Paxton Van Lines

My move was seamless! Paxton moved me into a 5^th floor one bedroom apartment in what seemed like just a few minutes! I’m looking forward to working with them again for my next move!

Paxton is an excellent moving company. I will always use them in future moves. They went way and beyond.

I’ve used Paxton Van Lines several times, and they were fantastic! Everybody with whom I dealt was very professional. We’ve moved a couple of times locally, as well as once internationally, and they have been incredibly easy to work with.
My husband and I have a lot of wine glasses and expensive, delicate decanters, and they’ve always managed to get them to the destination in one piece, which is always impressive and shows how well they care for everything they move.
Every time we’ve moved, I’ve met with/​priced other movers. Some are less expensive, but they were never as professional or responsive as Paxton. So, I’ve always stuck with the company I know and trust. Moving is stressful enough, so why risk it by taking a risk on your movers?! I would definitely recommend Paxton.

Absolutely destroyed 4 of our most prized pieces of furniture. The two college students who helped the main guy running the move were very strong and quick but I learned later that meant they would manhandle everything we owned and have hardly any boxes or furniture still intact.

Worst moving company ever. They are an Atlas Van Lines agent. If they offered to move me again for free, I would say no. Bad customer service and bad accounting. They messed up billing, delivery and flat out lied to us. Rude and awful customer service. Seriously, go anywhere else.

These guys majorly padded in cost for my move and overinflated the numbers significantly — and by significantly I mean thousands of dollars. I’m one person, I have about a room and a half worth of stuff. Even with boxes they packed that literally had only packing paper in them (YES REALLY — they packed packing paper only), my stuff only took up 15 feet of a trailer, by the way they booked a 40 footer. I think they were under the impression that my move was a corporate move, not the case. While it was arranged for through my company (who I don’t think uses them any longer), it wasn’t paid for by my company and I’m still trying to recover from the $ 32,000 tab. I tried to discuss the numbers with them numerous times and got nowhere. That was on top of telling me it would take two days — 1 to pack and one to load (more bodies, more time = more money!!). I’ve moved myself and all my stuff ALONE in half a day. Unfortunately, this time I was dealing with a chronic health issue on top of moving overseas so I needed help — boy I’ll never make that mistake again — I will sell everything I own before I go through what these guys put me through again. They are just absurd. The packers were rude — they left whole cabinets unpacked and when I pointed them out one of the women was like — «Well you didn’t say to pack that!» and nearly had a temper tantrum/​fist fight with me. Uh, sorry that when I said ‘Please pack everything’ I mean the cabinets too? I also had purchased moving boxes prior to hiring the company — they PACKED my moving boxes in moving boxes. So I’m running around like crazy trying to coordinate things as I’m leaving to move overseas and instead of focusing on things that are important, I’m unpacking cardboard boxes from cardboard boxes and asking them to use the boxes I had purchased which they then told me they «weren’t allowed to do.» Are you freaking kidding me!!! It’s a BOX! The one good thing were the guys who packed the truck — they were fast, efficient and hard working and I did appreciate them. Paxton sent SIX of them, which was overkill (although I needed to leave and wasn’t going to be there — and their two day estimate severely screwed up the schedule, so they had to get the job done, and they came through on that while charging me an arm and leg) — however, six guys — I don’t even think I own six pieces of actual furniture, but whatever. They were done in an hour (Paxton still billed me for four hours of labor with six people). They also gave me huge problems about my firearms, so I ended up leaving them on the mainland which was irritating. On the receiving end I couldn’t get people to call me back and they ended up costing me even more because I had to get a storage unit, which I paid to have start on the original delivery date, which was then delayed and delayed and pretty soon over a month later of not needing that storage unit afterall, my things got delivered (by the way, everything fit more than comfortably in a 10×10 unit, so don’t tell me the cost and the trailer size were reasonable. I tried to submit feedback to them and heard nothign — they don’t care. They just want $$. If that’s the case, that’s cool — we all need the green stuff and that’s why you run a business. But stick to corporate moves and at least be honest about the cost. I’m sure this company moves military at taxpayer dollar cost and does the same thing. Integrity is 0 and I will never ever move using this company again.

Girlfriend’s hospital is moving us to another city, and the hospital is paying for it.
They arranged for professional movers (Paxton) and I told them that there’s a motorcycle. They said there wouldn’t be any issues.
Anyway I had to go out of town for work so I parked the bike outside her apartment on the street where they can access it etc.
They show up and when they’re ready for the bike, a problem comes up — no one knows anything about motorcycles.
Girlfriend is on the phone with me and I’m like, «forget the bike, I don’t want them to break it».
Then one mover is like, «I’ll do it», and then he can’t figure out how to drop it to neutral and unlock the handlebar, even though I’m telling him to forget about it.
Then my girlfriend hangs up the phone abruptly. Calls me back in 10 minutes and says, «They broke it».
BIG WTF!
Then I get this photo.
Now I don’t trust these guys to move it and they are insisting that if they don’t move it, they won’t pay to repair it.
Since I’m out of town on work, I seem to be SOL coz the girl is a little panicked and is really being a sport for taking care of this all for me.
This Paxton company that seems to be doing this move doesn’t seem very good at moving motorcycles.
Or plants — they denied my pet plant any transportation options, but that’s a different matter. In that case, their contract said that they wouldn’t be liable for it, and the lady at their office had confirmed that it could be moved but not guaranteed. However, now I have to get rid of my pet plant :(

I had to transfer my storage items to Paxton under a government contract and their movers packed up a few things in my temporary housing to add to my storage items. All went well in that respect. Where everything fell apart was my return to the US. While Linda has been responsive and helpful, Dan does not reply to e-​mails in a timely manner, if at all. That made coordinating the delivery of my stuff a little difficult. They lost one of my boxes, and I am still trying to understand how that happened. Would I use this company again or recommend them to a friend? Absolutely not.

Two guys from Paxton moved me out of my apartment this Friday. I live in a fourth floor walk-​up, but they were super nice and friendly. They did a great job. They were careful with all of my furniture and belongings. If I ever move back to DC I would use Paxton again.

I found this company to be extremely unprofessional and rude.
I called the company to request information about a long distance move. I left a voicemail on their answering service detailing the locations, dates, my name, etc. I also stated that I would like information on getting a quote/​estimate for the move. The representative called me back within a reasonable period of time; however, when I answered she condescendingly said, «I understand you’re moving, how can I help you?» I know it seems harmless, but it wasn’t what she said — it was HOW she said it…
(Ummmmmm, HOW CAN YOU HELP ME? HOW ABOUT PROVIDE ME WITH AN ESTIMATE LIKE I STATED ON YOUR VOICEMAIL!!!)
Okay, already off to the wrong foot…
I then tried to explain to her that I needed an estimate for a long distance move. She immediately interrupted me and started going off about how it was obvious that I’d never moved with professional movers. (Ummmmm, okay…) I told her that I hadn’t, but that I had spoken with quite a few movers for this upcoming move, and that I was fairly familiar with the process.
She eventually provided me with an estimate based on 3,000 lbs, the amount I found to be standard for a 1-​bedroom apartment. Her estimate came in $ 1,000 more than my highest estimate from other companies though. When I asked her to email me the estimate (like allllllll other companies do) she told me that they don’t email estimates. She said that providing an ESTIMATE in writing is «illegal» and «binding» as a contract. WTF? Really, lady?
Based on our conversation it was evident that she didn’t want to be bothered and didn’t need my business. I’ll take my money elsewhere.

This is going to be one of my self-​reflecting drivels, so if you don’t feel like reading all of it, just go to the last 2 paragraphs of the review. I like to warn my readers :)
I was born a nomad. By the time I was 11 months old, my parents moved to a country they knew nothing about. They barely spoke the language (French and Arabic), and my mother comes from a village in India where you have to take a bullock cart ride for 4 hours to reach her village. But my parents are brave souls, they always believed in a land without borders. So when my father was offered a job to work as a physician with the WHO, he immediately took it. Thus began my nomadic life, starting when I was less than a year old. Moving and shipping was not so developed or organized back then. Even as a child I remember my parents packing suitcases and boxes when it was time to move. Most of the time we never received what we put in the shipment. Things were always lost or damaged. So we learned to travel with bare necessities — books, clothes, pictures, medicines, and mosquito nets. Jumping from India to Algeria to the Congo, back to India, then again to Zimbabwe and South Africa, with brief periods of stay in England, France, and Netherlands, the art of moving was ingrained in our brains. Even as children, my sister and I were ready to pack up and move at short notice.
My nomadic existence led me to the US. I came to the country with just one suitcase, I learned well from my parents. That was 10 years ago. In this time I moved from Mississippi to Chicago, found my true love, and almost settled in Chicago. I started feeling uncomfortable after 5 years in Chicago, because it is not in my nomadic nature to live in one city for so long. I didn’t even live in one country for 5 consecutive years, let alone one city, until I came to Chicago. However, love will make you do things that you didn’t know you are capable of doing. So, I was getting uncomfortable in my 7^th year in Chicago when I was offered an opportunity similar to my father. My husband knows me well and understands my passion towards my profession, he supported me in accepting the offer. So, after a period of 10 years, I found myself moving across continents again. The second most joyous moment of 2011, right after I got married.
Anyway… now that the world has advanced shipping and moving procedures, all I had to do was contact the right company. Paxton came highly recommended from my employer. One call with Laura at Paxton and I can see why. She sent the appropriate people to measure, pack, and estimate. Our major concern was regarding our art collection. Laura explained to us in detail how the art works will be transported, and ensured safety. We didn’t have to pack anything, the movers she sent (contracted with a local moving company in Chicago area), did all the wrapping and packing. All we had to do was point out what needs to go and what can stay. Laura even helped us navigate the complex world of consumable shipment. No aerosol cans, but pump sprays are ok… what am I going to do without my Aquanet?. And no, you cannot ship frozen Chicago deep dish pizza. Paxton does large scale moving and shipping across continents, even to conflict zones like Iraq.
I would probably ditch everything and take one suitcase (like I did when I moved to the US) if it wasn’t for Laura and Paxton arranging for everything to be moved. I am now waiting for my three shipments — air, sea, and consumables — to arrive in Liberia. It is going to take a while considering the procedures in this country, but that is another issue altogether. The man and I couldn’t be happier with Paxton and their professionalism. I hope to be using their services for many more international moves to come.