Spartan Van Lines

I wouldn't trust these people to move my trash to the curb. I contracted with them to pick up and deliver 300 cu ft of stuff. We estimated the number of boxes, and I told them at the time that I hadn't packed yet so I didn't know how many boxes there would be but I knew it'd be around 300 cu ft. They contracted with another company, Essential Movers, to just pick up the number of boxes and unboxed art that was estimated. It totaled less than 150 cu ft. I called my contact at Spartan more than 5 different times. I started counting after I was put off, ignored, and put on hold indefinitely. Three times I waited on hold for 15 minutes (thanks call log) after explaining the problem to the representative. In the end, the most expensive item in the shipment didn't show up. They use a 3rd party company to manage claims, so see how that works out for you. Honestly, I haven't been "taken" like this for as long as I can remember.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $3500

AVOID SPARTAN VAN LINES.

Why?

-They failed to meet their delivery commitment to me, costing me an additional $10,000

-When we contacted them, they weren’t responsive

-They never proactively contact us

-They held my move hostage

More details:

-They picked up my belonging on August 30th in California, with a promise to deliver before Sept 29th in Virginia

-They actually delivered in Virginia on Oct 23rd

Spartan ignored my calls and emails for weeks. When I finally got them on the phone on September 29th (the last possible day they were supposed to deliver our stuff), I learned my belongings hadn't even left California and an updated delivery date was unknown.

Impact to me and my family:

-We (me, my wife, my 2 yr old son, and our dog) were effectively nomads for close to 2 months, with no end in sight.

-Losing $4,500 on rental income

-We lacked a stable work environment

-Risking getting COVID while we were displaced from our home

When delivery day finally came, Spartan refused to unload the truck until I paid them thousands of dollars in full (they asked for payment in cash).

Spartan Van Lines completely failed on every aspect of what they were hired to do and their lack of communication made it impossible to manage our day-to-day.

In the end, Spartan offered me $551 as compensation, but they required that I sign a form saying I couldn’t post any reviews on social media which I refused.

Thanks but no thanks, Spartan. If this review prevents one person from hiring Spartan, then it’s $551 well spent.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6500

I submitted a request for a quote to move from Texas to South Dakota. They called a few minutes later and the guy spent probably 20 minutes on the phone with me telling me about the perks that he managed to squeeze in for me to save me money, before he actually gave me a quote. Uhaul Uboxes quote was $2,045, and Spartan told me it would be $3,600 and that was with $300 worth of discounts!! $3,900 for a desk, a dresser, and 15 boxes. That's ridiculous! When I told the guy that U-Haul was $2,045 he proceeded to bash uhaul and try to sell me on them instead. When I told him no thank you, he then spent another several minutes fumbling with his words trying to keep me on the phone and trying to get me more discounts. I finally hung up on him because he wouldn't take no for an answer. They've continued to call every day for the past 3 days, multiple times a day. When they call, it's several calls back to back, not just once. I wouldn't recommend this company, and certainly won't ever be using them.

Move size: Studio flat Service cost: $3900

Absolutely DO NOT USE Spartan Van Lines as your moving company. They moved our young family with two babies from California to Texas and the experience has been so stressful and heartbreaking with expensive and careless damages to our belongings. Here is an outline of what we've been through below:

1. WRONGLY DELIVERED ITEMS to our house which now ~5 weeks later have still not been picked up to return to the rightful owner (even though they know based on the tags whose items they are).

2. LOST DINING TABLE PEICE (which makes the table completely unable to be re-assembled) and a lost 8ft ladder (which seems impossible to loose given its size)

3. MISREPRESENTATION OF HOW ITEMS WOULD BE WRAPPED for which we paid extra money for. Instead of a $350 custom cardboard box, our e-bike ended up being wrapped in plastic wrap and pieces of cardboard on only certain areas of the bike (and the bike ended up being damaged on the backside). And instead of a ~$40 custom cardboard for our computer monitors they were thrown in a large box with other items including lotion bottles which exploaded all over the items and crushed the monitors!

4. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE to several furniture items including -- a bookshelf (which is unusable now), a secretary desk, a side table, a chair

5. Mispresentation of how furniture items would be wrapped. We were told they would be wrapped in "moving blankets" but they ended up being ONLY WRAPPED IN THIN BROWN PAPER AND PLASTIC They claim this is industry standard but the wrapping barely provided any protection and absolutely contributed to the damage. I've attached photos as an example.

Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for your movers. Sadly we even asked them about the bad reviews before we signed a contract with them and they assured us that all of their issues in the past had been resolved. But clearly they are not and this has been an extremely horrible experience.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

We moved from Northern Cal to Florida. I DO NOT recommend this company. Total scam from beginning to end.

They quoted per cu ft & of course charged me more than I used knowing we had no choice as it was too late to find another mover. I researched and knew exactly how much cubic feet I had.

They quoted 30 days free storage and gave me 21 days. I had to call to remind them they hadn't billed me yet after the 2nd month. I didn't want them selling my stuff and claiming I was late making a payment. Then when the next month came around they billed me again within a week claiming that billing was done on the first of the month & I was late paying the previous. The best yet, they quoted me $160 a month then billed me $200 a month PER VAULT so the price was $600 a month. I was never told it was per vault. Had I known I would have had them deliver to a reasonably priced storage unit here in Florida. They quoted $5 something per cubic ft and charged me $6 something. When I called for delivery I was only 5 days into the third month of storage and they charged me for the full month. When I reached out for a refund for the days my things were not in storage Mark Spartan basically told be tough shit, he said they bill monthly not daily. When I argued the point, he said he just couldn't understand why I had a problem with that. So it boils down to about $2500 + I was overcharged. When I called to confirm the delivery address I was told the 3rd month storage would be waived since I was only 5 days into the 3rd month. It seems they don't communicate with each other in this company. On the plus side, the moving crew at both ends were amazing and thorough and my furniture was delivered in a timely fashion. but it was a headache throughout the whole thing with so many differences in their quotes. I would not recommend them at all.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $11000