Golden Van Lines LIARS, SWINDLERS and WORST MOVING COMPANY IN AMERICA Fair Lawn, New Jersey

29th of Nov, 2011 by User519611

I got transferred to Indiana from Long Island, NY and began researching moving companies. Golden Vanlines presented a quote to load, drive and unload at final destination with their own truck. The price was $1700 and I was happy after researching the company.I have since found out they have the same name as a company out of Colorado and they are NOT affiliated. I knew the price was competitive but had gotten many other quotes from other companies along the same lines. I chose Golden Van Lines because they SPECIFICALLY STATED THEY COULD MOVE ME OVER THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!!!!!! "Sure, we work 365 days a year, no problem" The loaders were 3 hours late to load the truck putting my drive to Indiana right in the middle of NYC rush hour traffic. Not a big deal, I rolled with it. The 3 men who arrived were great and professional. After the last box was loaded the main guy said the price is more than originally quoted. I asked how much more? A couple of hundred bucks wouldnt be a problem but he said the total price is now $3265.00!!!!! I was shocked needless to say. I have moved 21 times since college and am accurate in my description of my items to the woman (Kelly) who provided the estimate. The loaders repacked some items and labeled every little piece as a single item (small dog bed) that I could have thrown in my car if I had known it would inflate the price so drastically. I paid the man $600 in cash and wrote a check for $2000. He stated I would owe $665 at the final destination. This was on Monday 11-21-2011 and it needed to be delivered on Saturday, November 26th.I had already paid $338 to secure the move yet the driver neglected to deduct this number until AFTER I called their headquarters and told them what he was trying to do. The trip is 804 miles and it was again agreed upon for the Saturday delivery. I tipped each man $20 for doing a good job. Afterall its not their fault the company they work for is slime. The company also stated the driver would call me 24hrs in advance of delivery. Friday afternoon I still had not heard from him so I called the dispatcher. He was drunk and very angry I had called because "Its the holiday and I am not working today". He said my items wouldnt arrive in Indiana until Monday. I called the headquarters in NJ and they said "We have 21 days to deliver your items, regardless of what was promised" It is now Wednesday November 30th AND I STILL DO NOT HAVE MY FURNITURE!!!!!!!!! The driver called at 2pm today to say he was in Michigan and had to drop off some stuff, then on to Gary Indiana for this last stop before mine which SHOULD be here by tomorrow. This is double the price and 6 days AFTER the promised delivery date. After many calls and emails to parent company they said "Nothing I can do for you as its within our 21 day timeframe" I wanted to warn anyone looking for a moving company in the tri-state area not to use this company as what they say and what they provide are two very different things. At this point I would have appreciated someone who would at least listen to me and maybe discount the price a little but they wont even answer their phones anymore as they have caller id and know its me. As of 4pm Wednesday afternoon I have no furniture and no exact time it will ever get here. Please also note my check for $2000 had already been cashed as of Tuesday November 22nd.

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4658 days ago by Kmal

I had a very similar experience with this company...wish I would have seen this post before I booked them. If you are searching for movers STAY AWAY FROM GOLDEN VAN LINES. I booked my move from NY to MI through Nicole. Nicole guaranteed delivery of my goods prior to Christmas, no problem, which is the reason I booked them and not others with similar quotes. I went through and detailed out my items and them when the movers came they tried to charge me an additional $1200 saying I had more items. What is the point in detailing your items if you they are just going to rip you off when the shady drivers arrive. On their site Golden says their drivers and vans are NOT CONTRACTED...that is a lie. The movers that arrived insisted that I pay cash only and were driving a budget truck. The movers that arrived told me they were contracted and showed up with a massive truck and my items JAMMED into one compartment. 2 of the first 4 boxes that came into my house were not mine. The others were broken, which of course they dont cover because I packed it myself. Wrapped three times in bubble wrap and newspaper, and labeled FRAGILE the box comes in dented and somehow my 80 dollar wine glasses being broken was my fault.

This doesn't even cover the issue with getting my things. I was promised delivery prior to Christmas. As Christmas rolls around I call Golden Van Lines. For three days I get the response "a driver will call you tomorrow". Of course no driver ever calls... I call on Christmas Eve and I'm told my things will arrive the 25th or 26th. Waiting for a call...still dont get one. After Christmas passes and with an upcoming vacation planned I start calling frequently asking for management. Every time we call we get different answers. We are put on hold for 15 minutes waiting for the manager, Mary. after 15 minutes another associate comes on the line and tells us Mary is on vacation. We are given drivers phone numbers and they are disconnected. Every person we talk to gives us a different answer and nobody at Golden has any idea where my things are or how to even reach their drivers. We are told my things will arrive 12/30- we cancel our ski trip and wait New Years weekend. Weekend comes and goes, we call Golden and the drivers numbers that we have and again are given totally different answers. After a VERY angry call on 12/31 I'm now told my things will arrive 1/1, and they dont end up showing up until 1/2 (they were originally supposed to be delivered 12/23). This company flat out lies multiple times to me, gave us disconnected numbers and not once did any of the incredibly RUDE woman in the office ever apologize.

Moving is stressful enough, do yourself a favor, pay the extra $100-200 and STAY AWAY from Golden Van Lines. I rarely complain about anything, and never have been driven to post online about a negative experience. What I went through with this company was absolutely atrocious and created a massive amount of unnecessary stress for me and my family through the holidays.