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American Van Lines Review
By Cassidy Horton MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
American Van Lines (AVL) is a well-established moving company that serves customers in 48 U.S. states. Is the company legit and should you consider it for your upcoming move? While it ranks among the five best moving companies, there are a few red flags to consider. Here’s what you need to know.
Table of contents
- American Van Lines’ services
- American Van Lines’ credentials
- American Van Lines’ accessibility
- American Van Lines’ customer satisfaction
American Van Lines overview
- Serves 48 states
- Specializes in long-distance moves
- Also offers local moves and relocation services
- Full-service moves are available (packing services, furniture assembly, etc.)
- Special handling for valuables is available
- Storage services are available
- Emergency after-hours support is available
- Movers are drug-tested and pre-screened full-time employees
- Company is a carrier, not a broker
- Can't get online quotes
- Has a C rating with the BBB
- Has 227 BBB complaints and many negative reviews
- Doesn't serve Alaska or Hawaii
- Not much pricing information on the website
American Van Lines is a family-owned-and-operated moving company that was founded in South Florida in 1995. Today, it serves customers across the United States and specializes in long-distance moves. Additionally, it helps customers with local moves, military relocations, and corporate relocations.
While American is a legitimate and well-established company, it doesn’t fare too well with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Read on to learn more about American Van Lines’ services, credentials, accessibility, and customer satisfaction ratings to decide if it’s the right moving company for you.
American Van Lines’ services
How can American Van Lines moving company help you? Here’s a look at its services, pricing, and more.
What it offers
When it comes to services, American Van Lines can help you with:
- Long-distance moving: The company has a large fleet of trucks that make weekly shuttles to and from all of the major U.S. cities. If you’re moving out of state, you can reserve space for your belongings on one of the many rigs.
- Local moving: You can also hire the company at an hourly rate to move your belongings within the same city or state.
- Military relocation: Military personnel can ask their transportation counselors to select American Van Lines when arranging a military move.
- Corporate relocation: Business owners can also hire AVL to help employees relocate. A moving coordinator contacts the employee to plan the move, and then the company sees it through.
- Storage services: If your new home isn’t quite ready but you need to move out, you can store your belongings at one of the company’s storage facilities. The first month is free, while additional months come with a monthly fee.
- Packing and crating: If you don’t want to pack and unpack your belongings, you can hire the company to do it for you. Partial packing is also available if you only need help with certain items, such as a heavy piece of furniture.
- Special handling: If you have fragile items you’d like handled with extra care, the company has certified antique movers available. They can help with the transportation of items like fine art, expensive china sets, pianos, and other family heirlooms.
- Furniture and appliances disassembly/assembly: If requested, the movers can carefully disassemble and reassemble appliances and furniture.
What it doesn’t offer
While American Van Lines will move most of your belongings, there are some items it prohibits, including:
- Hazardous materials: Anything that looks or smells dangerous (e.g. aerosol cans, ammonia, batteries, firearms, propane tanks, weed killer, and more).
- Perishable items: Plants, produce, frozen foods, food that hasn’t been preserved, and any other items that can perish.
The company also suggests you keep items of personal or sentimental value with you. This can include cell phones, laptops, family photos, important records, medicine, and jewelry.
American Van Lines costs
Unfortunately, American Van Lines doesn’t provide much pricing information on its website. After some digging, we found that local moves are charged at an hourly rate. Further, there’s a Special Offers page that lists flat-rate pricing for certain out-of-state moves. For example, a move from Miami, Florida to Dallas, Texas ranges from $3,643 for a one-bedroom apartment up to $10,321 for a four-bedroom house.
That said, there’s no official word on how all long-distance moves are priced, the average costs for a move, or whether you have to pay a deposit up-front. To understand what moving expenses you can expect, you’ll need to contact the company for a quote.
American Van Lines’ credentials
Moving companies are required to jump through various hoops to operate legally, especially if they provide interstate moves. Here’s a closer look at American Van Lines’ credentials.
Licenses and registrations
American Van Lines is licensed and registered with various organizations, including:
- The Department of Transportation (DoT): All interstate movers are required to have a U.S. DOT number on their commercial carriers. American Van Lines’ U.S. DOT Number is 614506.
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA): The FMCSA requires moving companies to get MC numbers if they transport federally regulated commodities or passengers across state lines. American Van Lines’ MC number is 294798.
- Various state departments: The company also lists its mover registration numbers for several states including Texas, North Carolina, and Florida.
Awards and certifications
American Van Lines is also ProMover-certified. What does that mean, exactly? ProMover is a certification program created by the American Trucking Association (ATA). To get certified, moving companies must agree to a code of ethics, have at least 18 months of experience providing moving services, be in good standing with the state, and agree to a list of business standards.
American Van Lines’ accessibility
How easy is it to get in touch with American Van Lines and access its services? Here’s a look at the company’s availability, contact information, user experience, and limitations.
Availability
The company offers moving services in 48 states but isn’t available in Hawaii or Alaska. It has office locations in Florida, Texas, and California, and has moving teams in cities across the country.
Contact information
If you’d like to get in touch with American Van Lines, you can do so in the following ways:
- To get a quote, you can call the toll-free phone number (888-296-5458) or fill out the online quote form.
- If you need to talk to a customer service representative, you can call (954) 318-1246 or use the live chat option on the website. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST, and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST.
- The company also has an after-hours emergency line you can reach at (305) 828-4443.
User experience
The website is very focused on getting you to apply for a quote, which is good if that’s what you want to do. You can either request the quote online or by calling the company. However, if you opt to fill out the online form, you won’t be able to get a quote online. Instead, your information is handed off to a representative who calls you to follow up and give you the estimate.
Limitations
American Van Lines provides a variety of ways to get in touch. While the regular customer care phone line has limited hours of operation, you can contact the after-hours line for emergencies. That said, there aren’t many physical offices you can go into to talk to someone face to face. As for the service, it won’t be an option if you live in Alaska or Hawaii. Further, you won’t be able to get your actual quote online. You’ll have to talk to a representative.
American Van Lines’ customer satisfaction
How satisfied are customers of American Van Lines? Here’s a look at the company’s customer complaints and third-party ratings.
Customer complaints
According to the BBB, American Van Lines has received 227 complaints, 87 of which were in the past 12 months. The majority of those complaints were regarding a problem with the service such as delivery delays or unprofessional movers. However, there are also some complaints about the company’s advertising and billing practices.
Trustpilot, another respected consumer review forum, shows only nine customer ratings, of which one is excellent, one is average, and the rest are bad. The customer who rated the company as excellent notes that he had a terrible experience and initially rated the company as poor, but American offered him some financial compensation, whereupon he changed his rating.
You can look to the American Van Lines website for additional reviews, but you won’t find any complaints. The company claims to have received 979 testimonials, but only shows a fraction of them. Those that are visible are all 5-star reviews, which almost certainly is not a full and balanced sampling of consumer reviews.
Consumer reviews skew negative in most industries, and the moving business is no exception. Few people take the time and trouble to write a review of a company that performed no better or worse than expected. We suggest that you consider BBB and Trustpilot reviews in that light.
Third-party ratings
As for third-party ratings, American Van Lines earns a C from the BBB, on a scale that ranges from A+ to F. While not bad, it’s not good either. The moving company lost points due to the 200+ complaints filed against it, and the fact that four complaints haven’t been resolved yet. It’s also worth noting that the company is not BBB-accredited and has an average rating of 1.4 out of 5 stars after 73 customer reviews.
Trustpilot gives the company an average rating of 2.6 stars out of five, but this figure is based on only nine reviews.
American Van Lines FAQs
Is American Van Lines legit?
American Van Lines is a legitimate company with the required credentials and many years in business. However, it does have many negative reviews and complaints with the BBB and Trustpilot.
Does American Van Lines offer furniture storage?
American Van Lines offers one month of free storage for all of your belongings, including furniture. If you need longer-term storage, a monthly fee will apply.
How are American Van Lines moving costs estimated?
American Van Lines estimates your moving costs based on how far you're moving, the weight of your belongings, and the services you want (e.g. packing, unpacking, storage, etc.). So, for example, a cross-country move with belongings from a 3-bedroom house is likely going to cost more than a move to a neighboring state with belongings from a two-bedroom apartment.
How does American Van Lines work?
The moving process starts by contacting the company for a free quote. After your situation is assessed, you'll receive a price estimate. From there, you can choose pickup and delivery dates. On the pickup date, the company will arrive with a moving truck to load your belongings. It will then drive to your destination and your belongings will be unloaded on your delivery date. They can also be delivered to a storage unit if your new home is unavailable.
Is North American Van Lines part of American Van Lines?
No, North American Van Lines is a different company. While it also offers local moves, long-distance moves, and corporate relocation services, it specializes in international moves.
How we evaluated American Van Lines
To evaluate American Van Lines, we investigated its service offerings, pricing, and limitations. From there, we evaluated the company’s credentials including licenses, registrations, awards, and certifications. Lastly, we checked into how accessible American Van Lines is and how it fares in terms of customer satisfaction.
Summary of Miami Herald’s American Van Lines review
- American Van Lines specializes in long-distance moves but also offers local moves and corporate and military relocation services.
- The company offers a full-service moving experience which can include furniture assembly/disassembly, packing/unpacking, and special handling of fragile items like fine art.
- Storage of your belongings is available and is free for the first month.
- American Van Lines’ cost information is lacking on the website. However, local moves are said to be priced hourly, while long-distance moves appear to be based on flat-rate pricing.
- Phone calls are required for customers to get an actual quote.
- The company is not BBB-accredited and has 200+ customer complaints on file.
- Want to compare American Van Lines against other moving companies? Check out our list of the best moving companies of 2022!
Cassidy Horton is a finance writer based in Seattle, Washington. With an MBA and a bachelor's in public relations, her work has been published over a thousand times by The Balance, Finder.com, Money Under 30, Clever Girl Finance, and many more. Cassidy is a self-confessed money nerd who’s passionate about helping people find financial freedom. Oh, and she really loves cats.