Royal Van Lines

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