Complaint Review: #1 Van LInes

This was my first experience with a cross state moving company and #1 Van Lines.

At this point, I am not looking for compensation.  This whole experience has been a nightmare and the amount of effort that will have to go into filing this claim for every item they carelessly broke isn’t worth the pennies I may receive from them. 

This company should not be able to get away with this type of service.  From giving bogus estimates, to a lack in customer service, a lack of transparency, lack of communication, adding on fees once they have your items in their possession, and just the clear NEGLIGENCE of care for peoples belongings. 

I wish I knew what I know now about the moving industry and this company.  I clearly did not do my homework and was naïve to think I could just trust people to move my belongings.  I know I am not the only one who has been taken advantage of.  I just want to help be one of the last. 

Here is a recap of my terrible experience with #1 Van Lines.

Began:  June 5  

With a phone call from Errol, who claimed to be an employee of #1 van lines, not a broker.  Later I was told he WAS a broker and what he told me about a delivery date was not accurate.

Errol called as a follow up of an online search for a moving company.  We discussed what I had that needed to be moved and he assured me that 300 cu ft would be plenty for my “full 8x10x6 sq ft storage unit.” I did not know that if I go over that allotted space I pay double per cubic sq foot on site. 

I asked him to email me the contract so I could review it and get back to him.  He said he would wait on the phone, as this quote was time sensitive.  He emailed me the contract, so as I sat in a parking lot on my phone I flipped through pages of a contract, feeling rushed to read and get back to him. 

I agreed to the contract and gave him my credit card number over the phone to secure that great price. 

Ironically, my credit card was used for fraudulent online purchases that night.   I had to then go through the hassles of canceling my credit card.  Coincidence? 

I went back and forth with Errol and other reps trying to figure out when the pick up would be. 

June 17

I spoke with a #1 van lines representative, Daniel Contrareas, and decided my original estimate of space needed on the truck was not enough.  So I added another 100 cu ft.  I paid the extra money on June 17. 

I ended up going over my 400 cu ft allotment by about 100 cubic sq. ft.  Supposedly. 

June 19

After many attempts contacting #1 Van lines trying to determine the time and date of pick up in MA, they finally arrived. 

The driver threw a bunch of paper work at me to sign.  He didn’t answer questions I had about the liability options – he just insisted I choose the .60 cents replacement.  “Everyone does it.” He said.  They wouldn’t start moving things until I signed, so I felt rushed and uncertain about what I was signing, because they wanted to get started.  I regret that decision not to sign up for full replacement value protection.  I  didn’t fully understand and he did not explain it to me. 

He took inventory off all items – although it wasn’t until we unloaded the items I realized he marked items twice.  Making it seem like I had more on paper then what I actually had.  Easier to justify increasing the cu. Ft perhaps? 

There was little care taken of “fragile” items. When a heavy box of books was placed on top of a box labeled fragile I said something to the mover, who just smirked and removed the heavy box.  That clearly did not matter to him or anyone who moved my boxes from that point on. 

When he came to me for payment, he told me I owed for the extra 100 cu ft. ($480 –he gave me a $50 discount), a long carry charge ($150), a fuel surcharge ($168), and a booking fee ($269). 

My original quote of $1100 was a joke.  The quote that they assured me included everything.  But now all of my belongings are on a truck, I didn’t think I had an option to not pay.  So I wrote a check for $845.  He wanted the long carry charge in cash – I gave him $100 because that is all I had in cash. 

He couldn’t tell me when it would be delivered. I expressed my date constrictions, etc.  No one told me there was an option for Premium Guaranteed Service.  Once Errol sold me on 3-5 days for delivery I assumed that would be the case.  I was very wrong.

My items took off on the truck on June 19 and I didn’t see it again until July 7.  I was never told my items would be transferred from multiple trucks or a warehouse before it would arrive to me in NC.   

June 22

Driver told me he dropped items at warehouse in NJ. 

Spoke with Julia B – Still no delivery date set.  Didn’t have delivery address in system.  It was noted that I am leaving town June 26.  3-5 day delivery was just an estimate from Broker Company – not a #1 van lines guarantee.

No shipment date set.  Items not in route.

June 23

Emailed with Julia – received confirmation of having drop off address.

Spoke with Customer Service – can’t help with tracking, so they told me to go to movingclaims.com

Emailed with Julia.

Spoke with Julia again and asked for location of NJ warehouse.  I would come and pick it up with my own truck. 

Transferred to Customer Service Rep when all of a sudden my items were in route.  But they could not tell me when they would be arriving.

No managers were available to speak with.

And I could not speak with dispatch.

Driver said he spoke with dispatch for me.  They would be in touch.  No one got in touch.

June 24

Customer Service Rep – still no delivery date set.  Although because of the notation on my file that I would be out of town as of June 26, they should take that into consideration and should not have to pay the fees.   I expressed that I would be traveling a lot and would need to coordinate with friends to be available to meet the movers while I was away.  They just told me dispatch would call 24-48 hours prior to let you know. 

Gave up calling. 

Tuesday, June 7

Received a call at 9:30 am from driver.  They would be delivering my stuff and they were 45 min away.

At 10:30 I called them to make sure they had the correct address.  He couldn’t tell me what address he had or what was put into the GPS.  Wasn’t even sure what state they were in.  The conversation sounded like a joke.  He said they were now “like an hour and 40 away. “

I sent them the address and asked for a return text telling me their ETA.

The new ETA was now 12:40. 

I called and texted around 12 to confirm.  No response.

They arrived at 12:45. Shocking.

There was no 24-48-window call from dispatch.  I was given 45 min, and then told one hour and forty minutes, and then 2 hour+ from the time of the first call from the driver. 

Would I have had to pay the $150  “wait” fee if I was unavailable? Most likely yes.  If I wasn’t available that day I could have had to pay a $500 “re-delivery” fee. 

Luckily, this was one of the two days I was actually home in between work travel. 

Unloading:

They opened the back door of the truck and I thought for sure my items were going to fall out.  I have video to prove it. Had they opened the other side door, a wall of my things would have come crashing down.  They stopped and opened the side door and dropped other people’s belongings out onto the ground in order to get their dollies and blankets. 

I was in shock over the way my items were clearly just thrown into the truck. 

Boxes labeled “Fragile” were smashed.  Heavy duty, plastic bins were cracked in half and just destroyed–thus the items inside were missing and broken, my bike frame was bent and brakes were not attached, boxes were smashed, my antique table legs broken, antique lamp broken, plates smashed, the list goes on and on. 

This was not just subtle damage from moving.  This was GROSS NEGLIGENCE.

The movers couldn’t even look me in the eyes because of the way my items were coming off the truck.  They assured me it “wasn’t them” it was the guys who loaded the truck up.  They just unload. I asked how many times did my items get touched/ moved.  They said,  “At least 3 or 4 times from MA to NC.”!!!! 

There were so many boxes damaged and items broken that I couldn’t go through it all while they were there.  I signed off on the inventory sheets by saying “there are too many damages to list them all at this time.”  As I continue to go through boxes, more and more items items then I even originally thought are damaged. 

I started the filing process with movingclaims.net in August.  I received no additional materials.  I called them again at the end of September; they told me that my information was never sent and that it should have been.  They would resend.  They did not.  I called back again at the end of October to make sure they had the correct address on file, they did.  I am still waiting for paperwork to arrive.  But I did get an email with some documents to fill out. 

As I said before, I don’t have the time or energy to file the claim of every item they broke to then only receive .60 cents per pound.   I have put reviews online up about them, but they some how get removed.  This company is awful and should be held accountable for their negligence.