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Colonial Van Lines Review
By cassidy MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
If you’re in the process of planning a move, you probably want one of the best moving companies to help with the heavy lifting. But with so many options out there, it can be tough to know which one to choose. In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at Colonial Van Lines to help you decide if it’s the right long-distance mover for you.
Table of contents
- Colonial Van Lines’ moving services
- Colonial Van Lines’ credentials
- Colonial Van Lines’ accessibility
- Colonial Van Lines’ customer satisfaction
Colonial Van Lines overview
Colonial Van Lines is a family-owned business headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida. Founded in 2020, the company has over 22 years of experience providing quality moving and storage services to individuals, families, and businesses.
Colonial Van Lines has a network of over 200 agent locations scattered across the U.S. It’s dedicated to providing customers with a stress-free moving experience and has a team of skilled professionals who work closely with their customers to ensure their move goes smoothly.
Colonial Van Lines’ services
Whether you’re moving into your dream home or retrieving household items from a storage company in Florida, Colonial Van Lines can help. The company specializes in long-distance and interstate moves and has several add-on services to suit more specialized needs.
What it offers
- Long-distance moving
- Cross-country moving
- Packing services
- Storage services
- Corporate relocation services
- Vehicle relocation services
What it doesn’t offer
- Local moving
- International moving
- Moving to Alaska or Hawaii
Colonial Van Lines moving cost
Overall, Colonial Van Lines offers competitive pricing for its services. Most notably, you can request an instant quote online to get a ballpark estimate of how much you’ll pay.
In general, pricing will vary depending on factors like the distance of your move, the total weight of your personal belongings in transport, and any extra services you request (e.g. storage or packing).
That said, I requested a few online quotes from some cross-country moves, and these are the estimates I received:
- 2-bedroom move from Minneapolis, MN to Boston, MA: $999 to $2,100
- 3-bedroom move from Seattle, WA to Atlanta, GA: $1,158 to $2,300
- 4-bedroom move from Dallas, TX to Denver, CO: $1,673 to $3,599
TIP: If you’re relocating for military reasons, some of your moving expenses may be tax-deductible. You may also qualify for Colonial Van Lines discounts depending on your situation.
Colonial Van Lines’ credentials
Colonial Van Lines is a licensed and insured American moving company. Here’s a closer look:
Licenses and registrations
When hiring a long-distance mover, it’s important to make sure it has the appropriate credentials and insurance coverage. Colonial Van Lines is a full-service moving company that’s licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
- USDOT Number: 1434373
- MC Number: 681534
The USDOT number is a unique identification number assigned by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It’s required for all interstate commercial motor vehicles, which includes any vehicle used to transport goods or passengers for hire.
The MC number is a similar number assigned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It’s required for any vehicle that transports household goods. Both numbers are used to track safety information and investigate accidents.
Colonial Van Lines’ accessibility
Regardless of whether you’re moving across town or across the country, you want a moving company that’s going to be easily accessible. Colonial Van Lines has a vast network of agent locations and a customer care team that’s easy to get ahold of most of the time.
Availability
Colonial Van Lines is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida but has a national network of over 200 agents. It serves the entire continental U.S., so if you’re in the lower 48 and in need of a long-distance mover, there’s a good chance Colonial Van Lines can help.
Contact information
There are a few different ways to contact a Colonial Van Lines customer service representative, depending on your needs:
- Email: clientsupport@colonialvanlines.com
- Phone call (for quotes): (800) 356-1855
- Phone call (for customer service): (855) 266-5176
- Phone call (for claims): (800) 410-0956
- Contact form on the website
User experience
We’ll start by saying that Colonial Van Lines’ website has a robust hub of information to help you prepare for your move. You’ll find a handy moving checklist, along with various articles and videos to help ease the moving process.
Requesting a moving quote from Colonial Van Lines is super easy and takes less than a minute. (I was honestly shocked at how simple it was.) But the user experience may start to go downhill once you begin inventorying your items in the Colonial Van Lines app, which is required for a more accurate moving estimate.
The Colonial Van Lines mobile app has a 2.2 rating in the Google Play store and a 3.2 rating in the App Store. Most of the one-star reviews are the same, noting that the app frequently crashes, rendering it unusable. There’s also no way to go back to a room and edit or add more photos once you’ve moved on to the next one. So if you forget to document something, you have to start the process all over again. Countless customers mention being frustrated by this experience.
Limitations
Despite CVL’s competitive pricing and impressive moving record, there are still some areas where it falls short. For example, the company does not provide local or international moving services, so if you’re needing these, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
In addition, Colonial Van Lines isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has its share of the usual complaints about late moving deliveries, which can be frustrating when you’re living without your stuff.
Colonial Van Lines’ customer satisfaction
Overall, Colonial Van Lines has a good customer satisfaction rating. But there are a few common complaints we noticed while combing through reviews.
Customer complaints
On Trustpilot, Colonial Van Lines has a 4.4 rating based on 1,418 reviews. Several customers praise CVL for its reasonable prices and excellent account managers (especially Donna—who everyone seems to love and admire). But one common complaint I noticed was about delivery drivers missing drop-off window with no update or warning.
On the BBB, CVL has a 3.49 based on 72 reviews. People like that they’re assigned an account representative who helps work out the logistics of the move. Others mention that the moving crews are attentive and responsive. Of the negative reviews we found, the most common complaint was about missed delivery windows and being charged higher prices than originally agreed upon.
On Consumer Affairs, CVL earns a 4.3 rating based on 278 reviews. Although reviews are generally positive, repeating what other movers mentioned in Trustpilot and the BBB, others are not so good. A few people mention that during their long-distance move, their stuff was switched over to a third-party carrier without them knowing. Another reviewer said that it took 33 days to receive their household items, despite being given an original timeline of three to 19 days.
Overall, it seems like people are pleased with CVL, but several complaints about missed delivery windows may have you second-guessing its reliability.
Third-Party ratings
Colonial Van Lines is not verified by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and earns a B+ rating based on its volume of customer complaints and willingness to resolve them. We were unable to find any other third-party ratings for Colonial Van Lines.
How we evaluated Colonial Van Lines
Colonial Van Lines is regarded as one of the top moving companies in the United States. When writing this review, we evaluated CVL against the following criteria:
- Years in business
- Services offered
- History of complaints
- Ease of use
- Customer reviews
- Customer service ratings
Summary of Miami Herald’s Colonial Van Lines review
Overall, Colonial Van Lines is a well-established moving company that offers a full range of services at competitive prices. It has a strong track record in the moving industry and positive customer reviews overall. But a few complaints about late deliveries has us hesitant to recommend it as our top choice.
Because of this, you may want to see how CVL compares to the best long-distance moving companies or the best interstate moving companies before making your decision. Or, if you’re thinking about DIYing your move to save on costs, you may want to compare prices from moving truck rental companies or moving container companies instead.
