Dan’s Van Lines

This was the first time I had used professional movers and Dan’s Van Lines was fantastic! There were a bit late the day of the move and there was a bit of confusion, however, once they got there they moved efficiently and quickly and came in at the price that was agreed upon. They assembled my furniture, put furniture exactly where I wanted it, and, since I was also getting rid of some of my other furniture, they moved it to the new apartment and put it by those dumpsters for me at no additional charge (the dumpsters at the new place allow for this). When I move again, I will absolutely be calling this team. They made this move significantly easier and definitely made it worth the money. I had moved 7 times in 6 years using friends for help and this was definitely a better choice. They were a bit higher price wise than some of the other places but Dan worked with me, gave me some ideas as far as timing, etc, and how many people I would need and helped me make the best choice for my situation. None of my furniture was rare or very expensive so I chose not to get the optional insurance, and I still had zero issues as far as furniture/​scratching/​things missing. I did pack all of my things ahead of time so I do not know about their packing services, but overall they were great.

This move started off on the wrong foot. I was told by an agent of the company that I could purchase moving insurance through them, should they happen to lose and/​or break anything. Great! That is exactly what I wanted. Although this was a tiny move, I still didn’t want anything to not show up. Would you know, the morning of the move the mover tells me that I can’t purchase insurance. «Huh?» I explain to them that they are useless w/​o the insurance. That was a huge chunk of the reason why they’d been selected. Well, then they tell me after the fact that insurance can only be offered if they pack the things themselves. I am stuck. I need to get this crap out of the house in Fairfax and get it on the road to Cali. I felt duped. But then, they said that I could purchase the insurance if I opened up the things of greatest value so they knew that they actually existed. This was such an inordinate waste of time. I would not have packed them at all in the first place.
I would not recommend this mover to anyone who actually values his or her time. A mover showing up a couple of hours late is something that I would be totally cool with. A mover showing up an entire week later than what was agreed upon is completely unacceptable. I was forced into a last minute move date because the movers were inefficient and unprofessional. As I was told, «move date windows are missed all the time.» I would understand if the movers are late because of weather conditions. This was not the case. The movers were a week late because they poorly planned the amount of time needed for a cross country move.
The owner claims that the driver for the move broke his foot and was unable to go. While I feel bad if this is the case, they need some sort of mechanism where someone else can drive when these things happen. There was a very large window of time to get the things there (a week). Instead, I had to ruin my vacation to deal with them.
Dan’s nonchalant attitude about coming late is what disturbed me most. As the owner, if you mess up, you apologize. If you want return customers, you say my fault. If you ever want someone to recommend your services you own up to your mistakes. Not here. Dan acted like nothing had happened at all.
When I booked the services, I spoke to a lovely guy named Hank who assured me that this move would happen on time and that there were be workers at the destination to unload the truck. Instead, my move was done by the owner and his borderline elderly wife. Dan is not a young guy either. His wife repeatedly stated in the unload that there were things too heavy for her to move. So there we are stuck helping unload our van. Apparently, we were the helpers. This was not the moving truck that we were told the shipment would occur in. Rather, the owner got one of those rentals from Penske. What happened to this huge moving truck they said that would be used? This was a complete fabrication.
When the rental arrived there were items aboard that belonged to someone else in the San Francisco Bay area. I’d been speaking with these guys for months and my things were supposed to be piggybacked with items going to San Diego. So what happened? Is this the real reason why the move was late? I can’t prove it but my intuition tells me for cost savings reasons my move was shifted with someone else’s. They also claim to have made a move to the midwest, but this is not something that was mentioned when we discussed all the stops they would be making. I really think Dan’s Van Lines just overextended themselves.
On the up side, I can say that they neither lost nor broke anything. But no thanks. Customer service is really an important aspect to me. The simple act of apologizing for the severe inconvenience was apparently too much for the owner.

Great service. I’ve used them twice. The first time was to unload my UPACK trailer after a military move from CA to Lorton, VA (yes, we did a DITY move and we was SO worth it). They unpacked the trailer in the snow so while it went a bit slower then I’d like, the whole team was careful and was very helpful in getting furniture set back up. They even hauled away a bunch of the boxes and returned a few items that we «left» inside them. I called on them again to do a much smaller project, pick up and haul back a fridge and dishwasher we were returning to the store for a refund. It was so much easier to have them do it then fuss with a rental truck and loading. Well worth the extra money to have them do it!

A friend recommended Dan’s Van Lines to us for a cross-​country move (DC to CA) and we are so thankful for her recommendation. Cross-​country moves can be super stressful, but Dan made it easy. The guys worked really hard and were fast. They arrived on time and our moving truck showed up in CA the day they promised it. Dan’s system of packing «rooms» in each van was great. He is really nice in person and explains everything. It is pricy, but some things are definitely worth the money, and good cross-​country movers are worth it.

Move type: interstate (arilngtong to chicago, 1bed apt), june 2010.
Well, I can say I’ve seen quite the spectrum of reviews on Dan’s service, but I’ll try to give a very accurate description of my experience.
First, Dan did come personally to estimate my costs and move size. Dan is a really nice, trusting, and wellspoken. His first quote was expensive when compared to to bulk movers based out of maryland, but I was able to come to reasonable agreement with him (still not cheaper than those Md quotes). I felt I could go with Dan b/​c I knew where he was and if things went wrong could easily reach him. Also, his quote was a fixed all inclusive price (included pickup, delivery, assembly, dissasembly) and there were variables for distance from truck to door or number of stairs, etc… Also, Dan guaranteed pickup AND delivery as I needed to schedule loading dock time at my new location. We broke up the payments to ¹⁄₃ upon confirmation, ¹⁄₃ pickup, and ¹⁄₃ at delivery. Of note, i did all self packing of boxes, but Dan packed my mattresses, plasma tv, and glass mirror.
On the day of the move, the movers were running late, but they called me promptly to let me know they were about 30min behind, which i appreciated. Of the two movers, one was the experienced (I assume full time person) the other definitely seemed to be part-​time, who was constantly getting directions from the other. They took a good amount of time to carefully wrap my furniture (cloth pads and lots of tape). My only gripe is that they forgot to bring an allen-​wrench set, so my bed frame couldn’t be taken apart totally. The solution was to take it in the truck whole and disassemble it at the warehouse. I had no choice but to go along with this plan. They carefully went over the inventory and gave me a copy with all the itemized numbering.
Delivery was comprised of 3 guys (one driver from VA and 2 local guys from chicago). Delivery was on schedule, in fact they wanted to come an hour earlier, but when i told them that i could not get loading dock at that time, there was no argument. It was smooth except again the driver forgot a tool set! Lucklly they were able to hand tighten the screws. Also, I would say the condition of my packed boxes were poor (this after only 3days of transit). Again, nothing was damaged inside the boxes but they looked like hell. The driver told me they stack all the boxes up high to the top of truck, so it’s easy for the seams to break (well, to me it looked like someone was playing piñata with my boxes).
In closing, I think Dan is trustworthy, I never worried about not getting my stuff or all these other interstate horror stories, but I will say he tends to be little more expensive and I wish my boxes were better taken care of.

I chose Dan’s Vans because of the good reviews. I was very disappointed in the overall experience, and we were charged more than double what Dan quoted. My roommate and I were moving from one Arlington apartment to another about seven minutes away. Dan quoted the price at $ 350 for three hours, with three movers to expedite the process and keep it within that time frame as much as possible.
They arrived a half hour late. We already had all our belongings boxed up, all they had to do was put the boxes and our furniture in the truck. We lived on the first floor. We didn’t have a lot of stuff in our small apartment. They were parked right outside our door. Yet it took them three hours just to load the truck. They moved slowly, took breaks. One of the guys seemed new and needed a lot of direction from the foreman, which also slowed them down. So before we even took the short trip to our new apartment, it had been 3 ½ hours.
When we got to the new apartment, it took them another three hours to unload and bring our belongings to the new apartment. Altogether, it took them six hours to move an already packed two bedroom apartment to another apartment close by. After three hours, each additional hour cost $ 150. Total cost for the move-​in: $ 850
We called Dan to express our frustration with the job far exceeding the estimated time and cost. He said that he was surprised we were dissatisfied and said that he would talk to the crew that moved us and then get back with us. He never did.
The only reason I gave Dan’s Vans two stars instead of one was because they were careful and wrapped all of our furniture, so after the lengthy move-​in at least nothing was damaged.
If you choose Dan’s Vans, be ready to spend at least double what they tell you.

A number of things went wrong with this move; I’ll just hit the highlights. I hired Dan’s Van Lines (
) from Lorton/​Arlington, VA for an inter-​state move. Having moved a few dozen times in my life, I prefer to hire a professionally trained and insured moving company. That was my first mistake. I’d been unemployed a while and was forced to go with one of the lower estimates. Just remember, you get what you pay for (usually less).
What went wrong:
— I opted to buy the $ 150 insurance that the owner sells, but he charged me $ 180. Look at the web site. Even today, four months later, it’s still advertised for $ 150. This guy took one look at my furniture, thought I was rich because I had a couple nice things, and overcharged me. In the end, he didn’t honor the insurance, but that’s another story.
— Movers did not show up as scheduled on either end of the move.
— These guys moved S-​L-​O-​W-​L-​Y. The owner had been to my apt. to do the estimate and had meticulously counted everything I had; he knew exactly what I had. He also knew that the apt. building allowed me to reserve the loading dock for 3 hours. Well, not only did these guys move slowly, but they were smokers, which slowed them down more. I had specifically asked the owner up front if any of his guys smoked, and he told me no. So, #1 problem was: he lied. You don’t want a dishonest mover handling your goods, trust me.
— The owner clearly didn’t send enough guys for the move. The move that was scheduled to take three hours took a whopping five and a half hours – never mind how that wrecked my moving plans because I had a 10-​hour drive. Worse, and there was no one in charge. I called the owner twice and left voice mail; he *never* returned my call. I tried every number for the company, and there was no one to talk to. Because there was nothing I could do to get these guys to move any faster, I ended up doing a tremendous amount of move work myself (like I didn’t have enough work to do cleaning, etc.) .
— Because they were running out of time, they stopped wrapping my furniture. I was shocked. I saw one guy throw two pieces of black furniture into a bin (which was already full of other items) with no blankets, no shrink wrap. One of them (the more expensive cocktail table base) was ruined.
— To top all that off, the same thing happened on the other end (after the movers arrived 45 minutes late with no warning to me and not answering/​returning my calls, and driving right past my front door with me waving at them to stop). Once again, the owner did not send enough people to do the move; it took a large chunk of the day, and that was with me helping. (Like I didn’t have enough work to do.) What was frustrating was that I specifically called him the day before and asked him how many people he’d hired to deliver. When I told him it wasn’t enough, he promised to add one more. But instead, on delivery day, there were even less guys than on the pickup day! He sent 2 guys to move a full 2-​bedroom apartment. I’ve never had a move drag out this long.
— To make matters worse, these guys did not listen. For example, they were supposed to leave two bar stools shrink-​wrapped for storage but they unwrapped them and took the wrap with them. I don’t know how they managed to do it, but they ruined my bed rails to the point that they were so bent I could not use them. They ruined my favorite dresser by wrapping it in cheaply dyed blue blankets. I’ve never seen this happen before, but they must’ve put the dresser down on its TOP in the truck because the top of the dresser (which is a light birch color) was spotted with blue ink that absolutely will not come out. It’s in the wood. My gorgeous dresser is ruined. Needless to say, most of the stuff that was damaged consisted of the few expensive items I own, like my new dining room table base, which is now all scarred up and gouged. Another one of my dressers has scratches across the front.
— In the end, Dan wouldn’t reimburse me for any of this damage. That’s because he never sent me an official insurance policy, so I had no idea that I only had *FIVE DAYS* to file a claim. I’ve moved over 40 times in my life. Each time I’ve purchased separate move insurance, I’ve had 45 days to file a claim. Not so with this guy. Not only will he overcharge you for the insurance, he won’t honor it and won’t return your calls. Seriously, he didn’t return my call for two solid weeks, nor respond to any of my emails about the damage for two whole weeks just after the move.
So, if you want a mover that doesn’t have trained professionals and is unresponsive when you need them most, hire DansVanLines. If you want movers whom you can’t communicate with in English and who don’t understand the concept of a deadline, hire Dan’s. If you want to get ripped off on the insurance, hire Dan’s. If you don’t want your movers to show up on time, hire Dan’s.
From now on, I’m going back to good old Mayflower/​United. Those guys are pros.

I recently used Dan’s to move from DC to Brooklyn. The whole experience was fantastic. Dan came to my apartment and did a thorough job on the estimate. His guys were friendly, professional and timely. I was really impressed with their work and I would recommend this company without reservations.

I decided to hire professional movers because I was looking for an easy, stress-​free move and I didn’t feel like messing around with U-​Haul. My moving day was NOT stress-​free nor was it easy; however, Dan’s Van Lines was only responsible for approximately 50% of my stress.
I’d had my move date planned for a couple of weeks. Saturday came and all of a sudden, without warning, Georgia Avenue exploded. Turns out Saturday is the Caribbean Festival Day. There was a parade, vendors, families running around, AND the police roped off my street with police tape. Total craziness. I probably would have had a good time if I wasn’t trying to move. I spoke with the police officer as soon as the tape went up and he gave me a green light to move; no worries, right?
Not right. Wrong. When Dan’s crew showed up with a big-​ass truck, the police wouldn’t let them through the tape because they were too big. So I spent about a half hour losing my shit and begging the police to let the van through, waterworks turned on high and everything. Eventually they took the tape down and I was able to move (side note: I’ve never been super fond of the DC cops, ever since I was mistreated by one during my first year in the city, but the police guy watching over Girard street was actually quite sweet and gave me constant updates on when the street would be cleared. I know you were just doing your job kind sir, and thank you). So now that you have the background behind 50% of my stress, I’ll lay out the pros and cons of Dan’s crew:
PROS:
1) Dan’s crew was very careful with my stuff. Nothing was broken, nothing was even damaged. Once we got to the new place, they placed everything where I wanted it (and the lead guy took apart and reassembled my bed frame in about 25 seconds total).
2) They were polite.
3) Dan wanted to charge me for an extra half hour, but I called him and he adjusted my price. Which brings me to the…
CONS:
1) They were late. By a couple of hours. This is why they were responsible for 50% of my stress. Also, it turns out they had the wrong cell phone number for me so they’d been trying to reach me for a half hour with no luck. Lateness is kind of a big deal with me, so I’m not sure if I’ll go the professional mover route again in the future.
2) They took several smoke breaks. I used to smoke, so I remember the sensation of enjoying some nicotine on a beautiful summer day, but I was paying them by the hour and I wished they’d waited until the job was done to smoke.
So all in all, Dan’s crew did a nice job once they got there, and they handled the unexpected stress of the festival pretty well (better than I did, for sure). The price wasn’t too bad, $ 380 for three people for three hours. Just a warning, if you’re a slight control freak or a Virgo, professional movers might not be the best idea for you.

Initially I intended on using the moving company I had used in the past for my last move but could not find their information. They were very professional and fast and I would have recommended them to any of my friends needing movers. Since I couldn’t remember who I used I had to start the search for new movers. I was leary because of the horror stories I hear about movers but after reading the reviews for Dan’s Van Lines I felt pretty good about them but ended up very disappointed. First, the movers arrived an hour and a half late. I advised them that it was important that everything be on time because I would get penalized from the community I was moving into. The movers said they could get everything done on time. Wrong. They were late and I had to negotiate with my new building to let me continue my move so I would not have to incur additional fees. They probably would have been on time had the company sent enough movers for the job. Of course, not sending enough workers cost me because they took longer which ran up the bill. Well to make matters worse my bed frame and a lamp shade were damaged. I called the owner while the movers were still in my new place finishing up the move. He assured me it would be covered because his movers should have proeprly wrapped the bed and they obviously did not. After receiving his assurances and feeling comfortable he would do the right thing I paid for the move. Once the move was paid for the owner’s position changed and I got a letter saying that Dan’s Van Lines would not pay for the damage because it was not covered and I had not paid for additional insurance which would have covered it. Obviously, I was completely disappointed with their customer service, the damage to my property (which I now have to pay to get fixed in addition to having been overcharged for a move because the company failed to send adequate man power to do the job in the time quoted), and just the overall experience. I would NOT recommend this company to anyone.

Having a bad moving experience can scar you, and leave you a little jaded against the industry. Thankfully, I followed the recommendations here and hired Dan’s Van lines for my recent move. They were polite, efficient, and moved all of my things safely. They were very good about promptly returning phone calls and there was no funny stuff when it came time to pay the bill. It wasn’t cheap, but it was definitely money well spent! Do yourself a favor and let Dan’s do your next move.

I found Dan’s thanks to a recommendation from Michelle and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve heard a lot of nightmares of moving companies raising rates on moving day (when you have no bargaining power) or lots of hidden costs. Dan’s was a little more than the other movers, but I figured they were just being upfront about the cost — and they were. No hidden charges, the people who showed up were prompt and incredibly fast.
I’ve recommended them to three close friends who’ve all had good luck as well.

Disclosure:
Dan was my neighbor. BUT, that made me really trust him when it came to moving. He and his wife, Esperanza, are super hardworking honest people. Dan does local and interstate moves. He moved my mom from here to Florida. He moved me from Arlington to Del Ray. My mom recommends him to all her friends. I have to say I was worried about my mom moving so far away and Dan assured me that he would personally make sure she was settled in and ok on the move. He even sent me emails letting me know how things were going.
Dan is a face value guy. No slimy moves of having too much weight on the truck/​not enough space, need more money, blah blah blah. Straight up, honest, decent guy. Tell him Michelle sent ya.