This review refers to Mesa Systems, out of Grand Junction, CO, a local affiliate of United. I cannot recommend this company. I was lied to about certain costs, and then the general manager called me a liar, in so many words. I paid approximately $4700, and they refused to honor their agreement with me over $80, claiming the agreement was never made, even thought the person who made the agreement was not there at the time. Instead of having a "the customer is always right" attitude, they have the exact opposite.

The worst... bait and switch. They gave a quote and showed up in a rented truck 2 hours late and you have to pay through the nose for packaging which they require. Then was told had to be paid in cash after arrived at new house after having given them credit card info. earlier. Don't ever ever use them, I've moved a lot and wanted to save money, it wasn't worth it.

Wow, I am surprised to see bad reviews, we had a great experience. At first I was not going to use them but my husband saw that Allied movers were having money problems and I did not want them to go out of business while we were moving. He said we should move ourselves but some of our stuff is too big and we did not know many people in our new city. We ended up paying about $400.00 more for United but at least I got my stuff delivered and nothing was broken. We used the office in Elk Grove Village, IL and they did a good job.

This was the worst move I ever had with this company; I strongly recommend everyone, not to move with this company as you will see what you get at your destination!

To make this short:
They packed childrens toys with used gas canisters; they packed items that was in a designated area they should not have touched and did not pack items they should have packed; Boxes were falsely marked, e.g. they marked a box as X-mas items, but there was not even a single x-mas item in that particular box; they packed pots and pans with dried flowers (did not mark it on the box, of course!); CD was thrown in the box without wrapping it or packing it in paper; Trash in my garage was also packed in boxes, as well as empty garden fertilizer bags, therefore, I had to rewash all the clothes, as that is where they thru in the empty garden fertilizer bag; item were bent as well as squeezed to fit into their smaller boxes; and the most important, THE DRIVER marked 95% of my furniture and other items as badly worn, even my TVs, Computer Desk (by the way, which was pretty new), my Futon (was also new).

My weight according to the company was around 16,000 but surprisingly, when arriving in the Northeast, my shipment with United was almost 1000 lbs. HEAVIER!

They have no patience; they are calling out 3 to 5 numbers upon arrival at the same time and expect us to find the numbers on their sheet immediately.

I could write a lot more, but the most important, I would NEVER use this company again, not even if they move for free!

I marked a box with my important items I need for my work and they repacked that box into their box, it took me 4 days to go through all my 40+ boxes until I finally found what I needed. What a waste of time!!!

I have moved from the United States to Korea, from Korea to HOng Kong and then back to the states. My move by United from SEattle to Arkansas was the worst condition I have seen with my shipment. The packers rushed their job and packed my items poorly. Delivery was find, but the damage was done at that point..I would seriously lookinto using any other company that you can find, based on the lack of professionalism and then the lack of responsibility from the company. So many excuses about damage and why it is not their fault.

Be careful when using United Vanlines..Something will definitely BREAK and you will end up having your furniture infected with BED BUGS. Having complete insurance is not going to help as per my experiences since they have agents paid to help United Vanlines negotiate or nullify the claims made by consumers.

MY RECOMMENDATION "NEVER USE UNITED VANLINES"

United Van Lines - Fry & Wagner, Earth City, MO. (314) 291-4100 Ask for Stan Eisen.

What a SCAM! We used them for a move from VA to OR - weight was 16,000 lbs. Two years later, we used Fry & Wagner, but they didn't know we used United Van Lines 2 years earlier. We jetisoned 1/3 of our belongings - Washer, dryer, fridge, hot tub, living room and family room furniture, library bookshelves and books, etc. We felt we didn't want to pay to move anything we didn't want or use in the two years since we had just moved.

Guess what?!? They claimed our weight for this move was 4,000 pounds MORE than our last move! WRONG ANSWER! We moved LESS, not more! Packing was a lot easier this last move, yet we weighed more. Driver told us he lost the weight ticket. Company says they lost it. If you lost the ticket, then how do you know how much to bill us?

Don't worry, I tell everyone I know how much United Van Lines ripped us off. I have gone as far as to tell people when the moving truck is in their driveway to be watchful for United Van lines. I've done this three times in one year, and will continue to address this matter with every potential customer I meet of theirs.

I hope their business drops off because of my crusade. Think of all the potential customers I will meet for the next 40 years or so...

Here's their website:

http://movingsystems.com/fry-wagner/

They lost 120 out of 1100 inventoried items. They also destroyed items and settled for $13000. After almost a year, they finally settled but not before 10 months of annoyance. Their agent, Armstrong washed their hands of the entire episode. I've moved 9 times, around the country and over seas and have never worked with such an incompetent and careless organization. Avoid Armstrong Moving & Storage and United and their Mayflower brand.

Absolute nightmare! They broke \\\\\many things, lost others, packed carelessly (put unwrapped coach bags in with open bottles of household cleaners) and more than anything, badly damaged our new Ethan Allen bedroom and living room funiture. We found out when we were trying to do our claims that the person inspecting our items at the beginning had listed everything we owned, including a brand new chair, as "badly worn, soiled, damaged." I was furious, as we are trying to do the claims now (a horrible process where I think they try to make it so hard that you will give up) and we aren't sure if it's going to affect that. Horrible, awful experience. As I said on other sites, Satan himself would be a better mover, and he would probably be more honest with you, too! *** 0 STARS ***

the moving van industry is under investigation for improperly adding a sir charge to consumers bills, this charge was probably added as a gas sircharge but not necessary, please review your bill from the moving company and if you notice said sircharge please respond asap

Horrible experience. We moved 1800 miles and paid over $8,000 including over $600 for full insurance coverage. They broke a table, damaged an oak desk, broke several shelves and candle holders (we also paid them to pack). They lost our $430 ladder and they refuse to pay for the ladder. The claims rep, Betty C., was so rude. I had to call repeatedly b/c she never called me back and then after months of waiting says they will not pay for the ladder that they lost.

Back in August of 2005, I moved from Los Angeles to Sacramento. I paid for a full service move. Not only were the movers late, they showed up to deliver everything with NO CREW to unload it. No one at McCollister's (the firm subcontracted by United) nor anyone at United could help. On the phone, they were at best indifferent, and at worst, rude. They told me that they didn't know where the crew was and my only option was for the truck to take my stuff to San Jose and return in "a couple days". I was infuriated. I needed my stuff, so the driver and I unloaded everything. I got a crappy settlement from them and had I had the time to go to court, I would have sued. NEVER NEVER hire neither United nor McCollister's. By the way, they try to cover themselves by marking almost all your belongings you own as either "damaged" or "badly worn", no matter what the true condition is.

We were given an estimate of $5600 and told that was high--it would probably cost about 5000. We sold/gave away a lot of items after the estimate (including washer/dryer), prior to the move so it should have been way less. The tried to collect 7500 but did reduce the price to 6650---Which is still a lot more than the estimate. The estimated weight was 10,000lbs but it weighed 12,400. Packing up was ok but the delivery was careless--scratched items, did not put items where we requested. Customer service is useless--they are like robots with a couple of lines they have been programmed to say.

We were moved from Elicott City Md to Phoneix by United Van Lines and I must say that this move was flawless !! The driver, the men , the saleperson . PERFECT !! If you are moving , use United and you will be happy with the result. Trust me ! They did an excellent job and were very fast and efficient.

They are the biggest rip off in the business. After our move, we had nothing but problems with them. First of all, they broke our TV, Computer, scratched our oak desk and stained our chair. Then they said that even though we purchased the "full replacement value coverage", our computer was not covered. Even though the wording clearly states that "any article that is damaged or broken will be replaced, fixed, or given a cash replacement value." Not to mention that the claims person was the rudest person that I have ever dealt with. This is the worst customer service I have ever received in my life. I paid $5000 to them and all I got was a broken TV and computer and insults from the claims department. You would be better off moving your stuff yourself than going with United. Consider yourself warned. Note: I only gave them 1 star because it was not an option to give them 0 stars. They are that bad and that rude.

Using United took too much effort! My phone calls were never returned and unless I continuously complained, they would not do anything about my moving issues! United does not care about your stuff, only your money. I do NOT reccommend United to anyone!

My family moved from San Diego to Fresno, 400 miles, and they lost over $6000 worth of my household items, from strollers, to file cabinets and even my photo albums. I highly discourage anyone from using United, as I will never use them again.

Make sure EVERYTHING is in writing- no matter how nice your sales rep is! The min. they have a signed deal- customer service is out the door. Also make sure you get the procedures and rules for Full Replacement insurance before committing to any moving co. It is very hard to make a claim with this company.

Dealing with United has been a nightmare. Heavy items were packed on top of breakable items resulting in numerous damaged/broken items. When delivered, numerous boxes did not have tracking numbers. As a result, we had several items missing. The movers who delivered our items were reluctant to take back the numerous items that were delivered to us by mistake. Items that were to be assembled were not assembled. Dealing with the claims department has been a nightmare. It took 4 weeks of repeated calling for them to return my calls and to finally talk to someone about my claim. They basically told me that the reason my items were lost was because they had to be put in their storage for awhile since we did not directly move from one house to another. As a result, we should expect missing items and they would not give us any settlement for them.

After getting burnt using several smaller, unscrupulous moving companies, I couln't be happier with United. Most important, they were honest, with no surprises. No damaged items. I would definitely use United again.

When I used United as a moving company I was upset with the service I received. United scratched and broke a lot of my things. They also lost a box of my clothing. Dealing with their claims department was just as bad, it took over 6 months to get a settlement from them.