I received quotes from numerous moving companies for my move from Welland, ON to Kirkland Lake, ON. I confirmed using Troy Transport for our move because they quoted us $0.25/pound when all other companies were between $0.50-$0.60/pound. With the original quote of 6000lbs for a three bedroom house our move would cost approximately $1695.00.
A few days later, after I had called Arthur to confirm using Troy and the addresses and dates, I received an e-mail advising that there has been an error in the quote and in fact the charges would be $0.50/pound -$3,195 doubling the original quote- I did received a revised quote. It was comparable to all other companies and I had already booked with Troy so we decided to go with the company anyways.
Arthur our representative advised it would take 3-4 days for delivery - advising us to not expect our belongings until May 3 or 4. So we rented an additional vehicle to help move some of our furniture so we wouldn't be without a bed and basic necessities for days.
I received a phone call Wednesday April 27, 2016 confirming our pick up date of Thursday April 28, 2016. They advised pick up would be between 8am and 12noon. About an hour later, I received another call advising that in fact they had made another mistake and the truck would arrive between 2pm and 6pm. Again, last minute changes happen and we felt this gave us more time to organize.
The moving truck showed up before 12noon on Thursday, arriving within the original pick up time frame. The movers came and quickly moved through the home. They advised that we needed to purchase additional boxes for $350.00. At this point they had some of our stuff already on the truck and I agreed to the extra charges.
On Friday April 29, 2016 as we were leaving Welland, I received a call from Troy's dispatch advising the movers would be arriving Saturday April 30 between 12noon and 3pm. I was in shock as we had made arrangements based on what Arthur had told us. If we had known delivery would have be so fast we would of had the movers take all of our stuff, saving us the additional rental costs. Then the dispatch advised that our weight was well over 10,000lbs totalling over $7,000. When I said that there is no way our stuff weighed over 10,000lbs she transferred me to Arthur our original representative who I had booked with. He said to me "We picked up yesterday, we are delivering tomorrow, what is the problem?" He had a condescending attitude to me on the phone.
He argued with me first before even hearing me speak. He said the shipment was weighed and confirmed the weight,I was mistaken with the total weight of my stuff.When I stood my ground and said there is no way it weighed so much Arthur said he would lower our price to $0.40/pound to help with the outrageous cost, but would need to speak to his manager. I was on hold for 10 minutes, then he came back and advised that the weight was correct and the price was the price, too bad for us.
I demanded they weigh the shipment again. Within 15 minutes I had a call back advising that in fact they had been incorrect and that our shipment came in a little over 7000lbs totally $5,009.00. That is a HUGE difference, considering a 3 bedroom house was quoted at 6000lbs, how does someone make a calculation mistake over 3000lbs? I know a ex-mover and he advised that most companies do not have a weigh station at their location and the reweigh would of taken more then 15 minutes. At this point I know I am getting taken advantage of. I asked Arthur what would have happened if I didn't stand my ground and demand a reweigh, he just said "Um, Um , Um" could not give me an answer. He did not answer my question about where it was weighed.
We called Saturday morning at 9 am to speak to a manager to try and have the movers meet us in New Liskeard at the weight station about 50 minutes away from drop off because we wanted verification of the weight.
The "manager" we spoke to advised us that they would reweigh it at a $350 charge to us but they would not weigh it unless the station was within 16 km of drop off. The closest weight station is in New Liskeard. We asked to speak to her manager because she was rude and arrogant and being far from helpful. She advised "I am the be all, end all of the office, what I say goes". When asked to speak to her boss she said they were out of country. I wanted verification of our weight because there had been so many mistakes, but she flat out refused to make any exceptions and to give us the proof we were asking for. She continued to advise that it was all "human error" and that I was being unreasonable. I can understand human error with the first mistake, the wrong price for a quote, I can understand human error with the pick up time and the delivery dates but this is getting outrageous.
Once delivery was dropped off, there was damage to our furniture. Ripped our couch, broke the leg off our closet and broke our plastic storage boxes-the movers not caring at all put the furniture down and said "take a picture, make a claim". Right, make a claim with the company that flat out refused to accommodate our requests.
I would like to make mention the final receipt did not verify the weight - also there is a 3% service charge for using a credit card, so unless you are rolling in money and have over $5000 in cash you are getting charged for that too. If a tow company can take credit card without a fee how can a huge moving company not?? All said and done, we paid $5,159.00
Looking back I should have gone online and read all the reviews of this terrible company - all the complaints are very similar to ours. The last positive remark was dated in 2011. I have no idea how the company gets away with this. Refusing to prove the weight is what makes my blood boil the most, when mistake after mistake after mistake are being made "human error" is no longer an excuse and being in Customer Service I know the "manager" should of made at least one exception allowing us to meet the truck to verify the weight - only a company afraid of getting caught red handed would refuse to have us present for weigh in.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $5,159.00