Protected Van Lines

It was a nightmare from having to come up with more money so that the move was to take place and then to have every single piece of our furniture damaged. I could not get any help with the company that damaged my furniture.

They came about 3 hours late to pick up the items. It took ONE EXTRA week to get the items to Florida. They arrived one week later than their window of delivery at 10 pm and it took the drivers 3 hours to take out all of the items in the truck in FRONT of ours. They finally left at 2 pm, after we told them to leave without assembling anything because of the incredible frustration. Called daily and were constantly given incorrect information and most importantly, despite copious, detailed item inventory, the move was $1,000 more than quoted.

After I sent in the deposit, everything went downhill. I purchased their platinum package which was supposed to provide expert packing of everything I own. I was told that the quoted price was the maximum that I would have to pay. If they had overestimated the weight then I would pay less. We discovered that my husband's employer was going to pay for the move and we did not need to send the deposit. We tried without success for about a month to get someone at Protected Van Lines (PVL) to communicate with the employer so that we could get our deposit back. About two weeks before the move I contacted PVL to let them know that there was a change in the listing of furniture that was going to be moved. Since I sold some of the furniture I needed to take it off the list. I also noticed that one piece was not listed. After three phone calls I finally got someone to call me back. I was told that the price of the packing was underestimated and that I would need to pay an additional amount around $4000. At this point they finally talked with the employer and told them that PVL would need more money than was allowed by the employer. PVL agreed to take the maximum that the employer would pay and would refund our money. We called after we moved into our new home and were told that we should receive our refund at the beginning of August. We began calling after we discovered that our credit card had not been refunded. After several days of not getting our phone calls returned, we called again to be told that they would return the difference between what the employer paid and what they had asked for even though we had signed a contract with the new agreed upon price and they received the amount paid in full before the move even began. Wait. There is more. PVL is a middle man who does not own any trucks of their own. We had a crew of three show up late in the afternoon and was supposed to pack up a four-bedroom house with 15 years of accumulation in a day and a half. They did not complete the job before they left since they left many objects, plus a broken light fixture. It was clear from watching them that they had never done this before or at least were not instructed in how to pack. They placed glasses on their sides and books on their spines. When the furniture was unloaded we had at least 20 pieces of furniture extremely marred. We are still finding problems. When I showed the movers the mars I found their response was not to worry that the company would replace them. There were not enough lines on the form given to write all of the damage done. One line on the damage form said that it could take up to 9 months to resolve. After the move we contacted PVL and told them that we were dissatisfied with the quality of the movers and would be sending a report of damages to the moving company and would copy them on it. We heard nothing from PVL after emailing the report to them.

We contracted with Jerri Marini from Protected Van Lines for our cross-country move that took place May 23-25. We were promised and paid additional money for a “white glove” moving service with professional movers. We were told the movers would arrive early on the morning of the 23rd. Instead one man from a company called Fast Move arrived at 9:00 pm on the first day. On the 25th, his local hired laborers walked off the job because they were told they would not be paid. Our friends and neighbors ended up helping us move furniture and belongings to the garage as we had to be out of the house by the 26th and ready for the buyers final walk through. They rest of our belongings were loaded and we were told they would store our belongings in Dallas. Our furniture arrived 10 days late forcing us to impose on family. Our belongings arrived in an unmarked freight truck and appeared to have been thrown in with little or no regard as to the contents. The driver would not allow the truck to be unloaded until we paid him in the form of a cashiers check. A crew of local movers began to unload our belongings. Nearly every item was damaged in some way. Boxes were smashed, a refrigerator arrived dented and scratched with missing handles. Legs were broken off of a table. One wicker chair had a hole right through it. Countless dishes and decorative art were smashed to pieces. The local boys could not believe what they saw. The driver, who did not work for Fast Move said he was just hired to drive the truck to our location and took no responsibility. We immediately called Protected Van Lines and spoke to one of the owners, Russell Rosenberg, who assured us they would take care of the broken and damaged goods. We sent in pictures and calculated the damage as well as missing items (power tools, and a designer handbag) to amount to approximately $21,000.00. We began to work with Stephanie Faria, who was in charge of Customer service for Protected Van Lines. She assured us we would be compensated by both their company and the owner of Fast Move, Mossa and his wife Sara. We dealt with several people at Protected Van Lines during the next several weeks: Mikel Perez, then Alexis Aguaya, then another owner named Gary and they all assured us we would get a settlement of $9,000.00 that the two companies would share. We were asked to sign a settlement agreement stating that we would not talk negatively about our experience on social media. The signed document was sent to Sara at Fast Move. The document had a payment deadline of August 24, 2016. We never received payment and the company Fast Move disappeared into thin air. Phone numbers and e-mail no longer worked. We learned later from Protected Van Lines that the company had supposedly been purchased by Out of State Movers. We asked for a contact name and number, and they gave us Sara, wife of Mossa and owner of Fast Move. It appears that they are pulling a fast one. Perhaps the IRS should look into these companies. Protected Van Lines said the matter was “out of their hands” as they had paid their share to Fast Move. We have called and left messages for Stephanie but she nor anyone else at Protected Van Lines will return our phone calls. We feel that this company had no intention of getting us a settlement all along and that they have simply been playing games pretending to help us. In addition to the actual cost of our move, $15,327.90, we are out thousands of dollars to replace the items we could, and devastated by the loss of items we cannot replace.

The worst experience you think can happen with a moving company happened, starting with protected van lines. They bragged about having a good score on Angie's list and in consumer affairs with a good rating. Unfortunately they deserved less than an F but that is the least I can give. They are a broker and do not do any of the work. They promised everything to get me hooked and they delivered on nothing. The company they brokered out to was the worst part, hard to believe they brag and give the work to a worse company. The guy I talked to said he gave me his personal number and I could call or text it anytime with issues or problems and I called that number over 30 times from before the move to after the delivery, which was approx. 2 weeks. They answered once, it was a dispatch number and there was no call back. The also have a 24 hr number posted on protected van lines website. It is not 24 hr and the voicemail says there is an after hours extension to press but no one answers and the voicemail was full........for 2 weeks. I also called other numbers I had for the company, no answer or call back. When I did get ahold of a man, he said he quit the company because of the shady things they do. Protected gave me a reasonable quote and the company they brokered to charged me $4000 more with extra fees not in the quote. The $4000 did not include the $1200 down payment. They also tried to tell me that the weight of my 1 bedroom apartment was 11,000 lbs, which is 5,000 over what my belongings did weigh. When I asked the driver to weigh when he delivered, to show me personally that my belongings weighed that much, because I know they didn't, he refused. He was the same driver that picked up my stuff and weighed it the first time. He said he would get fired if he weighed my belongings again. The price depended on the weight. If you want a good and smooth experience, without getting ripped off, do not use protected as a broker.

Approximately, 2 weeks before the scheduled move date, I received an email about Jerri from someone named "Alexis" & how great she was. I was told that I would hear from someone about a week prior and that was over a month ago and I have yet to hear from anyone. I have emailed Alexis numerous times and do not get a reply from the email from "Alexis". When I have emailed Customer Service, I get a notification back stating that the email is invalid.

Initially, I have had a move before. they usually send someone out to see what you have to move. Protected Van Lines doesn't send anyone out. They do an inventory over the phone and come up with an estimate of what things will weigh and that's how they give you a quote. Most companies go by volume, not weight. Once you have the estimate, you pay a certain amount up front based on the estimate to lock in the service. The remainder of the estimate goes to the mover that they contract. I paid this amount to them and later I called to ask some specific details about the move. It's tough to get a hold of them. A few weeks ago, I talked to a lady who said she would get in touch with the mover and provide the cost. And I've never gotten an email or callback on this. This company, Protected Van Lines is a broker and doesn't actually do the move. Essentially, my complaint is that they are not a moving company, only a broker of services.

Not to be trusted. The short of it is that the truck never showed, and Protected Van Lines left us in a lurch. It continues to be a huge hassle! All Protected Van Lines has offered is a 20% refund of our deposit. The broker's job is to get you a truck. That didn't happen. The truck never even showed. In the morning of the move, after the expected window had expired, we could not get ahold of the driver of the truck. Neither could Protected Van Lines. So we waited all day for a no show. Protected Van Lines claims we had too much stuff. That's not true. Where they got this idea? I have no idea. No one showed up to move out stuff. But even before we contracted, they explained that they would have extra space on the truck if we needed more room than expected. Ironically, we eventually had our stuff moved in a smaller space than PVL's minimum. Save yourself the trouble of this company and go with the Uhaul UBox to start. We got the run around and are still without a full refund although we're working with our credit card company. Don't put yourself through this. A move is stressful enough.

My experience with Protected Van Lines was totally disastrous!  <br /> My family was moving cross country from Atlanta to CA. I picked Protected Movers based on some good reviews. BTW, later I found out that at least one of these reviews was left by the VP of the same company - bummer!  <br /> It all started with Kelly - a very polite sales lady. She assured me that the company would take care of me and that my move would be as smooth as it can be. She took the inventory data and gave me a great price ($5,603 to be precise), which was lower than other companies gave me so I signed Binding Estimate and left the deposit.  <br /> On the day of the move they called me saying the driver is going to be one day late. I started getting worried because I had airplane tickets for all my family to fly out in 2 days. The driver didn't show up next day either. He called me on the third day from a nearby town and asked me to come and find the truck to show him the way to my home. Otherwise he said he wouldn't come. My wife and I were very surprised but given this choice we left our last minute things, jumped in the car, and went to search for the truck. When we found it and brought it home, the driver demanded $14K (!) to start loading the truck. He was very pushy to the point of being aggressive. He also acted incoherently as if he was on drugs. I suggested to the driver that he should respect the Binding Estimate but after a quick call to Protected Van Lines he left. We were shocked! <br /> Protected Van Lines then suggested that we find another truck ourselves or they could find it for us in several days and for the higher price. It was too late for my family to change our reservations and we were under tremendous stress so we told them to go ahead and send another truck. We payed real estate agent to supervised loading process and flew to CA next day. <br /> The company that showed up in 2 days was Most Valuable Movers. They suggested that we have more weight than the estimate and tried to trick us into rewriting the contract to accept flat rate ($12,000). We declined the offer. It was a good decision afterwards! Most Valuable Movers did a good job loading the truck but then they took it to NJ, where our stuff was unloaded and placed on another truck. <br /> Here is how they cheated us with the weight of the truck (we were charged per each pound). The first weight ticket was obtained one day prior to pickup (306 miles from the pickup location). According to the testimony of one of the drivers, the truck went to the scales just before refueling.  The second ticket came from the weight station about 50 miles from the pickup location. There were weight stations much closer to my place, which seem to be deliberately ignored. BTW, the difference between empty and fueled truck may be up to 340 gallons (about 2550 Lb).  <br /> Per our Binding Agreement, Protected Van Lines could only charge me $5,603.00 (original estimate) plus $1,150.80 for the extra weight (2,740Lb for $0.42/Lb). The total charge should be $6,753.80  (not taking into account the fuel weight scam). <br /> They made us pay $9,444.74 ($2,690.94 extra) for this move (yes, they keep your things hostage until you pay in full cash). Plus we payed our agent to supervise the loading. Upon delivery we found many damaged and missing items, which could make for another story. <br /> Later when I was trying to contact Protected Van Lines by phone they wouldn't have a person to talk to me - always a message. They wouldn't return my calls either. I had to use help of a third person to get hold of them. To be honest, they finally sent me some compensation. Per the document they made me sign I could not disclose the amount but it seemed to be randomly generated and totally not covering my losses. <br /> Protected Van Lines is not a moving company as they claim on their website. It is a broker, whose responsibility is to find a contractor (real moving company) and provide customer service through the move. They don't have their own trucks and only make money on commissions. Of course, they don't tell you that up front. Protected Van Lines failed to provide services, which they promised and then overcharged me for their own failure. This is a clear case of misrepresentation and fraud. Beware!

<p>Protected Van Lines did an outstanding job on our recent move. We loved that all our household goods were perfectly delivered. They were all professional and our move in and out process was very smooth. They took great care in making sure all our goods were delivered in good condition. Not one single item was damaged or missing. </p>

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Well, I learned my lesson with this move. Having just got a new job many states away, I thought I would hire a moving company to save some stress. Unfortunately, Protected Van Lines only added to the stress. The problems started right away. After doing an inventory over the phone, the agent wanted a deposit of 1/3 of the total estimated move. I agreed, having not done my research, and about $1,300 later, I thought I was on my way to a stress-free move. (BTW, if you are considering an interstate move, do yourself a favor and check out this list of red flags from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: [*** Link removed ***] As my move date approached, the problems multiplied. I was promised a call from a quality assurance agent a week before my move to confirm the window during which the movers would show up. Three days before my intended move date, I still had not heard from anybody. After I called to figure out what was up, it took another 48 hours before I received a call confirming the pickup. While I knew Protected Van Lines serves as a broker (and, therefore, doesn't do the move themselves), I expected another company to show up for the move. However, I was not expecting such an unprofessional crew. First, after seeing no sign of the movers during our scheduled pickup timeframe, I called again to understand what was happening. Only then did I learn that they would not be there for another 24 hours due to "truck issues." I was given the name of the moving company and a number to reach the driver. At this point, I got rather nervous, given that the communication had been terrible and me and my wife were planning to give them 95% of our possessions. I researched the moving company, which received an F from the BBB, with 45 complaints in the last year. Yikes. With that information, on top of another 12 hour pickup delay, I called to cancel the move, even though it meant renting a moving truck and driving it almost 2,000 miles. When I called to cancel the move, the list of reasons they gave me for why I should trust them were laughable (direct quotations from conversations with service representatives below): - "Nobody ever leaves positive reviews for moving companies." Not buying that. And even if it is true, why would I use a service that so many people agree provides terrible service? - "Well, the movers do a better job for us than if you call them directly because we won't give them more jobs if they do a bad job." Not exactly inspiring confidence. - "You can't really cancel now. You're stuck with us." Um, no. Goodbye. So, move cancelled, truck rented, local moving companies (who both had excellent reviews, both on Yelp and with the BBB) hired to pack and unpack the truck, and almost 2,000 miles of driving later, my move was successful. No thanks to Protected Van Lines. ps - Interesting how those five-star reviews from Katherine R., Parker R., and Mark K. keep getting bumped to the top of the company's Yelp page. Smells fishy... TL;DR - Do your research and be very careful when hiring movers for a long-distance move. If you don't, you'll probably only add to the already heavy stress of moving.

I would not wish the stress I experienced dealing with this company on anyone. They are far from "a moving company you can trust." The gist of my experience: There is no 24hr service, the after hours line take you to a cell phone, once I got Russel who was very short, and who just told me to call back in the morning as he left the office for the day (big help!), another time I got Connor  (who named himself as a part owner) who started the conversation by belting out "This better be important, I'm out with my kids!" Despite him calling back to apologize (after I said this is definitely going in my review), I found that to be extremely unprofessional. Not to mention that the reason I had to call after hours is because my "personal moving consultant" had not returned any calls for two weeks, or had provided me with any weight tickets after leaving a voicemail that I would owe almost $1200 more than my original estimate (this nearly doubled what I was expecting to pay). I can echo a previous review on another site that they will only contact you if it is about their money, they don't care about your personal belongings. To top it off, moving day comes.. this company hired movers that can't read english well enough to recognize "Fragile" and "Do not stack", flipped over  and delivered over half of my boxes upside down, broke numerous dishes, damaged corners of wooden furniture, broke a solid wood dresser, took the stand off my 46 inch flat screen and lost the screws to put it back together, knocked the lights off a vanity mirror that I paid them to pack(!), and sadly much more.   They even tried to get me to sign numerous blank forms on pick up and delivery that "the office fills out later" (something that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration warns against directly). But that is only after arguing with the movers for FOUR HOURS on delivery because before even seeing my apartment complex the driver said he would need to charge me for a shuttle because his truck would not fit (atleast an additional $300-400). After wasting all that time, the driver was able to magically maneuver the truck right up to my door without even touching  a curb (this was only after they got the message that they couldn't scam me out of more money!). In summary, you can't (despite their web page) contact anyone when you need them, they hire shady movers to do the actual work, they ended up being the most expensive company I spoke with, my stuff is broken, and the owner is rude. Why do business with this company?

Eventually the 2 men showed - even though I was promised at least 3 <br />The end result was finished by 11pm <br />Mr Sabatini & Alex were truly remarkable!! <br />Upon receiving at least there were 2 others to assist <br />Very cordial young men & of course Mr Sabatini outdid himself in considerations <br />and truthfulness. If I could be assured that Mr Sabatini & his men would move <br />me again..then I'd have no problems hiring!! <br />I really appreciated their concerns for my furniture & my viewpoint. The best!!!! <br /> <br />

Everything went very well and nothing was damaged.

From the start, I was treated very respectfully, The staff I had contact with were very professional and answered all my questions patiently. There was a small mix up with the paperwork initially, however, it was due to compatibility issues with my home computer so once we identified the issue, the transaction went smoothly. When I had a concern with the service provider, I was able to reach a live person immediately and my concern was a priority with the team through resolution. I would recommend this company.

We received many estimates on a very small move that we had from MS to CT. I was "warned" about all the brokers, etc., I read many reviews, some good, some bad on Protected Van Lines. However, I can say our move was handled professionally and without any issues. The trucking firm was State to State Move and they handled everything as if it were our most prized possession. Krista was outstanding, she kept us up to date on where they were in the move since we were having to coordinate with someone else on the CT end.The only thing that came up was on the delivery end in CT, the street was too narrow for the moving van to get to the house. A shuttle was required and it did cost a little more than the estimate; however, it's was there in black in white that additional cost would be incurred if a shuttle was required. If I have another move for any distance I would definitely contact Protected Van Lines

The company did an overall good job. Most important is communication! They did just that. I also was in contact with driver. He checked in to let me know where they were fro time to time. The mover did a great job handling out stuff. I would use this company again.

I finally had a positive experience with a moving company. From start to finish, I thought they were quite professional. I move from Denver to Miami and they helped make it a seamless experience. There were a few hiccups. For example, the vendor they chose to move my car didn't show. Protected knew I had a flight the next morning and immediately found another vendor to pick it up ASAP and I made my flight. The moral of the story - things happen, but at least you're in good hands and they're with you from start to finish and make sure you're satisfied. Stephanie at their corporate office was amazing. She was my point person and I must have called her 100 times throughout the move and she was always willing to answer my questions and was always professional and courteous! I definitely reccommend Protected Van Lines.

Surprisingly very good experience !!!!!! <br /> Customer service department is AWESOME! <br /> Looks like company is new but they are very professional and <br /> work very hard. <br /> We had so much going on because we had a very little time <br /> -our house sold the 3rd day we put it on the market (good thing !) <br /> Everyone we called either told us they don't have a truck or <br /> they wanted a ridiculous amount of money. Move went pretty smooth. The couch <br /> legs had some scratches on them but that was it. They reimbursed me for the <br /> scratches(!!!) I called at 9 pm California time, not realizing they are on the <br /> east coast and they answered the phone on the 2nd ring... Gary was awesome and <br /> very helpful, telling us where to buy the cheapest boxes, and how to pack them <br /> and so on. They were helpful to us, along the whole move. I never even had to <br /> leave a voicemail once because they were always in contact, and if were busy <br /> would pick up and tell me they'd call back. Great genuine people. 5 star <br /> service for an affordable price. <br /> THANK YOU GUYS!! <br /> <br /> <br />

I spoke with Matt at Protected Van Lines who provided me with a competitive estimate to my my household goods from New York to Florida. The movers showed up on the promised day and time, carefully pack my belongings, and delivered my goods on time. The nicest part was, after unpacking my belongings there was not a single damaged item. I would definitely recommend Matt and the team at Protected Van Lines. They will become a leader in their industry if they aren't already. <br />