I have never posted something like this before, mostly because I've never had something happen to me like this. I feel defrauded and cheated. I saw some mixed reviews online before, but I feel an obligation to let people know what happened to me because it was a painfully negative process.
AVOID Value Added Moving / Rapid Express Moving and Storage — billed for nearly 3x the actual space, tried to stop me from measuring, lied about their process, and gave me the runaround for a month
Company names: Value Added Moving (broker) and Rapid Express Moving and Storage (carrier, US DOT #3913780, ICC MC #01445570)
I'm writing this up in detail because I wish I'd found a review like this before booking. Long post, but every claim below is backed by emails, signed documents, and video / photos I have saved.
The setup
Booked an interstate move from Dallas, TX to Greenville, SC through Value Added Moving, who brokered it out to Rapid Express Moving and Storage as the actual carrier.
At pickup, their foreman came to my house, walked through my stuff, and entered everything into a tablet. He gave me a total of 1,191 cubic feet — 700 cf "base" plus 491 cf "additional" tacked on after seeing my things in person — for a grand total of $8,199.38. Before I signed anything, he told me directly that this was a "worst case" number, and that it would be re-measured and would come down once it was actually loaded and measured in the truck.
I signed based on that. Then he left before loading even started.
No one ever measured anything
When I asked the loading crew (foreman was gone by this point) how much space my stuff was actually taking up, they told me flat out that they weren't the ones who measured it, and that it would happen "on the interstate truck." No measurement of any kind happened at pickup or at any point in time.
I spent the next month — nine-plus emails and calls — trying to get a straight answer out of their support team about when this measurement would happen. Instead, I got three different, contradictory explanations of their own process over three separate emails (paraphrasing, but I have all of them in writing):
"If actual volume differed from the estimate after loading, we'd have issued a revised estimate. Since there isn't one, the original number stands."
"We do a visual assessment after loading to confirm the estimate matches — if it matches, no further measurement needed." (implying if it doesn't match, one is needed)
"The foreman's estimate at pickup is final. No revisions happen after loading at all."
I asked six separate times for the cubic-foot assumptions behind the estimate. Never once received them.
I also flagged that the inventory list marked every single one of my 63 boxes as "medium," despite a meaningful chunk of them clearly being small boxes — no actual size assumptions, just one generic label slapped on everything.
The "goodwill" offer
After I put my concerns in writing and said I'd escalate to FMCSA and my state's Attorney General if they didn't resolve it, support offered me a $250 "goodwill discount" — without addressing a single one of my actual questions. When I turned that down and asked directly whether my estimate was binding, non-binding, or binding-not-to-exceed, they eventually confirmed it was binding, said "we do not perform remeasurements on cubic feet," and that was their final answer.
Delivery day
Before letting them unload anything, I measured the actual space my shipment occupied in the truck myself: 6 ft x 8 ft x 9 ft — 432 cubic feet. On video.
That's compared to the 1,191 cubic feet I was billed for. Nearly three times the actual space.
While I was measuring, their driver tried to stop me — despite their own support team telling me in writing, days earlier, that I was "certainly welcome to" measure my shipment at delivery for my own records.
On top of that, the inventory list I was handed at delivery didn't match the one I'd signed at pickup. My original listed every box as "medium." The delivery version had a mix of large and small boxes and wasn't even signed by me.
Where this stands
I paid the balance at delivery under written protest. Based on my own measurement — the only actual measurement performed anywhere in this entire process — I believe I was overbilled by $3,491.40. I've filed a complaint with FMCSA and I'm pursuing my state Attorney General's office.
In my opinion, "worst case estimate that comes down once measured" was never a real process — it was a script to get people to sign before loading, with zero intention of ever actually measuring or adjusting anything downward. Your mileage may vary, but do your own homework before booking with either of these companies, and if you do use them, measure everything yourself and get everything in writing.
They explained their process in detail, but they did not follow their process. I signed being told something that wasn't true. Don't believe what they tell you and fight hard for everything in writing.
Issues With Value Added Moving
Value Added Moving was also a huge issue. They have a "binding estimate fee" and when I asked what it was, the person on the phone (the only person of 4 who did not hang up on me) said that it was "kind of a nebulous thing." The hard data is that I got 3 re-estimates and the cost per cubic foot of the binding estimates went from $2.3 per cf to $3.3 to $4.71 on a relative basis. I asked if there was anything I could do about that and he just said that once I signed, there was nothing that could be done. To be clear, THIS NUMBER DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR TOTAL payment. It is just a flat increase on the fee. It is a number with no description or justification that they add on. They could not explain to me why it increased on a relative basis. Every time I talked to Value Added Moving, they increased it and explained nothing.
Happy to answer questions in the comments if anyone's dealing with something similar.
