AMS Transportation Services Inc.

I will keep this short as we have been 6 months trying to resolve a claim in relation to damaged furniture.
In short:
Movers arrived, one guy in his late 70's and young guy, both who spent the whole time complaining about how bad it is working for AMS.
We gave them the exact address and explained the one way road system at apartment, driver/mover said they were not told about 1 way system and arrived with 80 foot long trailer and blocked road for 3 hours, very irate neighbours and police were called as well, luckily there was a call on radio for all police to attend and they did not return, overall nightmare.
Movers left carpets covered with dirt from snow outside and sidewalk dirt. They were supposed to used temp carpets for wet trolley wheels.
Furniture arrived 2 days later after I took two days off work and flew from Saskatchewan to Ontario to help with the arrival, so I was not there when furniture arrived, Leather furniture was scuffed and tv was missing. Unbelievable.
Seriously do not use this company, Bruce Told me himself claims are ignored!! As for the packing, have a look at the pictures. Also the refused to transport ANY liquid, Zero.
Avoid them at all costs.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3000

I moved from London, On. to Sherwood Park, AB two years ago. I am moving back to London,On. and I am looking for the services of AMS transportation again. I am satisfied with their service, the only negative part I can say the arrival was a little longer than expected, but we advised that that could happen so we were prepare.
If we look back at the positive things that happened I would say that it was worth it; even they helped us to assemble the beds. I think that if you look for the good things in people that is exactly what you are going to find in response, and these people were very good.

Service cost: $3398

We used this company to transport our furniture from Florida to Collingwood and it was a complete disaster, despite all of the assurances from AMS that they were the best company for the job!

Firstly, on the day of the move they ran over the allocated elevator time at our condo due to their staff arriving 2.5hrs late (a time that AMS had requested to arrive). Our condo tried to charge us an additional $250 for extra elevator time, AMS refused to pay this but luckily I managed to talk the condo management in to not charging me.

AMS then rushed to complete the move out and damaged nearly all of our furniture in the process. Despite assurances that they take great care with property and that everything would be safely wrapped, their staff arrived without enough wrapping blankets. I explicitly said to their staff on numerous occasions that I didn’t want our new white sofa leaving the apartment without it being wrapped, but when I was then trying to deal with the building management to prevent them charging us for the additional elevator time, AMS staff took the sofa to the truck unprotected.

When I realized what was happening, I went down to the truck and caught them dragging our $5000, 8 month old white sofa across the floor of their rental truck unprotected. At this point I tried to call the AMS office numerous times but there was no response. I called dispatch and informed them of what was happening and they seemed as shocked as I was about the situation and said they would speak to the team.. but by that point it was too late.

As expected, on arrival in Toronto all of the furniture was incredibly dirty and / or damaged:

Sofa: our sofa was covered in black dirt, hand prints, damaged fabric. In addition, one part of the sectional was a completely different color to the other. It looked as if it had sustained water damage

Mattress: The mattress arrived covered in dirt and again appears to have significant dirty water damage on one side

Book Shelf: The book shelf has had one complete shelf torn off and another one partially damaged.

Box Spring: The box spring arrived covered in dirt and stained

Headboard: the headboard was covered in dirty finger prints and has damage to one leg and the trim

Chair: one of our chairs arrived with dirty finger prints over one side

Lamps: three of our lights arrived with damage to the shades. The delivery person said that they should have been boxed. They were attached to the lamps when they were collected and it was not mentioned that they needed to be boxed which we would have done there and then with our other boxed items. Instead, AMS staff removed the shades at some point after collection and damaged them in the process or during shipping.

All of our furniture was less than 8 months old and we have receipts for all of the purchases. We submitted a damage claim for $5200 to AMS and after chasing and chasing for 6 months they finally mailed us a check for $19.

Needless to say, we will be taking legal action now. Please do your homework before using this company.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1972

This company dropped my large, oak table while unloading - a mover had to go to the hospital because the ramp had not been properly attached and the table landed partly on him. The man in charge made note on our furniture release forms that the table had been dropped, he then told me that I had to sign each page or they couldn't leave, and that the claims department would accept his note.  I just received a snarky letter with the furniture release forms highlighted where I had signed (and in other spots) informing me that because I had signed for the furniture, I had taken responsibility for the damage. Never use this company or its associated moving service provider - Relocation Services Canada.

Service cost: $8500

In dealing with the broker Relocation Services Canada I got the impression they had the best deal with all transporters and we ended up giving these guys the ok to pick our stuff up in Trois-Rivières, QC and deliver to Kelowna, BC. We paid the broker the upfront down payment and then we were told, pretty much, now deal with the dispatcher, Tina, here's her number. The loading went really well, the guys were fast, professional and courteous. We were told that they would load another shipment on in Ottawa (to Saskatchewan) so we were first on and last off. The broker told and wrote 5 to 15 business days for delivery. AMS told us they would weigh and we needed to pay full amount up front with credit card. We thought it would be a day or two before being weighed but it took over a week to find out what the weigh was. Of course the account receivable lady wanted to be paid but didn't know when the shipment would arrive So she transferred me to the dispatcher Tina who told me 'I'll know next week when it'll arrive'.  After a few messages and 2 WEEKS LATER, I finally got a hold of Tina who admitted my shipment was still in Toronto, on standby, waiting for another shipment to be combined with mine before getting it to me. Of course, the credit card payment had gone through and there is no way they will get this stuff out to me before AN ENTIRE MONTH! When I called the broker to complain, he referred me to the dispatcher, I sent an email and simply got a reply with a link to make a claim. No apology, not a single follow up to let me know the status.. I now have to run after these guys to get my stuff.. A car and almost 10,000 lbs of merchandise. We've been in the Okanagan now for two weeks with a 4 year old daughter who has no bed, not a fork to eat with.. And let's not forget the interview I had with no business suit on hand. I don't know when it'll arrive but do not use these guys, don't even bother to deal with Relocations Services Canada or Global.  A bad. EXPERIENCE from the time they got our money, almost $ 9000..

Service cost: $8700

I would highly recommend not using this company. Contractual commitments in regards to delivery pick up and receipt were missed on both counts. Communication with sales and dispatch was poor to non-existent. The exception was when the company was looking for payment. AMS did keep telling me they would keep me informed of what was happening in regards to delivery of goods but never did. They missed every callback promised. Payment policy required full payment before receipt of goods which is contrary to all three former companies that I have utilized in the past. Standard practice with these former companies was nominal deposit; 50% of balance paid when goods picked up;and remaining balance paid when good delivered to home. Lastly the goods were delivered by one driver who was not aware that one item was an antique piano. If my landscapers did not arrived during delivery and had not been willing to assist with getting this item in the house, I am wondering how it would have been delivered. The AMS driver would not have been able to deliver this heavy item on his own. Not a company I would recommend or ever utilize again. .

Service cost: $3660

I would never recommend this company. First I contacted a company to come in to give me an estimate. (I don’t remember this company name), they were very polite. I accepted their estimate and gave them 20% down which was all that was required. I guess they contract to other Transport Company and unlucky I was I received AMS Transportation. The day before my scheduled pick up I received a call from the truck driver to let me know what time he would be. The day of my pick up he called me again to let me know where he was and how long he would be. So the transport truck arrived at my front door and the guy introducing himself was not the guy that called me the night before or that day. (Didn’t let him in my house). We both called AMS transport to speak to TINA (a dispatcher) who told me that she did not know who the guy was and that it was my fault trying to tell me I must have booked with another transport company as well. About half hour later the first truck driver called me and explained that TINA never received his confirmation email to accept the load so she got another driver to come in. RED FLAGS I SHOULD HAVE CANCELED ON THE SPOT. If she didn’t know what was going on how am I supposed to trust these people with my items. Once that was clear the truck driver was inventorying that home with stickers and the movers showed up. These guys were great!! Kind, hardworking and DIDN’T BREAK ANYTHING. Once the company had all my items at their lot. The next day TINA calls and says they will not release my items until they receive full payment. (WHAT THIS WASN’T AGREED TO). Frustrated I paid her in full the morning. She told me that my shipment will be gone in the next day or two. After numerous calls and voice messages and emails NO ONE likes to call back or reply. I am 65 and my husband is 72 and we slept on the floor with no furniture for 3 weeks. Once we finally got a hold of TINA she gave us STEVE’S number apparently this is the gentlemen who has my items. Well Steve wasn’t happy at all anytime we called him. Once he showed up at my house he was RUDE and NOT pleasant. He was in the truck throwing my items on the driveway, yelling at the movers and continued to tell ever one to hurry up so he can leave. Well with this all done I have a ripped couch, missing items and a number of broken items that are from home country that will never be replaced. All my items were bubble wrapped and wrapped with fabric sheets all in plastic totes. Again AMS TRANSPORTATION doesn’t answer there phone. I am now out of my insurance they claim to cover for damaged items. If you can avoid this transport company they are nothing but headaches and stress.  .

Service cost: $11000

RIP OFF / SCAM ARTISTS!! Save your money and some major hassle and DO NOT hire this company whatever you do!! I did a lot of research and carefully chose Good Ol' Boys Moving Company for our move from out west to Ontario. After reading some reviews online and talking over the phone with Jesse, who assured me that the movers/labourers who worked for the company were locals and not dumb, dirty-for-hire contractors off the street .. We got the EXACT opposite. Unbeknownst to us, Good Ol' Boys actually sub-contracted out AMS for the move (a company I never would have hired based on the multitude of horrible reviews), and things kept going downhill from there. I don't even know where to begin, but here's a rundown of the issues we encountered:

1) When our items were picked up, it was obvious that the two labourers working had no idea what they were doing and insisted that our leather couch wouldn't make it out of our house. Obviously it made it into the house a year prior, and my husband had to remove the door unassisted and instruct the movers on how to get it out without scratching or damaging it.

2) We weren't as lucky when our stuff was delivered, as the dirty, dumbass labourers this time were even MORE careless and inexperienced. When the same leather couch was moved in, the labourers ignored my husband's instructions on how to angle in the sofa appropriately (again, these guys were completely friggin’ clueless) and they totally ignored him, slamming the couch into the wall and creating a large hole, leaving scuffs and tears on the sofa. As if this weren't enough damage, there was a large stain on the sofa that hadn't been there before that STANK to high heaven.. Based on how stinky and sweaty the movers were, we can only assume it was from some kind of spill or from the dirty, sweaty blankets they used to cover our furniture with.

3) Where do they hire these labourers from?! The night before our stuff was scheduled to arrive, I get a call from dispatch asking me if I 'know anyone in the area who they could hire to help the driver unload.' Astounded, I said that's what I hire you guys for!! Clearly they just pick these guys up from wherever/whenever as they are dumb as nails, have no concept of how to appropriately and safely move furniture, etc. We watched them roll a dresser packed with stuff, head over end, out of the truck .. Who does that?! What’s even worse, they just laughed after driving our couch into the wall and creating a large hole. SO unprofessional and inconsiderate.

4) I advised both Jesse from Good Ol' Boys and my contact with AMS about the damage done to the couch and that I wanted to open a claim. After following all the instructions and attaching several photos (and having to follow up a couple times through phone/email as I never got a response initially), I received a letter in the mail letting me know that because of the $0.60 per pound of insurance they offered, the value of the 300-lb couch was $61, and because of their $300 deductible policy, my balance was therefore 'zero.'

I had known about the $0.60 per pound / $300 deductible insurance policy when I booked the move, however misunderstood the exact parameters. I had assumed that that insurance coverage would be good up until the total amount of your move (i.e.) our 3500-lb move would equal approximately $2100 maximum coverage. Instead, the letter indicated that as the couch weighed only 300 lbs. that's how they determined it's value as $61. Even if we had purchased additional insurance, as that's an option you are advised of, why bother as you're pretty much paying to replace a damaged item yourself then, and taking a chance as you don't know what will be damaged and how?! It’s completely and utterly ludicrous and a RIP OFF.

This was a genuine leather, not bonded, couch that was originally purchased for over $2000, and instead of reliable moving service we were presented with as stupid as you could imagine, inconsiderate guys who mocked and made fun of the significant damage they caused … And a letter in the mail saying the value of our couch was ‘$61’ - but we wouldn’t even be getting that pocket change back because of how they rig their policies.

I CANNOT say enough how much we regretted booking with these guys … Please don’t make the same mistake. Moving is stressful enough without adding more needlessly.

Service cost: $3000