Overall my wife and I were pleased with how the move went, but there are pluses and minuses.
Perhaps it was my fault that I missed something in the details. The one time extra cost for the truck?? should be noted, and I missed it , although Christian sent follow-up emails with the charge which I didn't notice in his earlier messages. The charge was not easily noticed in the estimate breakdown. Also, Christian seemed to be feeling stressed from the hectic pace regarding initial deposits made and final agreed to arrangements. He gave a couple of puzzling calls regarding payments and arrangements about a week or so prior to the move. The final moving stages are stressful for everyone, and I worried, perhaps excessively, about the reputation of movers when it comes to hidden charges and last minutes surprises.
HOWEVER, his people arrived when expected, worked steadily and competently. They wrapped items quite carefully and packed with skill. Only one item of questionable value was damaged beyond recovery. Otherwise only very minor blemishes. Really they did a very good job. Better than most moves we have had in the past.
We only had a small scale part of our move handled by Christian 's team, but they did a good job and I would recommend them.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $600.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Hi. Thanks for the good review. We appreciate your honesty and business. Moving is moving, and I'm glad it worked out for you well in the long run. :) I would also be happy to address the 3 issues you have mentioned.
1. Pricing
2. Damages
3. Puzzling phone calls1. Because this was written by a private user, we do not have any record of who this is. If there was, I could definitely send you the pricing information that is ALWAYS sent prior to anybody booking that clearly outlines the cost including the truck and travel.
The following is a portion in the second paragraph of that email under heading:
MOVING RATES:
• There is a 3 HR. MIN labor charge PLUS one hour travel charge. A TOTAL OF 4 HR. MINIMUM. (see next line).
• ONE HOUR TRAVEL CHARGE ADDED to total to cover truck costs, rental, fuel, mileage, delivery and travel time.
• Example: Arrive 9am. Finish unloading at 12pm. Total time: 9am-12pm = 3 hours. Add 1 hour travel. Cost would be 4 HOURS. You pay the travel charge in advance to reserve your truck. The balance is paid on moving day.After that, when you book, I explain the hourly rate on the phone and the truck/travel fee again verbally.
Following the booking, you are sent another email called a moving confirmation form. Once again I used yellow highlighting to emphasize the important parts. (which we cannot do on Homestars). This has a portion with the pricing that looks like THIS:
ONE TIME TRUCK FEE (Paid in advance with deposit): $***.00 plus GST
TRUCK FEE TOTAL: $***.00 including GST
M.O.P AND DATE: VISA – 09.05.17
This initial payment covers your truck/travel charge as mentioned in your price sheet. This fee is paid in advance and will not be added again on moving day.
HOURLY RATE FROM ARRIVAL UNTIL DEPARTURE: $***.00Why do we have a truck/travel fee??
If you rented your own truck, and paid the $40 at U-Haul, and then the $15 insurance, and then the $0.79 per kilometer, and then filled up the fuel after you were done, and then counted all the time it took you to drive your car to the U-Haul, line up, inspect your truck, drive your truck to your home, fuel up and drive your truck back to the U-Haul, line up and pay, and then drive your car home afterwards, you would probably start to realize that our one hour truck and travel fee is really quite a great deal!!! You also get $2,500 worth of protective equipment including free tape, stretch wrap, floor protection, fancy furniture pads, three different kinds of dollies, a full set of tools and a whole bunch of straps and tie downs! Fantastic! It even comes with two fantastic expert movers that will help you do everything!!
2. Regarding any damages, it sounds odd as we are usually very nearly 100% damage free. About 700-800 moves per year we might get 4-5 claims. Very sorry to hear that and we will definitely need to verify the claims and you are more than welcome to submit any deficiencies to our customer service department for resolutions. We have a few options for things, whether it was our fault or not, we have great solutions for repairs, replacements and insurance to help with the process.
3. As far as puzzling phone calls, again am not sure about what exactly that means. I am sure of one thing: When we are organizing 15-20 moves per week, we prefer to have everything in order, and our philosophy is to put the pressure on before the move to make sure there isn't a catastrophe on moving day when there is no more time for error.
We are here not only to be efficient, but to make our clients efficient. There is still about 40-60 hours for each client to do involving preparations, packing, organizing, supplies, unpacking, lease agreements, cleaning, lawyers, landlords etc. Mixed in with a full time work and family schedule, things can be forgotten, and disaster awaits those who lag behind. If you are not ready, be prepared to get pushed by us to make sure you are.
Conclusion:Thanks for the review and I hope that sheds some light into how seriously we take this. And because of this quality, sincerity, and precision, I hope you understand what we expect to get paid for it, including our trucking costs.
Thanks for your time and concerns, it only makes us sharper, and please follow up with me with anything further and we will make sure we take care of it right away. The quality and reliability of our service is taken very seriously and we want to be the best we can for you. Thank you.
Christian
Owner