When you hire a service through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. But our reviews are based on objective research. Why trust us?
Colonial Van Lines is a long-distance moving company that operates throughout the continental United States. This large company has been around for over 50 years and handles more than 12,000 moves each year. It offers full-service moving, packing, storage, and more.
Locations | Service Options | Contact Info | Methodology
| Our Rating: Colonial Van Lines | ||
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 3 | |
| Value | 3 | |
| Customer experience | 3 | |
| Credibility | 3 | |
| Reliability | 3 | |
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. And it doesn’t offer enough value for us to look past those problems. If you want better options, check out other long-distance moving companies that have higher ratings.
🚚 Get Matched With Legit Movers Today
We’ll help you find top moving companies and get fair rates — for free!
Colonial Van Lines: In-Depth Breakdown
Value
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- Long-distance moves only
- Full-service moving
- Furniture assembly and disassembly
- No regular discounts
Colonial Van Lines offers pretty standard value for a moving company. Its biggest perk is that it has affordable packing services.
Colonial Van Lines Pricing
We requested a quote from Colonial Van Lines for a long-distance move. The cost was lower than average.
| Long-distance quote | |
|---|---|
| Colonial Van Lines | $5,600 |
| Average* | $6,017 |
These quotes include taxes, tolls, and fuel. The lower end of the quote range includes partial packing service. The high end includes full packing, like furniture wrapping and bed disassembly.
Colonial Van Lines doesn’t offer regular discounts or freebies (like free storage or boxes).
You can get a free quote from Colonial Van Lines through its app. 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
- Damage and delivery delay complaints
- Possible review fraud
Colonial Van Lines gets mixed customer reviews ― and the positive reviews may not show the whole picture.
We analyzed Colonial movers reviews on several different sites, including Yelp, Trustpilot, Google, and the Better Business Bureau. Colonial Van Lines earns positive reviews on some sites (4.4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot) and much worse reviews on others (2.5 out of 5 stars on Yelp).
Positive reviews list good customer service, efficient movers, and an easy quote process. The 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.
🚚 Ready to get moving? Get personalized recommendations and competitive rates. It’s 100% free with no obligation. View quotes here.
Also concerning? Many negative Colonial movers reviews say Colonial offered to pay them to remove or change negative reviews. We noticed quite a few reviews that customers changed from low scores to perfect 5-star ratings.
We’re a little suspicious of Colonial Van Lines reviews. You may have a great experience with Colonial movers ― or you may not.
Credibility
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- Current insurance and licensing
- Satisfactory safety record
- Many formal complaints
- A- Better Business Bureau rating
Colonial Van Lines is a real moving company with lots of experience, but it may not be as trustworthy as other national movers.
The company is properly registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). It has up-to-date insurance and a satisfactory safety record.
But the U.S. DOT mover database shows a lot of formal complaints. There have been around 60 complaints per year for the past three years. (For reference, Mayflower Moving, a comparable national moving company, had 11–16 complaints per year during the same period.)
The complaints about Colonial Van Lines include claims of deceptive business practices and holding goods hostage.
Also, according to the Colonial Van Lines Better Business Bureau page, there has been a pattern of customers complaining about higher-than-quoted prices and damaged goods.
Reliability
📊 Our rating: 3/5
- Large agent network
- 6- or 7-week recommended booking time
- Phone quotes and booking
Colonial Van Lines doesn’t have a large fleet itself, but it has a big agent network across the nation. So it has the power to perform lots of moves at once.
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.
To get a quick quote, just give Colonial Van Lines a call. You can also call to schedule a virtual or in-person walkthrough to get a more professional estimate.
About Allied Van Lines
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 |
| Website | www.colonialvanlines.com |
Methodology
Value
Our question: Is this moving company worth it?
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
Our question: What’s the common user experience for this service?
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
Our question: Is this company a legitimate business?
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
Our question: How bookable is this moving service?
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.
