United Van Lines Moving

Submitted on 11/20/2018 by Anna C.

WOW! JUST WOW!!!! My family and I have moved 5 times in the last 11 years. All of these times we have used various moving companies. Our fist experience 11 years ago was with United Van Lines. It was outstanding and everything just shy of being perfect. Since that time we used many other companies as a result of the concern for cost. All of those experiences were decent but pretty much mediocre. This last move was from West Palm Beach to San Antonio. We paid $10K out of our own pocket to have United to move us. They were not the cheapest but our first experience was such a positive one that we wanted to have that same experience again. The packing experience was a JOKE! We were sent 2 packers for a 5 bedroom home (3700+sq ft) that was short on the actual packing supplies and had to have one of the packers leave early in the day to get more and they STILL ran out! After 8pm they simply threw items in boxes without any sort of padding or wrapping. I cannot even tell you how many items were damaged in the move. As items came off the truck we saw item after item damaged. The final straw was when we noticed my husband's MV Agusta damaged. This is a showpiece motorcycle that he had shipped directly from Italy (it's only 1 of 57 in the entire US). We immediately called to let them know that we would have to be putting a claim in on this move (which we have NEVER done in all of our years of moving). We followed every single detail we were told to do to ensure the claim was handled properly. We were told it would take 3-4 weeks to have the claim resolved once it was submitted. We submitted everything on our end June of 2018. Here it is the week of Thanksgiving and we are just getting it settled. That might sound great, however, they have not only denied items (which we expected to some degree) but they are only paying for 1 item that was damaged on the motorcycle. I was SPECIFICALLY told to break down all of the items on the motorcycle since this was such a unique and specialty item and they would handle it as a separate claim even though it was all in the same original claim. NOW I'M BEING TOLD THAT IT WASN'T TO BE BROKEN DOWN AND WAS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE ITEM?!?!?! How is that my fault that I followed your orders??? If I want this resolved I will have to take it to arbitration in order to get the additional couple grand that they destroyed out of my bike and how ever many months this will all take to resolve!!! Trust me - this isn't over! I'm not just rolling over. Arbitration is definitely worth it for all of the hassle and headache they have put me and my family through. We were insured for 80K yet they can't fork over what they screwed up? We are the ones to suffer and we are the ones that will now have to come up with the funds to fix THEIR mistakes and mishandling. And yes, we have pics and documentations for everything so this is by no means fabricated. We will NEVER use United again and I would advise you to do the same!!!

Submitted on 10/14/2018 by Peggy S.

Mergenthaler-United Van Lines (UVL) loaded our belongings on 7/3/17 in Cascade, MT, to be delivered to our storage unit in Aransas Pass, TX in July 2018. On 7/14/17 South Texas Movers-United Van Lines (UVL) (out of Corpus Christi, TX) offloaded our belongings into our storage unit in Aransas Pass, TX. It was a very hot day, and of the four "movers", only one was employed full-time by UVL - the other three were day workers who had never worked for a moving company. Even though we had painstakingly marked fragile and delicate items, the men paid no attention to any of the markings. If we had not been present, they would have stacked multiple boxes of heavy items (i.e., books, etc.) on top of boxes with delicate items (i.e., mounted birds, wood carvings, etc.). The stacked very heavy boxes on top of small wardboxes, causing them lower boxes to collapse over time. We were horrified at how carelessly they handled our possessions, and the haphazard way they "stacked" our furniture and belongings in the storage unit. They were very unprofessional, at best. Due to Hurricane Harvey, which did tremendous damage to our new community of Aransas Pass, TX, the house we were having built took much longer to complete than we had ever imagined. Therefore, we were not able to comply with the 9-month damage reporting requirement of UVL, as we were not able to see the damages until everything was moved into our new house in June 2018. When we were able to do so, we sent a very detailed damage claim with photos to UVL, which was immediately denied, even though it was clear there was significant damages caused by their representatives negligence in handling our possessions. If you are looking for a moving company that will get the things you care about to your new home in good condition - LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Submitted on 09/22/2018 by Leigh J.

We chose United because they offered a "binding estimate" which was sold as something written in stone. Turns out it's not. With a “binding” contract, there are several ways the price can go up. The operations manager of the moving company can decide at the last minute that the van will not be able to park in front of your house, because the road is too narrow, too busy or some other reason. In that case you have to pay for a shuttle van. When the sales rep came out to our house to make the estimate, he determined that our road was wide enough for the van, which was true because we’d moved into the house with the van parked on the road. However, the day before the packers were coming, the sales rep told me that the operations manager had determined, just by looking at Google maps, that our road was too narrow and that it would cost $1200 for the shuttle. I tried in vain to contact the operations manager. Fortunately the packers sent word back that the road was fine, so we didn’t have to pay for the shuttle. So get it in writing that you won’t need a shuttle before you sign the contract. The contract gives you a 5-day time frame in which the van will arrive. The fine print says that the company is required to deliver your goods with “reasonable dispatch.” The definition of “reasonable dispatch” in their literature is the 5-day time frame, but this is a blatant lie. I called the federal agency that oversees moving vans, and the legal definition is 21 business days, which is 30 calendar days! Our van showed up 10 calendar days late. This left us in an empty house with a dog for 10 days. Fortunately we have kind neighbors who loaned us stuff, so we were OK. Your contract gives you $100 per diem, but motels and food cost much more than that. Plan for the worst. Have a contingency plan, pack accordingly and don’t plan anything that can't be cancelled for the month after the van is supposed to come. Most of our goods arrived safely, but several pieces of nice furniture were damaged. The movers wrapped them in blankets but didn’t secure the blankets. When you’re talking with the sales rep, ask her about how furniture is wrapped. Some movers use a huge Saran-like wrap to secure the blankets. Make sure you oversee the movers when they're loading the furniture.

Submitted on 08/28/2018 by Tom A.

Brooks Transfer and Storage is the local affiliate of United Van Lines in Virginia. We used them because of their gloriously long history in the Commonwealth, our realtor's recommendations, and their staff's assurances that we'd have a good move. It was anything BUT good. The move was understaffed (in packing, loading, and unloading), the truck was too small to fit our shipment in it, but somehow they managed to over-stuff it, which resulted many high-dollar and irreplaceable items being damaged, destroyed, dirtied and lost. We paid-up for full replacement value insurance, but the settlement they offered us is not even close to the real costs of making us whole. Retiring to Florida after 40 years in one place was stressful enough, but United and Brooks Transfer made it an even worse nightmare. We wouldn't even recommend them to somebody we don't like!

Submitted on 08/01/2018 by Geri G.

Truck drivers literally THREW my boxes marked fragile off the back of the van on to the street. I yelled at them to stop but it was too late. I did call and complain to the truck owner (?) or whatever role he played but it did no good. Many pieces of glassware were broken and some were not replaceable. I'd never use this company again. I WAS a customer. If there was a rating below 1 star I would have given it that one.

Submitted on 07/30/2018 by Matt B.

The stuff showed up early Sunday morning five days late (24 days after they picked it up), meaning I had to get up early on a Sunday ruining my sleep for the whole week only to find a broken dish and FOUR boxes missing, including my expensive clothes. And they have no answer as to where my stuff is. And my $100 dollars a day compensation ends with the incomplete shipment AND I was told the earliest I will have an update as to where my stuff is is Thursday (today is Monday). So if this is the No. 1 moving company in the country, I suggest no one leave their things in the hands of ANY moving company. So yes, what I am saying is, they deliver our stuff late, they deliver it incomplete and I receive nothing but a message to wait some more. Unreal. This nightmare is never going to end.