First National Van Lines Reports & Reviews

First National Van Lines Reports & Reviews (7)

Complete Scammer and Crooks

I accepted a job in Memphis in September and moved from Atlanta to Cordova, Tennessee in Sept/October 2022. I contracted with a national moving company, First National Van Lines, and paid them $2,960 as an deposit via credit card. At no time during our phone conversations did FNVL representatives reveal to me that they were also brokers and would NOT be the carrier to move me to Memphis.

A carrier called Family Van Lines (FVL) arrived at my house in late September, 2022 and informed me that FNVL had sent them and the $2,960 already paid to FNVL had no bearing on what FVL would charge me for the move. FNVL would not answer any of my phone calls when I called to understand what had happened. Since I had to start work in Memphis on Oct 10, I had to agree to FVL's terms of $8,000+.

When I arrived in Memphis 24 hours later (Monday, October 3rd), I discovered that the rental property that I had leased was uninhabitable from a health and safety perspective (mold etc). The FVL truck had not yet arrived from Georgia to Tennessee but arrived on Wed, 5th. I was only able to lease a new property after 48 hours, so I asked FVL to wait. There was no response.

When I finally got the keys to a rental in Cordova, Tennessee on the morning of Thursday, Oct 6th, FVL informed me that they had already offloaded my belongings. For a period of 7 weeks after that, they constantly lied to me saying that the cargo was in a storage unit that was 3 miles from my address in Cordova.

We discovered that FVL is legally registered in NJ, owned by Eastern European nationals, but the customer service reps are based in California. An attorney in Memphis informed us that any legal action could only commence in GA, since that's where the move began.

I and my partner, Shayne John) hired a mediator to resolve this matter with FVL. The mediator was finally told in the last week of November that the cargo was actually in a storage unit in Nashville, which is 200 miles and 3 hours from my address in Cordova.

The mediator fashioned an agreement that,

1. We would pay FVL a total of $3,750 in full settlement if FVL would provide us with a secure credit card portal.
2. We would move the contents of the storage unit from Nashville to Cordova ourselves.

Over the last 4 weeks, 3 versions of the agreement (minor changes were made to verbiage by them) were agreed to. My partner immediately signed every version. FVL has always refused to sign at the last minute on some pretext or the other but never objecting to the amount of $3,750.

In short,

1. FNVL was paid $2,960 by credit card but they sold the actual lead to FVL who moved us from Atlanta to Memphis/Cordova.
2. We have not paid FVL because they have never provided us with a secure method of paying by credit card. FVL moved our possessions to Nashville without our consent.
3. A mediator drew up an agreement to settle the matter for $3,750 but they have refused to sign.

There was never an unwillingness to pay FVL on our part. We would have paid them the estimated $8,000 if they had delivered to our home in Cordova and we are ready to pay them $3,750 today if we can get possession of our belongings from the storage unit in Nashville.

Our passports, family photo albums and other personal effects are also in the storage unit in Nashville. We believe that FVL has no intention of returning our possessions, regardless of our willingness to pay.

We also believe that First National Van Lines are illegally concealing the fact that they are brokers when they first contact potential customers and do not disclose that they will not be the carriers to actually carry out the move. After they receive their deposit, they simply wash their hands of the matter and do not enforce any standards of performance on the secondary carriers to whom they sell their customer leads.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH FIRST NATIONAL VAN LINES OR ANY CARRIER THAT THEY SEND TO YOUR HOME.

ESPECIALLY DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH FAMILY VAN LINES.

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Scammer's phone 800-597-9826
Scammer's website Firstnationalvl.com
Scammer's address Midtown East, New York, NY 10022
Country United States
Type of a scam Moving
Initial means of contact Not applicable

I was scammed by First National Van Lines

From getting a low ball quote to get me to pay a $1300 deposit that was non refundable and charging me an additional $900 once my entire life was already packed on the truck, to being told my belongings would be delivered the next day and now, four days later, being told it will be another four days, which I have no reason to believe will be the case, these are complete scammers without a shred of dignity.

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Also, being told I would be given 48 hours notice and only getting 14 hours hours notice. And my movers asking me to pay an additional $300 under the table via Zelle.

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Scammer's phone 800-597-9826
Scammer's website [email protected]
Scammer's address 102 N 2nd Ave. E Unit 1037, Newton, IA 50208, USA
Scammer's email [email protected]
Total money lost $4,000
Type of a scam Moving

This company is a Broker, not a Mover. I understand there is nothing illegal about that, but the owner has changed names of his company multiple times after scamming numerous people and holding their belongings hostage until they pay an inflated price. The owners name is Christopher Michalski and he operates under the alias of Jordan Styles. If you research his name, you will find that he has quite a record with the moving industry and it is not positive. First National Van Lines is legally owned by Jennifer Esposito who is Christopher's female friend. He put the business under her name to hide his own reputation. Every employee uses an alias, Julian Jaramillo goes by the name of Christian Morgan, John Bagwell uses the name John Allen. They routinely under bid jobs and make promises to customers that cannot be kept. They use numerous shady techniques to extract as much money out of every victim that they can. They do not fully inform any customers of their insurance options and almost always trick them into waiving their right to claim for damages. They allow moving crews to fully load a customers belongings onto a truck before informing them of price increases and then refuse to deliver or unload the items until the ransom is paid. They intend to change their name to American National Van Lines in another month or two. This company is the pinnacle of what a scam artist moving company is. They Ignore customer phone calls and emails, they threaten them with legal action if they post a negative review, they routinely bribe customers into removing negative reviews. I could go on forever, but I won't. The address listed is just a front, there is no office there and I don't even think it can accept postage. They use pressure tactics to fool customers into signing binding contracts without reading the fine print first. They need to be fully investigated.

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My name is Jennifer Esposito the owner of First National Van Lines. This report has been posted by a competitor and is for the most part false. We are a moving company and a broker. See our new trucks below. We are in our 4th year in business and have a wonderful reputation. Feel free to speak with me directly at 1-800-597-9826 Thanks.

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- Newton, IA, USA

Scammer's phone 800-597-9826
Scammer's address 102 2nd Ave E , 80059
Scammer's email [email protected]
Country United States
Victim Location IA 50208, USA
Total money lost $1,279
Type of a scam Moving

I booked a move with this company I’m relocating with my company from Bloomfield to Lake Mary FL. I was quoted a rate and sent a contract to Move me on April 30 or latest May 1st. They required a deposit of 1279.00 directly from my bank account. The day to move came no one showed up I called them and emailed them. The phone number just kept ringing and emails were never returned. However you can still get a quote from them. This is big scam. I had to hire another company United Van line and pay my current landlord extra days. Please don’t others get scammed by this company

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This complaint concerns us due to the fact that we never keep a clients deposit if we do not provide service. Please call us first thing Monday and we will refund the deposit immediately if for some reason the refund was not processed. 1-800-597-9826 Thank you!

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