Use Starway if you want to pay thousands to have your stuff lost and broken!
Like a lot of other negative reviews on here, I had a similar experience when moving with Starway.
Christine was my sales rep and was extremely attentive and pleasant to work with. Our weight from the scale was over 7000lbs for a 2-bedroom house where we sold a lot of our belongings. This was more than we had anticipated but since we did not go to the scale with the crew, we accepted and trusted it. Be warned though - the "industry standard" should be doubled, in my opinion.
The Calgary crew were exceptional - very polite, efficient, and we gave them a good tip as we appreciated the attention to detail and ease at which the move out was done.
However, arriving in Toronto - the crew was a) drunk at 9am, b) broke/damaged a lot of our belonging, c) used our bathroom and peed all over the toilet and floor (Yes, you read that right.), d) took many many smoke breaks in the truck, stinking up our belongings (it was cold out), and e) took boxes marked "FRAGILE" and for some reason SLAMMED them down right in front of us. Most, if not all FRAGILE boxes were on their side. I have photos of boxes simply annihilated from the move in. I know they're not "liable" but come on. Paying over $4k I expect some human-level of decency.
During the unload, the most expensive thing I own - a custom wooden table that I hand-picked the wood for - was scratched by the crew right in front of me. I had taken the protective blanket off and the table was in mint condition. Without me telling the crew, they started piling stuff on top of the table. They slid a plastic bin across it that had some gravel on the bottom. Scratched the finished top horribly. I addressed it immediately, and the (drunken) crew replied "that was already like that" when both parties watched as it happened. Insulting. And again, at 9am with crew members smelling like liquor... not impressed. The sales crew back in Airdrie apologized and said they would inform the crew's manager. I never heard again about this.
A few belongings were 'missed'. We noticed the missing items immediately. Our move-in to Toronto was November 4th. Ironically, things a crew like that might want: power tools. I was informed they were in a crate and moved to one side so were not noticed. On December 15th I was informed that the missing items were in Toronto and they were waiting to hear back when they'd be delivered. It is now January 3rd. I haven't heard much from Starway at all. UPDATED: January 16 and the Toronto crew still won't admit they have the items. They want photos of the power tools. I want some money back aside from their piddly 60c per pound. The Calgary office insists that it is the Toronto crew's fault. I keep telling them that in my eyes, they're all the same company so please take responsibility for who you hire.
Overall moving our items cost $4200. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Even though I did my research and picked a BBB-credited company, I regret so much of this. No compensation. Some apologies about the drunk crew but overall, this was a terrible and emotionally draining experience.
I have an email chain over 96 emails long to prove any and all of these statements.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $4,200.00