Star Van Lines LLC

Due to character limit, this review is unable to cover all issues. Do not use this/these companies at all if you want professional moving services.

This is my third long distance move, with a third different company. The prior 2 moves went off without a hitch, with the minor exception of one being a few days late. Even so, I would use that company again if they serviced the area I was moving to.

The contract stated that half of the remaining balance be paid upon pickup of goods and half upon delivery. He stated that Zelle would be fine for paying this, but his phone was broken and he wouldn’t be able to accept it until he got it fixed. We paid the maximum for Zelle ($1000) at his request with the small amount left over for this half to be paid the next day. He called 2 days later, stating that his phone was fixed and he was unable to find the initial $1000 we paid. He requested that we attempt to resend it. He then attempted to cash both of these, for which we have receipt from our bank account showing that he did so. Knowing the number of scams out there, we intentionally kept only the amount to pay in the account and he was therefore unable to cash in $2000 instead of the $1000. He then waited until the day of delivery to claim the additional $139.70 and claimed he had not yet received it.

Less than 24 hours before goods were set to be delivered, Destin (Max) called and stated that he will only be accepting cash upon delivery of goods. At pickup, he stated in clear view of one of our ring cameras and on video that he will accept cash, money order, Zelle, or credit card. He stated that he had an issue with someone’s credit card in the past week and didn’t want to accept them anymore because of this, and that our Zelle takes too long to pay him as it is set up through our bank. Demanding cash only upon arrival is a major red flag, so we were sure he was trying to scam us at this point. The contract specifically states cash or money order and he cannot therefore refuse to accept money order (this is how we paid).

The goods were finally delivered, with most of it going off without a hitch. The one mover bumped his hand truck into the brand new refrigerator in our place, leaving a dent, but besides that, they were quick and expedient. Destin (Max) called again and demanded payment in full, refusing to go through the inventory with us to verify that everything was there, refusing to provide receipt for having paid the full amount, and refusing to have his people put together an Uuni pizza oven they had completely disassembled upon pickup. The contract specifically states that the moving company must reassemble any pieces that they disassemble for packing, but he argued for at least 30 minutes about how it’s “unbelievable” that we expect this and won’t pay until he fulfills his part of the contract and that “we’re delaying his workers from getting on the ferry back”. When pointed out that the contract specifically states it, he kept going back to a part of the contract that he chose to be more lenient on because we were calling him out on his attempted scams instead of accepting that the contract states it and therefore he must provide it. He just kept demanding that we pay for services and sign saying everything is present. He also did not provide a paper copies of anything for the workers for us to sign, so he just told us to “sign on the PDF” he sent through email despite the fact that it was not possible on a phone. There was no paper copy of the bill of lauding or inventory with the workers. After arguing for 30 minutes about his workers putting together the Uuni pizza oven that they had disassembled, and repeatedly stating that it’s ours so “we know how to put it back together”, he finally had his workers attempt to do so. They tried for 25 minutes and were unable to figure out how to get the pizza stone to stay in as they took out the stone and the bracket holding it back in (pieces that are all in the oven assembled upon arrival). He claimed he would send a receipt the next day and send someone out to put the oven together. As of 0936 the day after delivery, no receipt has been received, and no update has been provided about when our pizza oven will be reassembled.

TLDR:

No paper copies of bill of lauding or inventory provided, refused to go through inventory and demanded we sign off and pay

Attempted to take out money twice for pickup, denied attempting to do so despite receipt on our end showing he did

Changed his “accepted” methods of payment within 24 hours of delivery to cash only, was likely forced to accept money orders via MovingAPT

Disassembled an item (Uuni pizza oven) completely and refused to reassemble it without 30 minutes of arguing, failed to reassemble it before having his movers leave - it is still disassembled

When owner was called on his attempted scams, became extremely rude and continuously attempted to blame my wife and I for “not being nice people”.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3562

Star van lines did great move for me ! I had some doubts before hiring them , the price was not the cheapest on a market but they acted very well . Packed my items in pads , stacked properly and delivered from Houston to Los Angeles in one week after loading . My last move was awful because of lots of broken items , actually I was afraid to get the same negative result , but no damages or scratches on my furniture this time !So my wife is the happiest person in all California! Thanks again to star van lines and it’s very cool to hire professional movers than some cheap companies who will act weird and brake your stuff !

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $7400

Star Van Lines picked up items on 4/17. Items were not delivered until 6/28, and not by this company. There was weeks of no communication or complete lies. A driver would call and say it was going to be delivered and then not show up. People took time off work to be there for the deliveries that weren’t going to happen. Turns out the truck they leased from Penske was impounded because they didn’t have insurance on it. They told me it was due to “mechanical issues” and this and that. So many lies. I finally found out through the broker what was actually happening. Our items ended up in some storage shed and some other company had to get them and deliver them. Our items were mixed in with other people’s items so not everything made it, and a lot of things were broken. I have moved numerous times in my life, and this has been the worst experience I have ever had.

FYI, no one is contacting me about the nondelivered and broken items. One of the broken items is an electric wheelchair, which is the person’s only means of mobility (yes, they were without it for over 2 months and now it’s BROKEN).

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY. BEWARE!

Move size: 1 Bedroom Flat Service cost: $1500

Star Van Lines service was great.

They took care of everything-m. we moved from Albuquerque (3 bedroom house) to Santa Monica (4 bedroom townhouse). The team wrapped every single thing we have (tools, boxes, wrapping paper, blankets and etc.)- nothing was damaged in the end, loaded and unloaded, put together our beds, even helped us to unpack our stuff. Very friendly staff and Nick was awesome. No extra costs.

Total moving expenses were $2300 which is very affordable. Thank you so much!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2300