Contacted Win Van Lines. They seemed very responsive. Got an estimator out within 2 hours. Seemed like great service. I received a BINDING ESTIMATE from them for $2,600.
I sent them a payment of 10% ($260).
Day of the Move:
1) They arrived very late so it was into the evening.
2) Truck was unmarked.
3) Paperwork they wanted me to sign was from another company: All United Van Lines ("it's just paperwork and this is our sister company").
4) By the time they'd finished wrapping EVERYTHING possible with cardboard and tape, they presented me with a bill for $2,500 JUST FOR THE WRAPPING. This was 3 guys for about 4 hours and 80% of the packing was already done!
5) Refused to unload the truck when I refused to pay more than my BINDING ESTIMATE and got physically threatening.
6) They drove off after getting my credit card number. It was either that or they were going to take all my belongings to storage and start charging me $250 a DAY!
Two days later they let me know that I was "OVERWEIGHT". They ignored the "BINDING ESTIMATE" they'd given me. Just said it wasn't valid. Now they wanted to charge me $6,800 for the move ON TOP of the packing charges. One conversation with the owner resulted in him screaming at me on the phone and making more threats about putting my goods in storage and charging me.
Day of Delivery:
I had a police officer present at deliver so they couldn't use physical intimidation.
I managed to negotiate the driver down $800 after a LONG argument. It was either pay or he was going to drive away and put my stuff in storage 3 states away and start charging me $250 a day. Police could do nothing because THEY HAD PHYSICAL POSSESSION of my property.
The boxes were smashed up. Terrible packing job. Worst of all, they did not have on the truck our most important furniture piece: a large expensive china cabinet. The trucker showed me paperwork that showed that he never loaded it and told me to call the main office.
I've now called the main office 10 times. Sent email. Send letters. They claim no knowledge of the furniture.
This was a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Research will show you (as it showed me later) that these companies: Win Van Lines, R1 Movers, and All United Van Lines are all fronts for the same scam artists. They know that once they have physical possession of your stuff, you're done for. They pulled every nasty trick in the book to jack up the price. They were abusive. They were a nightmare.
STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS! They are VERY good at what they do: RIP PEOPLE OFF.
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