Allied Van Lines

I see the other 1-​star reviews on here so feel compelled to offer my own counter-​example. These guys were pros from start to finish with nothing scratched or dented along the way. They delivered on time and under their cost estimate.
My wife, dog and I moved from Boston to Denver in November, with our condo on the market in Boston and a long drive ahead of us. From the quoting process (thank you David Foote), to the mid-​move communication (thank you Rhonda), to the truck driver, (thank you John) I felt that Allied/​ABC was professional, courteous and responsive throughout.
The most important thing for me was communication and I let them know that ahead of the move. I read the other reviews on here, I read Google reviews, and I read their BBB ratings and the story was clear to me. When a move goes wrong, it goes really wrong. When it goes as smoothly as it possibly can, it’s still stressful and exhausting. Honestly, I think these companies are getting unduly punished. Anyhow, I let them know that communication was critical for me and they responded: I spoke with my representative at ABC Moving and Storage (Rhonda) on a daily basis and got at least 6 phone calls directly from the truck driver during the moving process. In other words, I knew exactly where my stuff was and when.
On pick up and delivery, Allied arranged for a «shuttle truck» so a smaller truck could pick up my shipment and take it to their 18 wheeler — or deliver it from their 18-​wheeler. Part of the reason that you’ll find Allied’s rate to be MUCH better than other moving companies is that they are able to take more than one shipment at a time, but can make sure they don’t need to bring their huge truck to your city apartment building. Also on pick up and delivery, their driver and his crew went to good effort to wrap every piece of furniture and they delivered us our entire load without a scratch.
Overall, this is a professional operation and I was really impressed. Thank you Allied/​ABC!

I really wish I had checked Unilocal prior to signing my contract with Allied and ABC moving and storage. I’ve moved a lot in my life; large as well as small moves. My experience with Allied and ABC has by far been the worst of my entire life. Here’s my experience…
Summary: Poor poor poor communication. They take advantage of smaller moves.
My in-​home moving assessment was with Brad on July 10^th. The Allied estimate was in the middle of the road at about $ 3400 between United Van Lines and Bekins (FYI — I’ve had great experiences with both Bekins and United). I felt that Allied gave the most accurate weight of 2506 lbs and not having used Allied before I decided to give them a try. It’s a big name after all right?
Pick up /​loading was on Aug 13^th. They (and I mean Rhonda or another coordinator) failed to call me prior to my pick up/​loading date to schedule a time. This was a first for me. I had to place a call the morning of my pick up date to Rhonda to confirm that a team was even coming. The team arrived at about 930, were comparably slow (which is okay by me if it’s in the spirit of being careful) and friendly. They forgot to pack an entire kitchen cabinet — that I still consider my bad because I didn’t check thoroughly enough and I should have. For some reason the king mattress boxes were not included in the assessment, but the crew had extras and they didn’t charge me extra for them since my move was slightly smaller than estimated. By the end of the day I was just thinking that the move was disorganized and amateurish, but not horrible… Yet.
On my contract the delivery window of August 18^th through August 28^th is clearly written. I hear zip from anyone and decide to call Rhonda on the week of August 25^th. I leave a voicemail for her at 8:30am. Nothing. I leave another vm at 4:30pm. Still nothing. What gives, Rhonda? Are you on vaca? Is my stuff hijacked? Your outgoing message doesn’t indicate that you’re out of town. The next morning I called Allied and get a hold of an agent. She informed me that there is no driver assigned to my move and that she will make all the calls necessary to get this moving and will get back to me by the end of the day with an update. She did not. I call on the 27^th and speak to someone else. Still no driver assigned. That’s all she’ll give me, but I told her to call me regardless of whether or not there is a status change. She said she would, but alas she did not. Trend confirmed.
Desperate for my things I call the delivery team in Missouri. THIS guy finally gives me some info! He never received any info for my move, never had me scheduled, and found out that my things were still on the dock in Massachusetts. He couldn’t logistically help beyond that but did give me another number to call at ABC. I got a hold of Another woman who gets me in touch with… RHONDA! She had received my voicemails but didn’t call because there were no updates. What the hell? Anyway, she said she’d work on it and get back to me. I have never heard from her again despite the voicemails I’ve left her. By now I’m sensing that I’m a fraud victim. I even emailed my original contact, Brad, to ask for help. No response, of course. Not even an apology.
I have been attempting to get info from the Allied office in Fort Wayne, IN. «There’s still no driver assigned» is all they’ll give me. I demand something, ANYTHING, more info, a commitment, a damn call back, SOMETHING. They give me absolutely nothing. The icing on the cake– they inform me that since my move is under 3500 lbs I am not eligible for any late delivery compensation and that the delivery dates are not guaranteed. Basically they tell me to suck it up and deal with it. Given that any delivery of my goods is not in sight, that’s completely asinine. I threaten to go through the BBB and get lawyers involved. For three days I talk to customer service (a different person each time) and each says that she will get back to me regardless of a status change and SHE NEVER DOES.
I finally got a hold of another person (of course after leaving good ol’ Rhonda at ABC another voicemail that she’ll never respond to) in Indiana this morning. She said my things are on a truck (not necessarily in transit, but on a truck) and the new tentative delivery date (she was very clear about the tentative part) is Sept 11^th. We’ll see. I am truly fearful of the state of my household goods. If it doesn’t go well I may have to go to consumer advocates.
What is going on with Allied? I simply don’t see how these guys are still in business.

They packed, moved, and delivered our TV. When we opened their thin packaging, the screen was cracked and it’s not working. We still have not heard back from them.

Do not under any circumstances use this company, they broke many things due to poor packing. Everything I packed came to us fine. Terrible company, they drove us crazy.

Worst move in 29 years and 7 moves! Broken items — all of our lamps — broken, shattered. Shelves gouged, broken, desk broken, falling apart. Missing items, worst customer service representative we have ever dealt with. Do not use this company! Moved our entire household from one truck to another prior to delivery — unpacking a reverse packed truck has added to the stress of moving. We will never get our belongings back or restored, but we would like to keep others from having a similar experience. All movers charge the same rate, the only thing they have to offer is customer service — this is missing from this company.

Rushed, poorly skilled, careless movers.
I feel misled and disappointed. I have emailed the agents (ABC Moving and Storage, located in MA) and have not even received acknowledgement since I want compensation for damages.
PICKUP:
— Bill promised to send me 3 wardrobe boxes (I have email proof of this). This never happened.
— I specified on my moving contract that I only wanted $ 1000 charged to my credit card, and the rest to be paid by cashier’s check. Instead the entire charge was directed to my cc.
ARRIVAL:
— My coffee table arrived with a corner crushed completely and screws bent. Furthermore, Greg, the mover who delivered my goods said that it was like this when he picked it up, and most likely someone dropped it on that end. This means that Mike and Steve, the two movers who moved my stuff are responsible for this. If they had actually swathed it with blankets or bubble-​wrapped it, this would not have happened.
— Greg and his two assistants put together 1 table and 1 shelf (both from IKEA). Neither of these were carefully put together, and as a result I am having to take them all apart and put them together again myself. They were in a hurry to finish and it showed in their work. I was simultaneously supervising a cable installation so did not inspect everything thoroughly.
— Greg did not show me that one of the boxes (at least — I haven’t inspected all of them yet) was arrived damaged so that its contents were exposed. It is dishonest of him to have done this and made me sign that everything had arrived in perfect condition without informing me completely of all the issues.