We saw some negative reviews but very positive ones too, price was good, estimate given our home we left in Oakville was not all that loaded included a single truck. The move was to a small town about 90 minutes drive north.
Crew: Kevin the stout driver, Sanjay for leave only, Robert (hat wearing), Greg working mostly on placement in and out of truck.
We saw that negative reviews pertained to broken goods some fragile and relatively precious and people not buying insurance. We believe that this is a partnership between movers and us and we need to own our precautions and risks and we need to make it easy on movers, which keeps them in better mood and also saves us money as the job is billable by the hour.
We packed tight, moved some big but not too heavy items and many small items very close to the truck (closer rooms and garage). We moved in our 2 SUVs in days ahead risky and easy items (paintings, TV sets, computer monitors, fine china and glasses, numerous plants, fishing rods, various pole-like objects) so they could focus on the difficult and heavy over shorter distances. The 1700 sq foot bungalow filled the truck packed in 3 hours (we also have a finished basement) and the men emptied their truck into our home in a bit less than 3 hours.
We emptied all armoires and commodes, boxes were neatly sealed, heavy with not much empty space inside. On very few occasions we did bring easy stuff to the truck too, which saves everybody's time.
The crew was meticulous and in good mood and very courteous (the packing in truck was very efficient, Robert could carry stuff using sherpa technique with 3 heavy boxes in the back, protective carpets were placed carefully, our hangers fit into moving closets, they wrapped up things for safety such as drawers or armoire doors, glass into special containers, I did not see them bang walls). They had to wait for us at the new address simply because we had to tidy the empty house on that day and needed some time before driving to new address. That was on us and is fine.
The drop off at the new home was probably more difficult for the movers and they needed some short break there as well to catch up. They had longer to travel with heavy furniture into a larger house with many rooms upstairs. Nonetheless, it took less time. We did not care about optimal placement of items into house so long as the big heavy items landed in the right room.
The movers praised my wife for her astute and careful logistics planning, they seemed a bit surprised at how well she had prepared!
These people do a good job and if you prepare very well and make their jobs easier, you will save money and reduce risk. They broke nothing and lost nothing.