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  • Report:  #1300827

Complaint Review: American Van Lines - Pompano Beach Florida

Reported By:
Kella - Wichita, Kansas, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:

American Van Lines
1351 NW 22nd Street Pompano Beach, 33069 Florida, USA
Phone:
954-318-1246
Web:
americanvanlines.com
Categories:
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We got several estimates from several moving companies when we were moving from Kansas City MO to Wichita KS, our company gave us a budget and American Van Lines came in right at that budget....buyer beware mistake number one...we questioned the weight greatly knowing the average household have 15,000 lbs and they estimated us to be 11,326 with a full gym of 2000 lbs of weight in our basement! The day the movers showed up, #1. they were Ukrainian and could not speak English! I flat out told them my house would not fit in their tiny little truck. We ensued a 2 hour delay contacting their company (yep we were contracted out to a po dunk company with a broken down truck to say the least, API was the company) and attempting to contact our agent at AVL to let them know this was a big joke! We were flat out told we had no options, no other vehicles available so we would have to make two trips! Mistake #2. Begrudgingly agreeing to this nonsense! The movers were grossly negligent. They damaged our home, which was at that point under contract to be sold to another person. We paid out of pocket to repair everything so we would not be delayed in closing. They did not wrap our things as we were told they were going to before they moved anything! Most of our furniture was damaged, some to the point we can no longer use it even though we followed instructions on taping drawers shut etc, my dresser was broken. Half the drawers cannot be used because they were completely busted even though they were taped properly and remained shut. The movers unwrapped our items before they got off the truck, they were dragging items into a brand new home where again our home which had just literally been completed by the builders was damaged to floors, walls, outside siding etc. They even hired some jail bird guys from a temp agency to come help move things into the home. One of those men was carrying our safe in and said "this is heavy, what do you keep in here?" (EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!) This was in the first two days...then we headed back to Kansas City for the second trip, again more damage to the old house by dragging items, damage to the items because of being dragged and thrown around and not wrapped at all. This is when I found out that the blankets being used were so nasty leaving a coat of residue ON EVERYTHING and making it all smell of smoke and nastiness. Just dirty, the driver of the API moving company had a dog who was sitting on said blankets and I literally watched this dog walk to the edge of the blanket and pee on it! It of course was then used! They smoked in the back of the truck with our things in it and we are highly sensitive to smoke! They fought the whole time in their language, complained about our stuff (mind you they didn't pack any boxes, we packed up our boxes ahead of time) and how much we had. When they weighed the truck empty the first day it was 9,000 lbs when they weighed it the second trip empty it somehow gained 5,000? The first trip was so bad and the second time around moving things out of the house was so bad and damaging we made them unload everything into our garage in the brand new home because we could not have any more damage done! We managed to move everything from the garage into the home with NO ISSUES at all. Upon turning in the damage claims we waited two months for any response, and I finally reached out to AVL who stated they had 120 days. This move was completed in September and we are now at 152 days for our claim, they wanted to slap us a little more by saying our settlement for damage is $1750 TOTAL! I'm going to be contacting DOT, BBB and a lawyer for this. We had to replace our refrigerator because when it got moved in it was not only really damaged on the outside with dents and scratches but it got hot to the point it was a fire hazard, our wood










 floors were scratched in both homes from dragging furniture around and not caring. Funny thing, the boxes that we packed had no damage at all, and thankfully we had already moved our computers and televisions ourselves with no damage! Seriously, please do NOT use this company! They lie, they steal, they talk a good game but they really just don't care. And in the end our move was about $2000 more than they quoted because it was over 11,326 lbs...Imagine that! A four bedroom home weighs more than a studio apartment! I was so flustered the last day we had to deal with the movers that I actually did not stay here because anxiety was so high from all of the damage, and it was my birthday! They will tell you anything to get a sale but they are criminals!






1 Updates & Rebuttals

Owner righted the wrong

#2Author of original report

Sat, April 23, 2016

 I got a call on Thursday April 21, 2016 at 9:00 am from AVL wanting to set up a phone meeting with Anthony Disorbo, the owner. He did call, he and I had a conversation about what took place, and during this converataion I was very hopeful he was shaking his head and maybe a little disgusted by the behavior of the movers. Even though this does reflect back to his company, it was in fact the behavior and actions of the movers, and while ultimately the responsibility is one AVL, I don't believe they want that reputation. He requested to be given time to look over my file so he could do something fair. I was very straightforward and stated, I wanted a call the next day whether he had time to review because I didn't want a call 3 weeks later etc. He stated he would call me Friday about 5 pm if that was okay whether he had time to review everything or not. He did call, and even early! Took the time to review everything from phone calls to pictures and we did reach what we both consider is a fair agreement. He also stated he was wanting to make sure that all movers that go out under his company are trained properly like his own employees. I have read very good reviews and some really bad ones but his own company employed movers do get raving reviews. I believe he will push to implement that standard to the companies that help in busy times. I also think that if training would be refused, he would probably not use them because he does hold pride in his business and doesn't want what we have gone through for 9 months to happen to anyone. It will save a lot of anxiety, stress, and mistrust for his customers, but also help the company have a good overall reputation and lessen claims in the end. Things happen, everyone knows that, and it's understandable. But less will happen in the end if they train movers properly to wrap the items and protect them in movement. I have faith that can be implemented, as I stated. I can give credit to the movers for this, the one irreplacable item we actually had on the truck is an oak/cedar chest that my grandpa made me for my graduation present. I am the only grandchild who has one, and it is not damaged! But I know how moves can go (I have done it plenty of times) so the items I could fit in my car that absolutely have no replacement value and can't ever be replaced went into my vehicle other than the chest.

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