Canadian Van Lines

Avoid this company at all costs. I booked CVL for moving 1 bedroom apartment from Sudbury to Calgary:

- They delayed their move three times, and every time they had a new excuse.

- Took some advance payment and informed earlier that the remaining would be paid at the time of delivery in Calgary. But then later asked for 100% payment when they came with the truck in Sudbury and threatened to not take stuff if I didn't pay up. Of course, the advance would be non-refundable in that case.

- I interacted with Rachel White, and she was very rude and unprofessional, and knew nothing about customer service. She was pleasant before I paid advanced money.

- I had a little more luggage than estimated. They refused to take any additional stuff even though there was plenty of room in the truck. After a lot of requests, they finally agreed with premium charges. In the end, I ended up paying three times more than the initial estimate.

They are frauds. Avoid this company.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Home Service cost: $6000

First off I'd like to say that when a professional moving company relies on customers to provide a list of "everything" they need moved so they can come up with an estimate is not professional at all. Why should the customer be responsible for an accurate estimate? So further to this, a truck landed around 4 pm to load our things. Our move is from Calgary to New Brunswick. They soon discovered that everything would not fit. I got a call from Canadian Van Lines that evening apologizing and saying they would send another truck early the next morning as possession of the house by the new owners was 12 noon. Next day, 10:00 am, still no one. I called Rachel (who I have been dealing with). She could not guarantee someone before 2:00 pm and she would be considering this a "second" move so I had to pay another $1000 down before they showed up. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, so I had to pay. I was crying by this time out of shear frustration. This was Friday before the July long weekend. The new owners were kind enough to postpone the possession to 4:00 pm., which meant we could not get payment until Tuesday and we were leaving for NB the next day. When the second truck showed up, the movers were huffy because they had to work in the heat. They tried to leave things behind and would have if I didn't stay on top of them (not little things either, more like a bed, dresser). Finally they left. Fast forward to mid- August. We finally got the call that they were going to be pulling up in a 50' tractor trailer. This move went from approx. $6500 to $13K. I packed everything very tightly and well wrapped, yet somehow mirrors, dishes (and good ones) were broke. They even broke a 6" square leg off a new couch and right now I have two blocks of wood under it. My (also new) office chair had the material scraped off the edges. The boxes were damp and some had mud on them. I was so disappointed. I didn't even go with their insurance as I had to sign a paper before they left saying that a claim had a $450 deductible for the chance of a 60% return. I was sick to my stomach. The movers in NB were very good though and understanding. I believe Diego and Jordan were their names. The whole experience was awful to say the least. Moving isn't fun at the best of times. Oh yes, I was also told when the movers arrived that if I had one more step (from my 6, I believe) going into the house, each time they brought something in the house it would cost an extra $750. I nearly collapsed. Luckily for us, this wasn't an issue for them. Be very careful with this company. They don't have your back when you need them most.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $13000

Almost a year ago we hired this company to move our stuff from Canada to US. After 3 months listing to their lies and tolerating their unprofessional behavior we decided to rent a U-HAUL to bring our stuff ourselves. They promised to refund us in a month but after nine months they haven't honored their promises yet.

If you are planning to hire a mover stay away from this company.
This company is nothing but fraud and is run by one person from his living room. All addresses they have on their web sites are fake. I have personally check their Manitoba office; it doesn't exist. There are several legal cases against them in BC court (check this link: https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/esearch/civil/partySearch.do); type in "Canadian Van lines" in the "search box" you will see a list of allegations. Also if you search for "Coronation Van line" you'll see more. (You can see the list of court cases in the attachment).This company used to operate under the "Coronation Van line" before 2014. Because of flatulent practice and so many allegations they have changed the name of company. But their bank accounts is still under the old name.
They may offer you better deal than other movers, but they'll take your money and will never do the job. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

Service cost: $5500

We recently used the CANADIAN NATIONAL VAN LINES for moving to Ontario.

Prior to actually finalizing the deal, everything went smooth. We determined the pick up date and movers came early.

We showed what needed to be loaded. We've packed a lot of boxes, but we're not completely finished packing. Movers started to put stuff into empty boxes to get everything loaded. They were rushing and not paying attention. I've advised to take it easy on certain items and they were good for a small period of time. Movers had many blankets to wrap around TVs and other items. However, when moving furniture the floor (Laminate) got scratched and the entrance door dented, they didn't seem to care about it.

Prior to booking, we were informed that it would take 7-12 days from the pick up date, so we booked the flight closer to the promised date, however, it took 3 weeks for items to arrive. We tried to get our items sooner and they accommodated us for the whole one-day, so we (single mom with 2 children and 1 baby) lived without our items (especially baby stuff) for some time.

At 5 pm (1 hour before their office closing time), we get a call saying we have to pay (eTranfer, cash or bank draft) the full amount in order to get our items unloaded the next day. We tried, but weren't able to e-Transfer the whole amount due to its daily allowable limitations. We tried to do a second e-Transfer the following day, but it didn't go as banks allow a certain limit to be transferred within 24hrs. We did not know this. I believe it depends on a bank account type.

Anyways, the movers came the next day a requested for the outstanding amount to be paid and to sign that all boxes are in good condition prior to unloading. We were advised, if movers wait more than 15 min, they would charge a waiting fee and that the rest to be paid immediately.

When finished unloading, the furniture was damaged, somehow the couch got a sharpie markings on it (was wrapped in plastic by movers when picked up), a big aquarium was broken (glass shattered, the box had big letters on it glass, fragile), some dishes were shattered, boxes looked like they were thrown around and had holes in them. We picked up brand new boxes and some used boxes, but made sure there were no holes in them prior to packing. 2 glass doors of our wardrobe went missing. The office chair wheels were missing. One box (number 78) was missing.

To this date we still haven't seen the invoice from this company.

We weren't expecting this type of service from a "Supposedly well establish company".

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4200

  Make sure you are aware that this is NOT the same company as the Great Canadian Van Lines which is a reputable solid moving company.  Canadian Van Lines appear to be basically one person (in each location) working out of their garage I think with no credentials whatsoever in this industry.  Their website lists an erroneous address in Langley and we couldn't find a business licence for them in BC.  When we attempted to contact their "customer service" we learned their phone system is primarily a voicemail router and we never did get a call back from them.  The dispatcher (James) was very poor at communicating about our delivery and basically we were finally told they were holding our goods until we agreed to pay IN FULL BEFORE they would deliver to the final destination which delayed the delivery by 2 full days costing us money and time.  The drivers (independent contractors) told us later that they were being held up intentionally until final payment was received.  We never disputed the final payment, just wasn't aware it was all due up front! A practice not common in the moving industry according to many sources.  After many debates over this, we agreed to pay in full in order for them to deliver our goods, and when we asked for them to send us an invoice showing the final amount owing they argued they didn’t need to do that as we would get a FINAL invoice showing the payment amount.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not keen about allowing someone to charge our credit card without knowing the amount.  After more arguing, James finally did email an invoice and we got everything processed.  Of course by this time the drivers had been re-routed for other work and hence the delay.  They finally showed up at 11pm, 2 days late.   It pays to research these companies before agreeing to anything, as there are seemingly many horror stories out there, and nobody to regulate them.  Pick one with a solid reputation, been around awhile and has a good BBB rating.     .

Service cost: $1100

Do not use this company. It's just one guy james working from home. He will never give you a straight answer and they will never call you back. You can call any number from any province and guess what you get james. We booked with them, they asked for half up front (reasonable I thought) then when the day came to move. They did not show, no call no nothing. So I called, was told truck broke down would be there in the afternoon. Afternoon came and went. Called again, James said they couldn't make it but would be there for sure the next morning, even verified with an email. Next morning came, once again they didn't show. No call or anything. So called again said they would be there in the afternoon. Never showed. So I had to rent a uhaul and pay some guys. I called countless times to get my money back. They sent me an email saying they would pay by specific date and time. It came and went, I don't know how many times I was told I would get a refund. Over 100 phones calls and countless emails, bbb, canadian fraud protection, demand letter, etc. Now I am taking them to small claims court, which they don't plan on showing. So if you like your hard earned money or your belongings. STAY AWAY.

Service cost: $2200

Found the company on the Internet, customer service had a pleasant tone, they gave me options pertaining my relocation from WINNIPEG to Chestermere. I opted fur the is jig service, which was very carefully taken care of, the guys were very courteous and respectful. The following day they returned to move my contents, no problems there. My delivery took 3 days and arrived between on time, which aided my elevator booking. I have now had time to unpack, and everything is as it was. No breakages. I am a satisfied customer, and would certainly recommend.

Service cost: $4250