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report scam| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Address | 6303 North Powerline Road Suite 10 |
| Phone | (855) 746-7111 |
| Website | http://www.savannahvanlines.com/ |
Savannah Van Lines Reviews
I had hired Savannah Van Lines to move furniture and boxes from my parents house in Grand Junction,CO to my home in New Bern,NC. After two weeks, they (*Sam P.) called me and told me they didn't have a truck available to pick up my stuff. I asked them then; if I would get my deposit back. Sam said immediately. That was the end of August, and I still don't have it. After calling everyday, I was finally connected to accounting, and was told I would receive my money on Friday, September 23rd. I still don't have it. I don't know if they have blocked my number or what, but everytime I call, it rings once and goes to voicemail, and then the voicemail is full. I live on the coast of North Carolina; where Hurricane Mathew hit, and I really need my money back. It's only $300, but that's alot of money to me. I ended up having to hire a different company; which cost me about $1000.00 more to move my stuff; because of Savannah Van Lines. Thanks!
I completely agree with all of the bad reviews regarding this company on line. After my niece contacted several other companies, she felt that the sales person Vern and John were very knowledgeable. Therefore, we hired Savannah Van Lines for the move from Michigan to Texas. Never were we informed that Savannah was acting as a brokerage company and that they were actually outsourcing our move to 8 Mile Moving company. After I paid Savannah the initial payment of $600, i was hard pressed to get any one to call me back regarding anything further with my move. The receptionist at Savannah is EXTREMELY rude and places you on hold without even first saying hello or getting your permission to do so. After several messages left for Angel and without return calls, I finally was able to speak to Angel and asked him specifically why I had to pay the 2nd and 3rd payments by either bank cashier's check or post office money orde instead of a credit card. The whole thing didn't make sense since I originally paid Savannah by credit care. Even when I specifically asked Angel the question of why I couldn't pay his company the 2nd and 3rd payments by credit card, Angel NEVER told me that a different company was doing my move but he simply stated that the drivers don't always carry a credit card processing machine. Fast forward to the pick-up day.8 Mile Movers came to the house to pick up our belongings, There were 2 guys to move all of the boxes and furniture. The lead man was rude, obnoxious and condesdending when I questioned him about the poor way that he was wrapping my expensive grandfather clock. He didn't even wrap it with blankets until I asked him to do so and he even used my own boxes to place around the clock for protection. They loaded my belongins into a truck and I was NEVER told by 8 Mile Movers that eventually my stuff would be delivered in a U-hall trailor attached in tow to the back of their moving truck. From pick up to delivery was 14 days when the original contract stated delivery would be in 7-10 days. When the furniture was delivered to Texas by a different crew from 8 Mile Movers, I wasn't able to even LOOK at my belongings before handing over my last check and they were adamant to get their money up front before anything was removed from the U-Haul trailor. The movers got lost and had to call me mulltiple times for directions. In addition, they had difficulty pulling into the alley in back of my house to deliver my belongings. They transported my grandfather clock lying flat, which was not the recommended transport position per the clock company. There was damage to several pieces of my niece's furniture as well as to glassware and antique liquor bottles, which broke with alcohol spilling all over the contents of the heavy plastic tote that they were stored in. The move took place over 2 weeks ago and my niece has been trying to contact both Savannah Van Lines and 8 Mile Movers but without, you guessed it, no answer. Based on my experience, I would NEVER hire Savannah Van Lines ever again nor would I hire 8 Mile Movers either. After Savannah gets their cut of the money, they check out and don't follow through with any customer service beyond that point. I hired Savannah Van Lines for my move and I didn't hire 8 Mile Movers. Had I known that Savannah was going to outsource my business to another company, I would have NEVER chosen them in the first place.
Stay Away from these con artists - They will low ball your quote - Use another company!
I provided a complete and detailed manifest of every item I was having moved accross the country. They were very helpful and responsive right up until the time the actual movers showed up to my house. The movers nearly trippled my quote and tried to tell me that the cubic feet, not the weight, was the important factor (I was quoted based on both weight and Cubic feet). Savannah Van Lines will not answer my calls now to discuss refunding my deposit.
I refused the movers and sent them away. The actual size of my move was quoted very accurately (I was quoted based on 689 cubic feet and was able to load everything into a 650 cubic foot truck). The movers tried to convince me that I needed much more room and therefore they wanted more money (nearly tripple the quoted cost). I explained that they were over estimating the size but they didn't want to hear about it. After refusing the services of the mover, within an hour, the movers called me back multiple times slowly lowering their price. I explained that I would only do it for the quoted amount but they weren't willing to do it for that price. We finally did the move ourselves.
Savanaah Van Lines now refuses to refund my $750 deposit (only via an email request), won't accept my calls, and will not return my calls. Their refusal is based upon the fact that the movers showed up however I declined their services. I simply declined because I wasn't going to allow them to charge more than what was quoted (because I provided a very accurate manifest of all items being shipped).
Please do not give these people any money. Do NOT even consider them for your move. You will most likely be either extremly dissapointed, or, out of pocket much more than you anticipated (most likely both).
LIE--"Share" a load: I filled out an on-line moving estimator and received several phone calls from companies, one from David at Savannah Van Lines who said, "We can save you a bunch of money! We just happen to have a moving van (semi) going from Milton, Florida to Glendale, Arizona. So we can put YOUR stuff in Pensacola into this same semi, you guys can share a load, and we'll take your stuff to Phoenix." It sounded great. The price was very low.
LIE--Date: Because the family in Milton was moving on the 15th of June, David asked if I would be able to also move on the 15th of June (again to "share" the semi with this other family). I built my packing of my house, my repairs before my house sale / closing, and all my activities around the 15th of June date under this false information that I was getting half a semi to share with the non-existant family from Milton who was moving to Glendale.
LIE--Estimate: I was encouraged to "ballpark" the number of boxes I would have and told I could up my total at any time. I was told they knew the approximate pounds my move would be based on a 4 bedroom / 3 bath house and that the truck would be weighed empty and weighed full and that would be what I would be charged. The number of boxes wasn't that important. I gave them a list of every piece of furniture going--even send pictures by cell phone and dimensions of some items--to insure an accurate estimate. Five days before the move date, I emailed them to let them know my final box count and gave them the cubic dimensions, asking if this would affect the amount of space I had in the truck they were sending. The email reply was that it was not a problem. They did not revise the final estimate to reflect the increase in boxes. They did not say it impacted the size of the truck (because presumably I was getting half a semi).
LIE--Arrival: I received a call on Tuesday (after not hearing from them for weeks) from a man--not my sales represenative David, and not someone who spoke very good English. He told to expect them between 9 a.m. and noon on Wednesday, June 15. At 12:15 he called to say they would be arriving sometime between 4 and 6 p.m. At 4:30 they called to say they were 20 minutes away. I asked the driver, (again, he did not speak very good English_ if they were just leaving Milton. He said, "I don't know where we are. We just follow the GPS." They arrived 7 hours after the first window of 9 a.m.
LIE--"Two Men and a Truck: arrives to do my 1700 mile move to Phoenix. Literally, two men (one of them not much bigger than me, and I am 5' tall) and a 28' ENTERPRISE Rental Truck pulled up in front of my house. I was shocked. I said, "Where is the moving van? Where is your crew?" They said, we are it. This is our truck. I walked them around and said THIS is not all going to fit into a 28' truck; they agreed. I asked to speak to someone, the driver handed me the phone and the dispatcher told me these guys would load all my stuff up and it would be fine. The drive and I explained to him the truck was not big enough; he got a little testy with me and asked when had I upped my boxes? I told him last week via email and I had gotten a confirmation--no problem. The dispatcher said my move was going to be a lot more expensive than the bid--he was angry with me. I kept asking him WHERE is the semi?
LIE? Savannah wanted to take all my stuff to Atlanta to a warehouse first. I guess this was "missing information" and not exactly a lie since I never asked if my household goods would be transported to another location before being loaded onto a semi. It never occurred to me that this was the case. The dispatcher explained: the stuff would be moved from Pensacola TO ATLANTA and put in a warehouse, then loaded onto a semi, then sent to Phoenix, then stored in Phoenix, then delivered to my new house. I said ABSOULTELY NOT. The more you move boxes and handle stuff, the more likely things are to be broken or damaged. He said "We have insurance," and I said, "You can't replace my great-grandmother's china. No way."
Broker: I was aware my move would be brokered. I was not aware the truck would be a rental truck and not a professional moving van. I was not aware I would have only two movers to move a 4/3 with a 15' x 15' x 6' cube of boxes.
Moving Mania: Savannah Van Lines representative David in an effort to assure me that they were a "real" moving company directed me to their website and said they did interstate moves. The truth is they are a small local mover in Ft Lauderdale whose former name is FORWARD MOVERS. They have ventured into the interstate brokering business only recently. They put my move up on the auction block to the lowest bidder and essentially sent me "Two Men and a Truck." when I called Savannah to complain (and they did return my call that night), the man was very nice and listened to my rant. He promised to get back with me first thing Thursday morning. So far, no call.
The dispatcher had offered to send a second 28' truck from Atlanta Thursday morning, but still insisted all my household goods were coming to their warehouse in Atlanta. thy wanted to take half my stuff and "come back tomorrow" (and it was already almost 6 p.m. and i had been up since 5 a.m. trying to get ready for them to arrive at 9 a.m.) I said absolutely not. I wanted a door to door move; that is what I contracted for and that is what I expect. I have done long distance moves before and did not want anyone touching or moving any boxes in transit. Period. They were very angry with me. I said "If you want your guys to head to a hotel and send a semi down here tomorrow, we can talk. Otherwise, the deal is off."
TRUTH: there was no family in Milton moving to Arizona. There was no semi that I was going to be able to fill with my furniture and boxes. The semi was not going to Glendale and Phoenix. My move was brokered to a small time mover in Atlanta (Moving Mania) who sent one 28' truck and two guys. They were woefully ill-prepared to execute this move. My belongings would have been transferred FIVE TIMES if I had agreed to this. The price would have been DOUBLE what I was told ($6000) because of my extra boxes.
RESULT: My move to Arizona is completely derailed. I have to start over and hire another mover or find a way to load up a storage system (POD) to move my stuff myself. I have been greatly inconvenienced and my closing on my house may be impacted by the broken promises of Savannah Van Lines.
Deposit: I put down a $1300 deposit and am working with my credit card company to reverse the charges. Savannah Van Lines broke the contract by sending inadequate labor and too small of a truck. They arrived late and used false stories of savings and sharing a semi to entice me to choose their services. They are engaging in false promises and I would not recommend them under any circumstances to anyone.
Savannah Van Lines did not disclose that they use multiple companies/ people to move / transport my furniture. I was confused when another person contacted me regarding the move. When I attempted to contact David with Savannah Van Lines reagrading this, he never returned my call. With the initial quote, David with Savannah Van Lines guaranteed me that my furniture arrival date should be by May 18th or 19th but, no later than Friday, May 20th. On the day of my move, after everything was loaded onto the second company's truck, I was informed that I owe an additional $75 for walking an additional 75 feet. However, they parked their truck further than necessary and I informed them of this. When the 18th,19th, and 20th came and went, I called the second moving company, as well as David. The lady who answered the phone had dogs barking in the background and once I could hear her enough to discuss where my furniture was, she informed me that my belongings were still sitting in a truck in the state I moved from and that they hadn't found a driver to transport my belongings. I explained that I start my job in Texas on Monday and that David promised me that me and my son's furniture/ belongings would arrive no later than Friday, May 20, 2016. She informed me that they have up to 30 days, of the first available drop off dates that I gave them, to deliver our furniture and that I need to read what I sign. Still no response from David. It is now Saturday, May 21, 2016. I start my new job on Monday. I have to purchase new scrubs, an iron, and various other things , which are all on a truck sitting in Mississippi. Please Beware!!!! Savannah Van Lines has made my move from Mississippi to Texas a horrible experience for my son and myself. What really upsets me is that I actually started to use a reputable company, but when David with Savannah Van Lines called he was able to beat the out her company's price and explained how Savannah Van Lines has an A + with the Better Business Bureau and never had any complaints. Beware of Savannah Van Lines. Please, learn from my mistake!!!
This company continuously provided incorrect information that led to an incredibly frustrating move. See the full list of lies below.
Lie - The Savannah Van Lines Sales Rep told us our quote was based on the number of items and the amount of work the movers had to put in (wrapping, boxing, and taping).
Lie - When we could not get in contact with the Sales Rep we worked with, we spoke with a Manager, and she mentioned that the quote is based solely on weight ($0.69 per pound).
Truth - The price ended up being based on Cubic Feet.
Lie - We specifically asked if the company was a "mover" or a "broker" and we were told they were both and we were guaranteed we would be dealing with Savannah Van Lines movers.
Truth - Savannah Van Lines is a broker and contracted our move to Legion Express.
Lie - We were told by our initial contact that we could submit an updated inventory list up to three days before the move.
Lie - The Manager we spoke to indicated the we had to submit our final inventory at least 7 days before our moving date.
Truth - We weren't able to provide an updated inventory until the movers arrived the day of our move, and our quote was based on an extremely rough "this looks like 600 cubic square feet" estimate.
Lie - The Manager said she spoke directly with our movers and informed them of our situation, and guaranteed that our quoted price would not change by much.
Truth - The Manager at Savannah Van Lines never contacted anyone at Legion Express because our movers had no idea about our situation. Our price went from $1700 to $2600.
Lie - We were told the movers would arrive between 10am and noon.
Truth - Legion express called at 11am to say they would not arrive until 1pm. We had to call them back at 2pm and ask when they would be arriving. They couldn't even call us back and let us know they were running even more late than they thought.
Bottom Line - Because of the misinformation provided by Savannah Van Lines (from the Sales Rep to the Manager) we were stuck in a frustrating move. We ended up paying over $800 more than quoted. If we had been provided accurate information in the beginning (that our move would be brokered to another company and our quote would be impacted based on the cubic footage) we would have explored other options. We came to the point of either surrendering our deposit and looking for something else on short notice, or sticking with Savannah Van Lines and hoping for the best. Well, we hoped for the best, and got the worst.
I have filed complaints with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and the BBB (Better Business Bureau).