Lighthouse Van Lines Review

We understand firsthand that no one wants to go into the process of moving to a new house without as much knowledge as possible. In this article you will learn about Lighthouse Van Lines’:

• Transparency
• Pricing
• Services
• Reputation

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

Transparency

Before you hire any moving company, you should be sure that the company is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or “FMCSA” for short. The FMCSA is a government body that regulates and controls carriers and brokers that coordinate and perform interstate moving services. You can ensure that a moving company is registered with the FMCSA by verifying its USDOT number. A USDOT number is a unique identifier that the FMCSA assigns to every company that registers with it. You can use the FMCSA’s Company Snapshot tool to verify that your moving company’s USDOT number is still valid on the day of your move.

The best moving companies make their USDOT and other licensing information (like their MC Number) easy to locate. Lighthouse Van Lines makes its licensing information easy to find and view by placing it first on its home page. When we verified Lighthouse Van Lines’ reported USDOT number, we found that the company’s name and its MC Number matched up with the information on its website. Though there was a minor discrepancy in terms of the company’s address (the FMCSA lists Lighthouse Van Lines’ address as 2 University Plaza Hackensack, NJ 07601 while its website lists its address as 333 Veterans Blvd Carlstadt, NJ 07072) this can possibly be the result of a recent move.

While Lighthouse Van Lines certainly deserves praise for keeping its regulatory information transparent and up-to-date, the company falls short in most other areas of transparency. Some of the areas where we’d love to see Lighthouse Van Lines improve its transparency online include the following.

• Cancellation and refund policies: Unlike many other moving companies, Lighthouse Van Lines’ website does not include information on its cancellation and move date adjustment policies.
• Hiring policies: When you hire a moving company, you want to be sure that the people who come to pick up your household goods are fully licensed and trained. Lighthouse Van Lines does not provide any type of public information on its hiring policies or how they select which loaders and truck drivers they’ll employ.
• Acceptable forms of payment: In some responses to BBB complaints made against the business, Lighthouse Van Lines claims to have refunded a portion of service fees onto a customer’s credit card. However, in other responses, the company claims that it can only accept payment in the form of a money order or cash (which is a major red flag indicating a potential moving scam). No information on the company’s accepted forms of payments is available on its website.
• Service area: Most long-distance moving companies have defined service areas where they are licensed to accept pick up and drop off orders. Though Lighthouse Van Lines does have a “Coverage Area” page on its website that lists most of the lower 48 states, the text on this page is nonsense and doesn’t indicate if the states listed are within or outside of the company’s service area. 

We reached out to Lighthouse Van Lines to learn more about the specifics of their service areas and moving assistance. As of this writing, we have not yet received an email or a phone call back from Lighthouse Van Lines.

Cost

The specific price that you’ll pay for your long-distance move will vary depending on the distance that you’re traveling, the total size of your home, and any extra services that you schedule along with your move. You can request a quote from lighthousevanlines.com by filling out a quick form with a bit of personal information and information on your current home size and your moving needs.

Let’s take a look at what a few previous Lighthouse Van Lines customers paid for their move and how these payments compare to moves with other moving service providers.

As you can see, Liberty Van Lines’ pricing is about in line with other services in the full-service moving industry. If this is your first time hiring a moving company, you should know that the price of your specific move will be highly customized with a home estimate on your property well before moving day. Be sure that you receive your estimate in writing and ask your mover to specify if your estimate is binding or non-binding. If you’re looking for more solid confirmation of what you’ll pay on moving day and you don’t plan to downsize your home further, consider a binding estimate.

Services

Lighthouse Van Lines offers a few basic moving services as a carrier, including the following.

• Long-distance moving services: Lighthouse Van Lines’ primary service is its long-distance moving assistance. Lighthouse offers full-service moving (though it doesn’t list which specific services it can offer on its website) which means that you have the option to schedule additional services beyond standard loading and unloading with Lighthouse’s team.

For example, if you’re looking for the easiest move possible, you may want to hire Lighthouse Van Lines to help with furniture assembly and packing services in addition to loading and transportation, allowing you to relax on the day of the move. You may also want to ask Lighthouse Van Lines if the company’s team can help you find a discount on packing supplies or crate specialty items (like a piano or chest of drawers) on your behalf.

• Storage services: If your move-in and move-out dates don’t exactly line up, you might need to put your things in a storage unit before you arrive at your new property. If this is the case for your situation, Lighthouse Van Lines can help you to arrange long-term or short-term storage and move your things into a storage space in your new area of residence.
• Auto transport: If you’re moving between states or across the country, you might not want to put so many excess miles on your vehicle by driving it to your new home. Lighthouse Van Lines offers both open and closed auto transport options. If you own a vehicle that’s valued at more than $100,000, Lighthouse Van Lines recommends that you opt for closed transport to avoid damage that can result from debris on the road. 

If you’re looking for a hassle-free move, you may want to consider giving Lighthouse Van Lines a call to inquire about the specific additional services available in your area.

Reputation

Though Lighthouse Van Lines’ website claims that its team has a combined level of 30 years’ worth of experience in the moving industry, its BBB profile specifies that the company has only been in business for 5 years. Though it’s possible that the owner of Lighthouse Van Lines rebranded the company after multiple years in business, this statement is likely referring to each individual team member’s level of experience in the field combined.

Lighthouse Van Lines is currently not accredited with the Better Business Bureau. This means that the company has not yet met the accreditation standards that the BBB has put into place to differentiate stand-out companies that go above and beyond to advertise in a responsible manner and be proactive when responding to customer complaints. Many customers hiring a moving company for the first time prefer to work with a business that has BBB accreditation because it indicates that a third party has reviewed the service. However, BBB accreditation is by no means a guarantee of great service—and you can also find fantastic moving companies that aren’t BBB accredited quite yet.

The Better Business Bureau has awarded Lighthouse Van Lines with a “B” grade for service. The third-party review site claims that Lighthouse Van Lines received this grade because the company has an unanswered complaint levied against it and has failed to resolve 3 complaints from its previous customers. You can view a complete list of BBB complaints that Lighthouse Van Lines has received here. 

Reputation for Value

When hiring a moving company, many customers are worried that the quote that they receive will not be what they actually pay on moving day. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common complaint among customer testimonials for Lighthouse Van Lines, with many previous clients claiming that they were charged additional hidden fees levied only on the day of the move that was not agreed to beforehand.

$2000 in hidden fees, (we were made aware AFTER truck was loaded) unable to speak to reps, ignored messages, tons of broken items, screws and bolts missing from items that had been taken apart. — Matthew S., BBB.org, 05/30/2021, 1 star.

I would recommend people to stay away from [these] movers. The Whole experience for me was very bad. I almost paid double the money I agreed to pay in the contract and the sales guy said that the money will NEVER go up beyond the amount specified in the contract which is a big LIE. Customer service is very bad and there is no professionalism from start till end. Please stay away from this company and DO NOT get carried away by all the lies the sales person says. — Sund, MyMovingReviews.com, 12/12/2016, 1 star. 

Reputation for Efficiency

Efficiency ratings for Lighthouse Van Lines seem to be mixed. While some customers had an excellent experience with their loaders and truck driver, others found that their shipment arrived at their new home significantly later than anticipated.

They were supposed to deliver on Aug 17th, 13 days after they pick up my things. The didn’t deliver until Aug 23rd (even after they told me the week end was Friday, not Sunday and I would be delivered by Friday). NEVER use this company, don’t believe their quotes you will be charged much much more. — Sherri C., Yelp, 08/26/2020, 1 star.

I believe [that the] best things I can say about my relocation with LVL was communication and the way it was conveyed more than anything else and the fact that I received my household items 5 days sooner than any other company was willing to provide me as a window. — Yoly G., Yelp, 10/11/2016, 5 stars. 

Reputation for Handling With Care

By far the most common complaint made against Lighthouse Van Lines’ team is its reputation for handling items with a (lack of) care. Broken items are an incredibly common complaint made across multiple platforms, with some previous customers going so far as to call the company a scam because their loaders seemed to have no experience handling fragile items.

The cubic feet allocated doesn’t seem to be accurate as even after reducing my furniture (kids bunk bed, king bed, 2 sofas and [dining] table) the final price the stayed the same (no stairs, pickup and drop-off was in [the] garage)…My items were damaged including tv which was inside home depot tv box with corners protected. — Wajahat T., Yelp, 07/15/2021, 1 star.

Damage to my property: tore apart a 3 piece sectional into FIVE pieces and then refused to pay the claim (as is federal law .60 per pound), completely damaged my Antique Victorian Roll Top desk by dismantling it and refusing to put it back together and accusing me of having stuff in the drawers. This was a showpiece and not for use. Again, refusing to pay the .60 per pound as by federal law. Lastly, I have a brand new 300lb vanity that his people dropped something heavy on, broke the beveled glass and took a big chunk out of one of the pedestals. — BBB user “S,” BBB.org, 10/31/2020, 1 star.

[They] don’t care about your items. I had 3 large paintings that are all missing. I had items spilled and other items missing. And they packed my items. I wanted that money returned and the owner has the nerve to offer me $400 when I paid them $1,326 to pack my items. No, I’ll just make sure others don’t you in the future. — Felicia F., Yelp, 09/15/2020. 

Reputation for Reliability

Frustration across platforms from previous customer testimonials relate to Lighthouse Van Lines’ perceived lack of care and perpetual lateness. One previous customer even encouraged customers to file a complaint with the FMCSA after undergoing a negative experience, as these complaints seem to be so ubiquitous.

The only good experience I had was working with Jackie at the start of the process. But as I can tell [you] now they low ball you for the estimate. When they are done packing your stuff then they tell you that you have a lot more things than what you originally told them. I know this is not true! — Dan C., BBB.org, 10/04/2020, 1 star.

Awful! Delivery date for my elderly parents moved and we’re still not able to get a true date or time two weeks later! — Judith C., BBB.org, 01/21/2021, 1 star.

Horrible experience from the very beginning…When packing, they didn’t get everything on our list, they left big items like a grill and basketball hoop (expensive items we have to replace). Not only that, but we were leaving the very next day and our house was bring sold, so we had to scramble to figure out what to do…Oh yeah, they also showered up over three hours late at both pack and drop off with no courtesy call. Horrible experience, please go with another company. — Leigh B., Yelp, 06/13/2018, 1 star.