Atlantic Van Lines

I would never recommend the moving company that I used for my move from Brantford to Sarnia. I was originally quoted $925 (500lbs included in this quote) 26 cents per lb. They told me that I had 3890 in weight and I look at my stuff and wonder where the rest of it is because I can't see everything weighing that much. At the end of it all, I paid $2225.00. They charged me $75 per half hour for waiting for payment before my things were unloaded. They told me my price at 7pm (after my bank was closed) and sent the movers to my place before the bank opened the next day to be able to charge me the extra. If I was 5 minutes late they were going to charge me an additional $75. I offered to do a e-transfer and they had the excuse that their accountant doesn't arrive until 10am, so I couldn't do an e-transfer. They wanted me to use my credit card but they were going to charge me an additional 3% for processing fees. So, I had no choice but to wait until my bank was open to get the bank draft. The movers would not unload one item until they received payment in full for the move. I was also charged Warehouse handling fees and when I asked the representative from the company about that, and I had to remind her that I was loaded one day and delivered to the next morning, she said "it wouldn't have come off the truck." then she said "I will talk to the accountant and get that refunded to you" I also informed her "I want the 13% for the taxes you charged on that as well" When the move was done, I noted so much damage to so many items. I lost over half of my grandmother's crystal from England, the one and only plate I had left from my grandmother they broke, wine glasses from Germany 4 out of 6 broken (things with sentimental value), my pantry the bottom door was ripped off and the back was totally off (they handed me the nails to fix it on my own), gauge marks on my speakers, fireplace credenza (which is less than a year old) gauge marks on a decorative table I had a my door, major gauge marks on and pieces of wood missing from my bedside table and probably more damage if I really looked around. Their response was "You will have to put in a claim for all the damage" "I will send you the claims form to fill out", I haven't received it yet. I asked for a copy of the CAT Scale weigh in and a copy of my bill without all the white out, still haven't received anything. Other than getting everything here, I would never recommend them to anyone. I thought that if I used a professional moving company, I wouldn't have any damage but I will say I have moved many times with friends and family over the years with a lot less damage done to my things.

Service cost: $2225

This is the worst experience I’ve had with any company. Everything in the agreement was broken. They gave me a four hour window of when they would arrive to pick up my belongings; I had to wait 5 hours. I was told that the delivery date would be 2-6 days. They DID NOT say business days and did not say departure was from the city I lived in, not my house. It took them three weeks to delivery my belongings from Calgary to Victoria. I would constantly call and ask where my stuff was and they kept telling me its going to be there in two days, over and over again. They had my textbooks, which I need for school so my grades fell because of them.. In addition, I got charged double what I was quoted and they tried to over charge me by calculating the taxes incorrectly! I don’t think I had a single piece of furniture that wasn’t damaged. They transported my vintage record player upside down, which now doesn’t work. When I asked for compensation they used every excuse they could to not reimburse me for the damage but they gave me a whopping $75 for the inconvenience! Are you kidding me?! I STRONGLY discourage using Atlantic Van Lines. Their customer service is appalling and I was treated terribly. It would have been cheaper for me to buy all new belongings than to go with Atlantic Van Lines.

Service cost: $2300

This was by far the worst, period. I chose to move my 425sq ft apt to a city 375 km away. I asked them for an estimate, etc, giving them a list of belongings. The quote can back at $765 plus taxes. And any other incurred charges. I'm glad I took pictures before the place was packed up, and after it was. Their drivers were over 12 hrs late picking my stuff up. Then the next day, at 5:30 pm, she calls me to arrange delivery.. Which also is not corresponding with the original agreement.. And politely informed me of the cost..$2380! Over triple the quote, saying the scale weight was almost 3000lbs!! Yeah, maybe if you weigh the crate it's on with the three movers sitting on it!! Then she says, "oh we can provide storage for five weeks for free" WHAT?!
..definitely being overcharged, put out, and basically feeling completely violated. Maybe one day I will get my belongings back, and they will be in perfect condition.. But I have lost my optimism. Moving companies are lying thieving crooks.

Service cost: $2381

Lied about everything..quote turned out to be 25% higher than originally quoted.. They quoted low on purpose just to get the order..then when they have your furniture..they will increase the price and not release it until you pay.  I was originally quoted $2500.00 and then it was increased to $3500.00.   Delivery staff were very unpleasant and made the whole experience very uncomfortable. I do have to thank them however for opening my eyes to checking reviews first..now that I see what all the others are saying about Atlantic..I kick myself for not doing my due diligence before hiring them for the job..  .

Service cost: $3500

Original quote $ 1204, 2nd quote $ 1595

I hired Atlantic Van lines without looking into company reviews or the BBB, had I done so, I would NEVER have hired them. I hired the company May 2 via Christina White quote and call on May 4th to confirm details and request the price for monthly storage after 5 weeks if I was not ready to move, she quoted 125/mth, and no mention of warehouse fees. The dispatch/drivers/movers were booked 2 times before they actually made it to my Castlegar address. They were scheduled to arrive between 6 - 8 pm. Unfortunately, I never received a call until 11:45 pm by the property manager telling me the moving company had just arrived they were then given my number and spoke to me about moving my stuff during the middle of the night. I thought that type of service to be un-professional and I received quite a lash back from the property manager about the late arrival and move. I had much fear and anxiety do to the fact the truck had no branding on it, that perhaps I hired a scam company. The driver assured me I nothing to worry about. After a few phone calls Chritina White was no longer the manager of my case, someone named Samantha with no last name, again un-professional took my distressed call about where my belongings were, and where was my contract or invoice for the move so far, as my belongings were going into storage with them. May 20th I sent another demanding email requesting the above info from my move early May on May 28th, and finally received basic wait, cost and address of my storage. I called mid September to request my belongings be delivered to Vancouver Island, and spoke with a female. She was to set up my move and full invoice via email by Oct 1, I then spoke with Samantha and requested the same info and delivery. Still no response for several weeks (I have cell bill to prove I called). Oct 20 I called again, to request delivery and my full invoice for a delivery on Nov 1. Once I was assured by Samantha my delivery would be done Nov 1, I offered a flexible timing during this week, so they could que up with another load to move to the island to help save them fees etc, as I believe this is good business. I emailed Samantha Oct 27 to request that my delivery needs to be during the day, as it was going into a local storage facility, which I provided all the details for that delivery. The response was they will contact me, but no contact came in, finally on Nov 2nd I again emailed Samantha to request dispatch has not yet contacted me for my delivery, with no response. Nov 3, Samantha emailed me to let her know if I did not hear from dispatch, so I called at 9 am only to be devastated that she accused me of not being available for contact from dispatch on Nov 2, which I have since contacted my cell company to confirm no calls came in from anyone in her entire company or calls from numbers either unknown or blocked or from a number not recognised. I gave up sailing plans just to be available to confirm my delivery. Plus, I needed items in my storage for my birthday going away weekend for Nov 4th. Samantha said I was lying and that its my fault they tried all day Nov 2 to contact me. Now she added that a delivery can not happen unless they speak with me, yet I requested contact on 4 occasions. I have cell bills to show the number of times I called and emails to show written attempts. Samantha came back to the line for the 3rd time leaving me on hold for long periods of time suggesting that my delivery was not coming due to my fault and next delivery would be Nov 12, I said that is unaceptable unless they provide me with a discount of some kind. I was very distressed at this point and asked to speak with a GM and she said we do not have one, she is the highest manager and will NOT be giving me a discount, and offered to provide me with the dispatch contact info, she then hung up on me. Sent an email stating they are trying to deliver in a timely manner and has still not provided the dispatch info. nor a discount, for still upcoming delivery that may or may not arrive on time; plus I am charged 150/mth storage an additional 25 more per month.

This company holds you and your earthly possesions hostage, DO NOT USE.

Check with Better Business Bureau they have 23 claims against them plus all the reviews here.

Actual cost $ 3496.53 plus now they want 3 % additional charge for using my credit card.

Service cost: $3700

Atlantic Van Lines is by far the worst experience I have ever had as a consumer. My frustrations ultimately became laughable due to the sheer clueless and carelessness of this company.
Their major offences:
- The delivery was three weeks late
- They attempted to grossly overcharge me based on their mistake (and ended up overcharging only a couple hundred dollars after tirelessly reasoning with them)
- My 'service representative' Roy Clarke kept me completely in the dark on all the happenings of the move and displayed a complete and utter disregard to my rights and interests as a patron of his company.
- Mine and my wife's personal belongings were held hostage.

A brief summary of my experience:

Aug 24 - Call placed to AVL, solicitation. Shipment arrival estimated Oct 3rd. Pickup window established between Sept 6-12 (Six Day Window?!)

Sept 6 - Haven't heard anything from anyone (including the mysterious Roy Clarke, our Service Rep). I call, they have no answers, they will call me right back, no return call takes place.

Sept 14 - Still nothing, I call again. They say truck is coming tomorrow. Remember, this is with no forewarning, I had to call them.

Sept 15 - Truck arrives for pickup, three days after the extravagant 6-day window closed.

Sept 16 - Email received from Service Rep Roy: "Shipment will arrive in 17-21 day (October 6th). Later than the original estimate, but marginally so.

Oct 11 - (26 Days after shipment, no email or call from Roy or anyone) I call them, they know nothing; I have to call Calgary dispatch, which I do: "Oh, your shipment has been sitting here." Frustration. Roy Clarke couldn't even send me an email, let alone call me, to let me know my things have been sitting in Calgary (for how long?). I had to hunt with multiple phone calls from my work to find this out. I set up a delivery with Calgary dispatch next week.

Oct 17 - 1530pm; I receive a call from Calgary Dispatch: "Your boxes arrive tomorrow, how would you like to pay". I reply Credit Card (the only reasonable way to purchase something in the thousands). They remind me of a 3% credit card service charge (which turns out was in the fine print of my quote, but come on!) I arrange time off work to take care of the boxes.

Oct 17 - 1700pm; I received an email from Roy Clarke (which I did not realize until the next day because instead of calling, he sent an email at 5pm)

Oct 18 - I notice and read the email. It contains a cost summary; just over $2000 based on a scaled weight of 1560lbs. However, I self-weighed all my items at 805lbs, I expected some change in weight at the scales, but a discrepancy of over 700lbs, which would cost me hundreds of dollars more, must be a mistake. In addition, this is being addressed ON THE DAY my boxes arrive because my service representative EMAILED me the night before. Frustration ensues.
I call Roy; explain to him the scaled weight cannot be correct as it is nearly double what I know I put on the truck (weighing each box individually, albeit with a bathroom scale, but still..) Roy gives me two choices (more of an ultimatum considering..);

Choice 1: Despite a ridiculous scaling error (their mistake) I would have to wait at least an additional week (to my already 3-week late shipment) AND pay a re-delivery fee. All so they can return to the scales to correct their mistake.

Choice 2: "The best I can do", says Roy, "is call it 1000lbs and charge you that". I reluctantly accepted the offer, even though it constitutes charging me over $150 more, given that they are assuming I had approximately 200lbs more on the truck than I actually did. But my wife and I needed our things three weeks ago, so I couldn't allow it to be delayed any more.

I think given the mistakes this company made prior to this the "best" they could do is take my word for it at 805lbs, but given that they threatened to not deliver my things if we didn't work it out (effectively holding my shipment hostage) perhaps I should see Choice 2 as a gracious offer, but I digress.

The icing on the proverbial cake is that all of the cardboard boxes were horribly squished, and all of the plastic tubs were cracked and broken, with our personal belongings half falling out of some of the boxes. Thankfully, my wife and I packed diligently and nothing was broken, and so far nothing seems to be missing.

In summary, Atlantic Van Lines based their entire costing on a single scaling, which they got grotesquely incorrect. Compounded by the fact that the service representative, Roy Clarke, gave me the official cost summary (which was wrong) the day of delivery, I was forced in to an unprofessional deal which involved charging me an overestimated sum of money based on zero substantiating evidence of costing. Not to mention the damaged boxes, late arrival, and a complete disregard for keeping me informed, forcing me to play 'transit broker' between AVL and Calgary, as well as having my boxes sit in Calgary without me knowing about it for who knows how long.

How a company can stay afloat with such blatant ignorance for common decency and business ethics is beyond my comprehension.

Please be diligent in reading consumer reviews. Had I visited this website I would have never gone with this company, as many others have dealt with what I have.

Atlantic Van Lines; I recommend hiring some new staff and starting to hold yourself accountable for your poor business practice. Step it up.

Service cost: $1500

Atlantic Van Lines is the worst experience I have ever had and I regret not looking up reviews before I went with them.
- They overcharged me a disgusting amount
- My representative "Roy" never responded to me within a timely manner and had no desire to fulfill any sort of customer service.
- A lots of my belongings were damanged.
- I tried to claim some of my belongings back and they offered us a total of $50.

I had weighed all the items myself before they came and they charged me double the amount. Thinking that they actually used "government issued scales" I believed them and decided not to argue or ask for any form of proof.

When my items arrived to my new home the movers were racist and rude. After throwing all my belongings in the house (leaving no space for me to even walk) they accused me of lying to them saying that I had no steps that led to my unit, they had the audacity to ask how long I had been living in Canada and if I even understood English.

After unpacking all my belongings I found a couple things had been damanged. My flat screen TV, my expensive lamp, my bicycle and some antique cabinets. I asked Roy for the claim process and he said that I would have to take some photos, estimate the original price etc etc. I did this promptly. It took them a total of 8 weeks to respond to me. Their first excuse was that the claim director was "out of office." The second time they just didn't reply. After finally getting a response they said their claims were based on the estimated WEIGHT of the item. Then why go through all the trouble of asking me to submit a form with photos and estimated cost and how old the items were?? Finally, they offered me a return of $50 to all my damaged items. I honestly thought that was some kind of joke.

All in all, Altantic Van Lines is an awful company whose main goal is to scam people. I hope no one EVER uses them again or has the same experience as I have had. I am shocked as to how they are still an actual company.

Service cost: $4000

Worst Company in History. Do not hire them. They quote low depending the guessed weight of your stuff. Weight is ALWAYS higher. Furniture is held hostage until you pay up. My final payment was $4000 ABOVE my quote. Lots of my stuff was damaged beyond repair and I was offered $50 in compensation. Walls and floors were damaged in both homes but they are not liable so they don't care. Do yourself a favour and get a company that comes into your house, gives you a guaranteed quote and has good insurance. You will be happier for it.

Service cost: $6000

I never post bad reviews and rarely get upset about things but feel that it's important that people know our experience with Atlantic Van Lines. As with many others, can't believe I am only reading the reviews now when I need to post my own. I wouldn't have chosen this company had I taken the time to read the miserable ratings. However, again like many others, was blinded by the low initial estimate. End total was over double the initial quote with no way to prove the scaling/ weight charge. Several, several damaged items- Large and small. Almost $200 in extra packing charges that the movers never asked us about until truck was loaded and they were leaving. So we paid $200 for packing items that in the end were delivered completely damaged (smashed t.v, professional wedding picture frame, etc). For example, charged $50 for "wardrobe" bag for wedding dress which we found at the bottom of a larger box crushed by several tools from garage. Were told 2 weeks until delivery. Repeatedly phoned until finally someone agreed to have our stuff delivered at the end of the third week even though it was sitting in storage less than an hour from our house. We submitted a claim for the damage items (and paid for extra coverage that they later claimed we hadn't) and were told nothing was covered. They claimed that certain items were owner packed which hadn't been so they couldn't compensate us. Outright lied to by this company. Scammed for all this extra packing and no insurance even though you think you are signing for it. On delivery, we had items (large furniture pieces) that didn't belong to us and then had other items dropped off at our doorstep in the middle of the night that they had missed delivering during the initial move. Other than Lucy being a supportive contact person, ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE COMPANY. Save yourself the headache, your possessions and lots of money by NEVER EVER doing business with this company.

Service cost: $6014

Echoing many many others experience. I am usually really good at doing my research. I wish I read these first.
The men that came worked extremely hard in the midst of a heat wave. My frustration came when they charged us $450 for "packing". They asked me at booking if I needed packing material and I said no. But the first thing they did was assemble these huge boxes, great for holding odd shape things. But still, no mention of a charge for this until drop off day. They had my husband initial beside packed, but no dollar value was listed there.
I don't hold them responsible for my things weighing more than I was quoted, but I do hold them responsible for the hidden "packing" charges.

Service cost: $2900