Full service van lines has been shut down by the u.S. Dept. Of transportation Dot) for safety violations. This is a moving company that had many 5-star reviews online, even though the company had a long history of customers repeatedly complaining about late deliveries, unexpected charges and other shady business practices.
It is believed that the 5 star reviews were due to deceptive search engine optimization shenanigans. Full service van lines, a south florida moving company has now been shut down, but not because of consumer complaints, but rather because the dot investigation found more than a dozen violations of federal safety regulations. Full service van lines is barred from conducting any moves, unless it persuades dot to reinstate its registration. The company has had more complaints this year in the federal database than any other florida moving company of its size. I say “good riddance”!!!
Advice before moving your goods Reprinted from the dot website)
Movers must give written estimates.
Movers may give “binding estimates”
“binding estimates” on the phone prior to the move may not really be binding, if drivers found they were moving more items than listed in the estimate. Federal law allows binding estimates to change unless the estimator visits the customer’s home in person to set the binding estimate.
Non-binding estimates are not always accurate; actual charges may exceed the estimate.
If your mover provides you with any partially complete document for your signature, you should verify the document is as complete as possible before signing
Be sure you understand the mover's responsibility for loss or damage, and request an explanation of the difference between valuation and actual insurance.
You have the right to be present each time your shipment is weighed. You may also request a re-weigh of your shipment.
If you agree to move under a non-binding estimate, you should confirm with your mover—in writing—the method of payment at delivery.
Movers must offer a dispute settlement program as an alternative means of settling loss or damage claims. Ask your mover for details.
You should ask the person you speak to whether he or she works for the actual mover or a household goods broker. A household goods broker only arranges for the transportation. A household goods broker must not represent itself as a mover.
You should seek estimates from three different movers. When getting estimates don’t disclose information to the other different movers about their competitors.
This company continues to solicit business even though they are not licensed to do so. Unreal. They are still withholding at least 11 boxes of mine. I suspect theft based on what I know the contents are (were).
My initial experience with George was very positive. He walked me through the quote process, answered all my questions in a polite and professional manner, and returned phone calls when I left messages.
The movers (2) arrived on August 29th for a move from the metro Boston area to San Francisco, CA. The driver was helpful and walked me through the process and documented my inventory. The cost exceeded the estimate for reasons that could not be articulated. Oh, and they arrived in a Budget rental truck and were clearly contractors, NOT employees. The untruths continued to build from there.
I was told during the initial quoting process that this would take 17-21 days. I followed up for an ETA daily, multiple times a day beginning September 9th when I arrived in San Francisco. For the first 2 weeks I got the runaround ("your stuff will be loaded and sent within the next few days" followed by "truck issues that are beyond our control"). I even enlisted family members to help hound these people because a single person cannot make this a full time job, which it became. I can count on 2 fingers how many times I actually received a return phone call despite always being told "I'll call you back in (insert random # here) hours". So on top of everything else customer service is nil.
The first time I was given the "driver's" name an cell #, I quickly learned that was bad information. Not only was this person not a driver, but he did not have my things nor was he heading to the west coast. In fact, I was given the # of another dispatcher God-knows-where. I believe this was a tactic to get me off their back for a half day. I later talked to this person again and he asked "what company are you working with because I work with so many?".
Once a driver was assigned and the truck en route, the final amount due continued to rise. Why? Again, no one could articulate that very well, and there was NO NEW INFORMATION about my destination or situation that would suggest they didn't factor something into the original quote. Driver arrived days after due date and still wanted more $ upon delivery than was agreed. Also made me sign the delivery form before he even opened the truck. And guess what?? SEVERAL boxes are missing from the delivery. FSVL's response? Mum so far, but we'll find out. I have filed a formal complaint on the FMCSA site and am going down the line with BBB, etc.
Moving is a stressful time, especially when it's cross country. Do yourself a favor and select ANY other moving company, if that's even what they really are. Go ahead and read all the horrific reviews on the internet about these guys. It's neverending.
Spoke to Pete @ Full Service Van Lines to move my daughter to Virginia. Told him I didn't want to play any games on pricing. He told me when the movers come to pick up your boxes and furniture you will have a confirmed price. In addition, Pete asked how many flights of stairs are there in Virginia. We told him 2 flights at which time he charged us an additional $75,00. OK, so they arrive in Virginia 10 days later when it should have been much earlier based on the comments made by the drivers, but OK. Now the driver gets out of the truck and looks at not the 2 flights of stairs that we paid extra for, but the number of steps in each flight of stairs. He then states he cannot move the furniture and boxes unless we pay more money. He went on to tell us that a flight of stairs consists of 10 steps. Know where in the contract does it define that, nor did Pete ask that question, so the screwing has occured. I called Full Service Van Lines immediately and spoke with Pete(person that did the quote) who then put me on hold and had someone else deal with me. The new person came on the phone and said you need to pay the money. The driver would not deliver the merchandise unless we authorized the payment. I have written an email to the owner Jason Stokes and he has not responded. I wrote a comment on the website and no response. It is time that the moving industry become regulated so things like this don't occur. I will never recommend this company to anyone and would not take anything they say to have merit since it will change on the other end of the move and having something in writing means nothing to them. If you decide to work with Full Service Van Line be prepared to be screwed and blackmailed with no recourse.
Full Service Van Lines Reviews
Full service van lines has been shut down by the u.S. Dept. Of transportation Dot) for safety violations. This is a moving company that had many 5-star reviews online, even though the company had a long history of customers repeatedly complaining about late deliveries, unexpected charges and other shady business practices.
It is believed that the 5 star reviews were due to deceptive search engine optimization shenanigans. Full service van lines, a south florida moving company has now been shut down, but not because of consumer complaints, but rather because the dot investigation found more than a dozen violations of federal safety regulations. Full service van lines is barred from conducting any moves, unless it persuades dot to reinstate its registration. The company has had more complaints this year in the federal database than any other florida moving company of its size. I say “good riddance”!!!
Advice before moving your goods Reprinted from the dot website)
Movers must give written estimates.
Movers may give “binding estimates”
“binding estimates” on the phone prior to the move may not really be binding, if drivers found they were moving more items than listed in the estimate. Federal law allows binding estimates to change unless the estimator visits the customer’s home in person to set the binding estimate.
Non-binding estimates are not always accurate; actual charges may exceed the estimate.
If your mover provides you with any partially complete document for your signature, you should verify the document is as complete as possible before signing
Be sure you understand the mover's responsibility for loss or damage, and request an explanation of the difference between valuation and actual insurance.
You have the right to be present each time your shipment is weighed. You may also request a re-weigh of your shipment.
If you agree to move under a non-binding estimate, you should confirm with your mover—in writing—the method of payment at delivery.
Movers must offer a dispute settlement program as an alternative means of settling loss or damage claims. Ask your mover for details.
You should ask the person you speak to whether he or she works for the actual mover or a household goods broker. A household goods broker only arranges for the transportation. A household goods broker must not represent itself as a mover.
You should seek estimates from three different movers. When getting estimates don’t disclose information to the other different movers about their competitors.
This company continues to solicit business even though they are not licensed to do so. Unreal. They are still withholding at least 11 boxes of mine. I suspect theft based on what I know the contents are (were).
My initial experience with George was very positive. He walked me through the quote process, answered all my questions in a polite and professional manner, and returned phone calls when I left messages.
The movers (2) arrived on August 29th for a move from the metro Boston area to San Francisco, CA. The driver was helpful and walked me through the process and documented my inventory. The cost exceeded the estimate for reasons that could not be articulated. Oh, and they arrived in a Budget rental truck and were clearly contractors, NOT employees. The untruths continued to build from there.
I was told during the initial quoting process that this would take 17-21 days. I followed up for an ETA daily, multiple times a day beginning September 9th when I arrived in San Francisco. For the first 2 weeks I got the runaround ("your stuff will be loaded and sent within the next few days" followed by "truck issues that are beyond our control"). I even enlisted family members to help hound these people because a single person cannot make this a full time job, which it became. I can count on 2 fingers how many times I actually received a return phone call despite always being told "I'll call you back in (insert random # here) hours". So on top of everything else customer service is nil.
The first time I was given the "driver's" name an cell #, I quickly learned that was bad information. Not only was this person not a driver, but he did not have my things nor was he heading to the west coast. In fact, I was given the # of another dispatcher God-knows-where. I believe this was a tactic to get me off their back for a half day. I later talked to this person again and he asked "what company are you working with because I work with so many?".
Once a driver was assigned and the truck en route, the final amount due continued to rise. Why? Again, no one could articulate that very well, and there was NO NEW INFORMATION about my destination or situation that would suggest they didn't factor something into the original quote. Driver arrived days after due date and still wanted more $ upon delivery than was agreed. Also made me sign the delivery form before he even opened the truck. And guess what?? SEVERAL boxes are missing from the delivery. FSVL's response? Mum so far, but we'll find out. I have filed a formal complaint on the FMCSA site and am going down the line with BBB, etc.
Moving is a stressful time, especially when it's cross country. Do yourself a favor and select ANY other moving company, if that's even what they really are. Go ahead and read all the horrific reviews on the internet about these guys. It's neverending.
Spoke to Pete @ Full Service Van Lines to move my daughter to Virginia. Told him I didn't want to play any games on pricing. He told me when the movers come to pick up your boxes and furniture you will have a confirmed price. In addition, Pete asked how many flights of stairs are there in Virginia. We told him 2 flights at which time he charged us an additional $75,00. OK, so they arrive in Virginia 10 days later when it should have been much earlier based on the comments made by the drivers, but OK. Now the driver gets out of the truck and looks at not the 2 flights of stairs that we paid extra for, but the number of steps in each flight of stairs. He then states he cannot move the furniture and boxes unless we pay more money. He went on to tell us that a flight of stairs consists of 10 steps. Know where in the contract does it define that, nor did Pete ask that question, so the screwing has occured. I called Full Service Van Lines immediately and spoke with Pete(person that did the quote) who then put me on hold and had someone else deal with me. The new person came on the phone and said you need to pay the money. The driver would not deliver the merchandise unless we authorized the payment. I have written an email to the owner Jason Stokes and he has not responded. I wrote a comment on the website and no response. It is time that the moving industry become regulated so things like this don't occur. I will never recommend this company to anyone and would not take anything they say to have merit since it will change on the other end of the move and having something in writing means nothing to them. If you decide to work with Full Service Van Line be prepared to be screwed and blackmailed with no recourse.