Hiring movers vs UHaul for a cross country move? (ABF, fuel, truck)
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Wowza, sorry you had such a bad experience, I have never heard of Pan American.
I just recently moved from Florida to North Carolina, used Allied Van lines and they were great.
Same drivers who loaded up in Fl unloaded in NC, gave me a time frame for delivery and were there in that time frame, called the night before.
Not even a tea cup was broken, no unexpected charges
I seriously wish we had gone with Allied. When I was growing up there was a huge company called Pan American, so I thought they were the same company. Had no idea that there was a major problem with moving scams being run by Israeli nationals in our country. Apparently they have been operating for over 10 years, getting away with this, and many have been found to be using this as a front to move weapons and explosives by hiding them among people's household items, which is why it takes so long for them to deliver your stuff. Many of us found out that our household items being moved from California to Idaho, Oregon or Washington were taken as far away as Chicago and New York before finally arriving at our homes. The weapons and explosives are sent to Israel. The money they extort for "moving fees" is laundered and also sent to Israel. And before anyone jumps in with the accusation that I am a racist anti-Semite... Nope, my family have always supported Israel, so finding this info. out was very shocking and disturbing. Many of these Israeli nationals involved in this scam are considered dangerous criminals.
A small move might be cheaper to do with a mover. I did a small move once and it was probably the same price to hire movers as it was to drive the stuff up myself, as you’re just renting space in a truck with the movers. I think I was able to do it for around $1200 with the movers and the truck alone was $1200. I then had to pay for gas (which at that time was close to $4 a gallon) and hotels.
Don't you have to pay that either way? How are you getting yourself to the destination?
Do the move yourself! We learned a hard, expensive lesson in July when we moved from California to North Idaho....
We contacted a moving company with a name that was well-known, Pan American. They quoted us a reasonable moving fee so we booked them. On moving day a truck pulled up that was only half the size we had been told to expect with a D.O.T. number scrawled on a piece of paper taped to the door. I called Pan American and at that point was told that a company called Golden Valley Van Lines was actually moving our goods because Pan American was actually a broker. This was never disclosed to us at any time, but we thought that maybe this is how they do things now in moving companies. The guys started loading our items, and after putting only half of our stuff on, told us we would need to pay more before they would load the rest, which, as you can imagine, was very upsetting! I started to make some calls to see if I could secure a different moving company, but had no luck. We couldn't even find a truck available that we could drive ourselves. We were stuck. In the end, furniture which had been included in the original quote was left behind. When we finally arrived in Idaho we learned that our items would not arrive when we were told they would, so were forced to spend money on essential items. When our stuff did finally arrive it was yet another moving company, and they refused to unload unless we paid more money! By the time we unpacked and looked over our items we found that a lot of our stuff was damaged, completely broken or missing. All told, the extortion, fees, damages, theft and losses added up to nearly $10,000, a huge chunk of the money we relied on to live and pay bills. I filed reports with over 40 city, county, state and federal agencies and law enforcement authorities, as well as with congressmen and senators, and to date NOTHING has been done to get us compensated or to stop these scammers, who the government is actually well aware of. The following links mention the names of Stanislav Skribnik, Chana Green and Avichai Minkoff, all who, it turns out, are involved with all the moving companies who extorted money from us and damaged our goods. Pan American has also operated under OTHER well known names, like Mayflower, in order to lure people in thinking they are with a well-known legit company.
Same thing happened to me with a different company when I made the move from CA to NC in December. I was trying to figure out either to hire movers or do it myself. So I got a quote of $2700 to move my stuff and I thought "great because a moving truck would have been 3600". So I accept it and do the down payment of $1k then they call to confirm it 5 days before the move date and suddenly it's going to be $1k more than expected but don't worry they will be there on Sunday at 1pm.
So Sunday rolls around and they call said they would be "a little bit late" and I try and try to call them back with no answer until 730pm when they call me and ask if they can come by around 9 or 10pm that night, I said no because I have small kids. So they tell me that might could get to me the next day, so they show up the next night at 630pm to pick up my stuff. Now while they are at my apt it's suddenly going to be $4500 overall which I had to agree to because I have already paid over $2k by this point to these guys.
So after Christmas I start calling them to deliver my stuff and come to find out it never left CA because of the holidays and I am told that after the New Years they will ship it. So in the end I paid $4700 for my stuff that arrived 3 1/2 weeks later
Don't you have to pay that either way? How are you getting yourself to the destination?
The issue is the gas for the truck, which is a lot more expensive than gas for a car since they get very few miles per gallon (particularly if you are towing a car). I didn’t actually have a car the second time, which helped. A small truck is probably going to get about 10mpg, and if you haul a car, it might be less. If a person doesn’t have or need a car at the new destination, then that’s an expense that is totally unneeded. My car had already been transported since I had stuff in storage for about 18 months.
We have done several long distance moves ourselves. Based on our past experience we would never rent a truck from U-Haul again. Penske is the way to go...we used them last time when we moved from FL to NC. We rented a 22 ft truck and a car trailer, my husband drove the truck with the trailer and I followed in our second car. We hired movers on each end to load and unload the truck for us. We booked this service through U-Haul - didn't matter that we weren't getting the truck from them.
One of the advantages to "moving yourself" is that you have your stuff when you get there. I've heard of long delays in getting your furniture finally delivered to you. This is especially true if you have what the long distance movers consider a "partial load". Your stuff goes into a semi with 2 or 3 other families' stuff and then you wait for them to make the delivery...you could be the first drop off or the last, and it depends on how long it takes them to fill the trailer.
Same thing happened to me with a different company when I made the move from CA to NC in December. I was trying to figure out either to hire movers or do it myself. So I got a quote of $2700 to move my stuff and I thought "great because a moving truck would have been 3600". So I accept it and do the down payment of $1k then they call to confirm it 5 days before the move date and suddenly it's going to be $1k more than expected but don't worry they will be there on Sunday at 1pm.
So Sunday rolls around and they call said they would be "a little bit late" and I try and try to call them back with no answer until 730pm when they call me and ask if they can come by around 9 or 10pm that night, I said no because I have small kids. So they tell me that might could get to me the next day, so they show up the next night at 630pm to pick up my stuff. Now while they are at my apt it's suddenly going to be $4500 overall which I had to agree to because I have already paid over $2k by this point to these guys.
So after Christmas I start calling them to deliver my stuff and come to find out it never left CA because of the holidays and I am told that after the New Years they will ship it. So in the end I paid $4700 for my stuff that arrived 3 1/2 weeks later
Yep! This is how they do it.... every time! Regarding showing up late, this is also part of their plan to make sure you are stuck with them. Ours had to reschedule because their driver was supposedly "stuck in Colorado," so they finally showed up the day before we HAD to be out of our house or we would be stuck paying more rent. They also show up with a truck that is half-the size of what you were quoted for.
Also beware... the company they give you contact details for to report damages, losses, etc... is ALSO connected with them, so you will not, EVER, get reimbursed for all your damages. I formed a private group on Facebook where a group of us who have been scammed shared information. One woman had over $2000 worth of damages and all they would offer her was $32.
Could you tell me the name of the company you used?
Don't forget that you will be driving an unfamiliar vehicle in possibly horrible weather conditions. I drove my loaded Chevy cargo van from Raleigh, NC to Eastern Oregon arriving Monday Feb 19th. I left NC Monday Feb 12, 2018.
To save money I slept in the van in one rest stop, and four Pilot/Flying J truck stops. The other nights were at "cheap" motels as it was just too cold. But I drove through some pretty hairy weather conditions on the way. Bad enough to make your hair curl, or straighten, lol. Bless God I got there in one piece. At any rate it's something to take into consideration. Be safe.
Another tip if you do it yourself is to secure your stuff in the truck with bungee cords because things shift during the trip, especially when stopping. It seems like the large mirror is the biggest issue to keep intact. Try to have things evenly balanced so the weight isn't lopsided. Keep an eye on your tire pressure too.
Yep! This is how they do it.... every time! Regarding showing up late, this is also part of their plan to make sure you are stuck with them. Ours had to reschedule because their driver was supposedly "stuck in Colorado," so they finally showed up the day before we HAD to be out of our house or we would be stuck paying more rent. They also show up with a truck that is half-the size of what you were quoted for.
Also beware... the company they give you contact details for to report damages, losses, etc... is ALSO connected with them, so you will not, EVER, get reimbursed for all your damages. I formed a private group on Facebook where a group of us who have been scammed shared information. One woman had over $2000 worth of damages and all they would offer her was $32.
Could you tell me the name of the company you used?
I used Allied Van Lines.
The move was originally scheduled for quite Saturday and I literally added 3 things and took off 5 large boxes. So they had to reschedule to Sunday because "now they had to use a different larger truck". So the movers never got there until Monday night like I said in my last post on here, when we were supposed to be leaving on Monday morning.
We went the U Haul route and ended up with only one item damaged due to some water leaking into the van and soaking into a blanket we had a cedar chest resting on - top of the lacquer/finish was wrecked after a week. And it rained the entire trip (we moved from SC to AK so it was a long drive).
That was literally the only damage we had, we knew exactly what we'd end up paying. Our truck did have issues and was older but they reimbursed us hotel and meal costs due to a breakdown on day #2 eating up an extra day.
I have heard horror stories like the one shared earlier in this thread. My mother had something similar happen to her but not as bad. If you have to hire a mover make sure you do your homework. There are some reputable movers out there, but even then you may have items damaged.
Personally if I were you I'd go the DIY method.
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