If you have been researching moving companies and have found that
International Van Lines has great on-line reviews. . .
DON'T BE FOOLED!
There are real, honest reviews out there that provide detailed accounts of the horrible things that happened to real people at the hands of IVL. Contrast those reviews with the many short, vague, generic reviews about how great this company is--no doubt written by, well, take a guess.
Read below for actual, unaltered reviews found on sites like the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Advocate, and Yelp.
Note the similarities between their stories and ours.
Also, note the dates of these reviews--all from 2018 and 2019.
I stopped with 20 reviews, just because that seemed like more than enough to make the point. There are many more scathing reviews of IVL out there, but you have to scroll past a lot of fakes to get to them.
Hopefully, my efforts here will aid you in getting to the truth a little more easily.
By Janna C., 2018
"Looks like IVL is paying for good reviews again. They got burned on Yelp for that a while back and I had hoped that would do them in. But beware when all the five stars are about 3 lines long, and the rest of the reviews are 1 stars with actual details, something fishy is going on. We moved back in 2016 and I'm still upset at how poorly they handled it (upset enough to check their rating on BBB when I think about it). They were several hours (i believe it was around 6 hours) late on picking up our things, which put us WAY behind schedule for a cross-country move from Chicago to LA. Then, they were several DAYS late in delivering our stuff - but they kept promising they'd arrive by a certain time. They wouldn't call to say they would be later so we waited around all day - three days in a row, and every day had to call multiple times to find out that they would not, in fact, be making it that day. They "lost" a few of our boxes as well. We were so surprised with so many good reviews online that we could have such a terrible experience. Then we found out they were paying for reviews on Yelp, which I believe amounts to fraud. I can't believe they're still allowed to do business. Maybe you could deal with them for a local move, but never ever ever trust them with anything more than a few blocks."
Howard R., 2018
"WORST MOVING COMPANY EVER. SAVE YOURSELF THE EXPERIENCE, FIND ANOTHER COMANY!! ITS A CHOICE YOU CAN MAKE BEFORE TROUBLE STARTS. Who in this day and age of electronic money transfers ever insisted THAT ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE MADE IN CASH??? I recently contracted with International Van lines to move my Grand Mothers antique furniture from her apartment in Florida to Pa after her passing. While a specific date was specified there was no confirmation and after calling five times with no response on the date specified and recieving no return phone call, we waited. Finally at the end of the day we recieved a call telling us that they would not be there until the following day. They arrived at 1:00 the next day. We were told that the furniture would be picked up in Fla and delivered several days later at our home in Pa and would not be transfered from one truck to a warehouse to another truck but directly to our home, that didn't happen. The furniture was transfered four times. They attemped to bring a 74 foot tractor trailer onto the back country roads near my house and called me to ask if we could accommadate such a vehicle. I was stunded? I wanted to know if anybody took the time to figure that out before he arrived and left it up to me to make that decission. After driving *** the tractor trailer driver around our neighborhood, he decided that it was not possible to make the delivery with his truck or on that day. Day two. *** goes to u-haul to rent a truck and transfer our furniture yet again, costing me an additional $775.00 PAYABLE ONLY IN CASH on Sunday of the Labor day weekend. *** returns with the u-haul and two men that he had hired locally whom he never met before hiring them. *** opens the rear door of this rental and laying on the floor of the truck was the piano, with its broken pedel scratched and dented, and the rest of the furniture throwning into the truck as if it were trash. Rude and inexperienced was the mood of the day, the two hired hands never had any idea that they were moving a piano and had no idea how to go about it, so myself and my neighbor had to assist on a 90 degree day on a hoilday weekend. Having two men in our house that were unknown to anyone was unnerving, come to find out they had STOLEN several hundered dollars from my wife's purse. Lies, no communication, tried to charge us for additional items. CASH ONLY!!! Several minutes after I posted on yelp I recieved a text from customer service expressing concern, I told ***** that there was nothing he could say that would change the way I was treated, or the loss of my Grand Mothers antiques."
Jessica R., 2018
"AWFUL. AWFUL. AWFUL. I have never experienced such a stressful, miserable experience. This company picked up my items from Columbus, OH on June 14 - and today, more than 6 weeks later, I still do not have my items. I have been snapped at by associates, given one sentence responses by dispatch and ignored. I chose this company because of the incredible (and what I thought were legitimate) reviews. I moved from Ohio to San Francisco, CA for a new job and a new chapter of my life, and your company has been it miserable and truly makes me rethink this adventure. It is shameful that this company boast of easy moves and great follow-through - when they provide nothing but stress and a miserable experience. My delivery passed the 21 day mark weeks ago - then a truck broke an axle - and then I was told 5-7 days from last Saturday - but now it's 2-4 days from last Thursday. When does this end and my items are delivered? The associates here are not caring at all that this is CONSTANTLY delayed and that I am living on an air mattress with plastic silverware and without my needed day-to-day activities - they are more focused on the fact that I need to have cash or a postal money order. I feel so helpless and cannot believe that a company would be heartless and so deceptive. I am now looking into hiring legal representation and bringing in the police force. I have cried multiple times when trying to contact someone to help me. There is no follow-up or accountability. I have made 2 out of 3 payments and all of them have cleared - I am paying this company and simply looking for my items to be delivered. I am cancelling plans waiting for the delivery truck to call - only to be told that this is delayed again. I am begging this company to please help me and deliver my items and let me get on with my life."
Stan S., 2018
"International Van Lines picked up my furniture in MA for a move to CA. I was supposed to be delivered withing 2 weeks. We kept calling to get a firm delivery date and we asked them to return our calls. None were returned. We finally got an an email from them today indicating that they hadn't even loaded my shipment and are now stating it might be here in 3 weeks. I called their service center and there was no answer. I finally spoke to a person and he started referring to legal jargon in the contract. Don't use this mover. They are awful."
Albert L., 2018
"Despite what they tell you, International Van Lines does not own their own fleet and drivers. They'll basically contract the pick up and drop off out to whoever so you have no idea what to expect. Also they'll be great until they pick up your stuff, and then you won't hear a word from them. I received my items way after the timeframe they agreed upon initially and my boxes were a wreck when I received it with numerous items broken. The delivery driver also demanded more money than was agreed upon. Do not recommend, go with the bigger names (North American Van Lines, United, etc.)"
Stephen L., 2018
"I used International Van Lines for a move from Richmond, VA to Chicago, IL and the experience was absolutely terrible. There were several incidents where I was lied to, hundreds of dollars of damage were caused to my belongings, they did not deliver within the date I was promised, and there were several other issues. Please read all the other negative reviews before using them. A quick summary of issues is bulleted here, feel free to read about the issues in further detail below. - Sales rep promising a delivery date that the items weren't delivered during - The Manager promising another [later] delivery time that wasn't followed either - Management then communicating several other timeframes that weren't met - Movers created hundreds of dollars of damage to multiple items - Management saying that the delivery will be leaving on one day on a truck by itself, then the movers informed me that items actually left the warehouse multiple days later with several other loads - The office/"customer service" rarely picks up their phone and likely blocks you if you call consistently trying to find out where your items are - Movers up-charging above the "Binding" contract after poorly packing and not disassembling items in order to increase the number of boxes needed [Note: the contract says they disassemble and reassemble basic furniture which they did not do] - Movers/packers showed up late [after rescheduling 2x] and weren't prepared for the move / didn't have all the materials they needed to pack the items - Truck drivers being dishonest and saying they are headed your way when they are not - also communicating incorrect "expected" delivery times I contracted with Justin on 6/8 after receiving a guarantee that my items would be delivered between 7/15-7/19. Justin added in a new line to the contract calling out "Delivery between 7/15-7/19." He said the new line item superseded the clause noting that that would be only the first attempt. The pickup dates were set for 6/28-6/30. I called on 6/25 to find out the pickup date and had to leave a voicemail as IVL rarely picked up their phones when I called the offices. I received a voicemail on 6/26 saying the movers were going to be there on 6/28. I was then informed that they weren't going to be able to pick everything up until 9-11AM on 6/30. The pickup time was changed again the next day to 3-5PM on 6/30. They showed up later than the window and didn't even provide an excuse as to why they were late. Upon the late arrival, the moving team did not have all the boxes and wrapping materials they needed for the move. One of the movers had to leave to pick up the materials needed for the "Full Packing" of a studio size apartment [what was contracted]. Additionally, the movers packed the boxes with excess paper and didn't disassemble basic items [in the contract], causing extra boxes to be added to the inventory, which they then charged extra for. The real issue arose when delivery was supposed to occur. After calling to find out what day I should plan to meet the movers in Chicago (on 7/11), I was told the delivery dates were not guaranteed and that there "must have been some miscommunication." I was then told to talk to Sean who was the manager. After several calls, I was able to connect with Sean on Friday (7/13) over the phone. Sean told me that my items would be leaving Atlanta that Saturday and would be delivered during the time frame in the contract. On 7/15, Sean then "promised" that my items would "be there no later than the 19th" via email. The movers did not show up during that timeframe. After multiple calls into IVL, I recognized my number was being ignored by the staff. I then called from another cell phone and they immediately picked up. I then connected with Sean on his cell phone and he said that the shipment was on its way, in a truck by itself, heading directly to my apartment. He provided the driver, Dario's, number to check on the delivery time. Dario noted that he would be arriving by 12pm CT on 7/20. At 11:50AM Dario then informed me that they had to make a detour to pick up a different truck but were 7 miles away and would be there around ~2PM. I was later told there were 3 loads on the truck and they were loading mine on a different truck. Additionally, I was told that everything was loaded Wednesday night instead of the previous Saturday like I was told. Eventually, a Penske truck pulled up to my building after 3PM. Upon delivery, the movers broke the glass front to a TV stand, scratched up a desk, and broke a tall lamp. Additionally, as items were unloaded, the movers dinged up the walls in my new apartment. Lastly, the two movers pulled a bike out of the truck that was not mine and I had to tell them to keep it. This move was incredibly disappointing, but the dishonesty and lack of organization from IVL were what truly made the move terrible."
Tiffany J., 2018
"1 star is generous, but unfortunately there wasn't an option for no stars. Out of all of the various services (including moving) I have ever used, International Van Lines tops one of the WORST EXPERIENCES EVER. I was assured by **** that my move from NYC to Miami would arrive within 5-7 calendar days (the ONLY reason I chose this company seeing as though I was 8 months pregnant at the time of my move)- the move finally arrived 8 business days later...big difference. When myself or my husband would call to get an update on the move, on the rare occasion someone answered their phone, we were told by both **** and his assistant ***** they would call us by within a hour- NOBODY EVER RETURNED OUR CALLS...EVER only until we were given a 12 hour heads up they were arriving. On the same note of non-communication, I also updated my inventory list to ***** prior to the move, again with no response, and the movers arrived with an incorrect moving list- all of which equated to an additional over $800 in moving costs (apparently a few extra boxes is worth that amount). The moral of the story- DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE, THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST."
Doreen H., 2018
"Unreliable, dishonest, rude, inaccurate. They promise anything to get your business and then lose interest. The move cost more than the estimate, and the delivery was later than promised. The "customer service" function was nonexistent - it took multiple calls and emails to get any results and then they essentially blamed me for all their errors. Stay far away from this company."
Wayne W., 2018
"Had a contract with International Van Lines(IVL) to move our household goods in Jan. 2018. Initial contact with ****(estimator) was the ONLY positive part of the experience, other than the account manager, concerning a refund. Once we signed contract, it was almost impossible to talk directly with anyone- calls went to voicemail with email as a response. The day before our move, truck driver(Not an IVL employee-they subcontracted with American Knight-barely a 2 star rated company, without advising me) called and said he would be at least 6 hours late and would call Friday, 5 Jan., our scheduled moving day. He called at noon from 400 miles away advising that he would not be arriving until Saturday AND that he had a partial load on his truck. Told him our home was 5300 sq. feet and he advised that there was no way our goods would fit in his truck. I called ****, who informed me that the driver could not make that assessment without being in our house and told me he would get back to me. NEVER called back. Driver showed up Saturday at noon(36 hours late) with NO packing materials and started negotiating pay for the three non-company packers who arrived an hour before the driver. Told me that they would all be at the house at 6:30 am Sunday, after offloading the partial load that afternoon. At 4 pm, driver called on his way to Oregon and said that American Knight had cnx our contract. Called **** and *****, our moving co-ordinator, multiple times Saturday-they don't work weekends-apparently NO one does at IVL. Dispatcher would not return calls either. Cost me my $1100 snowblower, as penance to new homeowners, for being in THEIR home. I would give IVL 0 stars, if it were an option. I would not believe ANYTHING this company tells you. Worst communication skills/process I have ever experienced. Luckily, I have ALL the emails documenting this experience and will likely see them in small claims court about replacing my snowblower. GRRRRRRR"
Paul C., 2018
"This place is a broker that supposedly has great reviews that subleted our move to a company that destroyed some of our stuff took almost a month and barely paid us anything for the damaged items. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY"
Trudy C, 2019
"Very bad experience. They quoted me an amount to move my stuff and then when they arrived to pick it up told me it was too big and I had to pay more. We specified we couldn't take delivery before the closing date on our house. They called us several days before that date and said "we're here to deliver your furniture!" So then they stored our furniture and wouldn't give us a delivery date. They kept saying that they had up to 2 weeks to get us a delivery date. And since we were out of state, that became a big problem. It was especially annoying b/c we knew the furniture was stored 2 miles from our new house. When we finally did get our furniture - which required lots of arguing and telephone calls - it arrived broken. We got $100 for damage to a $1500 brand new recliner. The people my husband spoke with were down right rude. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY."
Ginny J, 2019
"Worst move ever. They showed up a day late to pack, packed our stuff on the truck without adequate padding around the furniture, so that many pieces got broken, got our stuff mixed up with another shipment on the same truck, the driver went incommunicado and showed up a day late, then arrived without enough people to unload, hired local movers to help (who thankfully were good), threw our furniture into the mud and onto the driveway."
Vonda M, 2019
"READ YOU contract!!! If it's not in the contract, it doesn't matter what the agent told you or wrote in an e-mail. My shipment was underestimated by 52%. Agent miss led me on some things and lied about others. (I have an e-mail from him) I was told the shipment : - would not be sub contracted out, it was - would stay on the original truck until its destination, it was transferred at least three times - delivery date would be given to me at the time of the pick up, it was not also when the truck arrived for the pick up the driver said the cost would be 52% higher then the binding estimate (the only additional item added was 1 yard rake) - 6 pieces where never tagged and were not listed on the inventory - a packer put a heavy metal object in the same box as a fragile piece of pottery, the pottery broke- I made a "claim" which was forwarded to another person who forwarded to another person who forwarded it to the subcontractor. No compensation or ward from the sub-contractor yet, its been 18 days. - the shipping boxes looked like someone played kickball with them"
Vinnie C., 2019
"this company has a C rating w/ the bbb, dont understnad why theyre rated so highly here, they also have 2 stars on yelp. They destroyed all my stuff and the prices nearly tripled, whats the hype about?"
T, 2018
"Please find another moving company. Do yourself that one favor. This company will do anything to get your business, all ethics aside. Once the moving company shows up, you're stuck. They'll stick you with a higher and expected bill and there's no way out. You have to move because that's the day you have to be out. And they make sure you understand that if you don't pay, your furniture will be unloaded. And there's no talking with IVL people once the moving company is there. IVL claims ignorance and they'll get back to you. They push you off until end of day so they can go home. So I say again, you're stuck paying whatever they hijack you for. No choice."
George S, 2018
"IVL moved my home contents from Georgia to Texas and it was one giant nightmare. To begin, they showed up on time to load my goods and after loading 3/4 of the house, they said that I must have made a mistake which caused them to underestimate. The would not load the remaining goods unless I signed a new contract and gave them additional money. They showed up at the new location 2 days late. Then they insisted on cash money for the remaining contract. They would not accept a cashiers check. The broke or lost over 40 items. and would only reimburse me based on weight. That means that a cinder block broken in the shipment would be worth about 100 times the value of a Gold necklace. I figure the loss was about $3,000 and they would offer me $600 and required me to sign a confidentiality agreement. You should stay as far away from this company as possible."
H.L. A, 2018
"October 19, 2018 Mr. Joshua Morales, President and C.E.O. International Van Lines 3957 NW 126th Avenue Coral Springs, FL 33065 VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION / CERTIFIED MAIL RE: MOVING FRAUD (INTER / INTRA-STATE) REF. NO. M4025866 Dear Mr. Morales: I am writing to expose, denounce and demand accountability of your company’s fraudulent and extortionist business practices. When I engaged International Van Lines (“IVL”), on or about September 27, 2018 to move my personal belongings from the Chicago area to South Florida, I was motivated by your “Code of Ethics” (published on your Website: http://internationalvanlines.com/code-of-ethics/), the fact that your corporate headquarters are located in South Florida with a hub in Illinois, as well as stellar consumer advocacy ratings. Lamentably, I have encountered nothing but a shameless lack of ethics, professionalism, and rampant organized criminal activity. For the above-mentioned reasons, I have asked that you return my personal property, with which you are extorting me, in a time, place and manner of my choosing. Additionally, I am invoking any and all rights and remedies, including, without limitation, demanding the inventory list of my property (in your possession), the bill of lading, as well as a total refund of the security deposit that your company charged and converted, prior to completing the first phase of the move. My breaking point came when your director of logistical operations personally required me to pay additional cash, before completing the move. The exorbitant payment had no logical correlation to the pick-up and/or delivery of my personal property. Your company’s conduct illustrates the worst practices in an industry that is already fraught with abuse and outlaws. My unfortunate experience in dealing with your company is a textbook example of “rogue movers,” as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Commercial Enforcement and Investigations Division. A simple application of the DOT movers’ checklist in this instance raises every red flag that epitomizes moving companies that one should avoid. By way of this letter, I am advising all pertinent state and federal agencies, as well as national consumer watchdog organizations to exercise maximum scrutiny in dealing with IVL. Hopefully, you will reconsider your practices, starting with my case (above-referenced). GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY. Respectfully submitted, Heriberto López Alberola, JD, KM cc: Secretary Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Raymond P. Martinez, Administrator - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Cathy F. Gautreaux, Deputy Administrator - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Jim Mullen, Chief Counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Jack Van Steenburg, Chief Safety Officer - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration James Deck, Director of Government Affairs - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin. Ann Begeman, Chairman - Surface Transportation Board Deb Miller, Vice Chairman - Surface Transportation Board Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois Senator Marco Rubio of Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida Representative Jan Schakowsky, 9th U.S. Congressional District Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Bill Shuster, Chairman – U.S. House Committee on Transportation Congressman Peter A. DeFazio, Ranking Member – Committee on Transportation Congressman Sam Graves, Chairman – Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General Robert F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Division – F.B.I. Marta L. Tellado, Ph.D. - President & CEO of Consumer Reports Annette LoVoi, Chair – Board of Directors, Consumer Reports Willard P. Ogburn, National Consumer Law Center Amanda Long, Director General – Consumers International"
Lori, 2018
If i could leave a NEGATIVE 1 star i would but not an option!!! BEWARE THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM!! they are Brokers, own no trucks, my salesperson Jeremy (if thats his real name) Gave me a "Binding Estimate" for my 82 yr old mother who's Husband of 60 yrs just passed so i was moving her from TX to FL to be near our family! I went online, saw they were rated #1 on this site (i should of done more research as i saw horror stories if you google "INTERNATIONAL VAN LINES REVIEW's Then you will be able to see the real reviews and the ones they must make up!! They went over my mother's item's with me and on ZILLOW where it showed every piece of furnishing and was given a price of $4200,00.Well when they showed up to y 82 mother's home who lives alone 3 brawny guys walk in, without even looking at out inventory list i went over and "JEREMY" supposedly went on zillow and right when they walked in they tell her (ohh this is going to cost at least 2x as much since you want us to disassemble the furniture HUH??? thats part of the service! Then they tell her even though she paid for a Ful professional pack they were charging her $300!!! For TAPE!! After an hysterical call from my mom i called her back to speak to the driver who i told i have a binding estimate fro International Val Lines and the Guy laughs at me and tells me "THERE JUST BROKERS I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM YOU PAY ME AND WHAT I TELL YOU!!" Which after they Stated loaded her on the truck they told her she could pay either $3100.00 more for the move or they will unload what they loaded so she told them to leave (as we had Allied come out to do a in -home visual (which International Van Lines does not offer should of been a red flag) and they quoted me $4600.00 for the same move so the guys unloaded my 82 yr old mother's belonging's on her DRIVEWAY, TOLD HER SHE WILL NOT GET BACK THE $1400.00 Deposit so thank god Allied came the next day for the $4600.00 as promised (thank god it dd not rain on my mother's item's that night) When i called them the next morning they said "SORRY IT WAS THE ONLY MOVER WE COULD FIND TO PICK HER UP!!! We jus broker out the moves we dont get involved with the pick up themselves!!! STAY AWAY!!!! just Google them and WATCH OUT AS I WAS DIGGING I FOUND OUT BY ANOTHER CUSTOMER WHO WAS ALSO taken for a ride of $4500.00 more then the estimate that MADISON VAN LINES AND INTERNATIONAL ARE OWNED BY THE SAME PEOPLE!!!! SAME CROOKS JUST GOOGLE BOTH IVL/MADISON VAN LINES CROOKS, LIARS, AND HAVE HORRID REVIEWS ON THE BBB YIKES!!!
Kam W, 2018
International Scam Lines would be a much more appropriate name for this “company.” Their copout is they subcontracted a company to do the move, despite the fact that when I initiated the inquiry I specifically asked if they subcontracted, in an effort to avoid this insane circus I have been dealing with for over a month. It is now day 27 that the company has had possession of my household items, clothes, and art supplies (relevant because I moved to study art therapy in graduate school, my ability to do homework is now impacted.) That’s correct, this company picked up my items on August 1, 2018 and still cannot give me an estimated arrival time. Even despite the extra move time they allotted themselves! On the moving form they ask for the first potential delivery date, in my case, I was moving from Raleigh, NC to Oakland, CA and I would be arriving in Oakland on the 7th, naturally I indicated the 8th would be the first possible delivery date. Only to find out later that he mover/ driver was poorly trained and should have told me to indicate the 8/2 was the first date so they couldn’t delay and put my items in a warehouse in Florida. That’s correct, even though I was told by the mover that my items were in route to Texas for another driver to take over the rest of the move, my things are somewhere in Florida, the opposite side of the country. I haven’t even touched upon the fact that despite the fact that I spoke with three different people when making the reservation and gave both of my addresses (pick-up and delivery) numerous times, the movers had to call me for the pick-up address! That’s right, the forms were incomplete and missing the most vital information. It also took 1.5 hours for the movers to start loading the truck due to communication lapses with the companies. They subcontracted American Prime Lines When collecting payment, the reps from this company were great with communication, as soon as they got their money they displayed the worst customer service. I even had to inform Lakele about email etiquette. Jeremy Smith, Mike Jacobs, and Richard Gonzales are absolutely terrible in regards to customer care, none of them have been helpful. Save yourself the money, stress and mental health and steer clear of these scammers!
David G, 2018
WORST MOVING COMPANY EVER and we've moved a lot!! IVL mixed up our short term delivery, required cash they never mentioned up front (who doesn’t take a debit/credit card for thousands of dollars?), lost the last storage unit and tried to tell us we received everything until they finally located it, then it didn’t arrive until 2 MONTHS later after they found it, lousy customer service throughout and never took us seriously, and lastly, they broke thousands of dollars worth of stuff and didn’t reimburse us for anything - our $1500 patio table wasn't even unloaded from the truck because it was so damaged!!! Did I mention they refused to reimburse us for anything?? I can’t express how bad this company is! We gave them every chance to make things right and they flat refused to do anything! For the $17,500 we paid, they did not even meet our very minimum expectations!!! RUN from IVL and don't look back!!