Budget Van Lines Review

If you’re looking for the most cost-effective way to move cross-country and you don’t have time to individually get a moving quote from each partial and full-service moving company in your area, you might be considering working with Budget Van Lines (BVL). BVL is a moving broker that claims to have connections with local moving companies across the country. Budget Van Lines claims that it can help users easily compare moving companies and locate the most affordable option for their needs. But is this really the truth—or is Budget Van Lines Inc a moving scam that you should avoid?

As the expects in both local and long-distance moving, we understand the factors that movers consider before they hit the road. We’ve completed  a thorough review of Budget Van Lines, paying special attention to the company’s:

• Transparency
• Pricing
• Services
• Reputation

We’ve researched dozens of long-distance movers and evaluated their transparency, customer reviews & reputation, pricing & services and even their industry & legal licensing to help you find and identify the best long distance movers in the country. Here’s what we found.

Transparency

Budget Van Lines is very straightforward in letting customers know that it is a moving broker and does not own a single moving truck, nor does it provide moving services. Instead of providing moving services themselves, the company matches would-be movers up with companies operating in their area and estimates how much they can expect to pay for their move. Budget Van Lines claims to be able to save customers up to 50% on their move by strategically coordinating moving services to match up with empty vehicles already present on the road.

Budget Van Lines considers the following factors when issuing price estimates.

• The route you’re taking: Select routes are busier or tend to be more congested than others. If you’re traveling on a popular route, expect to pay more for your move.
• The distance you’re moving: The distance you’re moving plays a major role in what you’ll pay for your move. If you’re moving from Las Vegas, NV, to Los Angeles, CA, expect to pay significantly more than someone who’s moving from Las Vegas to Reno.
• The total weight of your shipment: The number of things you’re moving affects how many movers and moving trucks you’ll need. Moving more things increases the weight of your move and thus increases the price.
• Timing: Your moving date affects the price that you pay for your move because peak season increases both traffic and demand on movers. Consider moving during the off-season to save money.
• Any extra services you request: If you’d like to add things like storage services or packing assistance to your move, expect to pay more for service.

Budget Van Lines does not provide any information on its hiring practice or the criteria for companies it works with. It also does not carry a DOT number, as it is not the company actually providing the moving services. Be sure to verify the DOT number with any company you’re considering working with.

Cost

As a moving broker, there’s no way for Budget Van Lines to provide you with a definite quote regarding your moving services because the company doesn’t offer the services itself. However, you can claim a free estimate from Budget Van Lines’ website, budgetvanlines.com, in just a few minutes by entering a bit of personal information on your move alongside your contact information.

We tested out Budget Van Lines’ estimation service to see what types of rates we’d be served in multiple parts of the country. Here are the estimates that we received.

Local Moves

Long-Distance Moves

Cross-Country Moves

Was it easy to get a moving quote from Budget Van Lines? Yes. Are the quotes we received useful? Maybe. With a limited amount of information provided, Budget Van Lines can only provide you with a very general idea of what you can expect to pay for your move. In most cases, these estimates can vary by more than $2,000, which won’t be practical or useful for most users.

Another major limitation of Budget Van Lines is that the service can only provide you with a moving estimate. Policies (including the binding nature of the estimate, cancellation policies, pick up times, fees, and services available) will all vary by individual carrier. Be sure to speak with your moving company and thoroughly read through your contract to learn more about services, fees and what you can expect on moving day.

Services

The only service that Budget Van Lines offers is moving estimates. Simply enter your current zip code, the zip code that you’re moving to, the size of your current space and your contact information. In a few seconds, Budget Van Lines will provide you with an estimate on what you can expect to pay for your move.

By using Budget Van Lines’ estimation tool, you agree to allow them to share your contact information with local movers. If you don’t have time to get individual quotes from local moving companies, this could be a convenience for you because the movers will come to you and offer quotes on their own. If not, this could be a major hassle that makes Budget Van Lines not worth your time.

Reputation

Budget Van Lines has been in business for 16 years and is accredited with the Better Business Bureau. On the company’s BBB profile, the BBB indicates that the company has also been awarded an A+ rating, which indicates that Budget Van Lines is more likely than similarly sized businesses within the same industry.

Despite this, customer sentiment around Budget Van Lines is overwhelmingly negative outside of the company’s BBB profile. In an article bluntly titled “How to Avoid Moving Scams” published by CBS News, Budget Van Lines is individually named as a middleman between the subject of the article’s involvement in a moving scam.

In the article, former moving company comparison shopper Tyler Green claims that he received a “binding estimate” over the phone from Budget Van Lines when scheduling a move from the East Coast to Phoenix. Green claims that Budget Van Lines told him that his move would cost a total of $3,466.00. However, after outsourcing the work to a different company (Ideal Moving and Storage), Green was told his move would cost more than $9,000 on moving day, only realizing this when the company arrived with a contract equal to more than $5,500 than he had originally agreed to pay.

It’s important to note that this article was originally published more than a decade ago, and that Budget Van Lines has since claimed to have cut ties with Ideal Moving and Storage. While it’s entirely possible that Budget Van Lines has completely changed their business practice and the algorithm they use to provide estimates, this incident does reveal that the company has been investigated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at least once.

This CBS investigation isn’t the only negative press that Budget Van Lines has received, but reviews of the company are mixed in different areas. This is likely due to the differences in moving company quality between parts of the country. Let’s take a look at what customers around the web are saying about the services that Budget Van Lines helped provide to them. Note that reviews have been shortened for brevity and clarity but content has not been changed.

Value

A common complaint between review sites comes to Budget Van Lines’ estimated pricing. Many customers claim to have been “baited-and-switched” with pricing, finding that the estimate provided to them by Budget Van Lines was vastly underestimated.

Mover beware! Their relocation “specialist” will give you a low-ball estimate to secure your business. Then the day of the move their movers will show up, and the price will double. My move went from $1800 to $3600. And I brought less furniture than the quote was based on and had a virtual tour. The agent who gave me the quote never returned my phone call after. This is a total bait and switch moving scam! Do yourself a favor and find a reputable moving company. — Jennifer K., 05/15/2020, BBB, 1.0 star.

We booked a move which was quoted just over $3k from CA to TX. We paid a $1300 deposit by check (of course they don’t take credit card, because you have recourse with credit cards). This was the first red flag but I wasn’t sure about my other options for moving, so I went with it.

On the day of the move, they showed up and said “I had more stuff than they expected” – this is absurd and one of their tactics. The quote might have been artificially low (I was forthright about how much stuff we had, and the size of our storage unit). The sales people routinely undersell in order to make their quote look more attractive. The new price was going to be $7900. Now they say the deposit is non refundable and of course everything is designed so you have no recourse…This is the closest thing to a legal scam I’ve ever encountered in my life. — Yan L., 12/22/2020, Trustpilot, 1.0 star.

Efficiency

Customers who booked through Budget Van Lines had overall positive things to say about the efficiency of the movers and customer service specialists they worked with.

I couldn’t praise you guys enough! You were WONDERFUL!! Dealing with the death of my mother in law, moving her stuff from the apartment in NC to our house in WI with short notice, couldn’t have gone more smooth! You were able to get her stuff before the 1st of the month, the guys did an amazing job loading it all and unloading it. Nothing was damaged or broken…Very professional and helpful. — Kelly T., 9/19/2019, MyMovingReviews, 5.0 stars.

Budget Van Lines, Inc, Relocation Specialist Joy provided the best customer service during my preplanning moving experience. I had no trust in moving companies. She provided the ultimate service and exceeded my expectations. She provided speedy responses to calls and questions. — Eric C., 4/13/2020, BBB, 5.0 stars.

Handling with Care

While many reviews praise the professional movers for helping them get their household goods to their new home with care, the most common complaint lodged against Budget Van Lines is the company’s lack of care with each customer’s personal contact information. Dozens of customers claim that the company handed out their phone number to illegitimate companies, who now call dozens of times a day even after the move is finished. The most aggravated customers even claim that the company may be intentionally selling their data to scammers.

This Budget Van Lines office is the office on record on the website budgetvanlines.com. This site is not a Moving Price Calculator as it purports to be – a customer’s personal contact info will be sold/shared with an uncounted number of moving brokers. Since trying to get a quote one week ago I have gotten an average of over 20 calls a day and these are spam calls – they leave no messages. I find the site to be very misleading – the small print disclaimer at the bottom of the page just isn’t good enough. — Diana M., 12/10/2020, BBB, 1.0 star.

I put in my information for a free estimate, and they took that and gave my phone number to EVERY company in the Florida area. I keep getting phone calls every 10 min…And since they were from multiple different companies, I had to tell multiple different companies to stop calling me. Never give this site your info. — Trustpilot user “Kat,” 4/29/2021, Trustpilot, 1.0 star.

Reliability

Reliability reviews of Budget Van Lines are mixed. While customers frequently praise the availability of their customer service representative and commend their movers’ professionalism in all areas except payment, many users also expressed high levels of frustration with the inaccurate quotes BVL’s estimator provided them with.

I was impressed with the service I received. From the initial call to Budget Van Lines to the third party who did the actual move, they stayed in touch with me during the process. The 2 gentlemen that did the move were very professional, courteous and took great care of my belongings like it was theirs. — Debbie K., 1/27/2021, BBB, 5.0 stars.

Vicki gave me the best quote and sold me a bill of goods. She quoted $1,900. In the end we paid over $2,500. — Nancy B., 9/2/109, MyMovingReviews, 1.0 stars.