International Van Lines

Reviews 3

MA

Marilyn Cochet

WORST moving company in 11 moves (6 international) in my opinion. Beware, Ocean Star International (OSI) is parent company of International Van Lines (IVL). Horrible experience w/ IVL for trans-Atlantic move right from beginning: misinformation, delayed move, unprofessional (opinion) sub-contractors, missing belongings. Facts & opinions of nightmarish move, & FYIs for anyone moving: 1) IVL representative informed me after inquiry that IVL only sub-contracted at destination (trusted rep & signed w/ IVL) however, IVL DOES SUB-CONTRACT AT ORIGIN (my mistake for not reading fine print subsequently sent). FYI: A moving company typically should inform if they intend to sub-contract; IVL did NOT, even when move SUDDENLY delayed by IVL. - Sub-contracting team seemed ILL-PREPARED & ILL-EQUIPPED; team leader (TL) stated he came to load & not pack although I had contracted & paid for full-service. - TL asked if team would receive a tip ~ 10 minutes into work as crew was, after all, taking care of my belongings (!?!). Upon arrival of container, he “requested” again, in a THREATENING VOICE & GLARE in my opinion, a $100 tip for each member. TL also insinuated that because I was moving internationally, I had money; relocated next to son due to sudden & tragic passing of husband. - Despite full-service contract, team proceeded to use my leftover moving material – used boxes, moving blankets & bubbled paper wraps. * TL retrieved some fresh boxes from moving truck only when refused use of my last box, damaged. * While discussing how to protect French-made dining room set, TL told me that moving blankets were not allowed for international moves. I then pointed to my leftover, international moving blankets which were promptly used. Crew eventually produced around 10 of their own blankets. - In my opinion, team did not know how to pack professionally: * Constant supervision necessary * Heavy tool box placed on top of paper-wrapped crystal * Deceased husband’s paintings shoved into box w/out protection * Good quality bath towels used to pack old, iron fondue burner * Mirror, glass-top vanity table & other valuables originally not protected, haphazardly packed * Expensive desk & filing cabinet “protected” with transparent film * Dining room table barely covered w/ blanket (holey) & legs left unprotected * Dining room chairs & extensions wrapped w/ parts completely exposed 2) HORROR ISN’T FINISHED! - At 19:30, crew informed my daughter that straps or bars were needed to secure items & Driver of container should have them. FYI: Driver should not see content of container; it’s the moving company’s job to secure & close container. Crew LEFT W/OUT SECURING BELONGINGS & LEFT CONTAINER WIDE OPEN. - A copy of signed, inventory list was not returned & not itemized for international move (only notations of “boxes” for most part). - Long story short, sub-contracting company asked if my daughter could go buy straps & secure belongings herself (!?!). Declined, so UNSECURED CONTAINER WAS LEFT OVERNIGHT in parking lot, thereby MISSING 1st scheduled transport. Around 22:30, container was closed for night w/ a lock I provided. My daughter talked to a manager of the sub-contractors, who profusely apologized & further stated that I would receive “discount”. Eventually declined $250 IVL proposition for LOST goods. - A member of OSI finally secured belongings late next morning, refusing tip. 3) Took several days & follow-ups to receive information about container & ETA to Ireland. 4) 1-2 BOXES LOST in moving process. Some DAMAGE. When informed of loss, IVL rep was misinformed about transportation & delivery (several transfers) of my belongings & questioned how they could even be lost! Although with full-insurance, DEDUCTIBLE (here $500 deposit) halted me from submitting claim. After discussion, IVL did propose to reimburse loss but in return I would have had to sign confidentiality agreement (not allowed to write anything disparaging, directly or indirectly) which OFFENDED ME, after all my daughter & I had endured.

HA

hao chen

This is my personal opinion. I hired IVL for my moving from Texas to Ohio. I thought IVL is a broker company NOT a real moving company because they subcontracted my moving order to Puma Van Lines (they followed up with me and said they are both). Hope what you get is their moving service not the subcontracted service. Cannot review their moving service since I did not get it. Maybe other people had a good experience with IVL. But for me, it is definitely NOT a good one. I could only say some blames may should go to the Puma Van Line but IVL could choose not using the subcontractor in the begining. The quoting process is good, which applies to most moving company, but the moving process is kind of a disaster. The mover first showed up late with a full truck (well... may have the space for only one mattress...) and say no room for moving my stuff... Then they left and i have to wait another day for the moving (they also did not show up on time), the mover told me I have to pay $1000 more because my stuff is more than the inventory list. I said I had provided IVL the whole list of stuff and the mover said IVLs estimation is not correct. So make sure you have the mover inspect the moving stuff and give the estimation rather than just making calls. (Please keep all your paper evidence, otherwise they would say no solid paper evidence so dont account. I dont believe i have much more than the quote list but unfortunately I cannot find the shipped item list). So use your own judgement on this paragraph. Then during quoting process, I clearly said I dont want to share a truck with others to ship my stuff and I would like to have a full "exclusive truck" (door to door) just for moving my stuff. I was quoted for $1000 to have such an option. But on the day before moving, I was told that it is impossible to have a truck just for me, because I dont have much stuff to move...Eventually, they had a small truck to move my stuff to a warehouse in Texas. From the warehouse to Ohio, I had to share a 18-wheeler with 7+ other peoples moving and the trucks stops many times in between to delivery other peoples stuff... (Please keep paper evidence on every communication, otherwise they will not account. Unfortunately, I used phone calls..) Regarding insurance, I said I would like $0 deductible full value protection, and checked the option for $0 deductible in the binding agreement/quote. But IVL staff sent an insurance agreement without such an option, with $250 as the lowest deductible option, unless you would like to get $0.6 or $6 per pound of your damaged stuff... Of course, there were some damages to my thing during the transportation, ~$150 loss. So I lost those. Again, maybe I encountered a bad apple while other people enjoyed good service. But this is my personal experience/opinion. Most of important is to keep everything in paper evidence (including communications), otherwise you will receive an email saying defamation lawsuit against you due to a bad online review. So take this into consideration if you really want to express your own experience.

NA

Nathaniel Moore

The quote we received from IVL was about 2/3 of the other, more well-known moving companies. The quote was given over the phone, and we were told they did not need to send someone to our house to complete the estimate -- they only needed "a rough description" of what we were bringing. We were also told that our move, from CO to MN, would be done in 3-5 days. So, we made the mistake of picking them. First, no one told us that IVL wouldnt be moving our things (it turns out, theyre just an intermediary). Second, when the packers arrived, our price went up 50% more than our quote. They also suggested that they pack large suitcases into boxes, because it would be more efficient from a space perspective. Trustingly, we agreed. We were then charged packing fees for them to literally place two suitcases into a large box. Also, you cant pay with a credit card -- Id love to hear IVL explain why that is. The packers told us to call IVL the following Monday, which was a holiday, to get an update on delivery. When my wife called the numbers we were given, someone named Sean picked up and berated my wife for interrupting his holiday at "Club Med." My wife was reduced to tears by how rude Sean was to her. The following week, when I complained about how we had been treated, I was asked to send an email summarizing our interactions with Sean, as it would be dealt with immediately. I did; we never received any kind of response. After three weeks of chasing IVL down, we were told the delivery date we had been given was only our requested date, not one they had committed to. We were told delivery would be made the following Monday-Wednesday, which at that point was about a month from pickup. The next Monday, we checked in with IVL, and they confirmed delivery would be made in the next two days, and that we should receive a call from our driver with details. No call ever came, either from the driver or IVL. Because IVLs customer service is non-existent, I had to resort to repeatedly dialing their general 1-800 number to speak to someone. When they couldnt find me anyone, I demanded, and eventually received, the direct number to the company that was actually moving our belongings. I was then informed that our belongings would not arrive for another week. The next Sunday, five weeks since pickup, the van arrived at our new home. However, there was only one person there to unload (the driver). As a result, I ended up moving half of the boxes into the house myself. As others have suggested, I would not be surprised if many of the positive reviews across the web are fake. If youre comparing a quote from IVL to a more established and reputable moving company, and youre swayed by the relative discount, do not be fooled.

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