Complaint Review: Colonial Van Lines

33069I've lived in 12 different cities and this, by far, was the worst move I've ever experienced.

Where do I begin? Let's start with how Colonial Van Lines roped me into being their "customer" --I use that term loosely because they have THE worst customer service I've experienced. First, Colonial seemed like a good choice: they talked about how they were on par with nationally known moving companies. However, I decided to initially go with a different company because they would charge me less and they were available on the dates that I needed. Colonial Van Lines then called me a few days later, insisting they could provide better service, so I switched over to them.

From that point on, getting a hold of anyone at Colonial Van Lines became a not-so-fun game because I was lucky if I got someone to answer after days of trying.

They did call me though to tell me that although they initially said they could move me at the end of the month, that that was not an option: the best they could do would be the 1st-2nd. It was too late to go with another moving company so I asked to have my lease extend--that was an extra $100.

They informed me that the movers would arrive on the 2nd, between 2 and 5...they showed up on the 1st with--I kid you not--a 30 minute heads up.

Then the movers showed up. It hadn't been 5 minutes since they were inside my apartment that one of them knocks over the big box that says has "fragile" in big bold letters to the ground. That was my TV. Once packed one of them went to weigh the truck.

They inform me that they weighed the truck and it would be an extra thousand or so. It might have been more weight than was originally logged, but an extra thousand? I lived in small 1 bedroom apartment--the estimate shouldn't have been that far off. He then assures me it will be less upon delivery. But wait, it gets better.

Fast forward to me receiving a phone call from an agent at Colonial Van Lines saying that the movers would be arriving on the 7th of November from 2 to 5 PM. Perfect...that's exactly when I plan to be there. But what happens? I'm at a hotel, on the way there, when they call me at 8 AM. The movers are there and they will only wait two hours without charging me an extra fee. They insist that they called me the day before or I should have received an email from Colonial informing me of the time. Neither one of which was true.

At that point, I am in Shreveport, LA trying to get to Austin which is at least a 5 hour drive. If they stick around longer, they'll have to start charging me by the hour.

Livid, I rush out of my hotel and head to Austin. On the way their, a customer service rep--let's call her Ashia--informs me that she did in fact give me the wrong information and the company will reimburse me for the extra time the movers charge. I ask her why she simply can take it off the bill and not charge me the extra money. She says that that's procedure.

Ok, fine--I pay the movers the extra $450 for waiting. Ashia assures me that she has approval from her supervisor and it'll all go through.

Oh, and did I mention that the movers, while they were unloading broke my desk?

So what happened? I've called Colonial Van Lines every day for the past two weeks. It's been two weeks and it's like they're getting paid to ignore my calls! The way I see it, I should get back $550 (the waiting time plus the extended lease fee) plus the cost of the desk. But has anyone reached out? Has anyone answered my voicemails and emails I've sent? NO.

DO NOT GO WITH COLONIAL VAN LINES. THEY WILL INITIALLY SWEET TALK YOU BUT THEN LEAVE YOU HIGH AND DRY.  Really...don't do it. Spare yourself the horrible, unnecessary experience and go with any other company. Really though, any other.