howardsvanline.com Reviews 

Howard Van Lines says nothing but a bunch of crooks they get your money they come to your house my move increase to over $2500 a day it was picked up and I had no choice but to pay the money or they would not have taken my things took 31 days for my furniture to be delivered from Georgia to Phoenix and it was stored in New York. They said they are not a broker yet my things were picked up by Howard Van Lines and delivered by mother’s moving when they open the truck my things were falling out into the street. I cannot file a claim. They will not give me the procedure on how to do that. Do not use them. They are nothing but liars and Steelers.

Steer Clear of Howard Van Lines ! This is a consumer warning that we are still trying to correct. I contacted HVL for an interstate move from IN to FL. I specifically asked if they were a broker and they emphatically denied being a broker. I paid them $5,000 to pick up my things over a two day period. 1 week before the move another company Shannon's Best Price Moving sent me an email indicating they were a "Sister" company. I paid $1000 to have a semi-truck pick up my 5 BR home with a studio. The second company showed up in a 26 foot truck a day late. There are a lot more details to this horrific encounter but, I'm begging you. DO NOT due any business with Howard Van Lines! You have been warned. I paid them 5K to make a phone call to another company who up-charged me 13K more dollars and held my things hostage. HVL did not pay the second moving company any of the $5K. I now have to pay thousands of dollars to have the "Sister Company" company deliver our things. We still have not received our things 3 months later. Spread the word, Do NOT use HVL !

I had a very terrible experience with low initial quote and ended up paying much higher whiles the time of delivery was delayed for 3 months.
I had some of my items missing after delivery. My 2 carpets, missing couch parts, a whole box full of my wife's footwears ( over 30 pairs) and some other stuffs that can not be traced until now.

I would strongly caution anyone considering using Howard's Van Lines.

During the sales process, I was repeatedly told that my cross-country move would take 7–10 business days for delivery. That timeline was a major factor in my decision to hire this company, as I was relocating my family and starting a new job.

After my furniture was picked up and I had already committed to the move, I was informed that the actual delivery window would be 14–21 business days from the first available delivery date, significantly longer than what I was led to believe.

As a result, my family has been left without our furniture for weeks, forcing us to incur thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses to replace essential household items and make temporary living arrangements. This situation could have been avoided had I been given accurate information from the beginning.

The most disappointing part has been the lack of transparency. Had I been told the true delivery expectations upfront, I would have chosen a different moving company. Instead, I made my decision based on a delivery timeline that was not honored.

I have requested that the company preserve all communications, including recorded sales calls, because I believe those conversations accurately reflect the delivery expectations that were presented to me before I signed the contract.

Moving across the country is already stressful. Customers deserve honest and accurate information before making such an important decision. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

I hope the company takes responsibility for the impact this has had on my family and improves the way it communicates delivery expectations to future customers.

A zero is what they are! A scam! After a fantastic quote and an ACH payment of over $2600… I really read the contract and found they quoted me for 1/2 a 26 ft truck when we all agreed on a full 26ft truck. Next day I went to my bank and stopped the payment. Then called and canceled them. The move was supposed to take place Feb 2026. They started calling me this week for the non refundable deposit that I had stopped payment on. They said they would settle for 1/2. I said I would settle for $500. They took the deal. I hate giving them a dime… but I don’t need the persistent calls.

Do not trust Howards Van Lines. They are a bait-and-switch operation that will steal your money, lie to your face, and hold your belongings hostage. We hired them based on promises of professionalism, including exploitation of respect for veterans, but their word means absolutely nothing. After loading our furniture, they hit us with massive upcharges, falsely claiming our items took up 4,200 cubic feet to justify inflating the price. Our delivery was scheduled for April 27, 2026, but it did not arrive until May 26. For a full month, they refused to provide any tracking or updates on the whereabouts of our belongings, completely ignoring our daily phone calls. When they finally showed up, they squeezed our items into a truck with other shipments—proving they lied about our furniture filling the space. To make matters worse, they dumped the last of our items in the garage and sneaked away without notice while my back was turned. We are still missing belongings that were left mixed in with the other cargo. Save your money, save your sanity, and find a reputable moving company.

Howards Van Lines is an absolute criminal enterprise built on fraudulent, deceptive business practices, extortion, and psychological warfare. Do not trust this crooked company for a single second. They operate as a bottom-feeding broker, farming out your life's belongings to the lowest, most incompetent bidders to completely evade accountability.
Howard's Van Lines run a textbook bait-and-switch operation designed to steal your money, look you dead in the eye and lie, and hold your personal property hostage for ransom. They explicitly exploit public respect for veterans to manufacture a fake veneer of patriotism and integrity, but their word is entirely worthless.

The Scam Breakdown

Extortionate Upcharges: The moment your furniture was locked in their truck, they slapped us with massive, fabricated upcharges. They fraudulently claimed our items took up 4,200 cubic feet solely to legally justify inflating the bill.

Hostage Delivery: Our delivery was legally scheduled for April 27, 2026, but they held our life hostage until May 26. For a full, agonizing month, they weaponized radio silence—refusing tracking, hiding the location of our goods, and completely ignoring daily distress calls.

The Space Lie: When their truck finally arrived, our items were aggressively crammed into a tiny space alongside multiple other shipments. This completely exposed their 4,200 cubic feet claim as a malicious, premeditated lie to line their pockets.

Cowardly Abandonment: To cap off their pathetic performance, they dumped the remaining items into the garage and literally snuck away without a word the absolute second my back was turned.

Theft by Cargo Mixing: Because of their chaotic, illegal cross-loading, we are still missing invaluable personal belongings that were left mixed in with other victimized cargo.

Howards Van Lines does not just provide bad service; they engage in systemic consumer fraud and theft. Protect your bank account, preserve your sanity, and run as far away from these scam artists as humanly possible.

To whom may help me get my merchandise back, I am a senior of 74 years. I hired Howard Van Lines., for a 1 bedroom apt. On 5/26/2026. Was told the would be at my apt on 5/30/2026. The Downpayment would be $1433.00 and then I needed to add items which I couldn’t leave so they changed me another $1046.00 and those items were left behind. According to the pickup driver they would have to change me $2500 more for the items in question.they claimed that these were bulky items and would take 2 recliners and a china closet and changed me another $1336.20 for the pickup an other $1336.20 upon delivery as of 5/16/2026 no merchandise. Call them on June 1 and was told it would take 5-7 business days for them to give me a delivery date so waited until June 9 2026 and was told to wait until the driver called to tell me they were on their way. Called 6/15/2026 phone number #888-404-8382 and was told that the box was full couldn’t lease a message so called the main number#201-590-7925. No answer just kept ringing. So I texted the answer was who are you looking for and I explained my situation to whoever answered and then was I had the wrong number. These people are criminals to scam a partially blind senior who need the medical devices on the truck.

If I could rate this company ZERO stars, I would! From the beginning they are nothing but liars. The salesman I talked to "John" way underquoted my move even though I gave him a detailed list of items. I even had measurements of things and he insisted he didn't need them because they had the best quoting software in the business and it was very accurate. He pressured me into agreeing with the quote and putting down a over $1300 deposit so I "wouldn't lose my spot on the schedule".

I found a bigger place than I thought and was able to keep my bedroom furniture (bed, 2 nightstands, TV cabinet) which caused an additional deposit of over $400. They moved my pickup date several times and when they did show up they were late. They also subcontract everything! "John" said they had their own trucks and movers but the movers showed up in a blank truck and the movers all had different companies on their hoodies.

The price doubled once the lead mover looked at my inventory, he said they quoted me for a small studio apartment when I told "John" I was in a 1bd/1br apartment. The lead mover said I used double the amount quoted in the truck. One of the movers asked to use my bathroom, no problem except he left feces in the toilet.

Before they left we went over where I was moving to and we google mapped the location and the lead mover said he didn't think a 53' truck would fit as there was a rotary and narrow streets with tight turns. He said when they called me to setup the payment for the pickup portion to let them know they would need to use a smaller truck for the delivery. I asked will that cost more money and he said no, it was already documented and he would tell them as well and in fact it was illegal for them to charge me more. This was a LIE! I ended up having to pay an over $800 shuttle fee for the delivery.

Finally my stuff was loaded and on it's way and when I finally did get a call from the company a week later they said I never paid for the pickup portion and I told them I was told they would contact me. "Carole A." said that's not how they did things and per the contract I signed it said I had to contact them to setup a wire transfer....I found that line buried in the small print later. I wired the money as requested but surprise surprise the company it went to wasn't Howard's Vanline in New Jersey, it was Moving Services Group in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

When the delivery driver contacted me after 5:00pm via text on a Thursday night he said they would be here Saturday between 8-10 and to make sure where I was moving to could accomodate a 75' truck and he sent me a photo. He said they never told him I would need a smaller truck...so yet another LIE! I told him they would need a smaller truck and he said the company would charge me a shuttle fee of over $800. He also informed me that payment at pickup had to be in cash or Post Office Money Orders.

He said the total due was over $4500, of course it's not his fault my bank had daily limits on money orders but waiting that late and expecting someone to have thousands of dollars available in one of those two formats that close to the delivery day seems unrealistic to me, I had the money but they wouldn't accept a wire transfer or anything else. Especially since they never told me a target delivery date. Luckily I was able to get a Western Union at a sent to me in cash to cover the bill.

They managed to damage my coffee table, break the legs off my living room TV stand, break one of my table lamps, and break one of my bookcases as well as some items in the boxes. They treated the boxes like trash, nearly every one was crushed, damaged or ripped.

This company is full of scam artists, from the lies they tell you to getting bounced around the country on phone calls and wire transfers. If you're considering using them DON'T....Run....Run Fast!

This is a scam moving service that uses bait and switch pricing. They don't actually move your stuff but hire the lowest price untrustworthy subcontractors. Then they don't pay the subcontractors forcing you to pay again. Do not use these scammers.

Horrible experience. We had less items then the contract listed and on the day of the pick up they still tried to get us to pay more. Not just a little but a lot more. Then we’re very rude when I asked for an explanation. Don’t use Howard’s Van Lines under any name that they go by.

We booked a move for 4/1-4/2 on 3/26. We paid the requested deposit via echeck but a review of our inventory shows a lot of what we told them we had was not included and would cost more. We were willing to have them take what was indicated in the contract and we would deal with the rest but it was no show, no call both days. They claimed they called us the first day in the evening but we have no record of any calls being received and it was supposedly during a driving rainstorm. We had no calls and no movers showing up either day, our calls to customer service were met with reassurances and then finally hanging up on us. We wound up hiring a UHAUL truck and making the move ourselves (and we are in our late 60’s). We have had no contact with Howard’s Van Lines and are not having luck getting our deposit back. Yes, it’s non refundable but being no show, no call doesn’t mean you get to keep a deposit for services never rendered. Have filed a sheriff report and a complaint with our bank claiming payment made but services ne er provided. Fraud dispute ongoing. Avoid this company, bait and switch experts for sure. Wish I had done better research. I really can’t afford to be out the deposit we paid!

I hired Howards Van Line for a move I had recently. We booked them as movers on the 9th. Now I understand that my move was considered very last minute but there were extenuating circumstances that prevented me from booking sooner. However this is when the issues began. First of all they kept calling my friend who had helped me book the move even though we made it clear I WAS THE CUSTOMER. I ended up not getting in touch with Cody, until less than 24 hours before pickup. In which I gave him an updated inventory.
Their inventory size estimate is so incorrect that when I was contacted by the people actually doing the moving less than 24 hours before they were supposed to deliver I ended up having to pay $4500 instead of the $1000 that Cody had estimated.

On top of this the movers had forgotten 2 items in my previous apartment, and I am currently trying to go through the claims process. Howards is referring me to another company to file the claim and this company just replied saying that Howards is not registered with them for claims services.

Do yourself a favor and go with a different moving company.

Scammers that give you a price & then triple it on day of more even thought you have less stuff than is listed on the estimate..I cancelled my move the day then came to pick up my stuff with an estimate that went from $3300 to $6600 to $9700 …I called to see if I could get a refund cause I agreed to the second estimate not the last estimate.. and was told no..I even offered to pay the movers than were at my house for a half hour …after taking to this company i realized it was all a scam & called my bank to get my money back .which they did give back because they believe this was fraud ..now 3 months later Howard’s van line is threatening to turn me over to collection agency…lots of phone calls & since I was not calling to pay & was calling to dispute the charges they were super rude & not reasonable at all ..you estimate a price that I agree on & think you can change it & im just suppose to say ok ..I think they do this on day of move so you have no other choice but to pay ..I told them to leave & moved myself ..they told me I needed a whole 20 foot truck for my stuff ..I packed up a 15 foot U-Haul & had plenty of left over room …total rip off ..with all the 100’s of complaints I’ve been reading online ..how can they still be in business…I would think they has to be some agency or something that protects consumers

Company sucks. The driver arrived at 11:30 pm in a building. As soon as the driver gets in he says oh this is way too much. 600 cu ft. You were only charged 260. He didn't measure anything. At that time there was no one to call. He also wanted to charge for stairs, eventhough on the estimate we counted the steps. We was rude and screaming. Move was $2000. Wanted to charge an additional $3600. We refused to pay the additional. He left. After we did an inventory of what we had. We had 260 cu ft and even tried to leave bedroom to make it happen. We have pictures from that night of the inventory. They refuse to listen to us. They kept our deposit and have refused to return it. Avoid the company with bait and switch tactics. They said we refused pick up. We didn't we refused to get conned.

Please don’t use this company I wish i can give the moving company 0+star for one they charge me to much then different staff tell you different things about your delivery date plus if you file a claim they will never get back to you the delivery guy Carlos is a scam artist please somebody help me call Trump for I can get ice involved Scott is another guy that a scam artist for this company please be aware it’s been over a month and I don’t have my stuff I move from Maryland to Florida nd haven’t had my stuff or no information I was going with the these that belong to me overall this place is rip off dont trust this company…I hate to this but its no other way I had Emailed and call nobody is getting back to me about what’s going on my next will be bbb but I will file a lawsuit on these guy

HOWARD VAN LINES UNPROFESSIONAL!!! ZERO stars!!
Do not trust them. I put my info in to get a quote for a move and I knew as soon as I hit send asking me for my phone number and email that it was going to be some stuff. I received a phone from immediately from (Two Movers). The lady said she would connect me to some carriers that could assist which was irritating because WHY did you ask for my info if I was just going to be assigned a company right then. AND this is the second time this has happened. (I called for a quote earlier in the year and when I didn't go with the quote the sales person became really rude. Anyway, here I go trying again...
I'm on the phone with someone who is asking me for room specifics. I told the guy I JUST WANT AN ESTIMATE but he insist that if i give him 4 mins he'll be able to give me a more accurate quote. So I'm exaggerating my items so he can give me the highest quote. 15 mins later he says he needs to talk to his manager....he puts me on hold. When he comes back it's as if he puts me on hold again and I'm now talking to (the dispatcher). He says he has a truck that needs to go to Scottsboro AL and they can deliver my stuff for basically $7500... the original quote was about $10,200. I said no thank you I'm just trying to get a quote. The dispatcher begins to tell me..."you might as well get you a uhaul since you're broke and can't afford the$7500 and do it yourself." Then he told me I have a bad attitude. I laughed because I'm thinking you obviously need this $7500 so bad that you would result to insults. I just laughed it off and hung up. I called back because I didn't get the name of the company at first. I spoke to MIKE who told me that I was talking to ETHAN and the company name is HOWARD VAN LINES. He had all the quote info and was able to read it to me. I acted like I needed to get off the phone because i had what i wanted and Mike said he was going to text me his direct number but I guess he continued to read the comments put in the system and saw I wasn't interested and didn't send it. DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY. If they will stoop this Low to insult a customer this is NOT the company I want to do business with. I will be filing a complaint with BBB. Just FYI when you put your info into an online system they assign you to a carrier. You have NO CLUE who these people are. It is better to just call a reputable company that you know directly. Stay away from Howard.

Update: they actually had the audacity to contact us 2 months after they scammed us saying that they would forward our “debt” to collections if we didn’t pay them $6000 within 3 days. Of course, we just ignored them, since scam companies like this have no legal standing whatsoever, and of course, nothing happened after 3 days. They were just trying to squeeze as much money as they could from us right up until the very end. I just know these high school dropouts couldn’t find meaningful jobs in the real world, so now they have to resort to scamming people. If you’ve dealt with them, remember to file complaints with the FMCSA and Better Business Bureau against Howard’s Van Line!

Hopefully this review will save someone else from being scammed. Please do your research carefully when hiring movers. NEVER use a broker (a moving company that will contract out your move to another moving company). Most “moving companies” with the phrase “van line” in their name are brokers, unless they are extremely reputable, such as Mayflower, Allied, United, etc.

Howard’s Van Line is a broker. This means that they are actually a fake moving company that will use a scam that is unfortunately becoming more common among these fake moving companies. First, they lure you in with nice reviews that are fake (even the 5-star reviews on this page are fake) and a low estimate, and they ask for a deposit, usually more than $1000, which is a red flag in itself. Then, after your non-refundable deposit is paid, they triple or quadruple the price of your move, citing reasons such as extra truck space required for your move. If you cancel, you lose your $1000 to them. If you eat the ridiculous price and proceed with them, they hire another moving company to do your move at the cheaper price it should be, and they pocket the change. My parents unfortunately fell for this scam, which has led to this review.

When hiring a mover, always look for signs that they are a broker. Do NOT proceed if the estimate is not binding. Do NOT proceed if you feel that the deposit is higher than it should be. Visit the mover’s page on the FMCSA database to see if they are a broker and assess how reputable they are. If you visit the FMCSA page for Howard’s Van Line (you can look them up with their DOT number: 4391903), you will see they have multiple complaints for deceptive business practices and final estimates. You will see they only have one single van in their fleet - how does this make sense for a moving company? If you have been scammed by them, make sure to file a report with the FMCSA so that others will be aware as well.

In summary, absolutely DO NOT even think about doing business with Howard’s Van Line. Research thoroughly before trusting a mover.

I was switching to a new rental and decided to call Aspire Moving. They brought enough boxes for what I had, wrapped my stuff, and loaded the truck in one go. I didn't have to ask for anything twice. I would go with Aspire Moving again, honestly.

If I could rate a -10 I would. DO NOT GO WITH THIS MOVING COMPANY. They told me that THEY would be moving my household goods--reassuring me that THEIR van with THEIR name would be outside of my house loading my belongings. HOWEVER, they didn't notify me that they ended up subcontracting out to another group--who also ended up being several days late, arriving on the morning of a flight I had booked for SEVERAL DAYS LATER to ensure we'd have extra time in case of a fluke. That secondary group was HORRIBLE and Howard Van Lines did absolutely nothing. Their customer service was the hardest to get ahold of (try calling 5+ times multiple days in a row, leaving voicemails, AND emails) and would ghost me for WEEKS. When the subcontracted company, Handle With Care Moving & Transportation LLC (based out of Georgia), arrived, they said my quote was nothing close to what I actually had. They scammed me out of several thousand dollars and they said they would only take CASH or MONEY ORDERS. I had to go to the post office to get money orders because I couldn’t possibly get THOUSANDS IN CASH the morning I was about to hop onto a flight!! These people are horrible. Never ever ever work with them!!

THIS IS NOT A BUSINESS WHO CARES FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS. TERRIBLE BUSINESS