I moved from Edmonton to Vancouver on September 6, 2016.
To search for moving companies, I looked at website design, Google search placement, Yelp reviews, the Better Business Bureau, Facebook, Homestars, etc.
I settled with atobmoving.
Moving company:
Great Canadian Van Lines
Moving agent:
atobmoving
atobmoving had an intuitive moving calculator.
I had a rough idea of what price to expect (no hidden fees).
That final price was close to the estimate from the calculator.
They have Better Business Bureau accreditation.
Going further, they have an A+ rating:
>A to B Moving has received 4.9 out of 5 stars based on 15 Customer Reviews and a BBB Rating of A+.
http://www.bbb.org/vancouver-island/business-reviews/movers/a-to-b-moving-in-victoria-bc-22577
Going further again, they are BBB Torch award finalists:
>“The following 60 businesses are in the running to win a 2015 Torch Award for their ethical practices in the marketplace,” said Rosalind Scott, President & CEO of BBB serving Vancouver Island.
>AWARD CATEGORY: Movers
>A to B Moving (Victoria)
https://www.bbb.org/vancouver-island/news-centre/news-releases/2015/10/2015-torch-award-finalists-announced/
They are also Exclusive Print Media sponsors of the BBB awards.
The other 2 Print Media sponsors were Times Colonist and CTV News.
Aside from the seemingly positive reviews, they were the only ones that are very attentive and detailed in emails.
Some companies stopped replying, weren’t precise, and/or gave oddly low estimates.
I had some general questions for atobmoving on November 2015.
I emailed again on July 2016, and my previous information was remembered.
I mostly corresponded with Meesh Vincent (now Meesh Pimlott?).
Meesh answered all my questions, and was very considerate.
e.g.
By my own fault, I missed a voice email from the driver, but I got a response on the weekend, even though they didn't need to send it:
>On Sep 11, 2016 3:56 PM, wrote:
>Hi Jeff,
>I apologize for the delay in response; the office is closed over the weekend, and I just happened to check my emails from home today to see what tomorrow's day would look like.
>Daniel is one of our drivers so I would think he's trying to set up delivery (as I'm at home, I cannot confirm his last name, but I do know our Daniel is french so it sounds right, although without my computer, I can't say for sure).
>I do know he will continue to call you until he reaches you though :)
>Great Canadian's office is closed today as well, so you won't receive a response from Lana until tomorrow.
>I apologize for any inconvenience.
>Sincerely,
>Meesh
Movers:
Pick-up:
Daniel Lapierre
T.J.
Arrival:
Daniel Lapierre
Unknown person
Daniel did some slick one-handed duct-taping with the moving blankets.
The other movers were cordial and great.
Another company that is mentioned on Reddit is Highland Moving, but I never found them, and contacted them in my initial search.
Make sure you do your own thorough research (e.g. I think that some of the Google business reviews for moving companies and in general could be fake).
I’m sure that the majority of moving companies would get the job done, but atobmoving was the only company that far stood out in terms of email communication and conduct, which is one of the first impressions.
Jeff Kang
https://www.reddit.com/user/bboyjkang/
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JeffKang84
https://www.facebook.com/JeffKang2
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,400.00