Across Canada Van Lines

Before booking with Across Canada Van Lines I strongly advise you to read the following;

First let me tell you what my situation was:
I had a storage unit situated in Calgary, AB. All of my belongings were in this storage unit and I needed a moving company to go into it and move it across Canada to Halifax, NS. At the time, I was already in Halifax.

I booked with Across Canada Moving for one primary reason, their estimated time of arrival (16-18 days door to door). They guaranteed this to me, therefore, I booked with them right away because I was living in an empty apartment. They went to my storage unit and picked up my belongings on June 25th. LET ME JUMP AHEAD AND STATE THAT I GOT MY BELONGINGS ON AUGUST 19! 56 days I had to live without ANYTHING in my apartment.

Going back a bit, I called them around the original estimated time of arrival to ask them when they were arriving. They had no idea. They ONLY then decided to tell me that their two main offices are in Vancouver and Toronto. When your move is going past Toronto they leave your stuff in a warehouse until they have a truck full enough to make it worth their while to bring it to Halifax. MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING THEY SHOULD STATE BEFORE YOU BOOK WITH THEM.

For a month and a half I tried several times to speak with a manager because I was GETTING NOWHERE AT ALL WITH THE STAFF, and they had absolutely no idea when my move would arrive. Everytime I asked to speak with a manager I was simply informed "There is no manager in". When I asked when a manager would be in, I never got a straight answer. One time I was even told, and I quote "Do I make the schedule mam'? No, so how would I know!" I have saved all of the ridiculous e-mails back and forth and I am still shocked at a specific one. After expressing my disappointment and the fact that I could not understand why the company is so disorganized, the reply was "I do not see any being unorganized but there is no reason for you to be rude". They don't care about their customers. Basically this insanity continued until finally they told me it was arriving on a Saturday. (They do not give you more than a 3 day notice and they do not care that people work and need to give their job notice). So I had to take the day as an unpaid day off. How surprised I was when they didn't show up.

I ended up re-buying several things that were in my delivery because I had no other choice as I couldn't wait anymore. My stuff came to me 56 days later with over $2000 worth of missing and damaged belongings. They offered me $400 back minus a $350 deposit.

THANK YOU ACROSS CANADA FOR A DREADFUL MOVE WITH AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE. THANK YOU FOR BREAKING & LOSING OVER $2000 WORTH OF MY STUFF AND THEN KINDLY OFFERING ME $50.

I am not one to complain, but please do not use this company. I moved from Quebec to Manitoba, and although initially promised 7-10 days, the delivery took exactly ONE MONTH. That's a lot of time without any possession, especially stressful with the start of a new job. I kept contacting the company with promises of "within the next few days". The company only offered 5% discount after I had complained on numerous occasions. I do not believe this amount justified a 4 week delay. Please do yourself a favor a look elsewhere.

NB: This is a long post. All details are objective and factual. Please read if you are interested in understanding a true story of the quality of service provided by Across Canada Van Lines.

I recently moved from Toronto to Calgary. My pick up date was schedule for Thursday June 28th in the morning. I waited all morning, but the pick up truck did not arrive. I e-mailed my sales rep and spoke with a customer service rep to inquire. The first time, I was told that the truck was on it's way, and would be at my apartment in downtown Toronto in 1.5 hours. 3 hours later, after they did not show, I called back to inquire again. Same response: 1.5 hours. By 8:00pm at night, I was left stranded at my place, with ACVL providing little help. By that time, their office was closed and I left messages on the number they provided. I received a follow-up, a few "genuine" apologies, and assurances that my belongings would be picked up FIRST thing in the morning on Friday June 29th (before 10:00am). Of course, they didn't show. By 2:00pm, finally the pick up truck arrived.

When I signed the papers, I noticed charges that I was never originally informed of: eg: $30 each ($60 total) for a mattress and box plastic cover, extra $45 for weight scale (when I inquired what this meant, the driver could not provide me with an adequate answer), even though I was told weighing was included in the fee. Ridiculous.

Fast forward: I was told multiple times by my sales rep that it would take 8-10 business days to arrive from date of pick up. On July 6th, I inquired as to where my belongings currently were, and was informed they were in transit. GREAT! On July 10th, I inquired again, and was told: "Your goods left Toronto at 6th July and will be in Calgary in 4-6 days." By my calculation based on what I was told, my goods should have arrived by July 10th, 12th or most conservatively, 14th. Because I wanted to pay on visa, I called my sales rep the day before my belongings were supposed to arrive and I paid, and he accepted the payment. I now understand that ACVL's policy is to not accept payment until delivery. Simply put, my belongings did NOT arrive. So I followed up.

Here are two e-mails that I sent:
1. July 20th: Hi xxx,

"I'm curious as to where my belongings are? In the e-mail correspondence below you mentioned that the goods left Toronto on July 6th and should take 4 - business days. It has now officially been 11 business days and I have not received any notice."

2. On July 20th:
"Hi xxx Last time we spoke you mentioned that they had arrived in Edmonton.

...I am very shocked and disappointed with how I have been treated from across van lines. Starting with the unexplainable inconvenience that I experienced when my belongings were picked up, to the misinformation and negligence in timing, to the false assurances that my belongings would arrive in 4-6 days. Given that my bed, etc are in that shipment, I've been having to sleep on the ground, and this is unjustifiable.

My belongings were picked up on June 29th and it is now July 20th. This is unacceptable.

I would like to speak with a manager to file a formal complaint and will ensure that this experience is well documente for public knowledge to ensure that people are aware of the poor customer service that I experienced. I expect further compensation for this hassle."

In response to this e-mail, on July 23rd, the sales rep asked if I was available on July 24th. I responded and inquired on a range of time and was told in the morning. PERFECT! FINALLY! July 24th morning, nothing. When I inquired, I was blamed for not confirming, even though I initiated the conversation, and requested a range of time.

It is now July 28th, and I have still not received my belongings, and in correspondence (all of which is in e-mail), I have been blamed for not confirming delivery time, even though I personally inquire and request that my belongings be delivered!

This is ridiculous. All I want are my belongings. 90% of what I own is in that truck.

My goal is not to slander ACVL's reputation, but to provide a true account of my experience and for your to make your own responsible assessment and decision when choosing them to do business with.

Across Canada works with door express and troy transportations, in my move from calgary to hamilton they pospossed my delivery in 4 times so thats mean to lose working days and settin the parking lot for the truc 4 times. when finaly the moving company bring my things they dropped on the parking lot because they want to charge for the delivery at the apartment , my buildinng has no elevator but they did know that situation. they wait till last minute to discuse that point at the delivery and they want to charge 300 dollars extra for a delivery of six boxes one matress, a futton and a folded dinning table. I think they are in the wrong bussines because they are not realy movers the world movers has not be on their advertises they are cargo entrepeneurs, I do not recomend across canada and theyr asosiated companies to move your loved things

I scheduled them to move me, and they seemed professional and affordable when I talked to the Sales rep. They gave me a very high quote, yet when I complained that it was probably 3 times as much as it would cost they told me it is weighed in transit and I would only be charged for what my freight actually weighed. They also told me it would be between 7-10 days. One I was in Calgary I waited 9 days and since I hadn't heard back yet I called. They told me the pick up day and the day after the pickup day didn't count in the 7-10 days. Then they told me the day its in at the station didn't count in the 7-10 days either so it would be more like 13-14 days. No biggie. I got a call about a week later telling me the weight of my final shipment and the cost and it was double what I had estimated!! I complained to the company and asked if maybe there was a mistake and my stuff was weighed with other people's things, because they had told me it was shipped with other goods to be dropped at stops along the way. He told me i better pay it in full or I wouldn't get my stuff. His tone completely changed. I got my mother involved because I figured maybe they were trying to take advantage because I was younger. They basically told her off. Then we didn't hear from them for another week and when we called to see where my stuff was they told me it would get there when it gets there. So after ANOTHER week of constant calling to get an answer and being ignored, we tried to get ahold of a manager or supervisor but found we could only talk to the one sales guy and he told me nobody would listen to us. He then accused us of harrassing them. They told us because we had complained about the price, they had taken my stuff to edmonton and it was in storage there! We said we'd pay it, but they still refused to deliver for some reason...saying all the trucks were busy. So afterjust over a month I finally got my stuff, had to pay out the ears...and the movers who came to my house told me to help them move stuf!! The nerve!! Needless to say it was very stressful and this company is full of con artists! They do it because they can get away with it!

Our belongings were loaded on one of the Across Canada Van Lines' container on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. It took the movers 5 hours (which included all of their breaks) 5 hours to load a 1 bedroom apt. I was not allowed to help. All boxes, etc were packed and marked. Usually we rent a UHaul, but decided to try ACVL.

We left Ontario on Saturday, February 25th, 2012, driving through the US and Saskatchewan to Edmonton, Alberta. We arrived February 28th to find out that our belongings had not even left Ontario. We continued with frantic calls asking when would the delivery be. We were told that on the Tuesday, they could not load our container, so left it in Toronto. The interesting part is that we had to do all the calling to request information. We were NOT kept up to date.

We complained about extra billing costs and had some deducted from the final invoice, especially with no delivery and no expected delivery date.

To date, we have not received our things. The dispatcher was to call today, March 18, 2012 to let us know when our things will be delivered.....and of course...NO CALL.

We have slept on an air mattress and live sparingly. This is challenging as my husband started a new job, I am applying (but my interview info, etc is coming, but not here), plus this is not a way to start a 'new life'. Sleeping on the air mattress and getting up from the floor is painful and challenging as I have arthritis and fibromynalgia.

We will NEVER, EVER recommend or use this company again. This has been a nightmare, and it's still not over for us!!!