Number 1 Movers

We used Number 1 Movers for our family moving, and it ended up as a terrible, terrible experience.

To keep it short: They firstly gave misleading information on pricing and estimate when we asked for a quote, and to make it worse, at the delivery of goods, their final invoice was grossly higher over the actual measurement of goods. This kind of business practice is outrageous to us as consumers.

We share the same frustration and anger against this company as the many 1-star reviews below expressed.

Dealing with them, after invoicing issues arose, was also much a pain. Will absolutely NOT use or recommend this company.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

We just recently used their Stoney Creek location.
Movers called us that they are on their way. Started working right away. Disassembled 3 beds and then assembled them back together. Everything was in blankets and plastic wrap which I loved cause last time movers destroyed our bedroom set.
We had crew of 3 guys. It took them 7h to move content of our 3 bedroom house from Toronto to Hamilton.
Their qoute was little bit more expensive than movers from kijji but it was a good choice. We will call Number 1 movers for our next move.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1350

DO NOT USE THEM! Lots of items were broken when they arrived or damaged. We didn't receive a few items ($350 ladder), my deceased fathers clock (an item that is sentimental to me) and a couple bins and boxes. They said they found 1 bin, but now we cannot get ahold of the company. No answer, no compensation for lost items (not that it would even come close to what we paid for these items). Vince is nowhere to be found, doesn't respond to emails or calls. It is the shadiest business I have ever seen. They tried unloading two beds that were not ours. We sent them back (hoping the right people find their beds). Hoping this company gets what is coming for them.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $18000

I wish I could give zero stars.

When the truck arrived, my mother's items were mixed in with another person's (or multiple persons') delivery and they kept unloading items that didn't belong to her. When we said the items weren't hers, the two movers said "if you like it, you can keep it." This was said to us several times as they offloaded items. At one point, one of the movers turned to my 6-year-old and said "someday you'll learn the world isn't an honest place." This should be this company's slogan.

Boxes were falling apart, soaking wet, like they'd been sitting in a puddle for days. Items were damaged; many, many items. My mom is an antique dealer and knows how to package/wrap things and it was shocking how many things were smashed. Rubbermaid bins were broken and the items inside were crushed, that's how bad it was. Original artwork that had been wrapped in foam and cardboard had broken glass, frames and the artwork itself had been damaged. The mattress was ripped, furniture was chipped beyond repair...

The best part? Not all of her items were on the delivery truck. I have no idea how/why someone's move would be split up. When we pressed the issue and finally said we would pick the items up at the warehouse, we were told the warehouse manager would meet us in a closer location, which was a grocery store parking lot (yes, we agreed to this, but seriously?). We collected a TV stand (broken), her luggage (soaking wet to the inside where the contents were mouldy) and a table (broken). She's still missing original artwork and several boxes. I don't have much confidence we'll ever receive them after hearing several times during unloading, "if you like it, you can keep it."

She called and spoke with Bella in Customer Service who said the manager, Julianna, would call her back the next day to discuss the damage and missing items. Of course, no phone call. The following day, she called again, and again, and no one would pick up (you can't leave a voicemail). I called and connected with Jenna in Customer Service on my first attempt. (Were they screening her?) Jenna gave me the email address for the claims department, and my mom sent photos of the damage with descriptions of the items. She received a reply stating they would offer .60 per pound and they guesstimate the weight of each item via the photos. So, for thousands of dollars in damaged antique pottery, furniture and original artwork, she was offered $240. She refused this and they 'upped' the offer to $573. She refused this again but there's been no progress since.

Plus, still no word from them on the missing items but we were told that they are in a storage unit, behind another person's belongings and that person hasn't secured an address yet, so we need to wait. It's been a month since my mom's move date and now we're waiting for someone else to secure a residence because they can't be bothered to move their stuff to complete my mom's delivery. I've emailed two more times, requesting a date and received no response. I can't get through via phone anymore either.

She did finally receive an email from Julianna who promised to make time the following day to call her to discuss. It's been two days since that promise was made and my mom hasn't heard from anyone.

My mom is elderly. She moved from Ontario to BC to be closer to her grandchildren. A huge and stressful move for anyone, let alone an elderly person. If they can treat a grandma with this amount of disregard, disrespect and unprofessionalism, they are truly number one at something, that's for sure. I'm disgusted with their lack of concern, lack of organization and competency, lack of care and complete lack of decency.

By the way, it you're missing a box of spices and/or the top to an outdoor patio table, I have it...

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

BEWARE!! Absolutely horrendous experience from before my move to after my move.

Let’s start with before: I’m promised a moving date nearly two months in advance. Kind of important when you are moving to another province as you need to coordinate things like hotels, pet care, etc. Then, less than a week before my moving date, I get told “no it’s not a date, but a RANGE” and finally my move will be pushed up by a day. Excuse me?! Now I have to scramble to find a hotel to sleep in and care for my pets. I also had personal plans for a goodbye party before leaving the province, which I had to move around and accommodate.

Moving day: They showed up hours late, forcing me to alter the party being thrown for us. They are supposed to weigh the truck before arriving, so I ask for the weight receipt. The driver has one but they have done a drop off since their last weigh-in, so it’s not accurate to my starting point.

When packing up my old home, they did not wrap ANYTHING in moving blankets except the glass cabinet & TV, nor use floor runners, as promised in their sales pitch. They damaged several walls and door frames on the way out. Then, while trying to pack up the truck, they left my belongings strewn out across the wet grass on my front lawn. My light coloured fabric sofa was dragged across the ground with no protection (I have photos). Because they came so late, it was very dark and the workers were using their phones as flash lights to try and see as they packed up the truck.

The next day, I get my invoice: with surprise $800 surcharges for travel from the warehouse to my address. How was this a surprise? They had both my old and new addresses when they quoted me. When I called to inquire about this, I was told “well your address isn’t along the route so we had to go out of our way”. I’m sorry, does a moving company not build the routes based on their customers? This isn’t a bus route. Insane.

Then we get to delivery. To nobody’s surprise, several of my items had sustained serious damage. Table legs broken off my desk, deep gashes into my wood furniture, a giant hole in my patio box. Somewhat surprising was that these pieces (and only these) came out of the truck with moving blankets wrapped only over the damaged areas. So clearly they saw the damaged that they did and tried to hide it. Again, my fabric sofa was dragged across the ground and into the house.

After the movers left, I had a frank discussion with their HQ, and was promised compensation for all of the damages. It took two weeks of calling to finally get a confirmation of the amount I would be compensated, and I was told I would have it within a week. 3 weeks later, I was told I would get it within 48 hours. It has now been 6 weeks since my move and I cannot get in touch with anybody from the company either by phone, email, or text. I suspect they are screening calls and avoiding my phone number. SHADY.

Edit: while waiting on hold over 30 minutes, I picked up a different phone and called them and got through right away, while my original call still sat on hold. Seems they were definitely screening my phone number. Now, I’m being told I won’t get my compensation for another month because their claims department needs to do their year-end paperwork??

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $8000

This was the worst moving experience I have ever had. They claim that they will make your move easy and stress-free. Not only did they not make our move easy, but they made it more difficult and stressful due to their negligence and poor attitude.

They did thousands of dollars in damage to our belongings, and especially to all my antique furniture. Some of the pieces have been damaged beyond repair. The damage was caused not from any accident, but because they placed heavy boxes on the legs and supporting bars of the furniture. They should know better than this. To add insult to injury, they then tried to glue the pieces back together with white glue. While our belongings were in storage with them, they did not even contact us to let us know that there was damage, but instead chose to say nothing. They obviously knew about the damage since they tried to glue it back together...

In addition to the damage to our furniture, there were kick holes in boxes of dishes and glasses. Someone apparently had a bad day and took it our on our belongings. They only broken items in boxes were in the locations of the kick holes. Some of the dishes that were broken were family heirlooms and irreplaceable. I'm heartbroken.

They said they would pay a small fraction of the cost to repair the damage they did, and yet 8 months later we have seen no compensation at all. We paid over $3,300 in insurance to this company, and the last time we spoke with them, they said that they "self-insure" and do not purchase insurance. BEWARE!!! They will pocket your insurance money and not give you anything towards the cost to repair the damage they do to your belongings.

Vince also told us that they EXPECT to damage or lose people's belongings during a move. In fact, a box was left with us that contained someone else's legal documents. We have tried to no avail to get the company to pick it up and return these private documents to their rightful owner. This is a major breach of Canadian privacy laws.

ONLY USE THIS COMPANY IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE YOUR MONEY AND ALL YOUR BELONGINGS.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

BEWARE! This Company did not honour its commitment to our contract and then refused to make appropriate amends.

30 minutes before the movers were expected to arrive, they phoned to cancel the contract! We had engaged Number 1 Movers on April 14, confirmed on April 26, were set to move today starting at 9 am today, April 29, from a condo to storage. The lease on our condo is up tomorrow, April 30. In order to set up for the move, per our condo board's policies, we had to arrange the elevator, hire a security guard for 4 hours for the moving room's entrance to the building, at a cost to us of $107. We also made arrangements at the storage facility to receive our furniture. As well, we made arrangements with the landlord to hand over the keys tomorrow.

All was is in readiness, then 1/2 hour before the scheduled start of the move, we receive a phone call, and an email, "your upcoming move has been cancelled". Explanation: the movers had simply not shown up. The dispatcher was apologetic, but suggested we talk to customer service.

We scrambled to react to this unexpected development. The security guard was already arranged, so that cost was sunk. The condo administrator told us that the next available moving day for the condo is Monday, May 3. We talked with our landlord , who agreed to let us stay until the move is complete at a cost to us of $110 per night.

We then talked to Number 1 Movers, not to the owner, who refused to talk to us, but to a customer service agent. The agent, instructed by the owner, told us that they could arrange for the move to be done on Monday for a $60 discount. We proposed that we be reimbursed just for the out of pocket expenses caused by their failure to perform, $437, nothing for the inconvenience to us. They refused.

This company failed to perform. That's one thing; it happens to every person and company periodically. But once they failed to perform, they refused to make appropriate amends for their failure. That's deplorable. Based on our experience, we recommend that you STAY AWAY from this company.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1200

My elderly mother recently booked Number 1 movers - Hamilton to move her on September 1, 2021 from a townhouse style condominium to a 2 bedroom apartment in a retirement community. Their quote was reasonable ($914) and all seemed well until moving day. Movers showed up on time, 3 came instead of the 2 booked which was promising. This is where the positive part ends.

1. No floor protection was put down as was promised in the quote and significant scratches were left on the hardwood floors of the home she was leaving. We had to return the next day to repair ourselves.

2. Her dining room table was damaged beyond repair during the move. The top was cracked and large dents and scratches were made. She was told not to worry because a “claim”was started but no claim number or information was provided to her.

3. Her bedroom dresser and mirror were dented and scratched.

4. Her cast iron plant urn was "lost in transit"??

5. When it came time to pay, she was told the charge was over $1700.... quoted $914??

She protested and was told for every 15 minutes she waited to pay she would continue to be charged. Told that if she paid cash she could avoid an additional charge of 2.5 percent credit charge. Completely overwhelmed, she paid over $1700 cash (counted out in front of movers and her partner) plus $40 tip to the movers. Unbeknownst to her, $150 pending charge was already processed from her credit card. At this point she just wanted these movers out of her house. Called me crying.

6. After multiple unanswered calls, emails etc. Was told she would be paid .60 per pound of loss as that is their insurance. Her $1167 dining room table's replacement value ... under $100???After multiple attempts to contact, she was told via email she would be sent $367 for all loss and damages minus $100 deductible. This was to be sent on Thursday, Sept. 23... as of Saturday, nothing has been received ... when she called to inquire she was hung up on because she raised her voice in frustration and said a bad word !!

7. Told by management that they only received $1500 cash in the envelope which is a blatant lie. She is now out another $150 down payment, even though she has a receipt saying $1700 plus paid on the day of the move.

I am disgusted and shocked at the lack of care and attention this company has given to my mother. I feel horrible that I had to work on her moving day and that as a result, she was clearly taken advantage of by this company. If I could give a negative rating I would. Please take our experience into account when considering hiring this company.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $1739