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Smart Van Lines


Country United States
State Florida
City Pembroke Park
Address 2575 SW 32 Ave
Phone 1 800-420-9828
Website http://www.smartvanlines.net/

Smart Van Lines Reviews

  • Apr 19, 2019

I contacted several moving companies to move inherited antique furniture and decided to go with Smart Van-Lines. I was apprehensive due to the fact that it is all antique furniture that belonged to my parents and would be devestated if items arrived damaged.

When the movers arrived at the storage unit in Florida, the two men who packed/wrapped my items were very nice and careful. I was not pleased when I saw on the paperwork that to use a credit/debit card there is a 5 % fee.

Smart Van-lines is a broker, they do not own trucks they find other companies for the actual move. I received a call from the truck driver, whom was extremely difficult to understand and said that he did not speak English well. He told me that he would be at my house the following day between 3-8pm. He told me that my final payment for delievery had to be cash or a money order from the Post Office. I had a cashiers check and explained on the contract that this is acceptable payment. He went on and on (Very rudely) about a cashiers check not being okay and that he would call his boss. He then called back and said it was okay.

He then called on the arrival day to say that he would be later and that I need to send him my location because he could not find our home on the internet. I sent our location and took a screenshot of google maps showing our location.

He called and said he still could not find it and that when he arrived to the freeway exit he wanted me to come to him in my vehicle and give me a ride up our remote access road to see if he could bring his truck up to our home. I was adamant that there is No way I am getting in a vehicle with a stranger.

He texted that he had another delivery to make and if he had to come back he was going to charge me a re-delivery fee. I immediately called Smart Van-Lines, although it was after hours. I left a detailed message concerning, form of payment, the driver expecting me to give him a ride to my house in order to check access and threatening to charge me a re-delivery fee.

He then called to say that he was at our exit. I explained again, I am not going to give you a ride. He then said that he could not delivery it to my house in his truck because it is to big. I explained that logging trucks travel our road day-in and day-out. He insisted that he would have to use a shuttle (unpack his truck and put it on a u-haul truck and told me it would be $300 cash. I said that the office discussed with me the possibility of a shuttle and it would be $250., he kept saying NO.

I called Smart Van-Lines again (left a message) for a different charge for the shuttle then originally stated. He said he would bring my belonging up the next morning.

When he arrived again extremely rude said "where do you want your stuff?" He kept pointing to our pick-up truck and saying something I could not understand. My husband came outside and he suddenly became quiet. We helped with taking the moving blankets off the furniture, because at this point I wanted them to leave ASAP. Fortunately everything arrived safely.

Before leaving he said that we could have hauled our stuff in our pick-up. First off it would have been 3 loads, secondly I was home alone with no help thirdly, I paid them to do the moving! I gave him the cashiers check and he had an issue with it being paid to Smart Van-Lines. He signed the contract of receipt and I said you need to have the $250 cash payment for the shuttle on there. He asked me to write it on the contract.

After they left I called Smart Van-Lines and Margarit made excusses for the driver, "no, he wanted you to come down to his truck because he couldn't make it to your house." I told her that it makes no sense when he was talking to me on the phone and telling me this, why would I need to go to him? I explained that he also wanted $300 cash for the shuttle. She tried to tell me that it costs more in the summer, uh it's April. I also explained that I had to miss additional hours of work because he could not figure out how to get to my house. Funny thing is, everyone else finds my house just fine. She could have cared less, didn't even apoligize.

When we started bringing our items in the house, we had four boxes moved along with the furniture , I wrote our name and address on them hoping they would make it. The four made it, however there was an additional box, an amazon box (reused) . I googled the person and their address, who appears is deceased, all I can figure is that her family was having her household items moved. Now, again I have to call Smart Van-Lines.

Bottomline, horrible customer service, rude truck driver that wanted to scam and threaten.

  • Dec 31, 2018

Let me give you a brief rundown of how moving scams work. I wish I had known this before I booked my move.

Smart Van Lines is just a broker. They have no trucks -- they simply act as the middle man and book another (generally disreputable) moving company for you. You may not even know who they booked with until they arrive, giving you no time to research the company. Your "deposit" is actually the broker's fee.

If you're lucky, a moving truck will actually show up. After the truck is loaded, the moving company will tell you that you owe much more than your quoted price. At this point, you're at your most vulnerable and stressed. Your stuff is already on the truck, and they expect you to just agree to get it over with. Oh, you have a binding price with the broker, do you? Well, read the fine print. They are not responsible for extra fees charged by their contractors. The broker points their finger at the moving company, and the moving company points their finger at the broker, and neither one wants to help you.

Remember that deposit that you thought was being applied towards your move? Well, it's not, since it's just a broker's fee. Subtract that from your total and you'll realize how suspiciously low the price is.

And don't even get me started on the headache it will be to actually have your stuff delivered. Moving scams are known to hold people's possessions hostage until they agree to exorbitantly high prices. You don't want to find yourself in that position.

protectyourmove.gov is a good resource to search for your mover and see how many complaints they've had in the past few years (spoiler alert,

Smart Van Lines has had many!). movingscam.com is another great website to educate you about fraudulent movers.

I'm so thankful that I realized what a scam this was. I cancelled my move with

Smart Van Lines (the broker) and Quality Moving Services LLC (the moving company they hired) before they were able to scam me further. I may have lost my deposit (which they require you to make via e-check, so it can't be disputed, by the way) but it could have been much worse. Please let this serve as a warning to you. Do not use moving brokers, nearly all of them are scam artists. There is no need for a middle man; please book with the moving company yourself. Here are just a few of the red flags that Smart Van Lines exhibited: - Fake 5 star reviews on yelp. Click on those Yelper's names and see that they've reviewed other moving companies with the exact same wording. Also, a ton of those reviews were all posted on the same date in a batch, which is a telltale sign of fake reviews.

- They were very responsive and professional until they got my deposit. Suddenly, they stopped answering phone calls or contacting me when they promised. Just the fact that I paid a deposit was a red flag - most reputable companies do not require this.

- While charging by cubic feet is not necessarily illegal, it's a very sketchy practice, since it's hard to verify. Weight can be verified at a weigh station, but you pretty much have to take their word on cubic feet (even if they have tick marks inside the truck, the way it's loaded can make a huge difference).

- They waffled back and forth about whether I'd have to pay a $250 shuttle fee or not, and never gave a clear answer.

- Quality Moving Services LLC does not exist at the address given.

- And the final, glaring red flag was this: Quality Moving Services LLC told me that they would deliver my things the same day, if I paid in CASH.

  • Dec 18, 2018

The worst experience I have ever had with a mover. Actual cost was twice the price I was quoted. showed up Sat. at 7:00 AM with my stuff would only take cash. After I saw the damage I know why they would only take cash.

Have fought with the insurance company they recommended now for six months. Had to get paper after paper, receipt after receipt at least 20 hours of work to get all this together. Damage was $400 which I was being extremely reasonable about. They want to pay me $74.00. They lost one of the dining room chairs but they did finally find it. They broke the leg off of another one which I paid 259 for. My couches were two weeks old and they scuffed the leather up on one.

This company is a train wreck. Hire anyone but Smart Van Lines.

  • Oct 23, 2018

If I could do this move all over again it would NOT be with this company. Picked up furniture in July for an 8/1 delivery to Houston. I left Florida July 29, they said they had to have my furniture July 12. The guys that picked up were extremely late, rude and slow. 5 1/2 hours to load a 2/2 apartment. Once in Houston I did not receive my furniture until 8/11 after being told it was on it's way the 1st. Once received majority of the furniture was broken, and missing boxes. The driver showed up by himself and the claims process is a nightmare. After sending in all the documentation they email saying they are near the end of the process and you have to send yet another freaking letter to say your satisfied with that then wait another 30-60 days for them to send yet another letter. I'm over the BS and when reaching out to the emails I had on file for this company they all bounced back. So from August to now I am still sitting on broken furniture, lost items and because of extra moving expenses no way to replace them yet. RUN FROM THIS COMPANY AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN. If I could give them NO stars I would.

UPDATE: I just received my letter from the insurance carrier and after losing boxes, breaking major items they say my claim is worth $68.00 because I did not pay the additional $7000 they wanted for full coverage insurance. While I expect some damage in a move I do not expect multiple boxes to be lost and the legs of furniture to be ripped off and an expensive TV Stand to be ripped to pieces. I can't wipe my a** with $68 dollars let alone replace the items their movers broke. There is NO accountability for these people. They SUCK, their insurance company SUCKS. Do not use this company EVER.

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