Royal Van Lines

0 stars. Please avoid this company like the plague. The movers damaged the walls in my house, used my sheets and comforters to wrap my furniture, damaged most off my stuff and some stuff was not delivered Contacted the office and a very rude lady told me to email claims that's all she can tell me. When asked about my furniture that was missing she said they will look into it. Still haven't gotten my mattress and chairs up to now. They don't answer my calls anymore.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: $3709

It ended up as a Moving Company Nightmare. I wish I looked at the rating from various reviews before I booked Royal Van Lines. I only looked at BBB rating which was better than most of companies who offered the similar rates. I had to move to a job in Winnipeg before moving all my household items from Ontario. Once I started my new job, I researched and looked for a moving company that would offer a good rate, good service and the timelines I was looking for. This company advertised all of them plus a good BBB rating. Since I already moved to the new place, I had to travel back to my old house for the pick-up. With my new job I didn’t have vacation time, so I had to ask for a specific date for pick-up to minimize my time off work. Emma, Sales Rep, offered a 2 day frame (Wed/Thu) which I managed to take time off luckily from my job. But, it turned out as the pick-up day approached, they kept moving the dates. Originally the pick up was scheduled on Sept 12 or 13 and then first just a day for the scheduled day on Sep 11 it was rescheduled to Sept 13/14, to Sept 14/15, to Sept 15/16, and then to Sept 16 night. And finally they came on Sept 17 4pm. Even when I was already on the road driving to my old house on Sept 13, I got a message and notified of more changes. It was too late to turn around to restart the trip. Then even when I got there, dates changed again. Eventually I couldn’t stay at my old house till the re-re-re-scheduled date any more, so I had to hire someone to meet the truck. He was waiting for the truck Sept 16, but it didn’t come and had no calls. He called Matthew, Transportation Rep, and was told that someone had forgotten to call him. Matthew told him the truck would come the next day. When the truck finally came, in spite of several reminders I made about our piano handling (required extra $250 charge), the movers didn’t get the note, so they didn’t bring equipment to move the piano. They had to manually carry the piano with help from the person I hired. Also, they didn’t have tools to dismantle furniture, so they borrowed from the hired person. I had extra expenses to take care of like this resulting from these problems plus extra time off and expenses while I had to stay extra days in my old place. Emma says the delay was caused by an extra pick-up in the other area and Matthew explained it was caused by a broken piece on the truck…who’s telling me the truth?? As soon as I started to complain about these troubles, they never returned my calls and emails. I asked Emma to let me talk to the manager, Brock, but I was put on hold and no one ever came back to tell me if he wasn’t available or anything. Finally after many calls, I got to talk to Brock. I explained and asked to make up for all the extra expenses and stress, and I still remember what he said first, ‘Why didn’t you cancel booking with us?’ I couldn’t believe this was coming from some one in a manager position who was supposed to provide good customer service. It was a shock and took a while for me to finally find something to say to him, ‘You are saying I should have cancelled if I complain about your service after the pick up was already done? When the dates started to change I was already on the road and in my old house. It was too late to take back my time off and start calling different companies. Your changing dates caused me lots of stress, extra expenses and work, and I could have lost my new job! Emma gave me the 2 day frame for a pick-up and you kept changing them everyday, but no one ever even apologized to me.’ Then Brock says, Emma never gives a 2 day frame, we always give a 4 day frame. And we only changed the date once.’ They don’t only apologize, but also they don’t admit their faults! It’s so much like a distrustful business dealing with all these company reps. I couldn’t trust any staff from this company. They were so disrespectful to customers and didn’t care about customer’s crucial time. I felt like I was dealing with a Third World Country business by then. I was so worried about the delivery after all these. Before the pick up, Emma had told me that I could pick a date for delivery, but as it turned out (and suspected!) after the pick up, it was changed to a week of ….the 4 day frame again. By then I was feeling sick about the whole thing and regretted I’d booked this company. Especially when they say they don’t unload items at delivery until the customer pays first. I asked to see the invoice ahead of time many times, but again they never sent me the invoice or never replied back. I only got to see the invoice when the truck arrived. I didn’t have a choice, but pay the total amount to get my stuff moved into the house…. They only gave me a day notice for delivery and came 45 minutes late, no apologies again and the amount of discount Brock promised to me wasn’t there on the invoice… There was no contract made at booking, but emailing back and forth. Most of the time things were discussed or talked over the phone, so there wasn’t much of record to go back and prove…They don’t care about trust and providing good customer service, and receiving good feed back from customers to maintain a high reputation and bring more business, although their advertisement talks about how good their service is, I would say please don’t believe the sales phrases they use in their ad: Honest and Quality Service’, ‘We can pick up your goods any day you like, as we have a flexible schedule‘, ‘…ensure that this process is as simple as possible’ (they didn’t have a flexible schedule for me at all, I had to adjust to their schedule!) And, they highlight and try to sell their good BBB rating which I wonder how they managed to get. Emma contacted me with all the information I needed at the beginning and rushed me to book and pay the deposit, but once it’s booked, the communication lines were gone, no call back to my inquiries and no reply back to emails. I’m writing this because I just hope no one else would have to experience extra added stress like I had to go through plus extra cost and dilemma, feeling tricked, a sense of disrespect to our time, moving needs and concerns. Moving is so stressful to start with, no one would want to expect to add extra awful burden to their moving journey. I would never use this company again and never recommend it to other people. It was the worst and most horrible experience I ever had for moving….

Service cost: $2000

Do not use them. They advertise to be ranked A- in Sept 2012 on the BBB. The BBB currently lists them as a C- (less than 3 months later).  The movers did not fully cover or protect the floors. When they packed up our furniture, they used packing materials that were EXTRA charges, but we were never advised. We were never given the right of refusal. They also marked every piece of furniture as scrathced/marked/damage, even when they were new furniture. We had no idea of this until they had loaded up the truck. We were then provided with a itemized list of our furniture indicating that all our furniture was damaged prior to them wrapping them up in blankets and taped up.  They also listed several additional packing materials that state we would be charged for. We said that we were told that there would be no hidden charges and that the contract states that they include all packing materials and special materials to ensure our furniture would be protected in transit.  The movers then LIED and told us, that they just have to list everything they used so that the office inventories what was used and that the office will won't charge us for them. It was the end of the day, it was the last day in our house and we were pressured to initial and sign off for our belongings to be shipped.  What else could we do? Ask them to unload everything and show us everything they indicated as damaged? It was not an option. If our belongings did not leave that day, it would not make it for transit to Vancouver on the next scheduled truck.  We immediately emailed the Sales Manager Emma Oz and informed her of the events that took place.  She said she would look into it.  This is just the beginning of our nightmare.1 week later, I called Emma requesting for an itemized invoice.  I sent several emails and left several voicemails. She finally emailed me back with an amount over $9000. With no explanation of what I was being charged for. She expected me to give her my credit card to charge such a large amount without knowing the details? I called her right away, asking what the charge included. I wanted to know if the $200 deposit I paid had been applied, whether the 5% additional discount she offered was applied. The amount was higher than originally quoted so I had every right to request for an itemized invoice. They would not deliver until I paid. But I refuse to pay until I have all the details. She then emailed me back with an amount that was $400 less, still with no explanation as to the adjustment. Again, I requested for an itemized invoice. She would not give me one and said she will get one to me shortly. By this time, over 4 days had passed.  I again had to call her, had sent several emails.  When I finally spoke to her again she had the audacity to tell me I was being demanding! I told her that I found her to be extremely unprofessional and rude, and that, as a customer, I have every right to request for a detailed invoice.  That is not an unreasonable request. She then sent me a draft invoice, which was not accurate at all. We were being charged for $4 per roll of tape (they used over 30) then over $300 in sofa covers. When I argued about being told all packing materials were to be included. She told me that tape and sofa covers are "additional" packing materials that they charge for. In the end I had to escalate this to the Operations Manager. It did not go well. He told me he would reduce the "additional charges" to $200.  As if he was doing me a favour. I should not even be charged for that at all. He said that he had to charge that as it was what it costs the company. He said he would investigate why the packers/movers told us that we would not be charged and they only indicated the packing materials used for inventory purposes. Long story short, we had to pay the additional $200 because we needed out stuff delivered. But to date, one month AFTER we paid, we do not have a detailed Invoice. We only received an invoice indicating the cost before taxes, tax paid, and total paid. They claim I shipped 14,000 lbs but I have no proof of this, I have requested the scale ticket and still have not received it, it has been over 6 weeks.  I have not received a detailed invoice invoice, listing the shipped weight, or excactly what I was charged for.We have internationally over 4 times, using companies such as Allied, Ridgeway, QMM, and they have all been very professional. I never had issues receiving invoices or being charged for things I should not have been.  I will be complaining to the BBB. I noticed that Royal vanlines have received over 8 complaints in the last 6 weeks.  They are fantastic when they want your business.  Promising great service and responding in a timely manner. But as soon as they have your belongings, they don't care about  being professional or ethical.  The fact that the movers indicated that every piece of furniture they wrapped was either, marked, damaged or scratched is ridiculous. Many of my furniture was new, unused, purchased for the move! They clearly did this to cover themselves so that if I made a claim for furniture damaged when I received them, they won't be held responsible. The liability insurance they offer is a joke. They cover $0.60 for every pound the item weighs. So if your fridge weighs 150 pounds, and they damage it, they will only pay you $90, and that's AFTER you pay a $350 deductible. Many of our furniture was damaged in transit. There is a hole in the dining room buffet. Huge scratches on our masterbedroom bed frame. But it is not worth it to put through a claim. Royal Vanlines provided the lowest quote. But you get what you pay for. Never again will I use Royal Vanlines.  This was the hugest mistake we have ever made. We saved $2000 by using Royal Vanlines over QMM and I am paying more for damages and aggravation by having used Royal Vanlines.

Service cost: $8000

Please be assured each and every review here with a one star rating is absolutely true! First I contacted them for a quote on a two bedroom house. They gave a good quote, not the cheapest but good but I guess I did not research enough. I called to book and the lady (name kept back) said all was good. I talked to a few people who thought it was strange I did not have to give a damage deposit and called the company back since I had not heard from them and no one asked for a deposit. I was told the first person did not 'complete' the booking so it was no longer available the first they would have would be 10 days later, fine. Inconvenient but fine, what could I do. Then they sent a tiny truck that could could not fit even 1/3 my stuff and the driver told me he was expecting a 1 bedroom apartment. He told me he would call dispatch and have another truck sent. What he did not say was it would not be sent that day. Two more weeks and I had to pay another $1250 rent on the house directly because of their error. Finally a Sub-contractor picked up my stuff. I was told but the delivery guys it had been up and down Saskatchewan and Alberta and then sat in Calgary for a few days until another sub-contractor brought it to me. There was not one and I mean not one single box that was not damaged. My 1940s oak dining room table was scratched and gouged. My deceased fathers oak roll top desk was in 3 pieces. When I approached them about the damage I only received emails from the company with no name on it. I can not find out what actual person to discuss this with. They no longer put me through to the lady who originally didn't complete the booking or the one that eventually booked and took my deposit. I was offered $100.00 for my trouble which included me paying their damage deductible. When I complained I was offered $200. I have contacted the BBB and am trying through there but have not had any success. Pay as much as you have to to not use this company. I have had professional companies move my things for the past 7 moves around and across Canada and have NEVER experienced this kind of damage and customer service. I am out the 3500.00 for the move and the 1250.00 for the next months rent because of them. I still have not had my belongings repaired as they probably can not be.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4750

Due to a sick family member I was forced to pack up my family (4 kids 6 and under) and move from Edmonton AB to Charlottetown PE. We contacted Royal about 4 weeks prior to the move. They quoted us at $0.55 per pound as long as we had over 2200lbs. This was fantastic! We received a copy of the quote via e-mail and I used my credit card to lock in and secure this rate with a $100 deposit.   We were getting excited, new house was reneted, deposits paid, utilities paid, plane tickets booked, hotel booked (as we would be arriving before the movers) and a rental van aquired for when we landed. All in THOUSANDS of dollars invested at this point.   Movers were scheduled for arrival March 27 2013 at 2pm. I have voicemail confirming this. On March 26th at roughly 10 am we received a call from Royal. Some completly unprofessional girl said the following. "I know that we agreed upon this rate, date and time, and I know that you already paid a deposit with your credit card to secure this, but we can't do it for less then $1.65 per pound" Thats triple our quote!! When I declined I was refused a refund and was told "If I did not like it, call a lawyer" I was also refused to talk to anyone other then this girl. When I asked for a manager I was told "I asked the manager to speak with you, he laughed and told me to tell you too bad, call a lawyer"  How can a company conduct business like this?? I have been in sales for 10 years and I can see 3 or 4 broken laws just off the top of my head! Theft (the deposit) False Advertising, Blackmail (Pay 3 times the price or lose all your belongings) as well as I am sure others. Also, this was all done THE DAY BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE!!  Needless to say I am out thousands of dollars because of this company. I have e-mail's from them verifing the quote, voicemails verifying the quote and pick-up time, a voicemail of them saying pay triple or your screwed and my credit card statement showing the deposit paid. My lawyer has been contacted, BBB has been notified, and I am progressing with a law suit. If anyone else has had an experience similar to this from Royal Van Lines please contact me as I will also get my lawyer to look into the possibility of a civil class action suit.    For anyone that is looking into using Royal STAY AWAY THEY WILL SCREW YOU!!

Service cost: $1800

I would never use this company again and I would recommend everyone to avoid it. The estimates are far off. There was mold on my furniture when it arrived. There were boxes crushed. There are still 4 boxes missing that I doubt are being looked for. The movers also lost the check I gave them and I was blamed for it. This company has the worst service and I spent almost 90 minutes on hold with them in total the day they dropped my things off. I still have not heard from the claims office.

Service cost: $2000

This company was the absolute worst and I would like to warn people to stay away from them.
In Mid-February of 2012, I contacted them for a quote for a move from Ontario to Vancouver, BC. Their price was great and when I asked what the delivery time frame would be and was told "delivery is 7-10 days from the date of your departure." Great - we had our stuff picked up on March 31st with the expectation that we would take delivery between April 7-10.
On the invoice, the movers provided, we saw that they had marked all of our items as "scratched", "rusted", "marked", and "at owner's risk". Unfortunately this was all in code on the invoice and the movers did not explain any of this to my husband or I, and we signed the contract as it was. I contacted our sales rep multiple times over the next few days and she chose not to respond.
On April 9, we finally got a hold of the sales rep (1 day after the truck was to arrive). She said that the truck had just left Ontario THAT DAY and that we would take delivery between April 16-18.
On April 16, we called again as we hadn't been told a delivery time frame. We were once again told that the truck had just left Ontario THAT DAY. At this point we were livid and asked to speak with a manager. The manager offered a $300 discount and said that we would take delivery April 21st.
Over the next few days we called multiple times, trying to get a straight answer from anyone. We'd now incurred hundreds of dollars in extra expenses.
The truck finally arrived on April 25th, 15 days later than what we were originally told. When the truck arrived they wanted payment and our measly $300 discount had not been deducted from the invoice. We then had to play phone tag for a couple hours before they could confirm the discount and start unloading. Thankfully all our posessions were fine.
We filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). After 30 days we were offered $100. We responded that that was unacceptable and we had receipts proving additional expenses. After 15 days, Royal Van Lines AKA North American Moving still hadn't responded so the BBB closed the case.
This company has received 3 complaints in the past 3 months so I would urge you to think twice before thinking of using them.

Service cost: $2500

When you hire movers, besides making sure all your stuff get there in good shape, what else would you rank as extremely important? Scheduling. My experience with Royal Vanlines was a total disaster in terms of dates, communication, and overall scheduling.
In brief, working with Emma the move manager/agent has been extremely frustrating. She never calls back when she said she would, and it seemed she didn't put any effort into ensure the move/scheduling was running smoothly. The pick-up date was screwed up, and needed me to call repeatedly to make it work on the day of. The delivery date was just as frustrating, where I had to call 3 times a day for the entire week leading up to the date that I wanted, each day with them telling me that they'll call back, only they never did (hence me calling 3 times a day).

In short, I would not recommend going with them, (or perhaps try a different person than Emma), because her communication was horrible and very unprofessional. And the last thing you want to stress about when you move is the movers.

DETAILS (very long full story):
I moved from Vancouver to Montreal at the end of May, 2012. After doing research, Royal Vanlines had decent prices, and the reviews accumulated at that point were mostly positive, so I went with them. I worked mostly with Emma, and she seemed friendly enough initially. We set a date for pick-up, May 30th, with e-mail confirmation, and they said they'll call the day before to book a time. May 29th came and passed. No call. The morning of May 30th, I called them to check. They said that the booking was for May 31st. I told them that no, we agreed - in writing - that it was the 30th. Emma said that she'll have to call the local movers to check, and she'll call back. I waited. She didn't call back.

After 1.5 hrs, I decided to call and check. She'd left a message for local movers, but they haven't gotten back to her. Well call them again, and I'll wait. Another 1.5 hrs passed. I called back. Same story. I asked if I could get the local mover's number, so I can call them directly, and she refused. I waited again. At around 2pm, I called back, and this time, I insisted that I get the local mover's number, as it's 5pm in Toronto, and she'll be off, and I didn't want to be stuck without my stuff picked up. (I took the day off work for this). She reluctantly agreed.

After calling a few times to the local movers, I finally got a hold of them at 5pm. They said that they were scheduled to come in the next day (5/31), and whether I can wait until then. I adamantly said no, as that was not possible. Finally, they said they could come at 6pm.

When they got here, they showed me the fax which said 3Xst (the "0" was not legible, but the "st" was there). They never called to to check whether it was the 30 or 31, and they just assumed it was the 31. This is UNACCEPTABLE. You need to confirm! (Or if they did, Emma gave them the wrong date, which is just as bad.) They also said that they were just down the road at 2pm, and if they knew, they had 5 workers, and would've worked well. (great. That would've been helpful.)

Anyway, the pick-up itself went well. The 2 movers were fast and professional. So, you'd think that's it. But no. Scheduling for the delivery was just as frustrating. I didn't have a delivery date worked out till about 2 weeks beforehand. When I figured it out, I e-mailed Emma right away. I didn't hear back for a couple of days, so I called her. She said that I'll get a call when the truck arrives in town, and I can work with the local workers to schedule. Fine. So I waited.

With 1 week left, I still haven't heard anything, so I called Emma back. She said that she'd call scheduling, and have them call me back. So I wait. I didn't hear back, so I called at 4:30pm EST (a Friday). I wanted to make sure that I can get my stuff delivered on the next Thursday). She said that it shouldn't be a problem, and that she'll contact me on Monday. Fine. So I waited. I ended up having to call 3 times on Monday (because Emma said she'd call, but she never did), each time hearing the same story, that she's been trying to contact the schedulers. On Tuesday, I call another 3 times. On the 3rd time (around 4:30pm EST), I talked with a different person, and he said there's no way to do it on Thursday with this short notice, and they weren't going to Montreal until next week. I explained my situation with Emma to him, that she completely dropped the ball. He said that he'll call and check, and that if I don't hear back by noon the next day, to call him (Emma never showed even that modicum of customer support).
I get a call back 10 minutes later, and he said that they can do tomorrow (Wed) at 6am, or Saturday. Well I'm not even in Montreal until Thursday! Thankfully, I was able to get a friend to go to my apartment at 6am on 15 hours notice to oversee the move. My stuff arrived in relatively good condition (a few scratches here and there).

Through all this, not once did they offer an apology, or a discount of any sort. I ended up just paying the full amount because I wanted to be done with it. (I felt that I shouldn't have to ask for a discount, and that they should've offered it as a sign of good faith).

In conclusion, if you go with them (particularly with Emma), be prepared for horrible communication, and never knowing whether they have the dates right. Extremely unprofessional.  .

Service cost: $2000

WARNING:  Beware - Dishonest and Unethical – stay away!  Don’t be fooled by their website – it’s the only thing that works!
 
We moved from Toronto to BC in September 2012.  Everyone was very accommodating and friendly until the actual day of the move.  We dealt with Matthew, who came to our house to give us the quote, and then Emma Oz, Sales Manager.  We called numerous times prior to the move to coordinate the schedule and always got through to Emma by phone or received a prompt response via email; however, once our belongings were picked up we could never get a hold of Emma.  She was difficult to reach by phone and did not respond to our emails.
 
When the crew came to pack up our belongings everything was coded as scratched, marked or damaged.  We didn’t realize this until we actually had time to read the paperwork.  Admittedly, this is entirely our fault for being naive and trusting Royal Van Lines (aka North American Movers, aka Greenland Van Lines Inc., aka Capital Moving Services Inc., and who knows what other company names the owner, Mesut Vatansevar, operates under).  Just for fun, Google his name and see how reputable he is.  As anyone knows, moving days are hectic; at the end of the day they hand you a stack of papers and point out where you are to initial and sign.  At this point we realized that we were being overcharged (they charge for all wrapping (i.e., couches, bookcases, etc.) as well as the wrapping materials (tape, cardboard) and anything they felt was oversized (in our case a compressor).  However, none of this is mentioned in the quote or anytime prior to moving day.  Beware - it will cost you double what they quote.  It’s after six p.m., no one’s in the office, and we’re closing the house the next day so naturally we just sign and initial and think we can deal with the office later.  Unless you are prepared to unload everything at this point, they’ve got you and it just gets worse from there.
 
You must pay the entire amount prior to them unloading your belongings at the destination, which is completely understandable until you discover they don’t reconcile the manifest as they unload.  Twelve boxes were unaccounted for.  They have never been received.  They broke and damaged furnishings while taking them out of the truck.  We witnessed the driver, Sammy, break items by yanking them out of the truck and furniture drop as he was getting them out of the truck.  (Just to note, nothing I packed in boxes personally was broken.  Everything that broke was the result of Royal Van Lines disrespect for our belongings.)  Numerous boxes were covered in oil, which remains unexplained by the company.  The driver is hired by the company but the crew he shows up with is hired by the driver.  Our crew ran out of steam and couldn’t lift the heavy pieces like the china cabinet, TV/entertainment unit and others; we had to assist in unloading.  So not only did we pay them to handle all this we had to help out in the end anyway.
 
If you aren’t frustrated by this point, you now get to deal with Brock O regarding the damages.  My guess is he doesn’t give out his last name for self-preservation reason.  They will make you a ridiculous offer and you can either take it or leave it.  Don’t waste your time dreaming about small claims court – Royal Van Lines doesn’t pay even if they lose; and there you’ll be out even more money.  We accepted their offer and they sent me a cheque with the recipient’s name having been whited-out with liquid paper and my name written in by hand.  What reputable company would send out a cheque like that?  Since receiving that cheque I have not been able to reach Brock by telephone nor has he responded to four emails I have sent him.  (Interesting to note that he doesn’t give out his email address; you send him an email at info@northamericanmoving.ca)  If you’ve read the reviews that rate Royal Van Lines as exceptional, don’t kid yourself ; they’re lies.  It’s not a coincidence that all the poor reviews sound alike.  Those reviews are the truth.  Same people, same damages, same lies repeated over and over again.  Don’t take the chance; if you value your belongings stay away from Royal Van Lines, etc. 
 
When I booked Royal Van Lines their BBB rating was A; I later discovered that was because there was no history.  Now that they have history, the rating is C-.  Be sure to investigate who ownes the moving company you are reviewing.  I recommned staying away from Mr. Vatensevar's enterprises - unless you enjoy being a victim.

Service cost: $9000

I found this company on the internet and all seemed very professional at the time. The quote was good so we decided to go with them. The shock came when they arrived to pick up in a dirty old truck. The guys doing the pickup seemed friendly but then all the extra charges started to appear for packing. None of this was on the quote and when we finally got the final bill it was more than double what we were expecting. We had a lot of damage done to dining table, china cabinet, coffee table and various other items, which we never saw at the time of unloading till further examination  I had a friend move from Europe for less. I urge all prospective customers DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. I learnt the hard way.

Service cost: $4400

We have hired ROYAL VAN LINES for our move from Montreal to Halifax and everything was awful. The cost was about $3,000 for a 2 bedrooms condo, no appliances. At pick-up, they were careless and left the place very dirty. They were also more than 24 hours late for pick up. Upon delivery, they told us we had 10 days to submit a claim using the on-line form. With several items damaged or broken, we submitted the claim. 2 weeks later, nothing. I called them and they told me the process had changed. It was by email. I re-sent everything. 4 weeks later, still no phone call or email. I called again to be told that the claim department works only on Thursday and I should be contacted soon. Guess what? They never called. 2 weeks later, I called again to be told that I should get an update by email the next day. Never came in. I contacted them again and again, by phone or email, they never ONCE contacted me. They just don't care. On top of that, they never refunded the deposit of $100 that I made. That is a fraud it iself and the entire company is a joke. Please do not use ROYAL VAN LINES - ever.

Service cost: $3000

The initial contact was great, obviously, which is what made me book with them. After that, absolutely nothing was as they said and what they said. I was told they had an office in the city I was moving from, Saskatoon - they do not; closest is Regina, which is 3 hrs away. I was told they move your stuff on crates by a train - also false; they store in a storage and a convoy moving from west to east picks it up at some point convenient to them (I wouldn't have cared had they actually told me that). I was told they would contact me every month leading up to the move (I booked 6 months in advance) - I did not hear from them once. I emailed my contact to let him know my updated telephone number and never heard back. I emailed with the address for delivery (!!) and never heard back. When I finally called them to find out why they told me the person I was dealing with was no longer with the company and they don't make a habit of informing their clients of staffing changes nor do they check those emails.. and the girl I who was telling me this still didn't take my updated information. I had to call her back to give her the address for drop off! They are rude! 
On the moving day, the truck didn't show up at the scheduled time and I had to call them to find out that it had broken down. NO ONE WAS GOING TO CALL TO LET ME KNOW! They offered no suggestions as to what I could do in the meantime. They told me they "already spent 3 hours trying to figure this out. what else do I expect?!"
I had to arrange my own storage (at 4:30 pm on a Friday before a long weekend), organize friends and neighbours to move a 2-bedroom apartment from an apartment to the storage unit and never heard back from the moving company until after the weekend and after I had to hand in my keys.
 .

Service cost: $3720

In no way can we recommend Royal Van Lines to anyone who is planning a long distance move. The only positive thing I can say about them was the pleasantness of the people who actually did the work: pick up and delivery.
We made it very clear when we moved that there would be a delay from the time we left our former residence in Kelowna to our new home in Belleville. To accommodate their truck pick up and delivery schedule, understandably, our goods were picked up on Friday evening November 2. The drivers did leave one item behind which we had to give to our neighbour. We made it very clear at the time we would not be in Ontario until the end of November. While still in BC saying good bye to family we received a phone call announcing that our items would be delivered to our new home. We explained very patiently that we had not even made it out of BC yet and, once again, we would not be in Ontario until the end of the month. There would not be anyone at the house to receive our goods. Shortly after we received another phone call wanting to know when the items could be delivered. Once again, we explained we would not be there and that there was no one there to receive the goods. Finally, the day we were leaving to go to our new home, we were told the items would be delivered. Once again, we explained we were not there yet. This began to feel like harassment. I did say we would call once we were there. We phoned on November 30 to say that anytime there was a truck coming our way, we were ready to receive our goods. This was the time we initially said we would be there. A lady said she would pass that information on. A week passed and we heard nothing. We phoned again and we were told that the man who did the bookings for delivery was away. Another week passed and still no word. Another phone call produced the same response, the man who did the bookings was away. This was becoming very frustrating.
Finally on Saturday December 15, we received a call left on the answering machine that the goods would be delivered on Sunday, December 16. The truck did show up with only the driver, no swamper to help unload. So, we had to not just supervise the positioning of items we had to physically assist with the unloading of the truck. After the driver left, we realized we were missing a major item, a potted palm about six feet high.
Most of the items arrived in tact but there were breakages despite careful wrapping and packing. Several china plates of more sentimental than material value, several of the picture frames had the glass broken, a statue of a limited production with an identification  number, a missing six foot plant, and, strangely enough, our bicycles had the handle bars totally twisted around. Our sons, who do a lot of biking, could not figure this one out and could not get them corrected . We had to take them to the local bike shop for repair.
I initially emailed Royal Van Lines to list our concerns. No response. I emailed again. Once again, no response. By this time I am really getting fed up, but I phoned. The person at the other end of the line said we needed to fill out a claim form and send photos of the damage. Fortunately we had photographed the broken items as we did the unpacking. We submitted this , and, again heard nothing. A conservative guess of our losses with the bill for the bikes, the replacement cost for the missing six foot plant, the broken limited edition statue came to about $700.00.
Finally we received an email that we were entitled to compensation of $40.00. An elaborate explanation was given about value and insurance rates, etc. It just appeared to us that no one was accepting responsibility for what happened.
Which leads me to another concern: We initially contracted with Royal Van Lines, but the people who actually shipped our goods were from Multi City movers and the statement was from Greenland Van Lines, so we really do not know where to pursue this further. Royal Van Lines, however, is who we contracted with , and they no longer seem interested.
Finally two further items concerned us. We found their weight to be 500 pounds more than we calculated. We were careful to weigh each item on a scale. We were certainly expecting a discrepancy, but we were definitely surprised it was that much. And, finally, we were told there would be a discount for seniors. I was 65 at the time of the move and 66 by the time our belongings arrived. There is no mention anywhere on the statement of a seniors discount.
So, in conclusion, moving is stressful, but it is doubly stressful when you have to try and pick up the pieces of a move that , in our opinion, was not well done.
Again, consumers beware. I simply share our experience with Royal Van Lines so that you may draw your own conclusions.

Service cost: $2730

I originally went wiht this company because I needed to be in Ontario for February 10th. Sinve I was told pick up dates were February 6-9 when I booked, I thought they were ok. I called and emailed a couple times in the week leading up to pick-up just making sure everything was on-schedule and was assured that the driver was on-time and would call the day before pick-up. When I still hadn't received a call on the 8th, I began to worry since my flight was scheduled for the evening of the 9th. I was then told the truck was in an accident and my new pick-up days were 11-13th. OK, nothing I can do if the truck broke down. So I got a friend to take care of the move and went ahead to my destination. When I called on the 11th to make sure things were on-time, I was given new dates yet again, this time for the 13-17th. They said it was because the truck didn't get fixed until the 10th. But they offered me a discount and assured me that the truck was currently in Saskatoon, was going to drop off a load in Edmonton, and then come back through to pick my stuff up. Foolishly, I trusted them once again. When I called today to check up on things, I was told that my truck was in BC!! I asked what happened to the truck on its way back from Edmonton but nobody could tell me. They gave me new dates (my fourth set of dates) for the 21-24th. Two weeks later than our originally agreed upon dates. That was when I fired them and got a different moving company. I had enough. They obviously don't want my business. I was told twice by a manager that I would get my deposit back from them. I will be calling my credit card company to make sure they do that. DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY!!

Service cost: $1300

I have to say that at first, I thought I had picked a good comapny. there was alot of communication and they arrived at my place to pickup my itmes on the day they said they would. Delivery was late by a couple of days. I was charged $1800.00 to move my stuff that fit ont he back of a pickup truck. Seemed excessive, but I wantyed my stuff so I paid the bill. Howevr; the real issue was the condition of my items. I have alot of scrapbooking stuff and with it comes some very expensive baggage to carry it in. They broke a cart fullof expensive paper items, dropped it all in the snow and crammed it all back into the cart, covered it and hoped I wouldn't notice. The real problem was that they took a permananet black magic marker and wrote giant numbers on a leather bag and also a cloth covered bag. both of these bags cost me over $300.00. Ruined. Have no resale value because of the giant numbers written on more than one side of the bag. Then when I put in a claim, I was given a breakdown of what they were worth and their deductions; meaning I got nothing. But they said "Though you are not eligible for a refund, we would like to offer you a total settlement of $50.00 as part of our customer appreciation program." I filled out the forms, tried to fax them several times with no success and contacted them againt o see if I could email them. They agreed. I haven't heard from them since. I have emailed them at least a half dozen times and never get a reponse, nor did I ever receive the $50.00. They are dishonest, never keep to their end and NEVER follow through. I wouldn't recommend them to someone I didn't like let alone someone I did.      .

Service cost: $1800

I have moved over 30 times -- across Canada, internationally and inter-city. Royal Van Lines goes beyond terrible. The first clue was when they couldn't decide whether the salesperson actually really worked for the company or not and kept her email address active for months. If you managed to get one of the people (all of whom seemed to be part-time and new), they either knew nothing or transferred you to a generic voice mail which was never responded to. I had to stay in a hotel for two weeks waiting for my delivery (apparently because "a truck broke down"). The general manager finally was sick of avoiding me and was the most unsympathetic individual I have ever encountered in business. The goods did arrive finally but only because they had a sub--contractor who was holding them. Then they tried to claim I had to pay in $U.S. even though I had a contract and had already paid in Canadian dollars. It appears this company is continually changing names -- no wonder. I am shocked they can remain in business under any circumstances.

Service cost: $4000

I used www.canada-movers.ca which initiated a series of emails/phone calls from various van lines offering $/lbs. moving rates. Royal Van Lines came in with a higher $/lbs rate than most ($0.95), but by doing a search of moving company reviews and looking at their average score of about 8/10 on Homestars (It seems to have dropped to 7.5 now) and an A- rating on BBB Business Review, I felt confident that this was the company to go with. I had heard very good things about Allied, but their $/lbs rate was about $0.25 more than the promotional discounted rate from Royal, so decided to save about $1,000 by going with Royal. I paid a $200 deposit in early June, booking our move for July 27th. At the end of June I emailed Matthew (the sales representative at Royal Van Lines) of the exact destination address. I received nothing back from him. I believe I then called in to confirm the actual destination address. My memory is foggy as to whether I actually spoke to someone or just left a message, but I thought everything was ok. I also asked how long it would take for delivery, I was told 10-15 days, as I was worried that our stuff would arrive before we made it to Halifax as we were driving across the country in our own vehicles. Leading up to the actual move, I called a few times to confirm everything was going smoothly and to try and get a time of day for our actual pickup. I was told that I would get a call the day before from the actual van line in Calgary that was affiliated with Royal Van Lines (also known as North American Moving). The evening of July 26th, I received a voice mail message saying that I had to call back to confirm that I still needed a pick up on the 27th and that if I didn’t call back, the truck wouldn’t be showing up. That’s a little scary to hear considering that this wasn’t a cross-town move and everything (cleaning our rental house, departing for Halifax) depended on our furniture being picked up as scheduled. I returned the call, I was assured that they would show up mid-morning on the 27th, but they had a very large unload to do before the pick up so, just wait for the call. The movers showed up around 3 pm on the 27th, I wish I could remember the name of the company in Calgary, but Jay Gaudry was the crew boss. They were very nice guys and loaded everything up without incident, quickly. They said it would probably take 10-15 days to get across the country as well. I felt good about everything. A few things to mention about pickup as actually talking with Royal Van Lines regarding what you need to do prior was fairly useless. Essentially, the movers need to see and pack everything. They will arrive with blankets to wrap things in (free of charge), but for loose weird stuff, you will need wardrobe boxes and bags to wrap things up in as trucks and warehouses are very dusty. The trick with this is that you can’t pack the boxes or the movers withdraw any responsibility and will mark anything that you pack on your own as Owner’s risk/Owner Packed/Unknown Condition. The movers will have bags, wardrobe boxes, tape, mirror containers, etc, on hand, but hopefully they have enough (our movers ran out of wardrobe boxes). I arrived in Halifax on the August long weekend and gave Royal Van Lines a call on August 7th (11 days since pick up) to see how things are going and when we would be expecting our shipment to arrive. A note about calling Royal Van Lines, don’t bother using the directory to talk to Customer Service or Dispatch, no one answers. Hit 0 and someone will actually answer, otherwise you just get a voice mail box and no one will return your call. Once I actually talk to a human at Royal Van Lines, I’m told that our shipment hasn’t arrived in Ontario yet and that it missed the truck headed to Halifax, thus the estimated time of delivery is the end of August. I think everyone in Starbucks looked at me when I rather loudly begged her pardon, as I wasn’t sure I was hearing things correctly. Since then I’ve been routinely calling Royal Van Lines just for updates, because they don’t seem to think that I care about my things and am tired of living in an empty house, or that I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for 4 weeks straight. On August 17th, we received a call from Royal Van Lines to confirm our delivery address. When they actually call you, you get a bit excited, but when you realize they’re just confirming your address that you’ve given them previously and wrote on every single box that went into the truck, you get pretty disenchanted quickly. The following week, I called again to see if there was a set date as I figured the address confirmation meant things were actually in motion, but no, our stuff would be shipping soon and should arrive anytime between August 26th and 29th. Captain’s Log: August 29th; Still no call or sign of life.. So I call again and I’m told that I should see my shipment either tonight (29th) or if it gets too late, tomorrow morning. I’m not holding my breath. My overall impression of this moving company is fairly poor. Customer Service and communication is severely lacking. With cross-Canada moves, I understand that things can happen, transfer points and dates can be missed, pushing the scheduling out, but Royal Van Lines needs to communicate this with their customers. Be forthcoming that the shipment will be late and people will understand, otherwise you’ll just continue to frustrate your customers to the point where they will compose 1,000 words about their experience and post in on the internet so that the next person will be warned. .

Service cost: $4000

I would think many times about hiring this company to help you with your move. We were scheduled to leave in early August however were called one day before our scheduled pick up and told that they would be coming only into the 2nd week of August! actually almost into the 3rd! This was a cross country move for my family and I and we had jobs, schools and renters effected by this change. Their commitment was only to serve themselves and unprofessional in its standing. When I asked to speak to the manager he told me if I didn't like the new date then to switch companies. Then Without further though he hung up on me.. The only half decent part of this all was that upon cancelling with them they did send us our deposit back. In hindsight I am happy we cancelled with them last minute as I'm am not sure if this company had the respect for its customers to complete a successful move.. Don't let the 'royal' in 'royal van lines' fool you. There is nothing grand or honourable about them.. Unfortunately we read all these terrible reviews only after but the reviews are written from people who know And by those who feel that is important to tell of their experience..After all we are paying them to do a service and for the amount spend on the coast of moving people's lives, they should take care and give respect to the customers that invest hope, business and trust in them.. Just terrible!!

Service cost: $4000

Lowest price for a reason -- they lie. The salesman was actually helpful at first, but his hands were tied where it was necessary. His truck damaged the storage unit my stuff was in, and they denied it, but I had to pay $226. The move was 24 hours late, with no forewarning, so I waited at an empty apartment for a whole day. They never delivered one of my items but denied I had it (a mirror -- I imagine they broke it and didn't want to admit it). Many of my pieces were scratched. The whole thing cost $300 more than the estimate, and they got around it by saying we could get a flat rate and avoid the scale, but there is no way my stuff weighed as much as they said. I have so little! For Pete's sake, don't go with this company and read reviews BEFORE you book a company!

Service cost: $950

We had two options of pick-up dates, of which they had different delivery dates. We selected the first option for an earlier delivery. Our load didn't arrive until the later delivery date because Royal Van Lines negated to tell us that the first option didn't even travel to our destination city. So our load sat in a truck for an extra two weeks for no reason.
We were quoted ~1000lbs for the load. We were charged for 2300lbs. Our load consisted of 40 boxes of clothing and personal items and 3 dressers. Even overestimating the weight of the dressers at 100lbs each there is no way the boxes averaged 50lbs each. My wife carried all of these boxes down a flight of stairs by herself with no trouble. Some of the boxes were quite small and would have weighed ~lbs. The company that delivered our belongings (not Royal Van Lines) agreed that our load was no were close to 2300lbs. If you want to challenge the weight it costs you $300. So at the rate of 50 cents per pound, the actual weight would have to be over 600lbs less than 2300lbs before we would see any financial gain from challenging the weight. Keep in mind we had no furniture or appliances included in the move!
Matthew A. was calling and emailing constantly until he had our business. After that, he was very difficult to get ahold of on the phone or through email. HINT: go to customer service instead of his direct line. Matthew answers the customer service line in hopes you are a new customer. He doesn't provide any customer service once he has your deposit.
When I asked to speak to his supervisor/manager he would transfer you to a phone extension that wouldn't get answered. I left two voice messages with this supposed manager and never received a return call.
Do not use royal van lines!

Service cost: $1800

I wish there was a '0 stars' option! Moving with Royal Van Lines was a TERRIBLE experience. When the 2 guys turned up to load up our house, it took them HOURS. To load our rather modest 3 bedroom home.. but it may have been the seemingly endless smoke-breaks and rests that they were taking.First, I was told a delivery date of August 23rd, which worked perfectly. Then, due to an accident with one of their trucks, my delivery was rescheduled to August 26th. When my belongings did not arrive by the 28th, I called and asked what was going on. That same pesky truck accident would further delay the delivery of my goods until the first week of September ("maybe Friday, but definitely by Saturday"). Delivery was finally made on September 8th (which, in my books is NOT the first week of September). Many boxes were crushed. Many boxes were punctured. Many items (BBQ, dining chairs, lamp) were broken. A couple of items were not delivered at all. When delivery was finally made, the movers left the entirety of our stuff in the living room of our house. Being pregnant, I'm not about to move heavy boxes up and down stairs..When I asked Royal Van Lines for a discount (because I had to pay an extra month's rent in my short term rental due to their delays), I was told "That's the moving business. No discounts for delays". Awful, awful, awful. I should have paid more and gone with a different company! .

Service cost: $5700

 

I would never use this company again and I would reccomend everyone to avoid it.  This company has the worst delivery service.They delays even for a month after the promissed deliver date.they dammaged most of my items and did not pay for damages .once they said you will receive the cheque for damages in a week, if you saw the cheque I got it too.My advise is never do business with this company.

Read more: http://www.mymovingreviews.com/movingreviews/terrible-18635#ixzz2eotLnsky.

Service cost: $2500