Poor communication; decent movers if customer micro-manages
We started out feeling great about Orbit because they sent a person to our home to look at the move. We walked the person through the house and showed them what's being moved. This included bookshelves, closets with clothes and drawers. Orbit quotes by the volume, not weight. Two days after the visit we got a quote for approx. $3500. This included a number of boxes for our books and clothes. The move was booked for Aug 9. We got very little information from the movers and had to call them to get confirmation on the move. We were also advised by the person visiting the house not to take insurance - later opposite advice was given by another employee.
On the day of the move, the company sent fewer packers than needed, and suddenly the volume estimate by the packers doubled leaving us with a bill for $8000. This was shocking. In addition, we learned that they would not move liquids which meant that we had to leave things behind which we had other ways of moving.
The move itself went smoothly and a different company unpacked us in Calgary. They noticed also that some of the packing was shoddy. In other cases we noticed that too much paper was stuffed into boxes or pots were packed empty taking up excess volume. We have over 25 large recycling bags full of paper which was used as stuffing.
If you decide to go with this company, make sure that you get them to give you an accurate estimate - overestimation of boxes might be better as the cost is higher for volume beyond their original estimate. You'll have to be very active in engaging with them even thought they promise a "stress free" move and ask lots of questions and push for timelines and paperwork.
They seem to be stretched and the explanation I got for the improper information was that the person who gave us the first quote was working 16 hour days and might have made a mistake - which I understand and empathize with, but had to pay dearly for. We would have gone with other movers (we had 3 quotes) had we been priced accurately in the first place. So be cautious and ask lots of questions!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $8,000.00