Stay clear of this business – at all costs!
Locked in move in Feb for April 2024 move. Very tight schedule and little room for error. Paid $1600 deposit
Everything seemed professionally handled – so far. I’d done my online research. Boy, was I wrong!
Got late Friday afternoon phone call one week prior to move and was told that they canceled the move. Couldn’t pull it off and had no trucks in my area. Got a “we’re sorry” and a promise of my deposit back.
I’m now totally screwed and scrambling to find another company on short notice and likely at a higher price point for me.
They were happy to promise the moon and keep my money for 2 months and then cancel and leave me in a HUGE pickle
Never had less professional service. A disgrace, really.
I implore you to stay clear of this company for your own sake
Response from Van Lines & MovingApr 18, 2024
Hi Anders,
We're sincerely sorry that we could not handle your move. We're a moving company, so canceling a move is never in the company's best interest. We had some mechanical issues beyond our control, which caused the cancellation. We know this caused a major inconvenience for you, and we will do our best to make things right. We understand that you're frustrated and want to leave bad reviews online.
DM
david M.
They were awesome
They were awesome. Their driver was super nice and helpful, kept me up to speed with everything they were doing. They had one mover who looked a little inexperienced (probably first job) and he made sure to guide him and help him every step of the way. Honestly best call I ever made.
Response from Van Lines & MovingApr 18, 2024
Thank you, David!
JE
Jeff
This company is dishonest
This company is dishonest; they scammed me for more than $3000.
Things started out well: they made a good "binding" estimate of the volume of my things, which I agreed to (and later found was pretty accurate). I picked them over 2 other moving companies, partly on the basis of their then-honest reputation (which I now know is undeserved).
On pick-up day, things started to go wrong. After walking briefly through our building, the pickup foreman
told me he thought the estimate was wrong (his company, IVL's, own estimate!) and forced me to sign a paper that agreed to pay for more than we had already agreed to. This was very rough and unpleasant; he told me if I didn't sign, IVL wouldn't move our stuff. I argued with him for more than an hour, but finally gave in -- what else could I do? We *had* to move that day -- I had driven more than 1000 miles to the pickup point (I was already living at our destination), and I had no way (then) to prove the original estimate was correct. They loaded our things into 2 separate bob-tail trucks, loosely, so there was no way to measure the actual volume. (But I did verify the actual volume of our things later; see below).
So I paid the extra $3379, and our things got moved. At our destination, I went into the delivery semi-truck trailer (which was different than the 2 smaller bob-tail trucks that had picked up our things), and measured the space where our things had just been unloaded from, accurately with a tape measure, and it came out even smaller than the original estimate! So the pickup foreman's one-glance-at-our-things estimate was completely wrong, and his volume computation from his list-of-our-things-loaded was wrong, too -- and I never should have had to pay that additional $3379.
I explained all this to IVL, and they opened a "review", and I do believe the person analyzing the information for the review acted honestly and in good faith, but she was fed information from dishonest people like the pickup foreman. He had padded the size of many of our things, such as more than 40 stackable cardboard flats we had which are 2 cubic feet each, but which he marked as (and charged me for) 11 cubic feet each. How could the reviewer know that all of those items were really only 2 cubic feet, if she is being lied to by her own co-workers? And there was no way for me to know on pickup day, either: you get to see a list of your items, but not how many cubic feet are being claimed for them. The review dragged on for months, but eventually they refused to refund that extra money the pickup foreman had squeezed out of me.
So do not trust this company. I will never be a customer of theirs again, and would not recommend them to anyone. If you do become a customer of theirs, try to protect yourself (if you can) and don't leave yourself vulnerable, as I was, on pickup day; leave yourself a way out if they try to pressure you.
Response from Van Lines & MovingMar 30, 2024
We understand that customers like to leave a one-star review when they are frustrated over any issue. We understand that you're dissatisfied with the outcome of your move. We sincerely apologize for the experience. As you know, communication is a big factor when moving out of state, and we did our best not only to gather everything we needed but also to double-check the discrepancies to ensure there were no mistakes made on our part. With that said, we are always happy to speak with you regarding this matter to see if we can come up with a reasonable solution. I will have upper management reach out so we can discuss the issue and try to move it forward.
ST
Steven
Operates in bad faith
Trusted IVL to move our house hold goods from Louisiana to England. This company has terrible customer service annd communication. Wasn’t informed when my shipment left the port. Had to call multiple times to find out that the shipment didn’t make its original date and had been pushed back. We were not informed of possible port fees until shipment was already underway. The fees were almost hidden in the email after the signature block. After our shipment had cleared customs the contracted company could not reach our shipment until 4 days after causing us to incur extra port charges. Will have to pay almost $1000 extra in port and extra equipment fees after paying $11,000 for the move itself.
Do not use this company
Response from Van Lines & MovingMar 12, 2024
Steven, I'm sorry to hear about the lack of communication regarding your international move. We handle thousands of international moves annually, and that's not how we operate, so I will certainly investigate the issue. We also inform all customers that we're an international shipping company and can't control any customs inspection fees, port charges, or unforseeable fees directed from the port. With that said, I am sorry to hear that you were unhappy with the level of service you received. I will have a manager contact you to try to rectify the situation.
EC
EC
[Please Read]
TLDR, this has been an awful company to work with. If you’re going to spend thousands of dollars, be sure you’re partnering with an ethical company that has customer service/satifications as one of their main values. I picked IVL because they were on a Forbes list. They probably paid to be on said list, but I went for it anyway. I hope you don’t make the same mistake I did.
Picture this: All of your personal belongings are in the possession of a team people/company actually don’t care. The proess has been chaotic, unorganized, and the customer service has been terrible. I could not recommend this company less.
My whole experience [to date] below:
1 - I've had multiple [4] "Account Managers" since originally planning my move beginning in November 2023. All of them have been extremely difficult to contact when getting items added/removed from my invoice. When my invoices were updated, most times there were errors and I had to go back and correct the rep I was working with.
2 - When the movers arrived, they instantly broke my bed frame when taking it apart. They told me they "found the bed like that", although the bed frame was 3 years old and had never been moved. They left a fragment of wood from the bed on the ground further confirming that they broke my bed after lying to me. Bear in mind that not only did they leave fragments of wood from the disassembly, they also left the place full rolls of tape, paper, and random garbage that they brought in.
3 - Writing in to my Account Manager making her aware of this issue was impossible. Only after calling into their general support line did I get an email response. The person I chatted with (who was very nonchalant about the whole situation) has now introduced me to a member of their claims department, who is now my new point of contact. He’s been the only good representative I’ve had. I guess 4th times a charm. Although I’ve finally lucked out with a more responsive and competent member of their team, this doesn’t help the fact that they broke my bed frame and have offered no solution.
Their solution: “Did you get 3rd-party insurance? Did you read the Bill of Lading? All we can offer you is $0.60 per/pound.
Imagine my $1,000 bed frame is 100lbs. Lucky for me, IVL is going to compensate me $60 for damage they caused before the move even started.
4 - The day before my move I get a call from the truck driver saying he’ll be at my storage unit tomorrow. He says “well, it doesn’t look like this place is 18-wheeler accessible”, although I’ve confirmed multiple times with my storage facility. Their recommendation is that I find another storage unit because they need to be in Maryland tomorrow. I guess f*** my stuff, right?
Whoever you are, I hope you save yourself a headache (and some money) and don’t choose IVL. Like every purchase, when you spend a lot of money on something, you expect a good product. From the booking of the move, to the move itself, and the customer in between, this is a bad product. Buyer beware.
Response from Van Lines & MovingFeb 12, 2024
Hi Wesley, I've read your review and brought this to the attention of upper management. It's never our intention for a move to go less than stellar or provide a lack of customer service. We pride ourselves on quality work, and we will do our best to get this issue resolved with you. Thank you for your understanding, and I will have a manager reach out to you shortly.
BP
brooklyn P.
Great customer service
The team at IVL did an excellent job with our move and deserves a good review for the service. As someone skeptical and nervous about the whole moving thing, it took me a while to decide on movers. I liked IVL because they did not seem sleazy and pushy like the other movers I spoke with and talked to a bunch. My salesperson, Veronica, was very good at explaining the details of our move and spending time walking us through the process. I am happy to announce that the move went well, and we have nothing but good things to say about IVL. We would use them again in the future if needed.
Response from Van Lines & MovingFeb 12, 2024
Thank you for taking the time and leaving your feedback about the move. We're pleased to see that things went well for you. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
ZE
Zen
I've moved several times and dealt with…
I've moved several times and dealt with different moving companies throughout the country. I never had a chance to work with IVL, but I chose them because they came highly rated as a reliable moving company. I had a quick move that needed to get done and I needed someone that could get it done. We chose IVL based on several factors with cost in mind. I also like that they are a moving company with trucks and don't broker out the work. They did a fine job with my move and we had no problems. They showed up with a crew of 5 guys and packed all of our stuff. The move was completed in a good time frame and I got all my stuff without damage.
Response from Van Lines & MovingJan 31, 2024
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to leave us your feedback, and thanks for the high score. We're happy that you were pleased with the move and feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
Thank you
International Van Lines
DH
Dylan H.
International Van Lines is grossly unethical and nobody should use them
Note: I'm reposting this review because International Van Lines abandoned their original Trustpilot changed and changed the name to a fictional company (American Movers), presumably to try and escape all the bad reviews, as well as the fact that they got flagged for posting fake positive reviews (Which they sure seem to be doing again!). Here's my story:
International Van Lines is the worst company I have ever done business with in my entire life, to the point where their disastrous handling of my move was genuinely traumatic for me, and I haven’t been able to write this review until now, six months later. It’s still hard.
Short version: They lied about the timeline, refused to tell me when my stuff was arriving once they had our money, delivered it a month late, lost and destroyed a substantial amount of belongings, and then created an intentionally impossible to complete claims process so that we couldn’t even make a claim on the damage.
Long version: International Van Lines was hired to move my belongings from California to Massachusetts, with a delivery date of November 15th. We arranged to have the stuff picked up on October 30th, and the sales representative assured us that it rarely took more than a week to arrive.
The first sign of trouble was when the contracted movers showed up and had a bunch of terms that were not in the original moving contract with IVL, including that they weren’t liable for damage to various types of furniture; this despite the fact that the moving company is owned by IVL. We were forced to either accept the new terms or lose half of the substantial ($6000+) cost of the move.
Once they had the stuff, IVL suddenly changed their tune, refusing to confirm they would deliver on the 15th as agreed, and insisting that was an “estimate” and they had up to 30 days to deliver after that. The contract specified that they would “make every possible effort” to deliver on the 15th, but they did not even pretend to try. My stuff did not depart California until November 26th, 11 days after it was supposed to arrive; International Van Lines still refused to provide an estimate for delivery when the truck left. I had moved on the 14th and was forced to reside in an empty apartment for weeks, even as I started a new job. When I asked them what had happened, they said “Nothing has failed” and it was all going according to plan, in direct breach of the contract.
My stuff ultimately did not arrive until Friday, December 9th, and we were given only 48 hours notice (with the driver calling us from Virginia and asking where our stuff was going, apparently not even being told the delivery destination!) The stuff that arrived was a disaster; frames that they had specifically promised to wrap were unprotected and damaged, backs of shelving ripped, a handmade table with a shattered base and internal damage that ultimately cost $300 to fix (and would have been another $200+ for all the scratches), a broken TV stand, etc. The stickers they used to keep track of which boxes were which had fallen off, so they had no system to determine what actually arrived; multiple boxes were missing, and the items were never recovered.
The movers then damaged both the couch and the bedframe assembling them, and did not inform me; I would only discover later when the bed started collapsing with me in it, and I found twisted metal because they hadn’t bothered to install any of the support screws and struts. Meanwhile, the futon was not only misassembled such that it was unusable as a futon, but they stripped the bolts; we can’t fix it, and we’ll have to destroy it in order to get it out of the apartment.
Finally, they outsourced the claims process to a company that built an intentionally impossible process: websites that only showed one part of the process at a time, and wouldn’t save your work, requiring hours and hours of form-filling and forcing you to restart, combined with asking increasingly absurd questions (like the purchase date for every item); the alternate was mailing in a package, which other reviews all attested they would pretend to not receive so they wouldn’t have to pay out a claim. We were not able to make any claims on the damaged and missing items, despite me spending a good 6 hours on the claims process before realizing it was futile.
I have never felt so victimized. I deeply regret doing business with International Van Lines, and to this day - six months later - am finding new damage and missing items from the move.
Response from Van Lines & MovingJan 12, 2024
Hi Dylan,
I read your review and see that you clearly had a bad experience moving with IVL. I want to apologize sincerely, and I will have a manager take a deep dive into your claims so we can do our best to correct them. I will have a manager contact you immediately, and we will rectify the situation.