Which Review Platform Is Most Accurate for Moving Companies? We Compared the Data.

When a consumer searches for a moving company, they encounter ratings from multiple platforms: Google star ratings, BBB letter grades, Yelp scores, and sometimes FMCSA complaint counts. Each platform uses different methodology. Each has different incentive structures. Each produces different results for the same company.

We compared data across platforms for household goods carriers in Trunk's database to determine which source most accurately reflects actual service quality. The answer is unambiguous.

Trunk's database contains 2,231 household goods carriers tracked through FMCSA. Of those:

130 have Google ratings on file (5.8%) 90 have BBB ratings on file (4.0%) 27 have Yelp ratings on file (1.2%) 19 have documented BBB complaint counts

For the companies with data on multiple platforms, we compared ratings against FMCSA complaint records and BBB complaints to identify discrepancies.

Among the 130 carriers with Google ratings, the distribution is heavily skewed toward perfection:

111 carriers (85.4%) have ratings of 4.5 or higher. 13 carriers (10.0%) have ratings between 4.0 and 4.5. 6 carriers (4.6%) have ratings below 4.0.

The average Google rating across all tracked carriers is 4.71 out of 5.0. In a functioning review system, this would mean the moving industry delivers near-perfect service. It does not.

The discrepancies are stark:

MyProMovers LLC carries a perfect 5.0 Google rating from 5,738 reviews. Its BBB rating is 'None,' meaning BBB has not accredited or rated the company. 5,738 five-star reviews from a single moving company is an extraordinary volume. For comparison, Two Men and a Truck, a national franchise, has 1,317 Google reviews.

LoadRans LLC carries a 4.4 Google rating from 473 reviews despite 166 documented NCCDB complaints, including 47 hostage load incidents. A consumer checking only Google would see a company rated well above average. A consumer checking FMCSA records would see a company that has held people's belongings for ransom 47 times.

Coastal Moving Services has a 4.3 Google rating despite 316 BBB complaints in under 12 months. The Google rating suggests an acceptable company. The complaint data suggests a consumer harm operation.

Great Nation Moving (Rockville, MD) shows the platform split clearly: 4.8 Google rating from 913 reviews, but only 2.5 on Yelp from 129 reviews. Same company, same time period, 2.3-star difference between platforms.

BBB accreditation is a commercial relationship. Companies pay annual fees to become BBB-accredited and receive letter grades. Non-accredited companies may receive ratings, but the system is structured to reward paying members.

The data shows the limits of BBB grades as quality signals:

Charlie's Angels Movers (Acworth, GA) carries an F rating from BBB with only 2 complaints, alongside a 4.8 Google rating from 960 reviews. The F rating may reflect BBB's assessment of complaint resolution rather than complaint volume.

Falcon Moving LLC carries a B- from BBB, a 4.8 from Google (1,599 reviews), and a 2.5 from Yelp (36 reviews). Three platforms, three different assessments.

Fairfax Transfer and Storage carries an A+ from BBB and 4.9 from Google, but has 8 BBB complaints. For a company with A+ accreditation, 8 complaints is notable.

BBB grades measure the company's relationship with BBB (did it respond to complaints, did it pay for accreditation), not the company's relationship with consumers. A company that defrauds 100 consumers but responds to BBB inquiries politely can maintain a high BBB grade.

Trunk's September 2026 BBB scrape of 687 HHG carriers found 14 companies that maintain BBB A+ ratings while having 10 or more federal NCCDB complaints. The worst examples:

American Van Lines: A+ (accredited), 125 BBB complaints, 215 NCCDB complaints. Colonial Van Lines: A+ (not accredited), 142 BBB complaints, 121 NCCDB complaints. International Van Lines: A+ (accredited), 69 BBB complaints, 96 NCCDB complaints. Allied Van Lines: A+ (accredited), 62 BBB complaints, 89 NCCDB complaints. First Class Movers: A+ (accredited), 38 BBB complaints, 53 NCCDB complaints.

All My Sons Moving and Storage, a franchise operation, has the single highest BBB complaint count in our entire dataset: 1,578 complaints across franchise locations while maintaining A+ accredited status. The franchise model complicates accountability: complaints aggregate under the parent brand on BBB but distribute across separate DOT numbers at FMCSA.

Yelp's review filter is the most aggressive of any platform. It suppresses reviews it considers potentially fake, solicited, or from accounts with insufficient history. This filtering removes both fake positive reviews and legitimate negative reviews.

The result is smaller sample sizes and different conclusions:

Great Nation Moving: 4.8 on Google (913 reviews) vs. 2.5 on Yelp (129 reviews). Yelp's smaller, filtered set paints a dramatically different picture than Google's larger, unfiltered set.

Falcon Moving: 4.8 on Google (1,599 reviews) vs. 2.5 on Yelp (36 reviews). Again, a 2.3-star gap.

B. Von Paris and Sons: 4.8 on Google (482 reviews) vs. 3.1 on Yelp (79 reviews). A 1.7-star gap.

Helix Moving and Storage: 4.9 on Google (1,089 reviews) vs. 3.6 on Yelp (58 reviews). A 1.3-star gap.

In every case where we have both Google and Yelp data, the Yelp score is lower. This is consistent with Yelp filtering out positive reviews that Google accepts. Whether those filtered reviews are fake or merely solicited is unknowable from the outside, but the pattern suggests Google's numbers are inflated relative to Yelp's.

Trunk scraped Trustpilot profiles for 145 moving companies in September 2026. The results reveal a platform where ratings diverge from reality more sharply than any other source.

Value Added Moving: 135 NCCDB complaints. Trustpilot average: 4.9 out of 5. New Start Relocation: 179 NCCDB complaints. Trustpilot average: 4.75. America First Moving: 129 complaints. Trustpilot average: 4.75.

Meanwhile, Menards (290 complaints) has a 1.0 on Trustpilot, and Howards Vanlines (166 complaints) also has a 1.0.

The difference: Trustpilot allows businesses to invite customers to leave reviews. Companies like Value Added selectively invite satisfied customers, producing near-perfect ratings that exclude the consumers who filed federal complaints. Companies like Menards do not manage their Trustpilot profiles, so the only reviews are organic ones from defrauded consumers.

Trustpilot's rating reflects who the company invites, not who the company serves. A 4.9 on Trustpilot with 135 NCCDB complaints is not a sign of quality. It is a sign of managed invitations.

FMCSA complaint data has one property that no review platform can match: it cannot be purchased, manipulated, or deleted.

A company cannot buy positive FMCSA complaints. There is no FMCSA equivalent of paying for five-star reviews. A company cannot report a competitor's FMCSA complaints for removal. There is no flagging system. A company cannot pay FMCSA for better placement or ratings. There is no accreditation fee. A consumer's FMCSA complaint is a federal record. Once filed, it stays.

The limitation of FMCSA data is coverage: only a fraction of harmed consumers file federal complaints. Most people do not know FMCSA exists. But the complaints that do get filed represent verified interactions where a consumer was sufficiently harmed to navigate a federal complaint process. This self-selection means FMCSA complaints undercount total harm but reliably identify the worst actors.

A company with zero FMCSA complaints is not guaranteed to be good. A company with 166 FMCSA complaints is guaranteed to have a serious problem.

Based on our cross-platform analysis of 145 companies with data across multiple sources, we rank review data sources by reliability for moving companies:

1. FMCSA complaint data. Cannot be purchased, deleted, or manipulated. Under-reports total harm but accurately identifies the worst companies. The only data source where a high number is always bad.

2. Yelp ratings. Aggressive filtering removes some legitimate reviews but also removes the purchased five-star reviews that inflate Google scores. Smaller sample sizes make individual ratings less stable, but the filtering produces scores that are closer to reality.

3. BBB complaint counts (not grades). The raw number of complaints filed with BBB is more informative than the letter grade. Complaint counts, like FMCSA complaints, reflect actual consumer experiences. The letter grade reflects the company's relationship with BBB.

4. Trustpilot (with caution). Trustpilot splits sharply: companies that manage their profiles through selective invitations show inflated ratings (Value Added: 4.9 with 135 NCCDB complaints). Companies that do not manage their profiles show accurate ratings (Menards: 1.0 with 290 complaints). When Trustpilot ratings are low, they are reliable. When they are high, they may reflect invitation management rather than actual service quality.

5. Google ratings. The most visible and least reliable. An 85.4% rate of 4.5+ stars for an industry with documented widespread fraud is not plausible. Google's lack of review filtering, vulnerability to purchased reviews, and susceptibility to competitive flagging make its ratings the weakest signal for moving companies.

The safest approach: check FMCSA complaints first, then compare across Yelp, BBB complaint counts, and Trustpilot (focusing on low-rated reviews). Ignore BBB letter grades. Be skeptical of high Trustpilot and Google ratings for any company with NCCDB complaints. Trunk combines all of these signals on every mover profile so you do not need to check five separate platforms.