0 stars. This has been the WORST moving experience ever. Before you pay them, they are polite as can be. After payment is made, all you have to deal with is THREATS, DAMAGE to your precious belongings they refuse to fix properly after insurance is paid for, EVASION of phone calls, hang-ups from the OWNER (Ralph), and shifting the blame on the homeowner when it is clearly their fault. Let me explain our experience: The owner Ralph came to do an in-home estimate, at the time he seemed to be a reasonable person and assured us they have been in business for over 30 years. He verbally told our family that the truck they had was very large and could fit all our bulky items and there would be alot of extra space for boxes and other things if we had them. He never wrote that on the estimate though, and we didn't bother to check it out, we trusted him at the time. Please note, he also told us we would save the taxes if paying in CASH (we paid by credit card). Trusting him was a big mistake, as he did not hold true to his word ... They ended up bringing a truck that was too small, we had left over bulky items at our house, and ended up having to rent ourselves a 15 ft cube van the next day with no assisstance from Bronte for thier mistake... After trying to contact them numerous times, the receptionist would repeat how it is our fault over and over again without offering any sort of solution. We informed them there was damage and that it need to be fixed. We told her to offer us a solution and she said she would call us back..that didn't happen. Ralph yelled on the phone called us DISORGANIZED, said that he did his part and we didn't do ours [what is our part if we hired him?!?!] and hung up... numerous times. We kept calling back and he told us to stop calling them because we were HARASSING him (for services we paid for!!!!). We were left to fend for our own and spent over 12-15 hours moving items they left over... They failed to fulfill the terms of their contract (Part 1). We purchased insurance from Bronte Movers (all part of the contract). It was $100 and claimed to cover up to $20,000 in damages. Well, the movers did A LOT of damage. Before moving in, new solid hardwood floors were installed. It was freshly installed and it was in pristine condition. The movers were the first ones in the house, and after they were done with it, we are still left with huge gouges and scratches on our beautiful NEW wood floors. Our beautiful antique wood framed couch (which was recently refinished) has scratches and wall marks all across the back and big wood chips! Our antique china cabinet is full of scratches and has huge chips in it. The side of our fridge is all scratched up and has a huge dent in it. Not to mention numerous other pieces of beautiful wood furniture that they scratched up! He kept blaming it on the furniture being old -- but it is all clearly new damage they caused! After a month of waiting (they were informed that they caused damage to our house and knew it- it was in writing from their letter to the BBB) we called them again to come assess and fix the damage. They made an appointment to come a few days later. Ralph came to the house with touch up markers and crayons to simply coat the scratches and gauges. He again kept blaming it on the furniture being old! His attempted artwork on our antique and new pieces actually caused further damage.. He said while he was there that he would pay the repairman/hardwood installer directly but we are still waiting 2 weeks after the fact. They failed to fulfill the terms of their contract once again (part 2). We called him yesterday to ask when our damage is going to be fixed and he THREATENED us, that if we didn't remove this review he would not come and fix the damage his company caused (which he is still liable for) and that he would take legal action against us!!! We will NEVER use Bronte Movers again and DO NOT RECCOMMEND to anyone. A warning to STAY AWAY. They have given us the worst moving experience ever, not to mention added stress and headaches of them continuing to refuse to do anything about the damages they caused. This review is entirely factual and all statements/occurrances are true and can be proved. This review is intended to inform the general public of our experience with Bronte Movers and Cartage. If they do not rectify the damages they caused, we will have to pursue legal action. I will write a follow-up to this review.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,600.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- BRONTE MOVERS AND CARTAGE NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND ALL THE DAMAGES THEY CAUSED!!! They also need to learn to treat people with respect and act in a professional manner!!!
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Please do your research! Check out great info on government consumer sites: http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Information_Brochures.aspx http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/default.aspx If a company does not have enough good reviews please be wary and take note of all the bad reviews. If a company offers to remove the taxes if paid in cash--be wary! Go with a BBB accredited business. Go with someone a friend or family member has had experience with
- Company Response
We have taken this review very seriously and have been in contact with the client to remedy the situation as soon as it was reported, and taken additional steps since then to remedy the situation. The quote included that all the "furniture & bulky items" be moved. The client said that they would move the smaller boxes/items by themselves before moving day.
As is our practice, we called the day before to reconfirm our services as noted on the quote. At that time they stated they had moved 3/4 of the boxes already on their own, and there was no mention of extra room needed on the truck. On the day of the move we did manage to fit in some of the extra items to help out, but were surprised at seeing other boxes that hadn't been packed up and moved already by the client.
Regarding the damages, it is our practice to individually wrap in mover rugs and plastic, items that can be scratched or damaged during a move. The clients' furniture was antique and already had scuff marks on it. There were minor scratches on the hardwood floors that may have been caused by the moving of boxes before we arrived. Although it was not possible to determine the cause, we did accept responsibility to repair them. The damage to the side of the fridge was because it was wedged solidly in place at the old house.
We were immediately available and spoke with the client about all these issues and have addressed the remaining damages. The $100 insurance purchased by the client was for in-transit protection only. However, we have since visited the client to assess and repair the minor scratches and addressed the documented damages.
We have worked very hard to satisfy this client and customer satisfaction is our top priority. This move is not representative of the dozens of moves we have made each and every month for 30 years, and our other reviews on HomeStars reinforce this commitment. Within 24 hours of receiving this complaint we were in contact with The Canadian Association of Movers. After reviewing the circumstances they concluded that this complaint was unjust.We did go to court with this customer and the judge also saw thru all of her claims of damage and awarded her $350.00 to help repair the damaged floor which we were already were more then willing to help with that part. It is nice to see that our justice system works.
Regards,Chris