Colonial Van Lines Colonial Van Lines AVOID THIS COMPANY!!! They are unprofessional, fraudulent, liars and you will have an awful experience. Service indistinguishable from theft. San Francisco CA

First, I was promised by my initial agent, Thomas, that my items would never be put in storage. They would be placed immediately on a semi truck and never off-loaded without me present. When I asked to have this written in the contract, I was told they were unable to do so...  I sort of just stopped there with your narrative because the reason they provided isn't important.  First of all, there is no moving company, scam or legitimate, that would EVER agree to put that into a contract.  I mean some of the reasons they give are possibilities, however differing circumstances are present in every move and your items could be removed from the truck witrhout you being present.  I understand you believe that was a reasonable request - let me assure you - it is NOT a reasonable request.  Also, any promise made over a phone is not enforcable and not binding on anyone.

My items were picked up late, by movers who carried my furniture to the truck then sat and smoked cigarettes ON MY FURNITURE, and driven to a self-storage facility, where it has been sitting for TWO WEEKS. This was a complete violation of what I was assured, that the items would never be put in storage.  Well, the movers should not have sat on your furniture; they should have smoked on the truck, but you just described why your inital request was unreasonable.

This moving company, according to the DOT website, has exactly 9 trucks, one may be a semi, but generally it isn't.  OTR drivers the company would utilize to move your items across state lines are independent contractors who own the tractors; the OTR driver just pulls the trailer.  Now, moving companies earn revenue when their trucks are moving; it means people are working and jobs are being performed.  If your stuff is sitting on a truck, then that truck can't earn revenue and it can't pay its contractors or its employees, and yours sat for 2 weeks.  If it sat on a truck for 2 weeks, then that truck doesn't earn revenue in that time.  So they unload the furniture, store it, and reload when the delivery date comes up.  A legit mover would use their own storage instead of a self-storage facility.  Otherwise the process for a legit mover is the same as this company.

 Management has offered "compensation": "3, 4, maybe 5%" discount, but of course only after I pay the nearly $5,000 for the overall move (they issue reimbursements later). From reading other reviews, it seems the company is even harder to reach after you have paid the full price and I doubt anyone really receives their compensation.  That is correct and is standard throughout the moving industry, even with legitimate movers who pay delay claims when final delivery occurs outside the last day of the window.  You need to pay for everything in full before claims are handled, discounts happen, and other issues are resolved.  Whether you actually receive a delay claim is up to the company - there is no obligation they have to pay a delay claim unless it happens to be in the contract.  If it is, then you will get one.  If not, then perhaps not.  The smart move from this point on is to be nice; I mean you already filed this complaint and it can't be removed - personally I would have waited to file a complaint because you don't even know how much damage has occurred.  It may also jeopardize any delay claim you could get - they could revoke that offer based on the complaint.  I have seen it happen before with scam movers.

Moving is not an inexpensive venture.  It is very labor intensive and no 2 moves are alike, therefore there can be no uniformity in process or results.

Full Disclosure:  I do not work for this company - I have consulted for legit movers....