Moving from home in West Vancouver to storage unit in North Vancouver
The final moving cost was 25% over the estimate price which included all of the contents of the house, and the size of the storage unit (based on the the moving company's estimator's recommendation) was too small for all of the house contents, which has necessitated the inconvenience and additional expense of renting a second unit. The cost of two units will be more expensive than a larger, appropriately-sized unit.
The movers worked very hard.
I told the estimator that some furniture items would go to charity and some would be sold. That did, in fact, occur. He wrote an estimate that covered all the contents though. There were fragile items such as china, collectibles, lamps, and clothing and shoes that I wanted to take to the storage unit myself. So he wrote his estimate based on a "what-if" scenario of his company moving everything.
Based on the estimator's recommendation and estimate, as an expert in the field, I rented a specific size of storage unit. But now I have to rent an additional storage unit to fit everything I myself intended to move! This is an additional expense that I did not anticipate or plan for, based on my discussions with the company's estimator.
I complained to the moving company and the estimator called me back. His final words, "Mistakes happen." He offered nothing further.
After my friends voiced their concern that he was at fault. I made a second complaint, and waited, but received no reply.
Overall, they underestimated the time and cost of the move. The estimate was based on the entire contents of the house (even though I decided to move all the fragile items such as china, kitchen stuff, clothing, collectibles, lamps, shoes, and computer equipment myself). They underestimated the size of storage unit I would need by quite a considerable volume.
Thus, Whitby & Tower's estimator and company created for me considerable additional stress and expense.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $999.04
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Take more care and concern their estimate is more approximate to the final cost. The mover should advise the client of an appropriately-size storage unit which is large enough to accommodate ALL of the house's contents
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Request that the storage facility's employees view the contents of the moving truck and ask questions to ensure that the appropriate size of storage unit has been rented - before it is too late! Unfortunately, the employees at the storage facility showed no initiative or care and concern, whatsoever, for me on moving day. In fact, they were sullen and morose and were unwilling to respond to my questions.