Never use Gold Star Van Lines!

They gave me an original estimate of $707.20. When they arrived Feb. 15 they forced me to buy a $20 over-sized box for an old mattress. They also shrink- rapped a junky piece of furniture for $10 that I didn't want shrink-wrapped. Fine. That brings my total to $737.20.

I called two days later to ask when my stuff would arrive. They didn't give me an exact date, just "later this week." They did tell me my invoice was $888.20. I immediately told them that this was incorrect, but the dispatcher (Lee Bavin) wouldn't tell me exactly why the $151 discrepancy. Over the next two weeks I called and e-mailed numerous times to try to rectify the bill, but the response was always non-existent or evasive.

Finally the truck arrived the evening of March 4, about two weeks later than the original estimated date of arrival. The driver presented an invoice of $888.20. I called Lee Bavin again. He finally explained that the extra charges were because they had unloaded my stuff in their warehouse for two weeks rather than promptly delivering it like they were supposed to. I was supposed to pay the storage and handling fees because they were tardy in delivering my things. I told him there was no way I would pay more than $737.20. They threatened to drive away and put my things in a local storage facility until I would pay the extra $151 plus additional fees for a second storage. We had four or five testy phone calls over the next 50 minutes or so. I had to resort to citing portions of my contract to him over the phone and threatening him with a lawsuit. Finally they did unload my things for the proper $737. (A $0.20 discount for my inconvenience!)

*Bonus Trivia* The company calls itself Goldstar Van Lines of Fremont, CA on its contracts, phone calls, and customer website. However they billed my credit card as AllVanLines of Milpitas, CA. Trying to hide something?

I would advise people to never use Gold Star Van Lines. I would also advise people to never believe the dispatcher Lee Bavin or the owner Danny Shovan.

Hello,

We hired Gold Star to move our household goods including some packing. They significantly overcharged us. Of course, we were forced to pay, since they had everything we own in their possession. Because of the poor (arguably criminal) and suspicious behavior during the loading, we were careful to check for discrepancies in the packing inventory and weight. Both were significantly overcharged.

Our initial estimate was $3270. It is against regulations for the actual charge to be more that 110% of the estimate. They charged us $7970, or $4373 more than the maximum allowed. Besides providing extremely poor service (insults, yelling, misinformation, for example), they also charged us for services that they did not provide.

Since the initial estimate did not include packing service, I can grudgingly allow for about $1000 for this. The inventory of what the moving company packed was incorrect. They charged us both for the boxes and the packing service for several boxes that we did not receive. The driver would not allow me to document the inventory discrepancies at the time of delivery. Shortly after our shipment was delivered I informed Gold Star of the missing boxes. So they have had ample time to find them and deliver them.

We spent many hours documenting our claim according to their instructions. They offered less than $500. Of course, I will not sign the offer, since it stipulates that we hold no further claim. This offer was strictly for damaged and missing items covered by the insurance. So, this would actually be over and above the initial overcharges, for which they offered no refund. All the while they keep promising that they offer a guarantee of satisfaction. I even offered to settle for less than they owed us, but they still refuse to rectify the overcharges.

I still stand by my remaining claim of $5364 for missing and damaged goods, and overcharges.

Regards,
Darren Lauser