Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromjamie c

  Date: 09/22/2023

  I still get sick to my stomach thinking about what they did to my family and I. I graduated college and needed help moving my TINY TINY bedroom furniture from AL to IL. My mom told me get quotes from moving companies because a lot of my furniture was super nice. I found *********** had a good ****** reviews. (i wish so badly i researched more). The guy I talked to was great and told me a sob story about his son dying who was around my age and seemed so genuine. It was my cheapest quote and he promised me up and down that the price would not change unless I added more items. When it came time to move out, I packed up all my belongings and was ready to get in my car and leave when they were done loading. I waited all day for them to come and then never showed up. I had nowhere to sleep as everything was packed up so this was upsetting but I understand things happen so I slept on my floor and delayed my travels until the next day. They promised they would come in morning and they didn't show up until 5pm. At this point I knew it had to be a scam. I saw on here they were gonna increase the price so I took every single box I had and shoved them in my car so I had WAY less that what the original quote was. They quoted me for 60 boxes and I had 0 and ended up selling a few items. So I had probably half of what I originally told them. Sure enough they told me I had to pay an additional ***** dollars on top of my original cost. I was ENRAGED.. i was all by myself and didn't know what to do. I started sobbing and having a panic attack. I'm a college student who doesn't have that type of money. I told them can they at least try and fit the cubic feet they quoted me for. they said that would just be my full size bed. REMIND YOU my og quote was 57+ items. How can a bed delivery be $3000?!!! ****** ended up leaving and I was stuck all by myself in this empty college house with no other options. SCAMMED. DO NOT EVER USE!!!!!!!!! Worst experience of my whole entire life.

• Review fromMichael F

  Date: 04/12/2023

  I unfortunately engaged this company for a move from *******, ** to NE *******. The move was in late October 2021 with an arrival date of early December. The problems started when the representative of First Rate refused to accept my determination for the volume of goods to be moved and insisted that the load was in excess of 600 cubic feet when in reality (carefully measured) it was closer to half that amount. He insisted that it was "a standard federal worksheet" that determined the volume. I should not have proceeded with them any further, especially any initial payment. They did not arrive on time and I had to move my belongs to a storage business since I had to leave to close my house purchase in *******. When the contracted mover arrived and met my representative they demanded more money. By this time I had given away several of the few unboxed furniture items I was moving to further reduce the volume. The mover refused to load until we agreed that it was a larger load than it obviously was and paid more. During my trip (in the middle of ******** on I 80) the representative from First Rate called me on my cell phone and coerced me into paying MORE. He said "you can call this a failure of service I you want". When the load arrived I was required to pay more as was originally agreed. I was missing numerous boxed items including electronics, clothing, boots, tools, small appliances, sporting goods as well as the only piece of furniture I moved, a rather expensive maple folding table. I was still realizing missing items for a year afterward. 2 (carefully packed in TV cartons) flat screen TVs were ruined. I did not seek damages from these sleaze bags because they only paid a small amount per POUND. I consulted an attorney and he determined that I would have to file in ******* with unlikely success. These people are dishonest. I have all the documents, dates and times in case they deny any of this. Beware. Do not even consider dealing with them.

• Review fromSandra L

  Date: 02/09/2023

  We contacted this company on January 12, 2023 to move us from Dayton, Oh to Chicago, IL. They told us they would schedule the pick up on February 1st and then deliver on February 2nd. They took all the information of all the items and sizes. They gave us the estimated volume of 286 cf. We paid the deposit of $539.00 using our checking account number, which we should have never done. We finally find out who the actual movers, Care Free Movers, were on Monday, January 30th. They told us they would pick up our stuff on Thursday, Feb 2nd. My daughter had to be in Chicago on the 1st. I stayed behind for the movers on the 2nd. The movers arrive around 2:00pm and I asked them if they were delivery the items the next day. They told me they had no idea when the items would be delivered. The movers wanted to see how much stuff we had and he took pictures of all the items and had to get back with the main headquarters. I waited for about 20 minutes and finally asked what was going on. The movers said we had more items than we reported to the broker, which was not true. They wanted to charge us an extra $550.00 to move everything. After trying to figure out what we could leave behind, we finally agreed to pay the extra money so they would move everything. The new contract came over and showed an estimated delivery time of February 8th to March 22nd. We ended up contacting the broker, First Rate Van Lines, and told them what was going on. They said they have no control over the moving company. We ended up cancelling the move after 2 hours with the movers sitting at my house. I lost the deposit of $550.00.
  DO NOT USE A BROKER TO FIND A MOVING COMPANY. We ended up renting a Uhaul and hired 2 people to load and upload our items.

  First Rate Van Lines LLC

  Date: 02/18/2023

  We appreciate our customers' feedback, as a company, we are always looking for ways to improve our services.
  
  In response to your complaint we would like to address the following:
  
  On 1/12/2023 the company secured a position on our calendar and provided them with a Binding Moving Estimate, which was acknowledged, signed and returned, prior to accepting a deposit of $489.33 to secure a position on our calendar.  (Attached is a copy of the signed Binding Moving Estimate.)
  
  Long Distance Moving is a service we provide to our customers and in order to execute the move, our company utilizes authorized FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) motor carriers. In fact, policy states, “Please note that First Rate Van Lines is a properly licensed interstate Broker.  First Rate Van Lines is not a motor carrier and will not transport an individual's household goods, but will coordinate and arrange for the transportation of household goods by another FMCSA authorized motor carrier, whose charges will be determined by it's published tariff.  All estimated charges and final actual charges will be based upon the motor carrier’s tariff which is available for inspection from the carrier upon reasonable request. In acting as an interstate broker, First Rate Van Lines is not responsible for any acts or omissions of the motor carrier or its employees or agents. Customer agrees to exclusively pursue the motor carrier directly for all claims for property damage, including without limitation, any claims of damage to property, lost or stolen goods, delayed pickup or delivery, actions of estimators, drivers, packers, or movers, or other types of claims.”  Estimated price does not change unless the order has additional services (shuttle fee), additional items to be moved, or additional weight or cubic feet to be moved which are not listed on the estimate along with packing services, materials, and unpacking services at an additional charge and are only included in this estimate if the services are specifically listed on the services section of the estimate.  
  
  We strive to accommodate customers arriving within the requested window for pickup and delivery, however, due to any type of unforeseen delays, no promises can be made. In fact, the Binding Moving Estimate policy makes clear "All pickup, load and/or delivery dates are only estimates and are not guaranteed. There are absolutely no guarantees made, expressed or implied regarding pack, load and/or delivery dates."
  
  After careful review of the account and our cancellation policy, the company has concluded that the Customer is not entitled to a refund as we have executed our end of the Estimate. As stated above the Binding Moving Estimate, that the Customer esigned, clearly states that we are a Broker.  The Customer canceled their move with the Carrier which is considered to be an onsite refusal.  The Customer didn’t agree to pay for the additional cubic feet that their household goods would take up on the truck.  Due to the Customer refusing pickup the deposit is forfeited.
  
  Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
  
  Thank you,
  
  First Rate Van Lines LLC
  

• Review fromDavid V

  Date: 02/03/2023

  One Word: ********! ** will sell you everything EXCEPT what you pay for. They lie about how your things will be transported and handles. THEY HAVE ZERO CONNECTIONS TO QUALIFIED MOVING COMPANIES...Do not be fooled. They sell your job to the lowest ghetto type 'movers' bidder. They are complete fraudsters ... they demand payment in a very 'sketchy' manner and tell you to pay the movers by credit card (NEVER AN OPTION). Their CFO called me after I had reservations about using them and told me "I will pad your expenses to whatever you want to turn into your company for relocation." I was told I was getting the **** Treatment" and it turned out my local movers hired by them had been on the job one day and had no idea how to pack a truck. I am still missing several pieces of furniture and what I did receive in 2 loads (they did not have big enough trucks) was damaged and broken beyond repair. The damage to my homes on both ends is in the thousands of dollars (doors, floors, door frames)

• Review fromRosin E

  Date: 01/08/2023

  These company is a **** company.They are lies to steal your money. They kept my deposit of $2001.13. They were rude and disrespectful. I had to close my bank account and they tried to ask me for more money and I realized they were ********. I lost a lot of money and in the end I hired something simpler and everything went well..August08,2022

• Review fromAbdulkhaliq A

  Date: 12/26/2022

  Be aware and,, Avoid Avoid Avoid why they running bussiness through this way!!. They said the price will never change and the item was accurate, with no reason, they increased the price double. 12/23

• Review fromWalter B

  Date: 11/23/2022

  Bait and which type model company. I was duped by them for the down payment and quoted and signed a bogus contract. I am a retire veteran in poor medical health at the moment, and he says oh yeah my boss is a retired vet, let me see if I can get it to a good price for you ( sucker), I'm sure that what he was saying, they up the price and mistakenly forgot to add all the items issued to the over the phone $2000.00 extra for the so-called un-added items. Oh and kept the deposit they asked for the same day. ****** learned? They will see.....

• Review fromMAUREEN S

  Date: 11/04/2022

  I was duped by this ********** company. Thankfully, I quickly figured it out and closed my bank account, so they got no money. STAY AWAY!

  First Rate Van Lines LLC

  Date: 11/05/2022

  We appreciate our customers' feedback, as a company, we are always looking for ways to improve our services.
  
  In response to your complaint we would like to address the following:
  
  
  
  On 9/12/2022 the company secured a position on our calendar and provided them with a Binding Moving Estimate, which was acknowledged, signed and returned, prior to accepting a deposit of $1,070.86 to secure a position on our calendar. 

  
  

  Long Distance Moving is a service we provide to our customers and in order to execute the move, our company utilizes authorized FMCSA ********************************************* ***** carriers. In fact, policy states, Please note that First Rate Van Lines is a properly licensed interstate Broker.  First Rate Van Lines is not a ***** carrier and will not transport an individual's household goods, but will coordinate and arrange for the transportation of household goods by another FMCSA authorized ***** carrier, whose charges will be determined by it's published tariff.  All estimated charges and final actual charges will be based upon the ***** carriers tariff which is available for inspection from the carrier upon reasonable request. In acting as an interstate broker, First Rate Van Lines is not responsible for any acts or omissions of the ***** carrier or its employees or agents. Customer agrees to exclusively pursue the ***** carrier directly for all claims for property damage, including without limitation, any claims of damage to property, lost or stolen goods, delayed pickup or delivery, actions of estimators, drivers, packers, or movers, or other types of claims.  Estimated price does not change unless the order has additional services, additional items to be moved, or additional weight or cubic feet to be moved which are not listed on the estimate along with packing services, materials, and unpacking services at an additional charge and are only included in this estimate if the services are specifically listed on the services section of the estimate. 

  
  

  The Customer canceled their move and they were informed that they will be removed from the Operation Calendar.

  
  

  Thank you,

  
  

  First Rate Van Lines

• Review fromAlanna V

  Date: 10/21/2022

  Our move needed to be complete within a fairly tight time frame. Our First Rate rep confirmed he understood that and would orchestrate everything to fall into place to meet our goal. Thats not to say we still were not nervous as heck until it actually happened but Im here to say it did.