I was contacted by management to discuss my issues. My complaints should gave been addressed to RHINO movers as they were,the company who moved my belongings. Colonial has adjusted my reimbursement and spoke with me in detail about the problems that occurred. They seem sincerely sorry for what happened. I can recommend Colonial but I would request that Rhino movers not be used under any circumstances for your move. First of all my estimate was $2000 under the actual cost of the move. It took 9 days to move 500 miles and somewhere along the way all my belongings were exposed to soaking water when being transferred into a smaller truck. Boxes were concealed inside larger boxes so the damage was not obvious at the time of unloading which was done by ONE person. The boxes were crammed in the garage and the damage was exposed as I unpacked...family photos destroyed and no one cares. I have waited 5 months for a claim determination and was given 221.00! One third of my furniture has water damage as well as numerous losses in the concealed boxes but again no reimbursement. A DISASTER from start to finish and there is more to the story I'm just tired of reliving it. read more

Please read before hiring Colonial Van Lines and Cal Van Lines I hired Colonial Van Lines (CVL) for my cross-state move in October 2020 - and what an epic mistake it proved to be! First, I read reviews that were positive and now I'm left questioning the validity of them based on my extremely poor experience. There are even more really bad reviews plus CVL wanted me to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to accept a low-ball settlement offer they made, which would prohibit me from sharing my experience. I wonder how many other dissatisfied customers were silenced by NDAs. For my move, I believe their sales rep Karlos made false and misleading statements about their services and provided a low-ball cost estimate that proved to be negligently inaccurate. Their first cost estimate was off by 88% and their final contact stated cost that was supported by specific items lists and pictures was off by 56%. CVL denies being a broker, but I found their fleet consists of 3 leased semi-trailer and a few box trucks on FMCSA.gov site. CVL hired an "agent" for my move, which is what a broker would do, called Cal Van Lines (Cal), out of CA, which proved to be an even worse company that in my opinion tried to run a scam on me by increasing the "load weight" of my household items by 3100lbs. Their driver named Victor, who turned out to be extremely unstable, irrational, and unethical, even produced false weigh-station tickets to support their weight scam. Victor also proved incompetent at driving the truck since he knowingly backed into a tree multiple times while attempting to back into my driveway. Turns out Victor, representing Cal, lied about how much space was available in the truck and then proceeded to waist hours arguing about what got packed on my contract items list and what had to be left behind. Victor even argued in an attempted to have me agree to strap some of my items on the outside back of the truck along with other customer stuff! Victor and company all smoked inside the loaded trailer and off-loaded other customer's items attempting to fit everything (and there are no dividers between customer loads!) Victor tried recording me, likely hoping to void the contract, voicing concerns about how my items were getting crammed on the truck and wanting priority for essential items when it became obvious that there wasn't enough space for the items on my contract list. Cal only moved 2/3 of my items and after weeks of silence from CVL, I had to hire another mover to transport the left-behind items. No surprise, many of my items that Cal did move were damaged - over $5k. In my opinion, companies like CVL and Cal should not be allowed to operate in any business. I was appalled to learn that the owner of Colonial, Aldo DiSorbo Jr. is well known to industry regulators and many state authorities. DiSorbo has a long-track record of activities that actually got him banned from the industry for 3-years. However, it was reported that he violated the ban and went to jail. Just Google Aldo DiSorbo and read the Sun-Sentinal articles along with U.S. Congressional reports on the scammers in the moving industry, which specifically names Aldo DiSorbo!! https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-112shrg80612/html/CHRG-112shrg80612.htmAldo DiSorbo and his syndicate family, including listing under Tracy DiSorbo, own dozens of companies. These are just a few: Colonial Van Lines, eApeiron Partners, All State Van Line Relocation, All American Van Lines, Nationwide Relocation Services, Nationwide move Management, Colonial Van & Storage, Colonial moving and Storage, Colonial Van Lines Relocation Division, Colonial Van Lines of Texas, Moving Squad of South Florida, TNLots, Nationwide Auto Transporters. Notice how many of these company names try to fool people thinking they are associated with well established name brands. Do yourself a huge favor and learn from my epic mistake of hiring CVL. read more

On of the most traumatic experiences in my life. This company is contemptuous of their customers. I hired them for a cross country move. They suck you in with a " reasonable" quote, and then the games begin. Requests for clarification are cursorily addressed. They string you out thinking everything is good, with signed contract and as you draw close to the actual move date, they start adding fees/ costs. They don 't return phone calls. But the worst was the disturbed truck driver who did the actual move. He stood in the street at the storage unit in California the morning of the unloading of my goods. When I asked him to pull the truck into the parking area, he began shouting at me, threatened to walk away from the job and get into his truck which was loaded with everything from my household. He continued this abusive treatment all day until I called the office telling management to control their employee. Too much to go into here; suffice it to say, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY! I should have read yelp reviews instead of the lying BBB come on that I thought reliable. The most terrible experience. I cannot believe this treatment myself. The person responsible at Colonial didn't care one whit. read more

I made the mistake of hiring Colonial for a cross-country move. I have moved many times, but never experienced such a nightmare. Colonial sent two inexperienced individuals to pack and pick-up my items. They arrived two hours late and spent an extensive amount of time standing around before any packing or moving started. One was shuffling paperwork for at least 30 minutes, while the other went upstairs to the bedroom where he spent two hours doing almost nothing but disassembling a basic bed frame. The lead mover complained to me that he hadn't know about the job and his boss had forced him to take it after he had already worked for 12+ hours that day, which is likely a violation of California labor laws and contributed to their inefficient and unprofessional behavior. It was obvious from the start that the pick-up crew was making little attempt to treat my items with care. They stuffed delicate items such as porcelain bowls and framed pictures in boxes with no wrapping at all (I have photos of this). They covered other breakable items like my television and other large paintings with nothing more than a single blanket. These items were, in fact, broken when delivered. My television was destroyed and had to be discarded, and I spent more than $600 refurbishing and reframing a smashed painting. This damage was not due to ordinary wear and tear but to the reckless disregard with which my items were treated. The pick-up crew did not finish the move out until nearly 2 a.m., after threatening to leave around 11 pm due to exhaustion. They also shouted at each other in extremely loud voices while moving some of the larger pieces of furniture down the public hallway, paying no attention to the fact that there were many other residents in the building. I was lucky not to have been fined for this by building management, or for the damage they caused to the building hallways. At the time the movers left on the day of pick-up, I authorized payment of a $2000 deposit, to be deducted from the final bill. When I checked my credit card statement the following month, I had been charged $2800 in total. The authorization form clearly shows that it was altered to change the "0" in 2000 to 2800. Nothing more than fraud. Throughout the period when my items were held in storage it was extremely difficult to obtain updates from Colonial, other than the news that the total charge would be nearly 50% higher than the original estimate. While I was originally told that the final bill would be given to me two days after pick-up, this news took more than two weeks to received. Given how unprofessional the pickup crew was, I was concerned that my furniture was missing or stolen. When I finally received the final amount, I was told by Colonial's employees that I had many more items than I had stated in my phone estimate. This was not true. I believe that Colonial deliberately underestimated the likely total to induce me to select it over other, more professional movers. My nightmare experience with Colonial started all over again when I requested delivery of my items to Washington. I contacted Colonial in mid-July and requested delivery on August 6. Colonial took no action to even attempt to get my items delivered on time. I was not given a delivery window until after the move-in date had passed. Colonial then falsely claimed that its agreement provided that it could give me a three-week delivery window beginning on my target date, with no more information on when to expect my items to show up. Based on this, the company claimed they did not have to deliver my furniture until three weeks after I had moved into an empty apartment. The delivery crew was nearly as unprofessional as the pick-up crew. The driver tried to obtain two additional cash payments from me in advance, first for renting a shuttle to drive into the city and then because of stairs in my building. Colonial was able to intervene and stop them from demanding these payments, but Colonial did nothing when the crew demanded payment in full for the outstanding balance before they would move any items. They threatened to drive away if I did not provide up front payment, even though there was no way for me to know that they had all of my furniture or what condition it was in. Even my last moments of interacting with Colonial were a nightmare. The movers had trouble getting my couch through the doorway, and refused to place it through my large windows or assist me in finding a way to disassemble and install it. When it became clear that I had no choice but to abandon the couch on the sidewalk, they demanded an extra cash payment in order to do so. They left with the couch stuck in the hallway, in violation of local fire code. Fortunately, they must have realized that this could have resulted in a significant fine, as they returned a few minutes later and moved it outside in exchange for a "tip." read more

The staff at Colonial Van lines were great, from the coordinators Joe and Alex to our movers, Jose and Jamal. They were on time, careful with our belongings, fast and friendly. Joe answered our questions promptly and courteously as did Alex. We have only one complaint and that was with the delivery of our belongings. We were moving form one state to another,with a six hour drive between. Our initial drop off was given a 6 day window which was fine as we did not need our things immediately. However on the day of our pick up, which was a long day(almost 8 hours as we also had a storage unit to be emptied) we were told our belongings had to be dropped off immediately on the next day! That would have meant a 6 hr drive for us after a long day and starting in 6pm rush hour traffic. On top of that, we still had loose ends to tie up in the city we were leaving. Colonial would not budge on this, telling us their drivers had pick ups in other states and that would necessitate our belongings being taken on and off the truck for several stops. We were not happy, we had made these arrangements several months ahead and did not appreciate this pressure and deadline. The only thing that saved us was our son living in our destination city and thankfully being able to be off from work and meet the truck with our belongings! We don't know what would have been the outcome otherwise! Like I said earlier, we liked everything else with Colonial, the prices were good as was the service! read more

DON'T USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! We supposed to have a truck to pick up either 10/16 or 10/17 which is clearly written down on the quote and contract. However, NO ONE can give us any confirmation since last week(10/13). I tried to call customer service, the account manager and whoever we can found. There is still no update and my flight is in 18 hours. From the beginning, I told every agent that I have an early flight to catch on 10/18 so everything must gone by 10/17. The agent who contact me said it is totally OK. I even offer them to pick up 3-5 days earlier but he told me they will definitely pick up on 10/16-10/17. So I sign the contract and paid on 9/24. There is almost 25 days for the company to schedule the truck. When they finally called me this morning(10/17), she said they can only do it on tomorrow(10/18)! She told me if I can't accept that, I can cancel it! I have whole house of packed things and furniture. My flight is in 18 hours and the company tell me they cannot do the job! From 10/16-10/17, there is no phone calls from this company. The agent who told me " I'll keep you updated and give you a call back " never called and can never be reached. The manager who told us "will call back right away" never called. And the customer service who said "you will definitely get a call in minutes" never called. My job ID 200637-CV I've been talk to Alexander, Alecia, Krisita, Christopher and James. And NO ONE calls back by now !!!!!! read more

I would STRONGLY encourage everyone to think twice before they use Colonial Van Lines. They do a good job selling you up front and talk a good game but in my case did not deliver in any aspect. Without telling me they sub contracted to Boost Express who was two days late after the last day of the four day pickup window, which caused me to miss a sports event so I got stuck with $300 in tickets that I could not sell at the last minute. I was told I would get a 48 hour notice on pickup which did not happen. The date kept changing, then on the pickup day the time kept changing, only to get a call at 8pm on a Saturday night from the driver that they were on their way! On the delivery end they were a full week late after the last day of the delivery window. This caused us an extra 7 night hotel expense at $900 total as well as having to change work schedules at the last minute due to the uncertainly of the delivery date. On delivery they attempted to collect an extra $1,900 due to extra weight! I still have not seen a detailed breakdown of the extra charge. No extra items were added to the inventory list and exact dimensions were given to the sales rep at the time of the quote. Sounds to me that they intentionally quoted low to get the business only to jack the price up 45%! I asked several times for one of the owners (it's a family owned business) or someone in senior management to call me, never received a call. Finally, five days after delivery was made a "supervisor" called. Please everyone save yourself a ton of hassle, stress and extra expense and do not use this company, you will regret your decision. read more

Beware! This is NOT a moving company. We have moved several times and never experienced the poor service of Colonial Van Lines. We were booked 6 weeks ahead to move from Colorado to Illinois. They called us 2 days out and said they had no truck and couldn't guarantee they could move us. BE WARNED! This is NOT a moving company but a middle man organization who commits to your booking and then goes out and finds moving companies who will take their schedules move. They don't own trucks or movers. They let us down and left us with no movers days before closing on our home. They were unapologetic and unmotivated to try and stick to the contract they had with us. Please be very aware that they are NOT an actual moving company with infrastructure but a middle man call center who can let you down two days before a move. read more

12/11/18 The resolution department was excellent. All of my issues were addressed to my satisfaction. I appreciate Donna in the resolution department. I would rate her as 4 stars. read more

Updating review to 5 stars for Donna in resolutions and her efforts in helping us come to a conclusion for our experience with Colonial. I would give Colonial -5 stars if I could. TERRIBLE experience and TERRIBLE customer service. Where do I even begin with them??? My husband and I were relocating to Salt Lake City from California. We had never worked with a moving company but Colonial had decent reviews aside from the few "one offs" so we thought why not. I originally spoke with Tom. He helped me with the inventory of our home and did an over the phone "walk-through" which I didn't think was extremely efficient but hey, they are the pros and do this all the time right? Wrong. Tom was peaches and cream up until he received my deposit, then the customer service aspect went out the window. He had an attitude when I spoke to him over the phone to confirm our pick-up date, told us that we would be sharing a truck with other people (this was not disclosed to us prior to paying a deposit of $3200) and that this is the way it is and we would need to deal with it. We were also promised a "dedicated account manager" who was supposed to help us through the moving process starting with when our items were scheduled to be picked up. Brennan, did nothing throughout our entire move, we had to call him to confirm when the movers would be arriving and when he said he would call us back with more information, he never did. We had to call customer service the day before Thanksgiving to find out what was going on. Tom was not thorough with our "walk-through" and missed several inventory items and when we told him he made a mistake, we were called by someone else to collect more money as a deposit to make sure there was enough room on the truck. We were very concerned so my husband and I called Tom to find out what was going on. He told us not to worry and that we didn't' need to list those items because there would be more than enough room on the truck and it didn't matter. After paying ANOTHER deposit, not hearing from Brennan, and then our movers showing up and fearing they didn't have enough room on the truck for our belongings, our move was delayed by two days. Still no phone call from Brennan. Our items were picked up but we had not received any updates on when our items would be delivered to our new residence in SLC. Brennan once again had no information and couldn't get in touch with the movers. We arrived in SLC and had to wait a week to receive our things. Our stuff was also loaded off the original truck, sat at a warehouse in Las Vegas and then reloaded onto another truck for delivery. We know this because the truck license plate was different than the original (we have pictures) and when things were missing they had to tell us that it was offloaded and sat somewhere for 5 days before being reloaded. Numerous items were damaged or lost and when I asked to speak to a supervisor which was nearly impossible to do and when I finally got in touch with someone I was greeted by a woman who gave me nothing but attitude and kept asking me "so what is your issue mam?" My issue is with Colonial and how extremely scammy and unprofessional they are. The only time that anyone is nice to you is when you have to pay them money. Our truck weight ended up being less than what they originally thought it would be and it turns out we overpaid and Colonial has to give us money back. There response was that our truck was randomly selected for a "reweigh" to confirm that this is accurate because they don't want to give us a cent back and are trying to scam their way around the truth. This company and the people working for them are CON-ARTISTS and LIARS. Do yourself a huge favor and do not use this dishonest company. read more

Let me first say, I'm not sure if this review is for a specific colonial location, if so then this is pertaining to the company as a whole because we worked with someone from a call center and not a specific location. I honestly can't put into words how disappointed I am with colonial van lines. We were planning to move from Nashville, TN to Tampa, FL and reached out to colonial one month in advance to set up this move. Everything was in place all the way up to the day before they were supposed to come load everything. The load date was supposed to be Saturday or Sunday (11/9 or 11/10). On Friday, 11/8, I decided to call since I hadn't heard from anyone to know which day they were coming. Well my account manager didn't know anything. She told me, at 10:53am, that she would reach out to dispatch and get an update and call me back in the hour. Needless to say, I never heard back from her even after calling her two more times that day. So basically I finally speak with someone and find out that the drivers insurance and paperwork had lapsed or something and that they would be to load us on Monday. Well I had to remind them that Monday was a holiday (Veterans Day) and asked would placed be open where this driver had to take care of things. The person was surprised because they didn't realize it was a holiday and told me they would need to check with dispatch, again, to make sure. Their response was that the driver said he would be able to. I asked what happens if he isn't, crickets. So needless to say on Saturday they reach back out to us and made us aware that they would not be able to have anyone come load us up and that we should probably look for another moving company. Now they were aware that we were closing on the sale of our house on the 12th and that we needed to have everything out by the end of the day on the 11th and here they are calling us on Saturday the 9th telling us that we should start looking for another moving company. Had it not been for Allied moving company stepping in last minute and scoring a touchdown for us we would had been completely screwed! Having a 3 year old child, trying to move and being left hanging like we were was the lowest of professionalism one could experience. Yelp should allow you to give zero stars because one star makes this experience seem better than what it truly was and it wasn't as it pertains to how colonial left us out in the cold. But they were quick to take our $3k plus deposit. read more

This is another update from my experience with Colonial Van Lines. After my last review I was contacted by the new management department and offered a resolution to my issue that I experienced with this company. The resolution was reasonable and I am satisfied. read more

Colonial Van Lines was a great resource. They were affordable and I actually ended up paying less than I was quoted. I took one star off as they were a day late on the predicted arrival. However, they were two weeks early in delivery so that was quite impressive. There were zero issues with any of my furniture. Everything was in perfect shape upon arrival. The drivers were also very responsive and kept me in the loop on arrival and delivery. I would highly recommend! read more

Movers communicated with me were very careful with my belongings. Packed out and loaded carefully. On delivery unloaded set up furniture one piece was broken they repaired it on the spot. It was repaired nicely. Thanks read more

I'm 38 years old, and I can honestly say that this ranks as the second worst customer service experience I have ever had. The one star should go to the actual movers - Miguel and his team were fantastic at both pick up and drop off. By this point, you've read all of the negative reviews. You've even seen the proof that the company tries to pay people off to remove bad reviews. When I spoke to someone on the "Executive Board", and I asked them about paying people off, he of course denied it Then I look on here and see proof. Without going into every little detail, the process and communication is really bad. Here are some bullet points to summarize... * Being told I would receive my final cost estimate 24-48 hours after pick up. It was more like 11 days and I had to call at least once a day to get an update. * Asking to speak to a supervisor, leaving her two voicemails a few days apart, and not hearing back. Not hearing back from a SUPERVISOR is crazy to me! * When I did get a hold of the supervisor and had to deal with her, she wasn't mean spirited or anything. She was more of trainwreck type - real disorganized. I kind of feel bad that she was placed in a role that she wasn't qualified for. * I'm guessing it's in the agreement, but they contracted out my job after taking the deposit. The new company made me resubmit payment info by emailing them a picture of my credit card and drivers license (which certainly can't be safe and compliant). This is after Colonial Van Lines said that they verified my card was ok to use to complete the sale. Eventually I got through to someone on the Executive Board who said he was an extension of the Owner. He acknowledged the service issues and after some discussion he offered me 10% of my deposit. That's roughly $300. The total cost was over $13,000 so I felt that was too little, and I am still considering legal action, so I didn't take the money. It's just a really bad company across the board. I would recommend going in a different direction. read more

I would rate a zero if there was such a rating. Obtained a written Order for Services from Colonial Van Lines on Sep 28, 2020 to move Household Goods from Tucson, AZ to Fairhope, AL. Pickup date was set at 10/10/20202 to 10/12/2020 with delivery date set at 10/13 to 10/23/2020. On 10/10/2020 was informed by numerous supervisors at Colonial Van Lines that pickup and delivery could not accomplished in agreed upon time frames. I had to rent a U-Haul truck and fly my son-in-law in from AL to help me load and drive the truck from Arizona to Alabama. This was a breach of our agreement. I will NEVER use Colonial Van Lines again. read more

RUN! Actually, just light your belongings on fire where they sit... you will be better in the long run. Colonial sub contracts to companies who subcontract to other companies. You never know who will actually be handling your belongings and it's a game of Russian Roulette. If you feel lucky, take the gamble. I was not lucky... I paid over $10k to have my belongings shipped from CA to NC, almost all of my furniture was damaged if not completely smashed and broken. It took months of going back and forth, sending images and waiting for them to call me today and offer me $200 for compensation. Aside from the damaged property, I also had an issue with the service I recieved, 2 men showed up to unload an entire house full of furniture and items. After telling me that morning that they were "about an hour away" they finally showed up at sundown in sweatpants and flip flops. They threw my stuff wherever it landed, didn't even unwrap the furniture, let alone reassemble it. They were rude & even left their personal trash on my porch. I recieved a modest refund for my service issues. Take note that the furniture was still wrapped when it was delivered and they left, you are supposed to check off items as they come in... which I did. But somewhere in the fine print it says that if you check it off as coming in, you're agreeing it was ok - so take the time, even if it's the middle of the night and the strange men in your house are abhorrent, examine every item carefully. read more

Colonial showed up when scheduled, explained everything I needed to know and made me feel very comfortable about moving my belongings. I had an unforeseen delay on the receiving end of my move and Colonial did everything they could to accommodate a later delivery. That helped me out of a jam! read more

To top things off, I'm now onto my fourth phone call to the company to get them to undertake the monumental task of.....emailing me an invoice for my move. Do not use this company. read more

This has been one of the worst experiences I could have imagined. I am currently living in an empty apartment because Colonial Van Lines and the moving company they contracted for the job are unable to deliver within the window that I signed a contract for. Everything was great upfront, I was sold the idea of the perfect move, but when it comes to the execution it is far from that. My items were picked up late because the moving company could not find a second person to do the job. When I was trying to get more detail on what was going on my account manager was MIA, so I was sitting in the dark waiting for any type of answer or response. Now, my items are supposed to be delivered today, but I am being told that this can not happen, and I am not being given any reason, and there seems to be a lack of remorse or understanding. I fly out tomorrow for work, because I build my schedule around the dates that Colonial Van Lines told me the job would be completed. So now I am without any of my items, not knowing where any of it is, and not knowing when I will receive my stuff. Please, stay away from this company, and spend the extra money for quality moving companies so you don't end up like me. read more

Our experience with colonial was HORRIBLE. After being assured one price, after they weighed the truck it ended up being almost DOUBLE. We asked a million questions before we booked with them to make sure this didn't happen, but apparently it doesn't matter what they promise you. Huge bait and switch company that baits you with great prices, but will switch at the last second. We were crushed. Everyone who was so willing to help us and feed us what we wanted to hear were all of the sudden mute, or acted like previous conversations never happened. They also mark everything with permanent marker, so now several of our items are ruined. I would not recommend this company to anyone. read more

My problem was handled in a professional manner by Colonial Van Lines. Thank you for the customer service after the moving experience.

I researched a few company for my cross-country move- Colonial was by far the cheapest estimate. I had already moved (without my stuff)- and colonial helped coordinate so my friend could supervise the movers. Most of my stuff was packed and ready, but Colonial packed up all the remaining items with care. There was a little confusion over the delivery date, different employees were telling me different information- like maybe the records weren't quite in sync, but my items actually arrived very quickly, so I was relieved to not have to sleep on an air mattress anymore. The two guys delivering my things arrived a bit later than expected- the time frame was 2-5 pm and they arrived at 6:30 pm, but they worked very hard and quickly and they were done by 7:30 pm and that's including running up all the stairs and assembling my bed and unpacking the furniture that had been wrapped in the moving blankets and plastic. There were just a few minor things damaged in the move, but it's really nothing you wouldn't expect from a cross-country move, (dented metal bookshelf & a broken lamp),so I'm really not upset- all the boxes arrived in good condition and none of the items inside boxes arrived damaged. I did discover a box that wasn't mine while I was unpacking, but the customer service team is working to get someone out to my place to have it picked up and get it to the right place. It wasn't a completely perfect experience; however, the customer service team and the movers themselves worked very hard and quickly, so I'm a pretty happy customer. read more

Very polite, easy to contact and talk to. Usually called me back as scheduled (although not always) But didn't do the move themselves - subcontracted with a horrible mover. Didn't inform me of the sub - I learned of it too late to do anything about it. Be wary! read more

Ok so I feel it only right to leave an update on my bad review of this company. I did speak to Donna at Colonial Movers and she was absolutely amazing in a speedy resolution to all the trouble I went through and assured me they will do a staff review to make their pricing more clear and give the consumer more knowledge moving forward. And as I said The actual movers were very helpful and amazing! Thanks again Donna superb service! read more

We dealt with both ends of this move from Alabama to Maryland. All the work was professionally done in a professional manner. The workers assigned did an excellent job. We would not hesitate to hire Colonial again in the future if needed. read more

Thank goodness for a friendly resolution specialist who called me, was helpful, and is going to send me a check for an important item that was missing after my small move. Thanks, Colonial! read more

SEE GOOGLE REVIEWS FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS REVIEW!! Since 03/23 and moving forward, the movers were unreachable, and the truck was not even known as to its location. on 03/26, I received a call stating that I had a new delivery date of 03/27 after 12 pm. On 03/27, I waited...no movers. Again. I called, this time demanding to speak to a supervisor. It was then that you and I have been in communication. During this time, you have explained that movers have never "fallen off the grid" and this was not a usual business and had limited staff to make efforts to directly communicate and find the drivers which STILL could not be located since before 03/23, your company had no communication with these movers and no one listened to my concerns or even remotely assured me that this was handled. Now, after 03/27 and no movers, the contract between myself and Colonial Van Lines is breached for failure to deliver; at this time, you informed me that the drivers are also breaching the contract with Colonial on the "back end" and that I needed to be patient with my dates as there are processes in the back end that are out of your control. On 03/28, I was informed the failure for delivery was due to the movers getting sick. at this time, they were still unreachable, no communication for an additional two days, and you told me to be considerate that the driver was sick and we need to allow them to respond. After three days of no response, the dispatch supervisor was involved, which now tells me that the truck has been located in South Carolina broken down. Now the story is not that the driver is sick. The truck is in a truck yard in SC with valuable in excess of $10,000.00 with three male individuals carrying the merchandise and could not be directly communicated with or found. At this time, that the lack of assistance and importance given to valuables in a truck that contained school, work, and filing cabinet containing children birth certificates, socials, and a world of documents that alone can cause identity theft. You told me that there was nothing else that could be done for retrieving my goods. I informed you that I would, per contract, change my address to a storage unit next to where the truck broke down and will be driving to SC to get my things with a Uhaul. I was told that I could not do that. I was told that the charges these individuals, which STILL, no one can communicate with, would be grand larceny, and I would move to contact SC police dept to find plate numbers and secure my valuables. It was then that I got a call from you that afternoon to be told that a new third-party company has been contracted to get the valuables from the truck in SC and would be designated to just dropping off my move. At this time, I was told I would be compensated by given $30.00 a day for every day past 03/27 for the loss of being delayed and any stress it may have caused. I am a first responder traveling across country for a position that was pushed back due to all the delays in this move and no access to my things. Considering that I would have NEVER anticipated a company so inadequately concerned about the valuables of others, and to what level of disregard are your things at the mercy of a third party company which you guys have no oversight of. on 04/01 the second thrid-party company delivered. When the two males showed up with regular street clothes in a rental Penske truck, they got off the truck and told me that I need to speak with the company and give my payment. I was handed a telephone from a "supervisor," identifying himself as Colonial. Deeper in the conversation, the person on the phone states that he was the supervisor for US Expert Movers LLC and he was collecting his payment. The company that could not find their movers or my things past delivery date and breached contract with your company and myself. I REFUSED to give my credit card information to the same crooks we have yet to hear from. They refused to offload. Finally to get my things I made a payment of 1800.00. When the items came off the truck, I was so heartbroken and distraught and in tears. 90% of the items delivered were DESTROYED. 10% lost or stolen, they never arrived with my things. BOXES LABELED GLASS FRAGILE crushed! Holes punched in boxes the size of a bowling balls. The couch and bed were missing all the screws and were never able to be assembled again. The couch had no legs or screws. 10% of my items were missing, including holiday boxes containing 14 years of mementos from my children and family. Gone. The furniture was so damaged that the movers even said, do you want us to take it back downstairs to place it in the trash? The couch not only sits on a floor but was fully uncovered (white hand-woven fabric) stained, the couch frame dented, and no screws or legs. Mattress wet, mattress topper open, exposed, and moist and foul-smelling. All the boxes labeled glass fragile demolished. It looked as though the damage read more

Colonial Van Lines (CVL) was named as part of a Congressional investigation on fraudulent practices in moving including price increases and moving "hostage situations" where they would hold onto good unless an exorbitant payment was made. Its all on the Congressional record so see for yourself: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg80612/html/CHRG-112shrg80612.htm If you don't think that's bad, let me tell you about my nightmare experience with Colonial Van Lines. They contracted my move to another company without making it clear that would happen, they missed the pickup window by two days, they were seven days late on dropping off and they charged me $600 wrongly for boxes they brought from Home Depot. I have incurred at least $550 in hotel and flight change fees, have had to cancel customer meetings and have been inconvenienced far beyond the $30 per day that they gave me as compensation. More details below: - When my things were picked up two days late by Cal Van Lines (and 3 hours after the appointed window), the movers asked if they could pack my unit on Tuesday the 21st and pickup the boxes the following morning Wednesday, November 22 which was now two full days outside of the pickup window. When I told them I had a flight and needed to leave, the movers said that I could leave a key with them, lockup the unit and they would "Facetime" with me to show everything had been picked up. The idea of leaving my house to two complete strangers was completely unacceptable so I again had to change my flight and book a hotel for the evening, now incurring an extra $230 in fees on flight, cabs and hotel. - I received a call from someone in the finance department of CVL on Saturday, December 9 (the day after my promised drop off date) as I had never been given the weight or box inventory information for my final shipment which was something I had asked for in previous conversations with my account manager. While the weight was slightly under I was told I would need to pay another $600 for packing goods including 19 dishpacks when I was originally quoted for 5. Its no coincidence that these are the most expensive boxes that could be used for the move......and its also no coincidence no dishpacks were used at all and all of my fragile kitchen items were put in the largest boxes. There were 3 mattresses listed as the move (no mattresses were moved) and they also didn't include 10 large boxes used, an error that barely worked in my favor. I was given two conflicting box counts from the movers at the time of pickup, one reflective of my proposal and one with the $684 for dishpacks and $63 dollars for mattresses that missed $90 in large boxes that were used. It took me 4 asks to get this documentation which conflicted with the household inventory I signed at pickup. - For dropoff, I changed a work trip to accommodate a delivery on Friday, December 15. The carrier Cal Van Lines (not CVL) called on Thursday, December 14 to tell me they were dropping me up between 12PM and 5PM. It was certainly a surprise when I was leaving my apartment for dinner at 7:10PM on Friday when the mover called and said he was a mile away. I told him I was on my way out and he'd have to come tomorrow and he said he would not be available that following day. So I went home to receive my goods. I was promised a box count by both the CVL finance person and my account manager to account for the discrepancy in boxes that I was being charged over $600 for. When I started counting boxes, the mover said they were all there and that I could call him if there were issues. I was asked to sign an inventory which was altered from the pickup to include dishpacks. This company has been a complete and total nightmare and you would be a fool if you were to trust your move to them. These guys will literally and figuratively take you for a ride. read more

These are 7 reasons why I gave CVL a 1-star review: Misleading weight calculation: -I reached an agreement with Tracey and her manager (Monica or Veronica). We went over all the furniture that I had, and they gave me an estimate of 5,019 pounds (for the untrained customer that does not mean much because one does not usually know the weight of his home) but it ended up being more than an extra 1,000 pounds; that is more than a 20% error in the calculation. We are only two and we do not have toys, fancy dinnerware, huge closets, etc. I would dare to say that we have less stuff than the average two-people family, that's why I think the estimate was wrong and misleading. Time-consuming: -I spent hours negotiating and arguing with vendors I had no idea who they were. One was the team that packed my things in California; the other one was the team that brought the move from California to NY; and finally, the team who brought my stuff to the new apartment in a shuttle. The expectation I was given by CVL was that my only communication would involve scheduling times. That was not the problem. What took me hours was the arguing with extremely rude people who lacked basic customer service skills (especially, Danilo). -I am now spending time writing this review and will spend even more time later on, telling this on social media. Stress caused by arguments: - I argued about the delivery date and time, since CVL told me the truck driver would give me a 48-hr heads-up, but Danilo called me the day before and got pissed when I told him that the building's service elevator was already reserved at the time he proposed. I told him I live in a high-rise with hundreds of apartments and one service elevator; that's why the 48-hr heads-up is so important. He did not deliver the following day as we had agreed after a long back and forth, but he delivered two days later. -I also had to argue with him regarding the price of the shuttle (more than $450), that was definitely a higher-than-expected fee. Maybe the price is right but CVL did not even give me a hint about what the cost of the shuttle would be. -When the shuttle arrived, I had to argue the price of the long carry (225 ft.). The movers wanted to charge $400 randomly, and after an uncomfortable negotiation, we settled in $200. Broken stuff: -One of the bicycles had its stem crooked and the front brake caliper broken. -One of the dining chairs arrived with a crooked leg. -The toaster was broken. -One of the dressers' lower drawer had a hole on the bottom. -Many objects and furniture had small scratches, bumps or dents. -Forget the "white-glove delivery experience". Incomplete reassembly: -They did not reassembly the mirror. -They half assembled the bed. Useless communication: -The account manager, Jay, was very friendly and nice; the thing is that he called me every day to not give me any relevant news. He did not have any idea of where the truck was, who the people who were in touch with me were, and every time I told him the conflicts I had with the movers, his answer was that he would talk to them but it was clear he had no control over the process and the people who were handling my stuff. -I called the customer service number on an occasion, and Jay was not at the office so a woman took my call. She told me my things were still in California (2 weeks had passed since pick-up) when, in fact, they were already close to NY. Evident disorganization inside the company. High price: I ended up paying $9540.39 (no tips included) for a very disappointing move, and since I had to spend so much time and stress dealing with three different teams of subcontracted companies, I ask myself: why did I pay Colonial Van Lines $2,384.29 if another company did the move, and I did the whole negotiating and arguing? I do not think having friendly calls by an account manager is worth $2,384.29. read more

We used Colonial Van Lines for an out-of -state move. They were professional, courteous, and on-time. We also used them for storage. Our items were inventoried when leaving old house and arriving at new house. All items arrived in-damaged! read more

Colonial Van lines kept me very informed on the status of my move. The men who moved my things out of the house were quick and efficient and wrapped things very well. No damage. The men who unloaded my things were very focused to get everything off the truck and the bed assembled. It was a hot day and they barely stopped for a drink of water!! The truck drivers on both end of my cross country move were both very good. I was moving in and out of some tricky spots and they handled it beautifully. I would recommend Colonial Van Lines for a cross country move. read more

I have never used a moving company before, but since we were moving over 1000 miles I decided to go ahead and give Colonial a shot. They ranked best with companies that work with Veterans. Not having anything to compare them to I have to say I'm very pleased with the whole process. I didn't have any more contact with my first person (I was told she's be my go to person through the whole process), but the company was in constant contact with me. I felt pretty special :). Truck arrived on time. Movers were clean, friendly and worked their butts off! We did go way over on weight and were charged a lot more than our original estimate but I honestly can't say that would be their fault. I was provided with the empty and full weights on official receipts from the weigh station. All in all the process was easy, less stressful than us doing it and I would definitely hire them again if I was to ever get the nerve to move again. read more

We just finished our move to NC using Colonial van lines and just wanted to relay to corporate management what a pleasant experience we had. The two movers were Eduardo and his co-worker. These 2 guys hustled and loaded their truck quickly and efficiently. They were on the road in record time. Very impressed and would definitely recommend Colonial van lines for anyone moving. read more

Critical: Professionalism, Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value This was one of the worst companies that I have ever done business with. From the first encounter with the quoting of my job, I wax lied to. I was told that my .ove would not be brokered out and it was...to 2 different companies. My furniture was dragged, dropped and broken upon pickup. Everyone that I spoke with throughout the move was rude and treated me as if they were doing me a favor and that i had no right to ask questions or express concerns. My weight of my move became an issue immediately and I was told that I could be present for a reweigh upon arrival at my destination. The delivery was 12 days late from the extended promised and written delivery date. My furniture was stored and destroyed. When it arrived, I was missing pieces of my bed which made it unusable. Handles were broken off, boxes were destroyed, arms of chairs were missing huge pieces of interior cushion and upholstery....literally 6 inch by 6 inch pieces of my furniture were broken off. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. ZERO STARS WAS NOT AN OPTION read more

We had a last minute move during the middle of the corona virus situation. Our original move date got postponed by a week, but it all worked out. The movers were very professional, and they wrapped all of our furniture very well. I think this was the best move we've ever had through a moving company. Our furniture arrived at our new house less than 24 hours after leaving our old house. read more

This was a good experience from beginning to end. The phone support staff was knowledgeable, responsive and reviewed all alternatives. The movers were punctual, courteous, wrapped and moved furniture with care. They were also responsive to my requests for furniture placement. read more

Never Ever use them to move!! They lied about everything. My husband called asking to move us across country. Calif to Florida. Said he was looking for a company that would pack and load our belongings in a Van and drive it across country without transferring it to another truck or storage Facility. The salesman promised him they would never transfer our belongings. He said they would come in an 18 wheeler to pick up our stuff and then it would be delivered right to our new home. NOPE! Day one they came in a smaller uhaul truck and loaded it and took it to one of Their facilities. My husband was on the phone Talking to their superiors asking where the 18 Wheeler we were promised was. He said it would come the next day and get the rest of our stuff. The next day they came with another uhaul truck. My husband called again and they said would you like to cancel!! Really! We already sold our house and had to be out in 2 weeks. We were stuck and they knew it. They then said they would load out stuff on a 18 wheeler in a few days and deliver it to our new home. Even told us they looked at the map of our neighbor to make sure the van would fit. They said it would. Well weeks later they showed up in 2 uhauls!! Our things were transferred 5 times at least. We are missing multiple boxes, a large floor lamp and a step ladder and a box of expensive wines. Our smart TV was broken, an irreplaceable hand painted large vase from Greece broken. A large clay pot has a hole so big you could put your head in it! Most of our expensive solid wood furniture has chips everywhere with chunks out of some. We have a box of someone else's stuff. We called and told them and even read them the number on it. They literally didn't care. I read bad reviews on BBB but let the salesman Thomas talk me into using them. He said none of that would happen. He would personally make sure of it. Please listen to our horrible experience and try anyone else but them! And I am sorry about the box we have of someone's else belonging we don't know what to do with it. We called multiple times read more

My name is John M. my job ID is 299053-CV. I would highly recommend not using Colonial Van Lines. First of all, they are a broker and not the actual mover. Why this is important is that they ask for upfront deposit money and only provide estimates of moving dates. Essentially what they are doing is holding your money and see if they can make enough in profit by brokering out your business. If they can't, you are stuck until your estimated Pickup Dates expire and then you will have to fight to get your money back. Second, their customer service disappears when there is an issue to resolve like confirming a pickup date as your move date approaches. Do not use Colonial Van Lines. They are the same price as more accredited movers that provide a guaranteed pickup date and do not take a deposit. Edited Review on 2/14/17 at 2:27PM MT. Colonial refunded my entire deposit after not being able to accommodate my pickup dates. read more

Colonial handled my long-distance move from Ohio to Northern California. I have never filed a complaint against a company, or even written a negative Yelp review, but my experience with Colonial has been absolutely unacceptable. My mom helped me with moving expenses and signed the contract with Colonial. We booked them several months in advance and they agreed to a pick-up date of June 9 or June 10. A few days before I was scheduled to move out of my apartment, Colonial said that they "didn't have a driver" and I would have to wait until June 11 or 12. I had already booked a flight based on the agreed-upon dates and given notice to my apartment complex. They finally showed up the afternoon of June 12. The delivery window was June 14-28, and they assured us that their late pick-up would not affect the delivery window. Every week they gave us a new estimate, and it was always wrong. My belongings sat in a warehouse in Chicago for several weeks. They were supposed to call me on July 8 with a delivery window for July 9. Nobody bothered to call to tell me that they were not coming at all that day. Repeated calls were not answered or returned. They finally arrived on the afternoon of July 11. I was charged $147, which had to be paid in cash on the spot, because of the poor parking availability in my neighborhood. Lack of parking is very normal in my city. I was upfront about the parking situation with both the driver and other representatives well in advance, and nobody told me that I may have to pay an extra fee. I don't have a car, so I had to walk to an ATM to get the money after they arrived. I felt bad for the driver and crew, especially after learning about the impossibly tight schedule the company put them on. (They left my place in California around 7pm and were supposed to complete a job in Oregon that same day.) But I was still very disappointed that nobody communicated with me about the extra fees. A few things were broken, such as my bike and a storage bin. Overall, I was lucky, compared to many customers who wrote reviews! I had a bar of lotion (similar to a bar of soap) that completely melted, and a few bottles of shampoo that exploded. Be aware that your things may be stored in extreme heat for long periods of time. I knew not to pack anything that could be dangerous, but it was still annoying to clean up. Unfortunately, they also lost a large storage bin filled with clothing. That's how I learned that they pay for lost or broken items by weight, not by value. I am supposed to receive about $30 for the lost items even though they lost hundreds of dollars of clothes. $30 barely covers the cost of the storage bin, let alone the items in it. They "looked for it" for about 2 days before giving up. Again, it's been 3 months and I'm not sure if I will ever get the money they owe me. I understand that partial moves are likely to take longer than if I had a full truck. Knowing this, I moved three weeks before starting my new job. When they finally arrived on the afternoon of July 11, I had to take time off work. I was not able to plan for that, because nobody gave me a reliable delivery estimate until the night before they arrived. They were continuously disrespectful of my time. I was offered $30 for each day past the delivery window, but 3 months later, I have yet to receive it. I lived out of a suitcase in an empty apartment for almost a month. $30/day does not come close to compensating for the things I have had to replace due to their negligence, let alone the time away from my new job. Their only redeeming quality is that their customer service representatives (when we have been able to reach them) are polite and do attempt to resolve the many issues. Unfortunately, these attempts have not been remotely successful. Their inaccurate delivery estimates became simply insulting after awhile. I am extremely disappointed in their job performance, inaccurate communication, and inadequate attempt at compensation. Moving is generally a stressful experience. Colonial (and whatever other companies they hired to handle my things) made it so much worse than it needed to be. read more