First Rate Van Lines

Initial quote $4100 for 3 bed 2 bath. Was told I had a lot of furniture and bumped it to $6100 before they would begin loading. I felt trapped, new owners took possession in 2 days. Broker driver said I could use debit card to pay $2000. About 1/3 of my things were loaded and then the broker tells me if they fill half the truck it’s $12,000 and full truck $25,000!! WTF!!!! My head exploded. These pieces of shit saw I had a nice house and furniture and flagrantly increased the price. I was so angry about what was happening and I didn’t know how to get out of it. I called out the broker for bait and switch. Told him I wouldn’t pay any more than $6100. I told him to pull off items so it wouldn’t exceed this “bogus” amount. The truck was now about 1/3 full. He kept calling his boss and came back to me and said since the truck wasn’t full it was considered a quick turn around so there would be additional charges. At this point The total was at $8900! I wish, wish I had them empty the truck and just forfeit my $2300 deposit, but being under duress, I was worn down and continued to be taken advantage of.

I tried to use my debit card, but was told now I had to pay with a cashiers check. Absolutely infuriated at this point. Broker said I would need to pay today or they couldn’t start driving to Utah. Met him at Walmart, it was Sunday, banks closed. My attempts to take $ from my acct failed. I was capped at $2000 for cashiers check or money order. I lost my temper with driver and asked him how he could live with himself or look in the mirror stealing peoples money. All the extra money required was for my family to live on for the month.. I honestly haven’t been that angry In a long time.

I was incensed that vulnerable people going through such a difficult thing as a move were being taken advantage of. I was told my things would go into storage, on my dime, if I didn’t pay the money by the next morning. I was being extorted by them threatening to hold my things hostage until I paid. I felt like I was in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.

I had to get a cashiers check at my bank and deposit it into “the bosses” account and take a pic of deposit to prove I had done it before he would “release” his drivers to leave CA headed for Utah, I Was told by the boss that delivery was in two days…. Lie. He couldn’t send an almost empty truck, so his driver went to L.A., emptied another house, packed their crap in front of mine and then delivered it to Boise Idaho before coming to my house. Delivery was two days late. As for the other 2/3 of my house that didn’t go with the criminals, I rented a uhaul and my kids loaded it and took it to a storage unit. Three weeks since the traumatizing shake down and we still haven’t been able to drive the Uhaul to our Utah house. I’m so angry about being taken advantage of and having my hard earned money stolen by these low life scum bags. Research research, research!! United Van lines and Mayflower are the reputable moving companies and they don’t use brokers who can set their own prices and rules and continually change what they’ve said in order to suit themselves. Beware USA LOGISTICS. These are the brokers who stole from me. They bid on jobs through First Rate Van Lines. DON’T USE A MOVING BROKER YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!!!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8900

These guys are complete scammers. They quoted me $2700 from my move, collected close to $800 from me and stated that the quote will not change unless I add items. Their contract says it in bold. The movers came and said that the estimator underestimated the cost of the move and it would cost me $8000! That is $3000 more than my furniture was worth! So here I am having to move out of the house due to a closing, And them telling me that either I pay the 8000 or they cannot move my furniture. I called my realtor and luckily I was able to figure something out but they still have my money, they are complete scammers, and then they have the audacity to tell me that maybe my furniture was bulky.. Check out the reviews on Google. It is the same words over and over and over again which means that they are getting fake reviews as well. Stay away from them I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau as well as every single news agency there is.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

Worst experience ever. They quote a price over the phone. This price is not for the moving costs, this "deposit" goes straight into their pocket (First Rate Van Lines). It does not go toward the cost of the move. When the moving company arrived, they gave a quote which was double what I was quoted over the phone. What I thought would be $2000, turned out to be $4400. The movers showed up late, delivered my stuff a week late and lost precious, irreplaceable items. I could have rented a truck myself for $450. I thought I was doing this move the easy way, and it was a disaster. The person who talked me into this, John J Williams, seemed very convincing. Upon figuring out about the fraudulent practice, he blocked my phone number when I called to ask questions. First Rate Van Lines is a scam. They should be shut down.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $4400

They quoted us a price of $3k for 60 boxes, a small deep freeze, small sectional, little bench. They said bins were good as boxes and never specified how big or small the boxes had to be. When they get here to pick it up they requoted us $6k. We never changed what we had from the original quite. 60 boxes, small couch, small deep freeze and a bench… they tried to double the original price. The mover left without me telling him to leave. And now they won’t give us our deposit back cause we either had to ship literally half our stuff or pay 6k to ship it all. They are saying that since we refused both options that we refused service on pickup. Clearly normal people can’t afford that jump in price nor should a person have to throw away half their belongings at a moments notice when moving cross country.

Either stick to the price, or refund the deposit, but don’t say it’s our fault.

The final resolution they came up with was to issue us a credit for a future more that is only good for 12 months. We are not moving again for years.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

Don’t use this mover! First of all each department you speak to (and there are 4) don’t know what the other is doing. I was on the phone with them for 2 hours getting things straight when the driver came to pick up the things from my storage unit in NY.

In addition they tripled the price from the original estimate. The move is from NY to CA moving items from a storage unit. They also never informed me that they were first going to drop my items in a warehouse in New Jersey first then when I got my own storage unit they would deliver to that storage unit. I was told they would deliver my things to one of their storage units in CA, NEVER mentioning the New Jersey situation. This has been the most stressful situation one can imagine for a cross country movement of possessions. Thanks for reading this. I hope I save you from being taken advantage of! Don’t use this company!!!

Move size: Studio Service cost: $5995

In there defense, I did sign the contract they provided. I should have read the contract and backed out of the process. There is a clause that states they can miss the pick up and delivery date for a solid year before a refund can be given. They failed to establish a pick up of my items for a whole month. Spoke to multiple "managers" and no one was able to help me. Had to get legal involved, and only then was I able to get my refund. On the contract that they had me sign, they for whatever reason changed the date that I signed the contract; this was my saving grace and i was able to get a full refund.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1500

If I could give a 0 star review, I would. For anyone considering this moving company - do yourself a favor and DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS.

I never go out of my way to write companies negative reviews and try my absolute best to be understanding with customer service workers. However, for First Rate Van Lines, I can write a 10-page essay on how they made my life a living hell.

I can go on and on, but I’ll name just a handful of the horrendous business tactics that this company employs:

1. They’ll intentionally under-quote you just to get your business and then overcharge you last minute. I ended up paying $2,600 more than what I was quoted ($3,000), even though I had given the exact inventory up front. They bought out all of my stuff to the street and started loading, and then half way through, they stopped loading and said they reached my quoted amount. I had measured the volume of my load before they had arrived, and there was no way only half of my stuff could fit into the quoted amount, but it was my words against theirs at this point, and all of my stuff was sitting out on the street, so I had no choice but to say yes to paying almost double the amount that was originally promised.

2. They farm out every part of the move, so you’re talking to multiple parties throughout the process. Booking, customer service, dispatch, movers, drop-off — they’re all from different companies, and no one is held accountable for any issues that come up. When there are problems, it’s always another party’s responsibility, and you don’t even know who you’re talking to on the phone because they don’t say their name or share what company/party they represent.

3. You can never anticipate when they’re coming because there’s absolutely no transparency with how the whole moving process works. They called me 2 days before my move date and said they’re actually going to come in less than 24 hours, which was completely unacceptable. They also don’t tell you when they’re coming to drop off your stuff until last minute, so if you have a job, you’ll have to somehow arrange your work around the drop-off schedule at the drop of a hat.

4. Every customer service rep I’ve spoken to was incredibly disrespectful and unhelpful. They will cut you off and silence you with their attitude. They don’t seem to understand that the customers who are calling them for help and clarity are in the middle of uprooting their lives. I must have called them at least 10 times, and not a single time did they demonstrate an ounce of empathy or concern about the fact that this company’s shortcomings were causing so much headache for me to keep a job and handle other moving needs.

5. The movers showed up at my place around 6am and created so much noise that I got a noise complaint from my downstairs neighbor. They scratched and dented all over my walls, doors, and floor - it took me over 5 hours to clean up and fix everything after they left. One of the movers pissed ON my toilet, and I had to clean that up.

6. So many items were damaged during the move. I don’t even know how they managed to dent, crack, and break so many pieces of my furniture and kitchenware. Some of the boxes were completely crushed when they got dropped off at my new place. Of course, no one would tell me how exactly I can report damaged items, so I’m now left to figure that out on my own.

I spent $5,600 to have all of my possessions tossed around between different parties and to be offered 0 help from their customer service. Think of the worst purchase you’ve ever made and the most despicable customer service you’ve ever received - First Rate Van Lines will top that. DO NOT give them your business.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $5600