Canadian National Van Lines

We moved with this company twice. The first time was great. The second time was a complete nightmare.
1. They almost forgot to come pack and pick our items up on our move day. If I had not called to re-confirm the day before they would not have shown up.
2. Will try to manipulate you into paying with a credit card so they can get the 3% processing fee. When I called my bank to confirm what they were saying about my payment options they said CNVL was incorrect. But Courtney at CNVL continued to argue with me in order to get the addition ~$300 they would have gotten in credit card processing (and I am sure they are paying a fraction of that to the credit card company and pocketing the rest, I have worked on several of these deals with credit card companies on behalf of my company in the past so I know how this works)
3. Two days before delivery they called to tell me they didn't have a truck in the area so had to delay by 2 days and left us scrambling for 2 additional nights in a hotel.
4. The day before my delivery they added another surprise $650 onto our bill for "steps" which apparently they say is a cost buried in the fine print of the contract. They do not believe it is their responsibility to educate their customers on all costs or ask questions in advance to make sure they have all the info needed for giving an accurate cost.
5. On the day of delivery, they tried to charge an additional $850 because they miscalculated the number of steps the day before. We were so mad at this point we had them leave our stuff on the sidewalk and didn't pay them the additional $650 or $850. My hubby is a champ doing it all himself because they are a scam of a company.

Then they will argue with you how wonderful they are with customer service. It's pretty hysterical to listen to Courtney talk about how wonderful of a customer service agent she is when she can't communicate the basics of pricing to her customers. They appear to be competitively priced, but in the end, they are not for all the insane "fine print" items they do their best to keep you from discovering until it is too late.

Never again will I be a victim of theirs and I recommend that you are not either.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $12500

This company lied to me directly and repeatedly, and tried to overcharge me by thousands of dollars.

I hired Canadian National Van Lines to move my belongings from Vancouver to Ottawa. The company tried to fraudulently overcharge me by roughly $2,400 (charging me over $6,000 on a move that should have cost less than $4,000). They did this through various lies and deceptive practices. It's clear that these lies are part of the company's regular business operations. As a separate matter, the company also damaged or destroyed many of my belongings, for which I am pursuing a resolution through civil litigation. The first way they tried to over charge me by roughly $2,050 was by claiming that my belonging weighed roughly %50 more than their initial estimate, 6,000 lbs instead of 4,000 lbs. They did not provide any evidence for this, but expected me to pay an extra $2,050 for the extra weight.

The truck that showed up to pack my things was already half full of other people's belongings, so I was suspicious about how they weighed only my items. I asked for a weigh receipt indicating the weight of my belongings and confirmation that they had some way to separate the weight of my items from everyone else's. They changed their story on me several times, and after about 25 emails back and forth, they suddenly "realized" that my belongings actually came in under the estimated weight. Still, with no weigh receipt (which they are required to provide in most provinces). Clearly they had never weighed anything.

The next dirty trick was an "error" in the sum total I owed. There were charges for packing, shipping, storage, a stair fee and taxes. Yet somehow, when all these items were added together, the total they listed was about $190 more than that actual, mathematical total of the # listed. I confronted them about this, and it still took several emails for them to list the correct addition. They kept just dismissing the fact that they were outright trying to deceive me.

Finally, after all this, I became suspicious of every line in the bill, so on a hunch, I checked that they applied the correct tax rate. Of course they had over charged me on that too, by about $75. I asked them several times, what percentage rate they used for calculating the tax, and if they were using a different province's sales tax. They either refused to answer, or were as vague as possible. Finally, after many more emails back and forth, they corrected their "mistake". By this point, I had exchanged over 90 emails with the company, just to get them to charge me the honest amount we had agreed to.

Of course, many of my items arrived damaged or destroyed. They caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to my stuff, through objectively negligent packing and handling. I made a claim for about $1,300. After ignoring me, or telling me I had never actually made a claim (actually) for 6 months, they offered me $50. I am currently pursuing them in civil court on this matter.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4220

Avoid this company at all costs! Check out reviews at mymovingreviews.com (not their site which is nothing but positive) and see that over 85% of reviews have to deal with lost and damaged furniture and the "GENEROUS" $40-$50 compensation offered.Check with BBB Edmonton and Service Alberta as well.

Make sure you have additional insurance and make sure you get a weight cost from a 3rd party. CNVL gives estimates and does not confirm actual weight. SCAM! Better still, get a different company!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

Let me begin by saying, I am very disappointed in the service, or better yet lack thereof, of this company. Take it from me who have had a most recent experience with them. They did not stand by their promise and commitment of care, service to their customers or attention to detail as they claim. My boxes were mostly broken. I had multiple items with scratches and dents. My brand new bed set had so many scratches and dent on it, it was heartbreaking. As you will see by the photos, my items were not wrapped properly for transportation. They were not handled with any care or finess by the movers; instead they seem to have been thrown around.

This is a summary of my sad reality and experience with this company:

-Delivery men unprofessional in attire, discourteous, and outright disrespectful of my property, the apartment I was renting and me. Dressed in sandals and broken down shoes with an undesirable body odour.

-Missing item that I am being told will not be replaced since the deductible value is more than the cost of the item based on weight. Interesting!

-Multiple broken items

-Non-functional microwave with a missing leg and inner plate. Also told it cannot be replaced because its value is less than the deductible.

-Offered less than the value of any single item damaged or lost as compensation.

Now, the choice is ultimately yours. A word to the wise is sufficient. Personally, I will never use this company again or refer them to anyone- not even my worst enemy.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $900

I used Canadian National Van Lines to move across provinces and ended up paying hundreds of dollars in hidden fees that I was not told about (not over the phone, not in writing) prior to receiving my bill. For example, their quote stated "Service Quote Includes: Door-to-Door Loading and Off Loading Services and Labour Included", however, I was charged an extra $150 because they brought my boxes up stairs to my second floor apartment. An employee had called me the day prior to say my delivery was arriving, and had asked for a description of my home. At this point, I told them it was the second floor. They asked if there were stairs and how many. They did not tell me that they were asking this detail in order to charge me a fee. I was not told about this fee until after they had brought the boxes up and I given my bill, otherwise, I would have certainly declined and brought the boxes upstairs myself. They have refused to refund the fee. Other fees were also charged that I was not told about in time to decline or choose a different moving company (e.g., $150 because they had to park their 18-wheeler 150 meters from my front door, and other smaller fees).

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $1295

This is a continuation to my last review (you'll find it above).

I first needed to dispute their service within the company (BBB would not allow the complaint until I first disputed within the company). So, I submitted a claim form that the company had asked me to complete. I also provided clear photos of each item.

I was given 6-12 weeks for the office to complete the form. At 16 weeks I had not heard from the company, so I reminded them. The company immediately returned the claim form, but more than half of the items I had claimed were missing. I tried to dispute with the company, but the employee continued to ignore my questions and refused to provide me with their weight calculations and references.

He also would not pass the dispute onto another stage

Or to another employee since he had been the one to sign off on their claim. I feel to remove bias, I should have been dealing with a different employee. It was just email back and forth, with him ignoring every question.

I am now having to proceed further.

BUYERS BEWARE -.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $2500

Absolutely the worst moving company going. They say they charge per pound yet they don't weigh your items or provide you proof. They then over charge you.

But it gets worse, when they arrive at your destination they make up more fictional charges. And will not off load your items until you pay them more money.

But they are not holding your stuff hostage, because if you don't pay the extra fake charges, you can always choose to have your items off loaded and left by the side of the highway.

These people are criminals, stay far far away from their services.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

We moved from BC to MB. On our way they informed us that they under charged us and blamed it in " new staff"?They never sent us the government weigh bill with the new weight, it went from 8500 to 14000 lbs? Funny the truck that picked up our things only had a max weight of 10000 lbs and it wasn't full either then i asked the mover if we were over 10000 and he said no? When the truck arrived the damage we incredible 10 g in damages or stolen items, boxes crushed or upsides down. I was told you have 10 days to go through your things to make a claim. I asked for a claim form and it was so small u couldn't even write in the column. They said 8 to 10 weeks before a decision but i called a lawyer as well to deal with it.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $9500

The move took well over a month from pickup to final delivery. Boxes were obviously poorly stored for an extended period in Toronto and Edmonton and arrived in Grande Prairie in poor condition. Two boxes containing personal collectibles never arrived. I was able to itemize many of the missing items. However, CNVL offered $30 as compensation. Interesting to hear the same story with other customers. Definitely not recommend this company. Customer ends up paying for their negligence.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $2498