United Van Lines Reviews

On the first packing day, our driver told us that our move coordinator had overestimated the number of boxes needed as well as the weight and the time needed to pack up. All this worked together to increase our estimate because we not only paid for a lot of unused boxes, but their estimate also included the labor to pack those boxes and the extra weight for those boxes (if they had been used). Their binding estimate included having our driver to get a second truck to take the overflow, but they easily got everything on the first truck so there was no overflow and no need for a 2nd truck--which means United saved the money for the second truck.

Also United included 3 days to pack & load, but it was easily done in 2 days which means we paid for an extra day of packing labor that was not used. They would not refund any of the overcharge for the 2nd truck, the weight overage, the mountain of unused boxes the driver had brought that we'd paid for, or the extra day of labor for 4 people. The move coordinator's response was, "I thought I did a very accurate survey. I'm sorry if it was wrong but I cannot change it now. The price is the price." While the driver was nice, he had never met his packers/helpers until the first packing day at our house. I could write a novel, but here are a few of the things they did:

*I had a portrait of our family at our daughter's wedding with a note taped to it to wrap well, handle w/ care, and top load. They tossed the portrait unwrapped (w/ my note still taped to it) into a big wardrobe box w/ wire hangers, bottles of shampoo & bathroom cleaner, and a few heavy bookends.

*They locked our antique china cabinet, removed the keys, and lost the keys.

*They took our expensive cuckoo clock that we bought in Germany off the wall and tossed it unwrapped into a big dishback box of stoneware dishes.

*We had 6 guitars listed on our High Value sheet but at destination when I asked to see the High Value items to make sure they were ok, they could only find 5 guitars. The guitars were supposed to have been specially packed and top loaded. The Fender American Ultra Stratocaster was nowhere to be found when they unloaded. The driver kept telling me he did not have the 6th guitar inventoried so he wondered if we had maybe moved it out of the house at origin before they packed guitars? Finally the driver dug thru boxes in the basement and found it thrown (unwrapped) into a big box with other misc items, and he said, "No wonder it wasn't inventoried or top loaded. Heck, it wasn't even padded or wrapped."

*They tossed our very sharp Cutco knives unwrapped into a box of misc baking pans, and when I opened the box and reached in to get a pan I almost cut off my finger.

*They un-hardwired our surround sound system speakers and the control box for the security system, packed them up, and we didn't know until we unpacked them at destination. The house at origin was wired for the security system and surround sound, and the controls and speakers were hardwired in and meant to stay w/ the house.

*They tossed items like vacuum cleaners, lamps, etc onto the truck loose (unboxed and unwrapped), so most of those were in many pieces by the time they got to destination.

*A lot of our furniture and other items were damaged but above are just a few examples.

*We had been led to believe that we would have a team of United employees who had been background checked and who would be held accountable to treat our belongings with respect. Fast forward to the unloading day when 6 day-laborers whom the driver had never met showed up to unpack the van. They were being paid a flat rate to unload the truck and they were in a hurry to get finished so they could go do something else. They just shoved things wherever they could.

*They sat an expensive dresser in the middle of the foyer and used it as a staging/landing area to hoist heavy boxes onto. I told them I was worried it would get damaged and the response was, "This isn't our first rodeo, it will be fine". The dresser got banged up as did the hardwood floors beneath that dresser due to all the weight and force of really heavy things being constantly thrust onto it. If I was not comfortable with them using my expensive piece of furniture as a landing zone for them to sling heavy boxes or furniture onto, then they should've stopped the minute I mentioned it...but they continued to do this up until they got their cash payment when they were finished unloading.

*Items clearly marked "basement" were put in the kitchen. Items marked "primary bedroom" were put in the basement, etc. They seemed to not even read the labels on the boxes.

*The driver had said first thing that morning that the basement furniture would not fit in the interior stairway to the basement, so he told them to go down the exterior stairs and enter thru the basement door w/ the rec room furniture. But they KEPT coming thru the front door w/ huge basement items like an oversized leather sofa, a huge/heavy oak foosball table, etc. Every time I would remind them that Chris said to go down the outside stairs and go in thru basement, they would just push past me or say "Well we're already here now so we're goin' this way". Soooo, they damaged the wall and knocked the banister off the wall with the oversized items, and they also damaged the leather sofa and foosball table--all from trying to force them down a stairwell that was too narrow for the items, which the driver had already told them.

*The driver was a nice guy who seemed to have no control over the unloaders. They are not employed by United and they made it clear they would do what they wanted. What could the driver do...maybe make them leave and then he would have to unload the entire truck by himself? They had the driver and us (the customers) over a barrel. But I hold United ultimately responsible for this because they should take more responsibility and accountability for the people who are loading or unloading for United customers.

*Then the claims dept said I could not get the banister fixed until they had totally finished w/ my claim or they wouldn't pay for it. It was a safety issue so I just paid someone to come reattach the banister which was out of pocket for me. They finally gave me a small release check for a small portion of the damages in June (9 mos after they moved us), so can you imagine if I had left the banister hanging down on the steps for 9 months? It had to be fixed, but their loophole to not cover it was that I did not wait 9 months for them to finish my claim before getting it reattached as well as the sheetrock repair to the wall in the stairwell.

We paid for their most expensive protection for full replacement coverage. When I filed my claim they told me "We don't call it insurance, we just call it "coverage" because we are not an insurance company". They are definitely not an insurance company, nor would any Insurance Commissioner allow any regulated insurance company to do business they way they do. The "coverage" is thru Uni-Group which is the parent company of United Van Lines. So one part of the company charges you $33,000 to totally disrespect & damage your belongings and even damage your house, and then the parent company finishes off the job by handling your claim as cheaply as possible.

They say that if you do not agree to the meager amount they offer you, the only recourse is to go to mediation/arbitration where the mediator has been hand picked by Uni-Group. All contracts, agreements, "protection coverage," etc are unilaterally drafted and designed for the benefit of the United & Uni-group, and it appears to me that the customer really has no rights and no input. I am quick to give praise for a job well done, as I did when United moved us in 2011. Likewise, I am being honest about the bad experience we had when they moved us in 2022. I would not recommend this company.

Please please please my fellow Americans, I recommended you do not use this dishonest, incompetent company. No one should be subjected to this kind of dishonest business. If they will be dishonest with an American Veteran who has fought in 7 campaigns to give them the freedom to be in business, what won’t they do to the rest of our great people.

When it came time to load our house the following day a box truck showed up. When we spoke to the rep we were told an 18 wheeler would arrive and our belongings would be taken directly to TX to our new location. The movers who arrived at our house told us our belongings were being taken to a warehouse and then would be placed on a truck. That was the second problem, again not what we discussed with the coordinator lady. I was in a hurry to get to TX for obligations so I agreed.

Arrival day in TX. Communications were poor, I had to call several times to get arrival times. When we opened the 18 wheeler the first thing I saw was my push mower sitting on the brand new leather couch with no moving pads, protected anything, the couch was completely scratched and torn. When all furniture left our home it was covered, wrapped and protected. It now was not at all. The driver told me they unwrapped all of our items in the warehouse to "inspect them for damage". He then told me he noticed broken picture frames and stuff as the truck was being loaded. Part of the fees we had paid was for extra insurance and for movers to unload the truck upon arrival.

The workers never showed, the driver got into a yelling match on my cell phone with his dispatch (his cell phone did not work, a whole other story). The 62 year old driver, myself and my brother in law who had to leave work unloaded the truck. All of our 6 month old leather furniture was unwrapped and damaged, a custom built epoxy table that was an anniversary gift to my wife was damaged, boxes crushed glass shattered in boxes marked fragile glass. We paid a professional company premium pricing and got horrible results!!! The claims process is horrible, the extra insurance is actually a scam and part of United Van lines so they have their own best interest in mind. Bottom line, Move it yourself and do not trust this company with what you worked so hard in life to have.