Find an Agent

Colonial Van Lines Review: Worth It or Not? (2024)

Colonial Van Lines is a long-distance moving company that operates throughout the continental United States. Colonial has been in business for over 20 years and handles more than 12,000 moves each year. It offers full-service moving, packing, storage, and more.

Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of moving with Colonial. Or, if you’re ready to find a moving company that’s a perfect fit for you, answer a few short questions and we’ll match you with movers for FREE.

Locations | Service options | Contact info | Methodology

Our Rating: Colonial Van Lines
Overall3.3
Value3
Customer experience3
Credibility4
Availability4
Show more
Ratings on a 1–5 scale. See our methodology.

Bottom line: Colonial Van Lines wouldn’t be our first choice for movers. It gets more negative reviews and formal complaints than other big moving companies (this hasn’t changed in our analysis for 2024). To be fair, lots of customers report having a good experience, but it’s hard to overlook the high volume of Better Business Bureau complaints. If you want better options, check out other long-distance moving companies that have higher ratings.

Colonial Van Lines: In-Depth Breakdown

Value

📊 Our rating: 3/5

  • Full-service moving
  • Furniture assembly and disassembly extra fee
  • No discounts or included supplies

Colonial Van Lines offers pretty standard value for a moving company, but don’t expect to have services like packing included in your base price — you’ll have to pay extra for those.

Colonial Van Lines Pricing

Colonial Van Lines quoted us $5,600 for a long-distance move with the contents of a two-bedroom house. This was within the average range of $3,500—$6,300, but didn’t include packing and furniture assembly/disassembly.[1]

Some movers offer discounts like free storage or packing materials, but we didn’t find any of these incentives with Colonial.

You can get a free quote from Colonial Van Lines through its app or website. For the most accurate Colonial quotes, download the app, and send pictures of your things to get an estimate.

Customer Experience

📊 Our rating: 3/5

  • Mixed customer reviews
  • Complaints about overcharging
  • Higher than average Better Business Bureau complaints

Customers rate Colonial 4.1 out of 5 overall, but we were still concerned by the volume of negative reviews that we found.

Colonial Van Lines reviews

SiteAvg. Customer Rating
Trustpilot4.6 (1,884)
Google3.7 (2,353)
BBB4.1 (287)
Weighted avg.4.1 (4,524)
Show more

Positive reviews list good customer service, efficient movers, and an easy quote process. But bad reviews complain about broken items, missed delivery windows, and higher-than-expected prices. 

It’s pretty typical for movers to get damage complaints. But the complaints about failing to deliver goods are less common and more concerning. In particular, we noticed a couple themes from complaints on Colonial’s Better Business Bureau page: 

  • Poor customer service: Customers sometimes found that the company was slow to respond to their questions, and communicated poorly after they’d paid their initial deposit for the move.
  • Price changes: Some customers complained that the final cost of their move increased significantly compared to the original amount they were quoted.

We’re a little suspicious of Colonial Van Lines reviews. You may have a great experience with Colonial movers ― or you may not. We think the inconsistent review signals are strong enough that you should at least compare your options.

Credibility

📊 Our rating: 4/5

  • Active insurance and DOT registration
  • Satisfactory safety record
  • Many formal complaints in the past 12 months

Colonial Van Lines licensing and registration checks out, but we noticed 43 complaints in the National Consumer Complaint Database in 2023.[2] That’s more than we tend to see with long-distance movers, so we only gave the company a 4 out of 5 for credibility.

Most of the complaints had to do with disputes over the final amount that customers were billed — which lines up with what we noticed in negative themes from customer reviews.

Colonial Van Lines Inc. is properly registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation under U.S. DOT number 1434373. There are several associated DOT numbers for various entities that are all part of Colonial Van Lines. 

Colonial Van Lines has up-to-date insurance and a satisfactory safety record[3] as of February 2, 2024.

Availability

📊 Our rating: 4/5

  • Large agent network
  • 6 to 7-week recommended booking time
  • Phone quotes and booking

Colonial Van Lines doesn’t have a large fleet itself (we only found records for 38 trucks)[4], but it has a big agent network across the nation with smaller companies that handle some of the moves

But even with that network, Colonial reps advise booking several weeks out. The rep we spoke with suggested booking a minimum of six weeks before a planned move. Some moving companies can show up on less notice, but that timeframe is pretty typical for long-distance moves.

Booking options are flexible — you can book your move online anytime on over the phone at (800) 356-1855. Either way, you’ll have to give Colonial a detailed list of items you’re moving before you get a quote.

About Colonial Van Lines

Fast facts

Years in business21
U.S. DOT Number1434373
HeadquartersPompano, Florida
CoverageNationwide
Show more

Locations

Colonial Van Lines is based in Pompano, Florida, but it has agent locations across the United States. It serves 48 states ― all but Alaska and Hawaii.

Service Options

  • Long-distance moving
  • Residential moving
  • Business moving
  • Packing
  • Storage

Contact

Phone(800) 356-1855
Websitewww.colonialvanlines.com
Show more

Methodology

Before reviewing a moving company, we research, evaluate and score four major categories on a 1—5 scale. The category scores all factor into the mover’s overall rating.

  • Value (30%)
  • Customer experience (30%)
  • Credibility (15%)
  • Availability (15%)

Value

We start assessing value by requesting a quote from the mover. A quote gives us a breakdown of the company’s fees (hourly rates, truck fees, etc.) and tells us how costs compare to the local and national average. 

If a company’s costs are drastically higher than these averages, we can recommend more affordable movers that we’ve also thoroughly vetted. A detailed quote also gives us insight into any additional fees. For example, is packing included, or do you have to pay extra?

Customer Experience

We look up the mover’s average rating on popular review sites like Yelp, Trustpilot, and Google. Then we read as many reviews as possible to verify the rating and see if any positive or negative themes stand out.

If we notice potential red flags, like lots of damage complaints, we reach out to the customers to see if there’s a cause for concern.

There are also companies who pay people to leave positive reviews. So, if the reviews are glowing, we reach out to reviewers to see if they’re real customers.

Credibility

Unfortunately, moving scams are fairly common. Lots of people have experienced losing their deposit, movers never showing up, and companies outright stealing their personal items.

To check a company’s credibility, we look for things like Department of Transportation registration, active insurance, and licensing with the appropriate state authorities. 

Then we look at sites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to check the mover’s accreditation, rating, and any unresolved formal complaints against them.

If all the credibility signals check out, then we give the business a high credibility rating. If something seems off, we reach out to the company and former customers for comment.

Reliability

To check if the company can typically accommodate a customer’s desired moving date, we ask the company how soon we’d be able to move. Then we ask if the date is flexible.

We also comb Department of Transportation records to see how many trucks and drivers the mover has. A small fleet is a sign that the mover has limited capacity. The company might not be able to handle lots of moves during a busy season.

Related Reading

Sources

[1] Allied Van Lines – "Long Distance Moving Cost Calculator".
[2] Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – "Colonial Van Lines Inc.".
[3] Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – "Licensing and Insurance Public".
[4] Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – "Search Results".

Authors & Editorial History

Our experts continually research, evaluate, and monitor real estate companies and industry trends. We update our articles when new information becomes available.

Interested in buying or selling?

We've improved the traditional real estate model with modern technology to cut costs, not quality.

Get started today