Don’t be deceived – unfortunately we were totally deceived, not knowing much about the ins and outs about moving, packing, etc. We used Mayflower and United Van Lines in our previous two moves through company relocations and didn’t have much to complain about during both moves. Since this time we were relocating with our own money we decided to check online to get the cheapest quotes. The broker company, All American Van Lines (AAVL), was by far the cheapest. In the end, it was too good to be true. A horrible experience is to put it lightly.

Price match? Very difficult with AAVL since they calculate quotes (online) by square feet (the amount of space your stuff takes up) and all other companies generate quotes via weight. I told them I have 8000 lbs based on our previous move. They told me this is approximately 1200ft2 (way off!!!). Once the truck was loaded it was determined our stuff took up 2900ft2. Our original quote was for ~$3400. Once the truck was loaded the floor manager wanted to charge $10, 000. After arguing for several hours we got the price down to $6500. Talking to the floor manager was like talking to a rock. He didn’t budge until we threatened to have them take all our stuff out of the truck.

The online site claims they want 60% of the money at pick-up and the remainder at the destination. We were forced to give over 80% at pick-up. Another unexpected event.

Upfront we told them we may need at least 2 or 3 months of storage. They offered 1 free month which was nice; however, during our free month period the floor manager called 3 times a week to see when we would be ready for our stuff. He called 3 times before 6AM and a couple times late evening 9-10PM. At the end of the free month he made the decision to send our stuff across country before we were ready. Obviously, we were very upset and called him. His answer was, “what’s taking you so long to find a place?” He continually tried to blame us for his poor decisions. Thus, we had to scramble to find a place for our stuff. Then he said he would call before the driver leaves. The next thing we know, the driver calls and says he’ll be at our destination tomorrow and needs an address. Who does business like this?

Luckily we found a place in time to coordinate with the driver. Once the truck arrived I couldn’t believe how they stacked our furniture. It was a complete mess. They had no respect for our stuff. Even the local mover guys they hired to help the driver couldn’t believe how terribly they assorted the boxes and furniture. Needless to say, much of our stuff was damaged and some was missing. In addition, there were items (big items like a mattress and 5x5 mirror) in their truck that did not even belong to us. They don’t take inventory of anything as it comes off the truck. We had to argue with them to set up our beds and other furniture once in our home – something that was in the original contract.

Most places want to money at the end of the job. They guys refused to unload the truck until they had all the money.

When unloading the truck I noticed a box that was partially opened and broken items were coming out. When I confronted him, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “it’s not my problem”. Terrible customer service!


These guys are Arabic. Besides their thick accent, they would not listen to anything my wife said – as in many Arabic cultures, women don’t have much authority. My wife has a Type A Personality and this was very frustrating. I don’t mean to sound racist, but this is reality and it was very offensive for my wife and myself.

As for the sales guy, Michael, - watch out. Remember he’s in sales. He seems like the friendliest guy you’d ever talk to, but once the move was done and the money was in their hand, his customer service ended and refused to provide us any help or get us in touch with upper management to voice our complaint. He never returned our messages and followed through with our requests. Terrible customer service!!!

Overall – Terrible customer service from the top, down!!! Terrible, stressful moving experience compared to our experience with other companies. My advice – pay more and use a company that will come to your home and give an in-house quote and offer a “not to exceed maximum” like North American Van Lines did. We should’ve gone with North American – it would have saved us time, gray hairs, and lots of money.