American Van Lines

When we ordered services from Keith at American Van Lines East we were quoted a low price. When the movers arrived they informed us it would be DOUBLE the amount we were quoted. Since they were there, and I was on a time crunch, I had no choice but to pay. If you don't pay, then you lose the 500 dollar deposit! In order to lower the price I had to throw away two rooms of furniture, and the overall price was still over a thousand dollars more! I had to buy my own packing materials to lower the price, too. Then, the foreman rushed me into signing papers. When the furniture was delivered across country from Florida to Ohio it was packed so badly in the truck that many of the boxes were not even shaped like boxes anymore. After the mover left, and I went to unpack the items, I saw that they had broken three glass table bases and chipped my entertainment center. Then, I noticed that the foreman who had originally packed the furniture wrote that every single item they would have to pack themselves (and therefore be liable for) was "scratched, badly worn, rubbed, faded". All my furniture was brand new, so this was not accurate. He had obviously written everything was in this poor condition so that if any damage was done the company would not be liable! Included in this definition of scratched, worn, faded, and rubbed were my glass tables and metal headboard and foot board! Obviously glass and metal cannot fade! When I tried to address this unethical practice, I was blown off. To make matters worse, they will only pay 60 cents per pound of what was broken. They even have an example on their claims form that if a leg of a dresser is broken they will only pay for the weight of the leg, when the whole dresser can't be used because of it! If the leg weighs a pound a customer could only get sixty cents, when obviously this puts the whole dresser out of use. I filed a complaint only to find that they made the process of filing as hard as possible to deter people from filing. I had to spend money on getting pictures printed, get forms notarized, get copies of receipts, fill out paperwork, etc., and it says right on the form that if I'd like to contact their claims department with any questions I could not even call or email them. I could only write a question, which could take a week just to get an answer! Weeks later, I got a response saying they would only pay for the one coffee table base and one end table base. They didn't even notice that I had filed for two end table bases, and claimed that since the foreman had written "scratched, worn, faded, rubbed" about the entertainment center, then they did not have to pay for it being chipped. Chipped is not the same as scratched, faded, worn, and rubbed. They tried to use the foreman's own descriptions against me, even though the incorrect and unethical description did not include "chipped". So, I had to refile, getting all the paperwork notarized again, and I included a letter letting them know they needed to pay for all the furniture they damaged. I am currently awaiting a response to this second filing. This company does not care at all about its customers, and does not even let you contact them with questions. Their practices are unethical. I have never been treated so poorly by a company.

First, they claimed that our house is 1200 square feet, which it was not. Upon review of the measurements, our house was actually 925 square feet. We were charged $500 extra for supplies and they didn't even pack everything! We had to make 4 additional trips to the house with two cars in order to gather everything they did not take. I understand that they can not haul anything liquid but the amount of items that were left is completely ridiculous.

Second, they were supposed to take a thirty minute lunch. They left our house at 2:37 p.m. and did not arrive at the new house until 3:17 p.m. - please note, the distance between the two locations is less than fifteen minutes drive time in a single direction. The lack of respect to time was also evident in constant texting on his phone by Paulie which my husband and I witnessed several times. They also had my husband sign the paper for a total of 9 hours for the job, but we did not receive 9 hours of work.

We also repeatedly asked Joe not to smoke while in the truck with my families possessions, as my daughter and I have severe asthma. He continued to do so, regardless of our requests and finally just sat on the edge of the truck and called a five minute break.

Upon unloading the truck, my husband and I assisted so that we could get back on our time schedule. Paulie shattered the entry way light fixture with a bookcase. When we inquired as to what we are supposed to do about it, Joe said to contact the website and file a claim. I called to lodge these complaints the next day once our phone service was connected and was told it has to all be in writing, which I did.

Several items of significant value were damaged due to poor packing procedures (not wrapping items and placing heavy items on top of delicate/fragile items). Two of the items broken are irreplaceable due to age and being limited edition Disney Cast Member only items. The total for these damages is close to $1000.

Our move was originally quoted at $1138 and it ended at $1709. I understand that there things that are unexpected but I can not fathom how it can be misquoted by $600. The customer service was nonexistent, efficiency was unheard of - We were overcharged, under delivered and incurred damages that their company is responsible for compensating.

The response I received says they will compensate $6.60 based on their insurance coverage - this is robbery!