El Cheapo Man & Van

2.0

El Cheapo was a major disappointment

Moving from one apartment to another in the GTA El Cheapo promised to move us one afternoon and showed up five hours later than the end of their estimated time of arrival. We called numerous times during this waiting period, and instead of telling us what was really happening, they kept "assuring" us that the movers would arrive within a few minutes. Five hours later, just as the movers were about to finally arrive and the sun was setting, someone at El Cheapo who kept cursing to his office mates revealed that they'd knowingly led us on. We couldn't complete the move in the short time remaining that day, so they had to send men back a few days later. This was hugely inconvenient and cost us both a day's work and pay in addition to the extra charges we owed to El Cheapo for this second trip. Moreover, they sent two men instead of the three that were promised. The one good thing I can say is that the men were relatively cheerful once they finally arrived.

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0.0

Cheapo? Maybe. Professional? No Way

move fridges They quoted $95 + tax to move old fridge out to curb and new fridge from basement to ground floor. Though told well in advance that fridges were to be moved, they gave no hint that pipe connections could be a problem.Sent two very nice guys who were unable to disconnect old fridge from metal pipe. Spent total of 20 minutes. Head office insisted on charging minimum 1-hour rate $95 + tax) for the 20 min. the guys spent accomplishing absolutely nothing. Asked for a break on the bill - - no break given.

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6.0

Good move....with exceptions

Intra-city move Our move was in February 2010. The movers arrived at the end of their time window and set straight to work. Unfortunately, the move took twice as long as I was expecting, and for a number of reasons.

We lived on a one way street in downtown Toronto with moderate traffic at rush-hour traffic. I bought a parking stub for the truck so they could park across the street and avoid a ticket (knowing that El Cheapo policy was that customers handled any parking violations). I then left to pick up my car for the day and when I returned they had moved the truck closer to the building and parked halfway on the sidewalk. As a pulled up, a parking enforcement officer came trundling down the sidewalk and slapped an $80 ticket on the van despite my arguing with him. As a result, the van had to park on the road, but blocked the traffic that had begun to accumulate. They had to move the van six times to allow traffic to get by. This significantly slowed down the move. Not El Cheapo's fault, but made the day longer for sure.

The Lead Hand told me that I should have said I had mainly antique furniture as this has to be wrapped more carefully than non-antique items (thus contributing to longer duration for the move). The lady who booked us never asked if we had antique furniture and I never thought to tell her, but I appreciated the fact that they were trying to be careful rather than rushing to get the job done.

The Lead Hand was extremely professional and worked very hard. Of the two other guys with him, one young guy was clearly new but worked hard, and the other was older and did not work as hard. The older worker preferred to stand around and smoke while the others sweated it out.

The move took almost seven hours and more than double the anticipated time and cost.

I discovered later that they had badly scratched the top of my grandmother's antique dresser. I called then emailed the manager. He offered to 'make a deal': they would pay the parking ticket and I would forget the scratched dresser. I thought this was kind of unprofessional since I didn't feel responsible for the parking ticket. I ended up accepting the 'deal' despite my reservations.

Overall, the move was stressful. My intention in hiring movers was to make this a stress-free day, which it was not. Considering the company as a whole, the Lead Hand's professionalism and hard work of (part) of the team was ultimately offset by the shadiness of the manager's dealings.

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10

Brad K and Max S were exceptional

moving from Pickering to Toronto I used El cheapo movers on August 3rd to move from a home in Pickering to an apartment. It was the best moving experience of my life. Brad K and Max S are exceptional young men and the best movers. They did an incredible job, were always positive and I had the whole apartment set up by the time they left. I have already recommended them to some friends.

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2.0

Not so cheap after all

House Move My experience with El Cheapo started out well, when I called they quickly came over to do an assessment of the work and paid particular attention to the one piece of furniture I highlighted for being both valuable and heavy.

On the day of the move 3 movers showed up (late) already exhausted from a move earlier that day. The progress was very slow, and basically came to a halt when it came to moving the heavy item which they ultimately moved by sliding it down some stairs damaging both the piece (which had to be repaired) and the wall (which had to be replastered and painted). The leader of the team essentially went on strike after this staying in the truck and leaving the work to the two younger guys. He also became increasingly rude and aggressive. For the unloading I ended up doing much of it myself with the two younger guys and had the heavy item left downstairs for fear of doing more damage - I later paid other Movers to bring it upstairs. When it came to paying the bill I did not give a tip to the leader (I did to the other two on the side) at which point he started swearing me, continuing to scream as he left the house.

I phoned El Cheapo immediately to tell them what had happened and received no response. I then phoned on each of the next few days and never received a call back…….

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10

Truly great experience and trouble free move

Moved 2 bedroom apt to a new condo Not only that these guys are punctual, they called in to check if they could come earlier. Due to elevator bookings I had to reject the idea so they came on agreed time. Daren, Eric and Georgie were true professionals and fun to work with. There was no furniture too heavy for them and they even helped me take apart one of the IKEA wardrobes that could not possibly be carried out.

These three guys moved our fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment in 3.5 hours. No travel time, fuel surcharge or other hidden fees were charged. Just plain work time.

All in all, amazing experience. Would recommend to everyone.

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10

Don't let the name fool you, these guys are great!

Moving El Cheapo was recommended to us from a couple who used them on several occasions. They moved everything from our condo and large rental storage locker to our new house for a very reasonable price. Everything was moved without issue, even our “don’t move it” Ikea units. No hidden fees, stairs charge or weird rules, these guys are just awesome. I will use them again and recommend them to anyone who asks! Thanks Erics!!

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7.0

job well done

moving the moving job was well done, however the movers were not that friendly. all items arrived as wrapped and secure. overall, it was an alright experience, but i am not sure if i would hire them again because of the unfriendly employees.

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10

Used them twice!

Moving I've used El Cheapo for 2 moves and both have been great. On time, no damage. Not too expensive. Found these guys on homestars so I'd recommend them for anyone.

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10

Fast and Friendly

Downtown House Move With so many stories of bad movers it was a pleasure to deal with El Cheapo.

The guys called to say they were on the way and showed up early. They were genuinely friendly the entire time. They worked very fast, taking no breaks, and had everything moved in record time. When it was all over, the final bill was extremely reasonable and I was happy to give them a nice tip since everything had been so efficient.

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