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United Van Lines Moving

4.5 Stars (13 Reviews)
Updated: January 19, 2023
By: Jonathan Trout
Jonathan Trout
Content Manager
Jonathan is a former product and content manager for Retirement Living. His background spans sales/marketing, finance, and telecommunications. Jonathan’s expertise in consumer wellness and research-backed data stories helped educate seniors on financial planning, retirement, and community resources. Jonathan graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Environmental Sociology.
Content Manager
Edited By: Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith
Sr. Content Manager
As Retirement Living’s senior content manager, Jeff oversees the product and publishing of all retirement, investing, and consumer wellness content on the site. His extensive expertise in brand messaging and creating data-driven stories helps position Retirement Living as a top authority for senior content and community resources.
Sr. Content Manager

United Van Lines

Editorial Breakdown

Coverage Area 4.3 Stars
Easy Quotes 4.3 Stars
Price 4.1 Stars
Ease of Purchase 4.1 Stars

Overall Rating 4.2 Stars

Bottom Line

United Van Lines offers over eight types of moving services with the goal of lightening your load on your moving day. Check out our top recommendations for long-distance movers buy clicking the link below.

United Van Lines Review

With 90 years of in the moving business, United Van Lines has become one of the most experienced moving companies in the United States. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, United Van Lines’ nearly 5,000 drivers have traveled almost 135 billion miles. That experience combined with extensive knowledge about every aspect of a move is part of what has made United Van Lines one of the top-rated moving companies in the United States since 1992.

The full service moving company is one of the largest in the United States with over 7,500 trucks. The organization is made up of more than 400 independently-owned agencies that affiliate under the United banner for access to centralized support and resources. They offer moving services for local and long-distance interstate moves, international moves, and also operate a nationwide auto transport program.

Depending on the moving service you need, there are also various a la carte options offered by United Van Lines that make your move as uncomplicated as possible. Some of these options include:

  • Packing
  • Storage
  • Home cleaning (for your old home or your new one)
  • Comprehensive protection plans
  • Electronics service and installation
  • Real estate services through a partnership with CityPointe® Real Estate Service

These additional offerings can be added to your moving contract individually or bundled in one of five packages to save you both time and money.

Pros

  • United Van Lines has a proven track record spanning nearly 100 years
  • Their comprehensive website answers nearly any question you have
  • You can get an instant online quote with no personal information or having to call to speak to a salesperson

Cons

  • Hundreds of authorized agents across the U.S. can lead to some confusion on packing and unpacking procedures between agencies

How to Get a Quote from United Van Lines

You start the quote process with five steps to get a general estimate of what your move will cost. Visit United Van Lines’ website and enter the following:

  1. Enter the zip codes of the originating city and the receiving city.

  2. Select the type of home (studio, apartment or house) you are currently living in.

  3. Select the number of bedrooms.

  4. Enter the move date.

  5. Get the estimated initial quote.

We tried the quote tool on the website and received an estimated cost for a move from South Carolina to Georgia (approximately 250 miles) for a one-bedroom apartment. The estimate was $1,900 if you pack everything to $2,400 if you have United Van Lines do the packing.

United Van Lines Screenshot

United Van Lines Services

The quote specifies that the actual cost will vary based on different factors such as the moving dates and times, actual weight vs. the estimated weight of your belongings, total distance of the move and any unanticipated transportation and storage services. Any additional service or protection options you select such as supplemental insurance or clean up service will add to the cost of the quote. To determine how much coverage you need, see the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s tips for understanding the valuation of what you ship.

If you decide to move with United Van Lines, request a firm quote, and an agent will come to your home to survey your belongings to estimate their size and weight. The agent will then go over packing, protection and service options to help create a customized moving package that will fit your needs as well as your budget.

United Van Lines Local Moves

Your final estimate includes the calculation of local, residential moving quotes according to United Van Lines’ federally-registered moving tariff. Your rate depends on a combination of mileage, weight, time-frame and any extra services you select.

United Van Lines Long-Distance Moves

For interstate moves, the transportation charges depend on the actual weight of goods once your shipment is loaded onto a truck and weighed, and the distance between your old home and your destination. It’s a good idea to compare rates from multiple companies when considering any move but especially long-distance moves.

United Van Lines Costs

Packages from United Van Lines
Package Cost Services Included Extra Choices
Essentials $195 $5,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
No extras included
Plus 1 $395 $25,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
Increased Destination Waiting Time
Select one of the following:
Destination Debris Pickup
PC and Network Disassembly
PC and Network Setup
Home Theater Stand Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Stand Mount Setup
Home Theater Wall Mount Disassembly
Plus 2 $595 $25,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
Increased Destination Waiting Time
Additional Delay Payment
Select two of the following:
Destination Debris Pickup
PC and Network Disassembly
PC and Network Setup
Home Theater Stand Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Stand Mount Setup
Plus 3 $795 $25,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
Increased Destination Waiting Time
Additional Delay Payment
Select three of the following:
Destination Debris Pickup
PC and Network Disassembly
PC and Network Setup
Home Theater Stand Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Stand Mount Setup
Home Theater Wall Mount Disassembly
Move-Out Cleaning Service
Plus 4 $1,195 $30,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
Increased Destination Waiting Time
Additional Delay Payment
Select four of the following:
Destination Debris Pickup
PC and Network Disassembly
PC and Network Setup
Home Theater Stand Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Stand Mount Setup
Move-Out Cleaning Service
Move-In Cleaning Service
Home Theater Wall Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Wall Mount Setup
Plus 5 $1,395 $30,000 Additional Valuation Protection
Gold Standard Protection®
Claim Assistance
Identity Theft Protection
Increased Destination Waiting Time
Additional Delay Payment
Select five of the following:
Destination Debris Pickup
PC and Network Disassembly
PC and Network Setup
Home Theater Stand Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Stand Mount Setup
Move-Out Cleaning Service
Move-In Cleaning Service
Home Theater Wall Mount Disassembly
Home Theater Wall Mount Setup

United Van Lines International Moves

United Van Lines offers international moving services to over 180 countries. Their highly trained international move team will be there every step of the way and can provide information about travel, language, customs and even culture, to prepare you for your adventure abroad. Their visa and immigration services help make sure that your paperwork is all in order and their family relocation assistance is top notch.

United offers options, pet transportation and school assistance where a liaison helps you find the best schools in your new location. Settling-in services include area orientations, utility connections and finding the right bank.

United Van Lines Complaints

United Van Lines’ customers run the gambit from love to very dissatisfied, mostly depending on the local agent company used for the move. Those in the love category frequently use words like “excellent,” “professional,” “courteous” and “friendly” to describe the agents, coordinators, and movers. For those with less favorable experiences, stories of late deliveries and miscommunications seem to be at the forefront.

Some customers have reported that procedures, such as the color coding system used on boxes, vary between agents making it difficult to know which room your boxes should go into at the destination.

  • Burke, an independent research company, monitors customer satisfaction surveys filed on United Van Lines. Their overall customer satisfaction rating is 4.22 out of 5 stars based on 20,078 customer surveys completed in the last 12 months.

  • Better Business Bureau gives an A+ rating to UniGroup, Inc., the parent company of United Van Lines, with a composite score of 3.68 out of 5 stars.

  • American Moving & Storage Association awarded United Van Lines with a Fleet Safety Award, which recognizes overall safety, improvement in safety, and creativity and leadership in safety program design, in the Over 50 Million Miles category.

  • Yelp shows 1.5 stars with 56 reviews. To their credit, a United Van Lines agent responded to roughly 9 out of 10 negative reviews asking for direct contact so they can resolve the issues reported.

United Van Lines Q&A

  • When should I schedule my visual survey and in-home estimate?
    Ideally, these steps should be taken no less than eight weeks before your move.

  • When should I start packing for an interstate move?
    Determine what items you will dispose of five weeks before you move, then start packing boxes no later than three weeks before moving day to give yourself plenty of time to get prepared.

  • United Van Lines

  • Is there anything I should not pack for my move?
    Hazardous or perishable items such as aerosol cans, ammunition, cleaning solvents, fertilizer and fuels/oils can’t be boxed up and shipped with your load. If you aren’t sure if something falls into either category, talk to a representative.

  • If there is any loss or damage to my belongings, how long do I have to file a claim?
    After delivery, by law, you have nine months to report any problems to the moving company and file a written claim. The mover then has 30 days to acknowledge receipt of your complaint and within 120 days of receiving it, they must either make an offer to pay your claim or deny it.

  • Once in my new home, what is the first room I should unpack?
    United Van Lines suggests that you start unpacking in the kitchen to make sure that you can eat the first night in your new home. However, if you need rest more than dinner after your move, start with the bedroom and bathroom.

Conclusion

United Van Lines offers more services than any other moving company we have found, and their nearly 100-year history means they have a significant amount of experience in the industry. They can handle any size move to almost any location in a professional manner.


13 United Van Lines Reviews

Write Review
1 Star

October 06 2021 11:42PM

We moved from St. Louis, MO to Minnetonka, MN. It took 15 days for our furniture to arrive. It was loaded onto a truck at our home and we believed it would go from there to MN. It went back to a storage where it was unloaded.

They told us they didn’t have drivers, then they told us that there wasn’t room on a truck going through St.Louis to Minnesota.

Eventually they moved our furniture again onto a pod (third move) and the pod was shipped via freight to Minnesota where it was unloaded again and put in another truck to our new place where it was unloaded (our belongings have now been moved five times).

Virtually every piece of wood furniture was scratched, dented, marred. Our new white sofa that is less than a year old had black smudges across one end. They must have out it in its end at some point and the wrapping blankets came loose.

We have been calling for two weeks now and have not gotten a return call from their customer care representative but the paperwork says not to do any repairs until approved by the company. The sofa needs to be cleaned but we can’t move forward.

I am so saddened by the damage to the Ethan Allen wood pieces. They will never be the same. Do Not Hire This Company. We paid thousands to have our furniture ruined.

Jane W.
Minnetonka, MN
2 Stars

June 22 2021 7:33PM

We moved from LA to Southern Florida. We had a full pack done, no complaints, however, the day they were to pick up our stuff there was a no show, called the local agent Beverly Hills moving and storage. He said "Oh he the last to know."

This was an issue as we were flying out the next day to Florida. They arrange a truck to show up the next day so had to have my building manager to oversee the movers. They were late 15 days in delivery so we filed a claim for late delivery. Which they paid us $1500.00.

They also broke two pieces of furniture so they paid us $475.00. It's important to take photos of all furniture prior to the move and after it has arrived otherwise they won't honor your claim.

When they delivered our stuff 70 plus boxes plus furniture you are required to sign off on the delivery affirming all items were received. DON'T SIGN OFF ON FORM, assuming the everything was delivered.

You go through the roster list which can be numerous pages of carbon copies. Some pages not legible of all your boxes plus furniture. I would also suggest opening all the boxes as well to see the contents.

Even if it takes hours or days to go through do not sign off until you are satisfied. They delivered all your possessions. The driver may not be non too happy but too bad.

I assumed they delivered everything so signed the forms. 4 days later I discovered they did deliver all my items.

Notified all involved, filed a claim for lost items, they denied the claim stating because it was not notated on the roster at time of delivery they will not reimburse for any loss.

Warning if you have any sentimental items, or items that cannot be replaced you're better off packing the items in your luggage or FedExing them to your new location. Filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau. All they did was file a statement stating I was "Not Satisfied".

Ken Z.
LA To Florida, FL
1 Star

September 17 2020 9:53PM

I am assisting my parents with their retirement move from Colorado to Florida along with all of my personal possessions until I move out of the country for a job.

Very unfortunately at my own expense, at least $5000 of new unused tags attached designer premium denim and high end clothing I paid top dollar to have a renowned seamstress now out of state alter.

Uniforms I persevered and worked a minimum of twelve hour days to earn and all of my intimates lingerie box gone through and stolen. I packed a box with all new unused tags attached designer clothing that is missing and now stolen.

I packed my own large box of personal intimate apparel and all of the new tags attached lingerie I have saved and work incredibly hard for for over two years to acquire and save are stolen out of the box which is beyond deranged, evil, repulsive, cruel, gross, and disgusting.

I called the sales rep and he was beyond rude and dismissive like this is some kind of joke and claims has failed to resolve what has literally been stolen away from me.

Among the items stolen are uniforms I persevered for over a year to earn that are now discontinued that I can never replace or replicate.

Literally what I worked so incredibly hard for to acquire and save for are stolen along with my uniforms that bare sentimental value beyond measure. This is beyond heart breaking and I can never get back what I earned on my own through hard work and dedication.

Not to mention the fact that at both residences every mover uses bathrooms every ten to fifteen minutes which is beyond suspicious as to what they are actually doing in your personal spaces, especially in covid era.

When I tried to enter my bedroom of the house I was moving out of, both doors and the door to the bathroom were locked and I had to ask why all doors were closed and what they were doing in my room full of boxes that are now stolen.

Please be advised that your personal intimate items and boxes will be gone through and or stolen away from you along with sentimental items that are irreplaceable. It is such a shame that I will never get back my uniforms and all new items I worked for and saved for two years.

Meg F.
Englewood, FL
1 Star

July 09 2020 2:25PM

So far it has taken 15 days to get our stuff from NYC to Atlanta, Ga. Belongings are supposed to get delivered outside of promised window. Communication has been extremely poor. The company always has a difficult time getting in touch with the driver.

On a Monday I was told the driver was in my state, but the next day the driver called (to tell me his car broke down.. for a second time) and he was not in my state yet.

I was given a delivery window of 8-10 am today. It is now 10:25 with no truck (no one called to say they were running late. I called office and now they “won’t be here” until 11:15.. I will never use this company again.

Betsy B.
New York, NY
2 Stars

November 11 2019 3:36AM

Definitely not a good experience with United Van Lines, which seems to echo many of the reviews I see here. They did not communicate well about a delay that caused our stuff to be late and we had to shuffle quite a few things around to be available when it did show up. Then some stuff was damaged and they acted as though it were our fault. We were eventually compensated for it, but not without putting up a fight and waiting quite some time.

We'd previous used a company called A1 Auto Transport to move across the country and wish we'd used them this time. None of the same issues and they had to move a car in addition to all our furniture! I plan on using them for any future moves just to avoid the headache.

Ryan F.
Tucson, AZ
1 Star

January 21 2019 7:57PM

Do not use them. This was our 10 corporate move so we are no strangers to moving. We had one disaster after another. They crack our big screen tv, our 2 year old refrigerator came filled with mold and all tracks were rusted. Some of our things were not wrapped, we received a box of smelly trash which was not ours. We have never in all the times had so many things broken to the tune of 4000$$ dollars plus the refrigerator 4500$ and a 1200$ TV. Customer Service has been horrible. I have had to contact they over and over to get reimbursement which I have done but it was a full time job dealing with these people. Worst experience ever!

Kate C.
Kansas City, MO
1 Star

December 27 2018 8:10PM

We moved to Tx by them and was way under the weight allowed but when moved back our weight somehow doubled according to them. We even moved some of the stuff in a Uhaul ourselves so they really over charged us because we had to pay out of pocket for the overage. Then I told them we had only added a few things and he said you moved x Amount of boxes there and it was like 4 times more boxes moving back. I have opened several boxes and some only have like a hat in them or just a few items. I even opened one that had an empty box of mine in it. I mean really people. So watch closely and they dropped our mattress off the Trk here and while loading I heard them drop something down the stairs and when I ask them the smiles and said they didn’t. Of course most didnt speak English. Grrrr!!! If we are told a large Amy of weight this time then we will hire our own movers. Ridiculous.

Teresa A.
1 Star

November 20 2018 6:45PM

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!!!

Anna C.
1 Star

October 14 2018 9:55AM

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!

Peggy S.
1 Star

September 22 2018 10:12PM

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.

Leigh J.