said no as hotel reservations had been made. Oh you don’t need to be here and the nightmare while there and while gone began. These movers helped themselves to unopened things that were bought for new location- caneras and such. They were told everything goes. They left a husky ladder that was in the list because the mice coordinate store asked if it went and I said yes. Then extra insurance purchased wouldn’t cover it because I have pictures it was left there by neighbors. New owners said it wasn’t left but there were tons of inspections and work done. No one claimed responsibility and insurance said it wasn’t covered because it wasn’t moved. American said the movers said they’d been told it stays. Liars and thieves. Delivery was 4pm-8pm the night before Thanksgiving. It was very dark. The sane guys. I said how do I know I’ve got all the boxes? You guys had no numbers in the boxes that ran by me before you delivered. He said the trucks are empty. It had been in storage. Grandmothers dishes, all clad stainless steel fish gone, and many other items- gone! I asked where the tools were and big trash can. Ma”am, we’ve delivered it all. How do I know that? Sign that we delivered what we had. It was signed then American threw in my face that I signed all had been delivered. Say what? Trusting the company and its agents??? It was worst moving experience ever! Move with anyone but American.

Absolutely Horrible Experience — Avoid American Van Lines I would strongly warn anyone considering using American Van Lines: do not make the same mistake I did. From the very beginning, the experience was a disaster. I was given a three-day pickup window, but they did not show up until the fourth day. When they finally arrived, they were supposed to be there around 9 AM but didn’t arrive until 5 PM. After arriving, the crew spent nearly two hours taking pictures and then pressured me into signing a new contract for an additional $2,000. I was told that if I did not agree, they would simply leave. This happened after I had already spent a month and a half planning my move and had no realistic option to start over. The problems continued during the actual pickup. The drivers refused to move their truck for neighbors, which escalated to the point where police were called. One of the movers was arrested due to an outstanding warrant. His friend, who was not an actual employee of the company, and his girlfriend were left behind to finish packing my belongings. Because it was already 10 PM and the situation had become chaotic, I had to leave in a rush. When I left, items were still being packed, and furniture was left behind. At no point did I receive an apology, explanation, or proactive update from American Van Lines. I had to call multiple times every day just to get basic information. Eventually, my assigned move coordinator was fired, and I was not even notified — I only found out after calling myself. The delivery was just as bad. My belongings arrived after the contracted delivery date. For three straight days after the deadline, I was repeatedly told, “they will be there today.” Nearly three weeks after pickup, my furniture finally arrived — damaged, scratched, broken, and with items missing. I estimate the damage and loss to be well over $3,000. After everything that happened, the company still had the audacity to call and email me asking how “great” my move was. This company needs serious investigation. The lack of communication, professionalism, accountability, and care for customers’ belongings was unacceptable. I would never recommend American Van Lines to anyone.

One of the WORST "interstate moving" companies there is! They promised a pick up of our goods on 6/8/2026. They didn't show up until 6/12 5 days late at 2pm in the afternoon and then had to come back on the 13th They had subcontracted the work out to a Russian crew who showed no concern or interest in doing a good job. I had scheduled services, closing and an Airbnb biased on their schedule provided, which they failed to meet for 5 days. This "crew' put out goods in storage instead of as promised by 3 separate salespeople "on an American Van lines truck". They took two days to load their truck, which was a U Haul truck. Then they tried to charge us over $4000 for storage! Simply because they did not have a truck. Mind you we had contracted service on May 11th and prepaid for it. We had packed everything but maybe 10 boxes that required special packaging (pictures and blanket wraps for furniture. The subcontractor kept on trying to get more money from us while our stuff was being loaded, despite our contract. We provided a storage unit 20'x40' free 1st month and $150 per month afterward. Certainly not a $2000 cost! We called and left over 12 VM's with 12 different contacts at American but I had to get ahold of the COO to get any call backs later that afternoon as we looked for an ETA on delivery. So far they are telling us that the delivery will be in July sometime. Really a terrible company. They do not call back. They do not answer questions. Sales will lie to you without regard. They will use subcontractors despite telling you they won't. They hold your furniture and belongings and miss agreed timelines routinely. They will cost you money by missing agreed upon deadlines. I'm surprised that the NHL and Military uses them at all! I certainly would not want to be associated with such a terrible service company who uses subcontractors, can't provide ETA's and doesn't answer the phones. In good conscience, I will NEVER recommend this shoddy run company to anyone.

Unfortunately I must also share a similar story that others with poor ratings have shared. My furniture was picked up from our location on June 26th. I was originally given a window for delivery between July 1-3. It has now been two weeks and our furniture is still sitting with a 3rd party delivery service and has not moved. I was told American Vanlines did not use 3rd party movers which is a lie. I still have no delivery date and the move coordinator has been dismissive and rude. It is costing our family hundreds of dollars to function without our items. I would NEVER use this company again.

They mislead the process. They contracted out the entire move to a 3rd party vendor. So they stayed on as the liason but were slow to respond to any of my inquiries if they responded at all. The move coordinated never did a final "walk through" to finalize the cost estimate or answer any of my questions. So when the 3rd party vendor showed up to move me, we had to adjust how I packed, what I packed which increased my cost by $3000. They also changed the date that my belongings were to arrive. Only to delay that date by 2 days. It was a horrible experience with this company and specifically the move coordinators and supervisors. They did not care about me at all. Zero customer service.