B52 Van Lines

17 Reviews: Add Review

1. Total scam.

   Terrible experience for both my friend and me. We both used them. Not only did they do the bait and switch tactics big time, which cost me nearly twice as much as what they originally quoted – then they damaged & lost a few things and never paid me a dime, despite my taking photos and filling out the claims they asked me to. Same experience as many other people had on here. It appears to me now that this company has “conveniently” gone bankrupt or out of business, and I understand have actually taken people‘s belongings and now cannot even be found. I feel like I got off easy compared to these other poor customers. If you ever see these peoples’ name come up again anywhere—RUN. Do not use! And it would also not surprise me if they pop up under some other company name. Do your homework, don’t do what I did. Make sure you get a binding estimate from someone and have them come to your house. Lesson learned for me!

2. Turn and Run.

   Worst moving experience ever. They are rude, they lie and they refuse to return phone calls or emails. They overcharged us charging us for more space than we used. Then they lost 2 items of our furniture. They stated that we did not need to take out special moving insurance since they are self-insured. What a crock! Their "self insurance" involves filing a claim with an outside company named Anthem Claim Management who is probably just an extension of B52 since they are just as rude and refuse to return phone calls. I got cost estimates of my lost furniture but it didn't matter - they pay 60 cents per pound. They were not heavy items, but valuable items. My claim that should have been about $600.00 turned out to be $60.00 and I can't even get them to pay that. I think B52 may have gone out of business, but in case they go back into business - don't bother with them. And I'd stay away from "self insured" and Anthem Claim Management as well. Frustrated and Disgusted.

3. Moving.

   Dr. Betty McGee
   B52 caused me so much frustration and disgust with that late hour move. The move was initiating on September 1, 2017 at 7:10pm and partly concluded at 3:20am on September 2, 2017. Three guys were sent to move my things yet only one (1) was left standing at the end of the move. By 9:00pm one guy quiet and went to sleep in the truck. Despite being assured by Amanda that fresh guys would be coming to move my things. Someone needs to investigate the behavior of B52 Van Line's lack of business practices, competency, transparency, and reliability. An enormous amount of damage was done to furniture that I had accumulated for more than 50 years. I believe the insurance company was a willing party. Someone needs to investigate both the Insurance Company and B52. The insurance company was the one who delayed and refused to pay my claim until at which time I was told that B52 had gone out of business. PLEASE DO NOT USE B52 VAN LINE to move a Dog House! And to think I paid $5,000 to these people to leave half stuff. B52 gave me an extremely low price without conducting quality assurance before showing up late and missing two appointments. The original quote was $2000. My rating for both B52 Van Lines and the Insurance Company gets a -*; in other words 1 star is to much.

4. Should be a -5.

   These are scam artists and be very aware. They change prices on you and will hold your belongings hostage. Then they will be damaged when you get them. They have changed their numbers multiple times but if you are looking for them call them at 310-359-1201. If you are having issues with them I have an attorney that can and will help but you must file a police report. You have been warned if you use them!! The executives are supposed to the be a "Yafit or Idan." Be very cautious. If you need help contact me.

5. HORRIBLE experience - Advise you look elsewhere!!

   I can't even call this company a "moving" company! What a rip off. After researching a lot of movers in the Los Angeles area I chose this company based on reviews. They were neither the cheapest or most expensive. Move was a disaster from beginning to end - and still is as they refuse to respond to my claim for damages.
   1. The quote: I submitted an extensive list of my belongings and even overestimated what I was taking on my move from California to Colorado. When the "movers" showed up suddenly my quote went from $2170 to $3800. I was told the supervisor that was on site was their "best" and most "honest" supervisor. Yeah right. I finally agreed to pay $3000 because I HAD to be out of my house that day and had no other option. (Note that when my belongings arrived in Colorado the Bekins driver told me I had 770 cu ft of goods not the 1020 cu ft that the B52 "supervisor" had said so the original estimate was almost right on point).
   2. The "movers" that put my goods on their truck were day laborers. They are NOT movers!!
   3. I was not told my goods would be taken from my house to a warehouse and stored until a larger truck was ready to move my goods to Colorado. To me this just lends itself to the potential for damage and/or lost goods.
   4. I was asked when I would be ready for my belongings to be delivered and I estimated we would reach Colorado on Labor Day. Figuring it was a holiday I did not anticipate that the truck driver would want to deliver my things that day and I didn't anticipate arriving at my home until the afternoon. The truck driver kept insisting that the he needed to deliver my things that day and he would arrive in the morning. It took numerous calls back and forth with B52 to get someone to understand that we weren't going to be available in the morning as we were not even arriving until later that day.
   5. I was then told the driver would arrive on Tuesday morning - he showed up in the afternoon. Waiting for him at my house was a van with a group on "day laborers" (again NOT MOVERS) ready to unload the truck. The truck driver was unable to assist with anything as he told me had a hernia and could not help with lifting or moving anything. The laborers began moving items and at some point I heard a scream and found 2 laborers on the stairwell to the basement with my couch stuck between them. The man at the top of the stairs started pushing the couch causing a lot of damage to the walls and the banister and eventually pushed the couch so hard that he knocked the second guy down the stairs and then he got lodged under the couch causing an injury. When the truck driver came in and saw what happened he immediately fired the guy at the top of the stairs and his "buddies". That left the injured worker and the driver, who remember could not lift or move anything. What probably should have taken a few hours took almost the entire afternoon as the injured man (who by the way was extremely nice and accommodating but was in fact a local laborer), my daughter and her boyfriend finished moving boxes into the garage. Furniture that was supposed to be assembled was left in pieces (couch and bed) and we had to assemble those things ourselves.
   6. I asked the truck driver how many cu ft of belongings I had on the truck and he showed me how they measured the items, and my belongings added up to 770 cu ft. I took photos of how that was determined and even video taped the driver as he explained it so I would have evidence in the event I needed to pursue any action against B52 (more on this later).
   7. After the driver and laborer left we got to unpacking. We found numerous items broken including a $400 vacuum cleaner. There were many broken large pictures including 2 museum quality pictures, along with dishes, and other items. Some furniture was scratched and there was extensive damage to the walls in the house, especially where the couch was dropped. After taking photos of all the broken items and damage I filed 2 claims - one for the damaged goods and one for the home damages.
   8. I filed two claims within the timeframes noted on the company paperwork. After about 2 months I received notification offering me $33 for all the damaged goods. $33!! That was laughable.
   9. The second claim for the damages in the house would, according to the company's timeframes, be resolved within 90 days of the claim. I submitted photos and an estimate for repairs along with their form. NO contact. No resolution. The company has not responded AT ALL to the claim, nor to contacts to try to resolve the issue. It has now been over 120 days since the claim was filed and still ZERO response.
   
   This company is definitely what gives movers a bad rep. They are liars, cheaters, unprofessional, and just don't care about their customers. I highly recommend that you look elsewhere for a reliable, trustworthy, REAL moving company. Guess I'll be seeing them in court!!

   

6. Terrible Waste of Money.

   Terrible waste of money, lost family heirlooms and no money back from our claim. My Fiance and I️ just moved from Oakland to California and B52 made our move horrific. I️ wish we moved our own things.
   
   1. The quote: we were quoted a price (after listing out ALL of our furniture and household items and their sizes over the phone) of our one bedroom one bath (no major appliances as we were renting in Oakland). She gave a quote of $1,560. This seemed like a good price and the company had seemingly better reviews than other companies (I️’ll get to the “losing 1/4 our stuff portion” in a moment) but our final price for our move ended up being $3,033!
   
   2. 8/6 First failed delivery: We were set to get our things that evening. Got a call around 4pm that although they would arrive by 9pm, they “wouldn’t be able to park a commercial truck and unload by 9:30pm” due to city laws. I️ was a little confused by this logic, then upon asking them where they actually were they informed me that they were in a town at least 6 hours out of Denver. (So if there was never a moment that they could arrive before 10 pm why weren’t we told in advance that this window wouldn’t be possible?)
   
   3. 8/7 Second failed delivery: two nice gentleman unloaded boxes. Lots were in bad shape. Like another couple, our mattress had a huge fold in it and was stained on a corner despite being wrapped in plastic. In general things were in “less-than-mediocre” to “just mediocre” shape. Scratched wood, bent nightstand legs, broken chair legs etc.. When they said they were “all set” I️ was in shock. Of our 45 boxes we were missing 22 by my count and 20 by their‘s! (this is including one of the two 8ft. Benches to our dinning room table—not sure how those get separated). When asked if this happens a lot, they confirmed that sadly, “yes, it does”. Among our things we found artwork that wasn’t ours that was shoved into a suitcase. (We gave it back to the movers but I️ doubt anything came of it.)
   
   4. Promised “credit” to buy pots and pans: We were living without our things for over 2 weeks in our new home. Chris the manager approved a $100 credit to buy some pots and pans just to hold us over until ours came. This would seem decent if we ever saw that money after submitting a receipt to him.
   
   5. 8/16 Third failed delivery: guys came back with another batch of boxes still missing 5 (their count) 8 (my count) boxes full of cookware, family heirlooms, expensive artwork, clothing etc.
   
   6. 9/10 We filled out a claim: after what we calculated to be about $3,200 in missing things, we sent in a detailed sheet outlining everything that was missing.
   
   7. 11/17 The terrible ending: After all this trouble we just got a letter in the mail last week letting us know that after reviewing our claim, they estimated that we were missing 255lbs of belongings and offered to pay us (wait for it!) $153.
   
   Take away: this company is incredibly untrustworthy. Not only did they double our quote, we paid about $1000 to move things that weren’t even delivered. We never saw the “credit” that Chris promised, and we received a measly $153 when it has taken us over $3,000 just to replace the items we already had before our move. Not to mention family objects and artwork that are irreplaceable. I’m so frustrated that a huge part of me didn’t even want to write this review and dig up all the furious feelings (I️ imagine that’s why they take 2 months to get back to you). But I️ have a responsibility to tell you to not chose this company.
   
   Hopefully I️ save someone some heartache by outlining our experience. If we had read this review we would have never gone with B52.

7. Don't use B52.

   B52 was the subcontracted movers that moved my family from Washington to California. Please make sure that if you have a different company that they don't subcontract out to B52. My furniture was scratched and dented. Multiple personal items were broken or damaged. When it came time to offload our belongings and furniture, it cost us more money and we had to go get cash. When we tried to contact them there was a full voicemail and we couldn't get through to them. No one ever called back. It was the worst moving experience I have ever had and I have moved multiple times in my life. Think twice, the price might be great, but you get what you pay for.

8. Absolutely Horrible!!

   Marcus Ram
   Marcus Ram
   2 reviews · 1 photo
   in the last week
   This has been the most stressful, expensive, and unprofessional moving company that I have ever encountered. At first Amanda was the sweetest thing gave my original quote for $2300 with about 600 cubic square feet. She said it should accommodate my 700 sq apartment. 1 queen bedroom set, small dinning table, a large sectional, tv, book shelve, two desk and about 30 medium boxes. I also mentioned I do not want any surprises. Well when the movers arrived it came out to $4300!! Almost double. I called Amanda and she wanted my business and settled for $4000. Well in parallel I travel for work out of state weekly. I moved to Dallas Texas. My first available date of deliver was Friday. 4 days have passed and I called them to see where are my things and have not received a 24 hour call ahead notice. Max Martinez was completely rude! He said well your stuff can take anywhere for a month and that's what you signed up for. I'm livid! Today I had my appliances delivered and alarm system installed. The delivery driver called at 11:30 and said they will be there at 2pm. They didn't give me a notice so I couldn't get to the bank prior. The will not unload until I paid them the remaining $1500. They waited until the alarm company left. I left to go to the bank and gave them the money. They ruined my $10,000 sectional, yes even it was wrapped up. Boxes came back ripped and messed up. Luckily I only had a few broken glasses. But never again will I hire this company! I am going to reach out to Michael Garcia in San Diego, CA attorney for moving. I do not have the patience to deal with them. I hired a company to move from Los Angeles, CA to Dallas, Tx to give me worry free. I even have had the doubt that I will never see my belonging again.
   
   DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY.

9. Trust all of these horrible reviews..I didn't and have regretted it!!

   There are so many problems, I'm going to bullet point many of the issues:
   1. The movers stole several nice articles of clothing from my wife's wardrobe.
   2. They stole my framed picture of St. Andrews golf course in Scotland. Will I ever get back to Scotland to get a new one..probably not.
   3. I wish I could show you pictures of how they left one room in complete disarray.
   4. Bait and switch tactic on the price..very clever in deed, I was warned by our prior mover who was fantastic.
   5. If you start to work with Amanda..hang up immediately.
   6. Amanda told us they had professional piano movers..lie! They had five people who couldn't get the piano in the house so I had to hire a professional team of two and spend another $600 to get the piano in the house and fix what they couldn't do. NOTE, it only took two PROFESSIONAL piano movers to get my piano into our new home (see pic below) and B52 couldn't do it with five guys.
   6. My son's mountain bike and mine were both smashed during the unloading and the repairs were $95ea. The driver assured me they would pay the full repair cost, LOL, they only offered me 60 cents per pound, not the true cost to repair.
   7. They threw our stuff in boxes without wrapping breakable items with paper or bubble wrap. Yes, it was a disaster! (one example in the pic below)
   8. They damaged a wall and floor in our old home in California. Total repairs to the old home around $400.
   9. So many other items too many to list. My list of issues totaled around $1700.
   
   Initially, they offered me $75 through their insurance company, I simply laughed. When I called B52 multiple times several months later I was offered $576 and they expected me not to post reviews.
   After much thought, I signed a release for $976 on 8.25.17 and as of today, 9.17.17, I've seen no payment from them.
   I did get a threatening phone call from Amanda..hmmm?
   Never forget this phrase; STAY AWAY FROM B52.

   

10. B-52 Van Lines.

    I had a horrible experience with B-52 Van Lines. In need of a company for a cross-country move, I signed up with an online service that gives your information to moving companies so they can contact you. I was initially hesitant to go with B-52 because of the multiple reviews I read claiming they used bait-and-switch tactics with their pricing. Before I signed anything, I wanted something in writing guaranteeing my quoted price as long as I stayed below the listed volume. I called the company on a Monday and was told they would send this guarantee over immediately. I did not receive anything that day, so I called again on Tuesday and was told once again that it would be sent right away. I finally received my requested document after calling for a third time on Wednesday. Despite this frustrating and unprofessional delay, I still signed the offer and paid a deposit with B-52 to “guaranty” my reservation. The email with the offer also stated that B-52 is an “A rated business.” This is a lie and can easily be checked on the Better Business Bureau website. A few weeks later (the week of my scheduled move), my fiancé received a call on Wednesday (3 days before the scheduled pick-up day of Saturday) from Max, an extremely gruff "sales representative," saying that the truck had broken down and they would not be able to pick up our belongings on Saturday as scheduled. When she asked when our items could be picked up, Max said that he “did not know." B-52 had no plan in place for what to do if a truck is out for repairs. We immediately called B-52 to get more information about the situation and spoke to Kelly, who had been our agent through this process (my mother was actually the one who made this call, as she was free that day and my fiancé and I were both too busy with work at that moment to take the time to deal with the moving company). Kelly apologized and swore repeatedly that the truck would be there on Monday. While this was still an inconvenience, it was not the end of the world. Then that Friday, we received an e-mail from Chris, the manager, saying that there was actually no way they could get a truck there on Monday due to “logistics issues”. This email was extremely unprofessional as it did not include a subject line and contained very blatant errors (such as omitted words) in nearly every sentence. Keep in mind, this is literally 3 days before we were scheduled to move across the country and after the company had already reassured us that everything would be taken care of after the initial scare on Wednesday. I stepped outside my office and immediately called Chris. He apologized, but said that it was not the company’s fault and refused to take any accountability. When I asked what my options were at this point, Chris said there was nothing the company could do and I was on my own. He offered to "help" by signing me back up for the online service where I had originally found B-52. After looking into other companies, I found that the few who could make it work with the late notice would cost 150% of our agreed-upon price with B-52. When I called Chris to inform him of the additional cost I would incur because of their fall-through, he had an attitude of "so what? Why are you telling me this?" I calmly asked if B-52 would be able to pay me a portion of this cost difference because I had signed a document to guaranty my pickup and was in this situation because of them. Chris then outright lied to me about the terms I had agreed to, saying that the document states they can cancel at any time. I read every word of the offer, and the cancellation policy only discusses what happens if I were to cancel on them, not the other way around. When I said this, Chris insisted I was wrong despite me having it pulled up on my computer in front of me. At this point, Chris became completely belligerent and hung up on me. Now frustrated, I called Chris back and he proceeded to insult me and said I was "17 years old." Chris then informed me these conversations were all being recorded. California is a 2-party consent state, meaning both parties must be aware of any recording. I had not been informed of any recording prior to this, so B-52 either broke the law by recording the conversation without my knowledge or Chris was lying to me once again. When I suggested I would be in contact with a friend who is a lawyer to see what my legal options were, he said that I was liar and excused me of "extortion." Chris then said he would call my mother, whose phone number he had from when she called when I was busy with a deadline for work. This is NOT how professionals do business and no manager should act this way. Chris did offer a meager $100 compensation, but threatened to revoke it if I posted this completely honest review. However, I felt passionate enough about this that I turned down his offer. When you call someone 3 days before a scheduled cross-country move to inform them you are not going to make it, saying "sorry" is not quite enough. Because of B-52's last-minute cancellation, I ended up spending much more than I had budgeted for this move and was forced to take additional vacation days from work due to leaving on Monday instead of Saturday as originally planned. I am going to be moving back to my home state in 2 years, and might have considered giving B-52 another chance had Chris not raised his voice, insulted me, and then threatened to call my mother. B-52 is horribly unprofessional and is not above lying to you. I strongly discourage anyone from using B-52 for their move.

    

11. Horrible Experience.

    B-52 Van Lines is the most dishonest company I have ever done business with. Every step of this move was a nightmare. They did not come to pack and load on the day requested. They changed the estimate by $3800 without any change in the size or services attached to the move. They failed to deliver on the date they gave us without even a phone call to warn us of a delay, this happened 5 times before our things were finally delivered. Many of our things arrived with considerable damage, or just plain broken. We paid this company for full packing services and many breakables were packed with extreme negligence. This company also brokered the move out to contractors, even though they are registered as a carrier and promised they do the job themselves every step of the process. If you are looking for a mover I suggest going to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website. They have a list of moving companies they have received complaints against. Don’t bother with the BBB, as this company has an A- yet shows no sign of any business ethics. They are basically a licensed and insured company that is practicing as many rogue moving tactics as they think they can get away with. If you have already used them and are having a bad experience please file a complaint with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, they are the agency with the power to audit and shut down the company. I will also say customer service at this company is terrible, if you want to be called names and threatened, this is the company to hire.

    

12. Highly recommended!

    B52 are the best! my job relocated me from Sacramento to Dallas. I had to move in a weeks time! to my new home and job setting things up all the way from Austin. My wife had to deal with them, so I was worried about the whole thing, until she called me. She said the guys very professional and treated our furniture and belongings like they were theirs. Awesome job! I will recommend to all family & friends thank you B52 VANLINES.

13. Warning.

    My issues started date of pick up and from the looks of it everyone has had issues. The drivers arrived and took a look around the driver Kelly immediately said that the quote that was given to me was $2000 off, the incorrect estimate would prevent them from moving my items unless I agreed to pay more. After waiting another hour for the supervisors to get back to the drivers with an exact estimate they told me the full moving cost was going to be $2200 more then what was quoted. After getting very emotional and speaking the Dan and Chris on the phone they agreed to charge me only $500 more with the condition of me leaving my couch, end tables, both of my desks, shelving unit and shoe racks even though these items were all written and listed in the original items list. I had spoken with the company 3 times prior to my move and obtained my originally quote and paid deposit 4 months prior to my move. Every time I contacted company I asked for them to confirm that there would be not surprise charges. The only additional charges they confirmed would be charges added if there were going to be stairs involved upon delivery. Knowing that I was leaving across country in 48 hours heading in to the weekend, I had to take the deal agreeing to leave my biggest furniture items. Before all of this I had to move my pick up date after deciding to stay and work one more week for some extra money (thank goodness I did) I asked when the company would be able to deliver my items, the women I spoke with either Amanda or Kelly let me know that they would be able to pick up my items any day I wanted and they would be able to deliver my items whenever I wanted. She confirmed that they would be able to move my items a week later and that they would be able to drop them off the following week. After making my trip from California to Ohio they told me 24 hours prior to delivery they would give me a call. When I didn't receive a call I called and spoke with Kelly, she said that my items hadn't been shipped yet but she needed to confirm this information with her boss and call me back, the entire time she had an attitude. When she never called back I followed up the next day and she immediately transferred me to her Manager Chris. He said that my items had not left California and were currently sitting in their warehouse. After explaining my case to him and letting him know that I am incredibly dissatisfied with my entire experience with them, he told me they never make promises because everything is an estimate and I should speak with him to avoid any other confusion, He promised to listen to the phone recordings and call me back in a few hours, he assured me he took everything very seriously and I may be entitled to a discount. The conversation was on a Friday and of course I never got a call back, no surprise there. I finally decided to call him back the following WEDNESDAY and he said "Oh, not sure how that happened”, but he did contact the driver and he has left with my items and will call me back with an ETA on where the truck is now. This time he called back and said the truck is roughly 2 days away with possible weather delay. He never mentioned my complaint or dissatisfaction, so I've decided to warn everyone moving forward that they are unorganized, liars and completely unreasonable, since my move I’ve had to pay more for the shipment, I’ve had to purchase items to live with because of the late delivery them asking me to leave my items and they are still going to charge me to bring the items up the stairs to my new apartment, I am a single mother of 2 and my kids and I have had to sleep on the floor for the past 2 weeks. DO NOT CHOOSE THIS COMPANY!! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!

14. Corrupt, tried to take money off top.

    We contacted b52 with a quote for 10 Extra Large boxes, 20 large boxes 18x18x30, a king sized bed,a TV, a small TV stand and a dresser they quoted us at 1420.00 over the phone and agreed to give us a weight certificate since it was a military move. We ended up only having 4 extra large boxes (30x30x30), the dresser, the bed, the TV and the tv stand. No large boxes anymore. First they pushed our move date back a day but let us pick a showtime so it wasn't a huge bother. We chose 12 the next afternoon. The driver called late that night and said they wouldn't make it til 5pm. We told him that we didn't agree to that time and to reconfirm it with their office. He said he'd callus back in 10 minutes but never called. We call the office to explain what happened, they were still tracking noon and told us they'd call back after speaking with the driver. They never called back either. 12:30 rolls around the next day and there is no driver. We call the office and they act as if they are surprised that the drivers didn't show up. We contact them again at 5 pm and no one answers because they're gone for the day. The driver finally shows up at the wrong address down the street at 9pm. He walks in, eyeballs our 4 boxes and tells us that it's going to be more than 400 cubic feet without even looking at anything else. I explain to him that 30x30x30 is a little less than 16cubic feet and we only 4 so that's 64 cubic feet on the high end . all we have other than that is a flat screen TV(10 cubic feet) , a TV stand(25cf) and a bed w/box spring(84cf) that all adds up to 183 cubic feet on the high end, our original quote was for 400 cubic feet. He tells us that it's going to be an additional $400-$600. I tell him we want to cancel so he goes downstairs to his truck to "call the owner" and ask if they will honor the original quoted price. He came back up and said he couldn't do it and when I asked for the owners number to speak to him directly, the driver gave every excuse in the book as to why I couldn't talk to him. I asked how the price went up especially since we had 26 less boxes than the quote. He kept insisting that the owner would fire him if he loaded the stuff for the agreed and signed upon price. The driver and his crew were basically trying to get us to pay more so they could get a 500 dollar tip and the office was absolutely no help at all. THIS COMPANY IS FULL OF CON-ARTISTS.

15. Great Experience.

    I really hate moving to be honest, however my experience with B52 Van Lines were remarkable! I could not have asked for a better crew. They were solicitously mindful of our needs. They were fast, efficient and asked many questions about our furnitures/ boxes / wardrobes. They were genuinely interested in our goods. B52 thank you for sending us an old pro!
    Overall, it was a smooth move. I could not recommend these guys more highly.