Colonial Van Lines Reviews 

helpful and hardworking movers

Our move with Colonial was an awful experience! The only bright lights were the movers themselves, especially Kevin Williams and his crew for saving the day! Our furnishings were picked up by a very nice crew on a Wednesday and we were told that they were going straight to our new house with no other stops. Our new house was 6 hours away and they’d deliver on Friday. They confirmed that a couple of times. Then on Friday, I got a call saying the driver’s son had an emergency and he had to go to Texas to be with him but he’d be back Sunday and that we had to pay our balance on Saturday since the billing dept was closed on Sunday. We understood. What we didn’t realize is that he took our entire household furnishings with him from NC, 16 hours to TX!!! We were furious. Why not leave our furnishings in a secure place up here instead of being on the road that far away??? Then we were told that he could only drive a certain amount of hours before he’d have to rest and he’d be here Tuesday. We kept getting those stories and excuses until they flew Kevin out to Texas to get our stuff. We didn’t get it until 2 WEEKS LATER! Ridiculous! To make matters worse, we were paying to have a second company come crate my 98” tv and bring it with them, but that didn’t happen, so we had to pay another company to crate it and drive it here. An extra $2k! The customer service manager was awful. She lied to us over and over. We got $50/day they were late, but that doesn’t make the situation any better when we paid $14k!!! Never dealing with them again.

I chose Colonial Van Lines because of my interaction with Allan Hall, Moving Coordinator. His professionalism and knowledge sold me. Paul Hughes followed up from QA and assisted us even further. Anastasia Walker, Account Manager always listened to my questions/concerns and followed up with a phone call. When an issue came up Ronteesha Pughsley - Customer Support Manager contacted me and really 'heard' my concerns and frustrations. She ended with call, "let me see what I can do." Very customer service oriented. She was true to her word and emailed me a very gracious resolution to my complaint. I am very pleased with the service I received from Colonial Van Lines

AVOID this company at all costs. Moving cross-country is stressful enough, but this service was deeply unprofessional, disorganized, and completely disrespectful of my time and property.
Communication Nightmare: 99% of "updates" came after 5 PM with zero actual information—just generic recordings from my representative, Melissa Charles. The company callback number failed 90% of the time, trapping callers in a broken "conference code" phone loop. Staff refused to even provide the name of their supervisor.
Logistical Failure: Despite knowing I had a strict apartment freight elevator window, they refused to guarantee delivery times. The "crew" ended up being a single person who arrived 3 hours late because he admitted he overslept.
Damaged Property & Claims Fraud: The driver broke the wheel off a $500 cabinet case and left it broken on its side. The claims department (Karyana Belangle) then violated our contract rate of $0.60/lb, offering a insulting $25 settlement under the false claim it "could be repaired." It could not. I had to pay an outside service $188 out of pocket just to haul the ruined item out of my small apartment.
Save your sanity, your money, and your belongings. Hire a reputable, professional company instead. BTW - - this site is forcing me to give a star rating in order to post my review .... if there was a way to give a negative rating, they would be getting -10.

Update: In order to accept the $$, we'd have to sign something preventing us from filing a claim for our damaged items, filing a complaint or lawsuit, and would require us to remove our reviews. They've asked us to sign something similar to file a claim for our broken items. Perhaps this is why their reviews seem halfway decent

We had an awful experience with Colonial Van Lines, and I hope this review helps others avoid what we went through.

In short: We were pressured to sign a contract for more than $2,000 above our original estimate, our move was subcontracted to a company that wasn’t named in advance, numerous belongings were damaged because of negligent packing, customer service was unresponsive when we needed help, and we had almost no certainty about when our belongings would arrive.

A more expensive contract day-of: When the movers arrived, they presented us with a new contract that increased the estimated cost by more than $2,000. We were told they would not complete the move, or might only move part of our belongings, unless we signed it. The mover repeatedly insisted that this was only an estimate and that we would ultimately pay based on the actual weight of our shipment, even though the contract did not clearly say that. We refused to sign the new contract and drove with the movers to the weigh station ourselves. The results showed our shipment weighed more than 1,000 pounds less than the original estimate and over 3,000 pounds less than the day-of estimate. Despite being told by three different employees that we would pay for the actual weight, we were charged based on the original estimate instead. After multiple phone calls, Colonial has offered only a $270 credit, even though we believe we were overcharged by roughly $1,000.

Undisclosed subcontractor: We hired Colonial Van Lines expecting Colonial to handle our move. Instead, they brokered it to another moving company. The company they hired has bad reviews, and after the move my lawyer informed me that it may not have the required license to perform moves in the state we were moving from.

Negligent packing: We paid for professional packing because we expected our belongings to be handled with care. Unfortunately, the packing was careless, and many items arrived damaged.
Some examples:
-Our printer was placed unwrapped in a box with our baby's nursery items. The printer broke, leaking ink onto baby linens, including handmade items from her grandmother.
-The movers used wardrobe boxes but never installed the hanging bars. Instead, they stuffed all of our clothes, including my wedding dress and my partner's suits, into the boxes, leaving everything badly wrinkled.
-An unframed poster was folded in half. This was unnecessary because the movers tossed it into a dresser drawer much larger than the print anyway.
-They also damaged a dresser, couch, picture frames, dinnerware, and a custom-painted children's desk, failed to wrap our kitchen knives, and damaged other items.
Note that their insurance is less than the price per pound they charge to move your items. So you are still paying to move the items they break.

Poor customer service: Customer service was one of the most frustrating parts of this experience. When the day-of pricing dispute happened, we repeatedly tried calling Colonial for help. It was after business hours, but no one responded, and the messages we left were not returned during business hours either. Throughout the move, many interactions with customer service felt dismissive, rude, or condescending rather than helpful.

No reliable delivery timeline: Colonial gave us a 2.5-week delivery window, making it nearly impossible to plan our move. We were repeatedly told things like, "It probably won't take that long," "We'll know closer to your move," and "The driver will tell you after pickup." In reality, we didn't learn the actual delivery date until less than 24 hours beforehand.

I cannot recommend Colonial Van Lines based on our experience. If we had known how it was going to go, we would have rented a truck and moved ourselves.

Great moving guys.

e recently used Colonial Van Lines for our move from Raleigh, NC, to Rochester, MN, and overall, we had a very good experience.

The team was professional, courteous, and handled our belongings with care throughout the moving process. Communication was clear, and they kept us informed about the pickup and delivery schedule. Our items arrived in good condition, and the crew was efficient during both loading and unloading.

Like any long-distance move, there were a few minor scheduling adjustments, but the team worked with us to ensure everything was completed smoothly. We appreciate their efforts and customer service.

Overall, we are happy with the experience and would recommend Colonial Van Lines to anyone looking for a reliable long-distance moving company.

I moved furniture and other household items from Florida to a summer place in Maine and had a very good experience with both the pickup crew and the delivery crew. They were polite and professional and delivered my items in a timely fashion. The agent that booked my reservation was very helpful also. I highly recommend Colonial Van Lines.

They lost my stuff! These were momentous that I have collected over 40 years, irreplaceable. When you call asking where your stuff is, they listen, they transfer your call, the new person tells you how bad they feel regarding loss of my things! They tell you not to worry someone will call you the next day. Guess what, nobody calls because they don't give a hoot. This has happened to me at least 4 times. Avoid them like the plague!

We had a horrible experience with Colonial Van Lines. They claim they don’t broker and when the truck showed up late it was Father and Sons. They took our belonging in a 22 ft truck which was supposed to be a semi truck and put it in a warehouse in Phoenix where it sat for a month before it was finally delivered to Ohio. Customer service is terrible. They end up not answering calls or emails. When Father and Sons finally delivered it there were damaged boxes and dented up furniture. I hired them because they claim to be a family business with schooled movers. That was definitely not the case. There were a lot of sleepless nights waiting for our stuff to arrive.

DO NOT use Colonial Van Lines. I had a terrible experience with them on an interstate move. Their communication of the schedule was just bad and they added an extra 440lbs to my bill of lading. Thankfully I found out that customers have the right to be present at weighings and can request re-weighs. After I called them out on the extra weight, a manager tried to gaslight me: suggesting that I was asking them to "empty" the tank before weighing (I was not) or by implying that it was common practice. Also, they use sub-contractors/agents.

I was stressed out about one furniture piece left out of the final inventory. I reached out to the quality assurance department but did not hear back from anyone. I decided to call Chad Curro, a customer service representative and he called me back immediately and took care of the problem for me. More importantly, he was courteous, reassuring and trustworthy. I highly commend Chad for your moving needs.

My experience with Colonial Van Lines has been extremely disappointing and far below what was represented during the sales process. The issue began with a significant delay in the scheduled pickup at 4125 Harbour Cove in Lansing, Michigan. The original arrival time was supposed to be no later than 2:00 p.m., but I received a call at 9:30 a.m. advising that the driver was delayed and would arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. By 6:40 p.m., no one had arrived, I had received no further communication, and every number I tried went to voicemail.
The crew finally arrived around 7:45 p.m. to begin packing. They arrived in a moving van and indicated that it would be used to load our belongings. This was not what I was told to expect. We were supposed to be moved using one 53-foot semi-trailer, not have our belongings split between multiple smaller trucks. When I explained that our belongings would not fit in the truck they brought, I was told they would get a second truck if necessary.
The crew packed until approximately 10:00 p.m. and completed only about one-quarter of the job. I made it clear that the packing and loading needed to be completed on Sunday because no one would be available at the home on Monday. The crew stated they would return at 7:30 a.m. sharp on Sunday morning to finish the packing and loading, but they did not arrive until 8:15 a.m.
Then to top it all off they charged me $1,400 + for a shuttle truck at the delivery when a shuttle truck was not required because they chose to split the load into two smaller trucks.
Overall, this has been a very poor customer experience. The repeated delays, lack of proactive communication, inability to reach anyone after hours, and difference between what was promised and what was delivered created unnecessary stress during an already difficult process. Based on this experience, I would not recommend Colonial Van Lines without significant improvement in scheduling reliability, customer communication, and follow-through.

delivery service was amazing, great workers

From our first phone call to Colonial Van Lines it was a smooth and organized set up to move.
We moved from Canandaigua, NY to Mechanicsburg, PA and chose Colonial because of its high performance rating after several searches.
I spoke with Serge who was so helpful to explain all the steps we could expect.
When moving day arrived the professional's Edwardo and Carlos arrived right on time. . They were speedy and very careful to wrap and pack my loved items. In less than two hours they had everything loaded in their truck.
The next day Edwardo arrived at our location in PA at the time he said to expect him.
We cannot say enough about Edwardo. The helpers who were supposed to be here to help him did not arrive and he totally unloaded and delivered every piece we had moved to your fourth floor unit. Not an easy task from truck to elevator to unit. He deserves all the credit for our successful and pleasant moving experience.
It was a joy unpacking and finding absolutely nothing broken!!!!

I hope Edwardo can be and is being recognized for his ability and strength to carry out the incredible job he did for us……and you!

Thank you
Judi and Richard McGrath

Great moving experience. They delivered everything the next day as promised. The crew was efficient, well organized, and communicated clearly throughout the move. Everything was handled with care, and the whole process went very smoothly. Would definitely recommend.

Moving with colonial van lines was a horrible experience. They hounded me to get me to sign and then once I did it was impossible to reach anyone. They did not arrive when they said they would (they were 3 days late) and destroyed my belongings. It has taken 3 months to get a response and they are offering me $106 for a missing box of kitchen items, a box full of things that was destroyed because of some unknown liquid that leaked into the box and ruined everything and a dresser that was damaged and an antique table that was broken. I would never move with them again. They also say that they are not a broker but they assigned my move to 2 no-name operations that destroyed things and did not communicate.

Staff was great but pickup was late.

They did an amazing job! I moved from San Antonio to Atlanta and they were able to accommodate a very tight timeline for me.

Sergey, Andrew and team took great care wrapping and moving my belongings. They did a great job keeping me updated during the move. All my belongings arrived during a perfect time due to ongoing construction in my neighborhood. They set up my furniture for me as well as placing tubs and boxes in rooms as convenient and directed by me. They were professional, detailed, hard working and personable to deal with. I am very happy with my move and highly recommend them and Colonial Van Lines.