Great Canadian Van Lines

This was probably the worst move I have ever had. We were moving our daughter to Calgary and had arranged with GCVL for a tentative delivery date of Sept 1 with the final date to be confirmed at time of pick up. The contents of her apartment were picked up on Aug 29 and we were given a delivery date of Sept 2 with exact time to be confirmed. The final delivery time was finally changed to Sept 3 between 1 and 2 pm. On Sept 2 we were called by the dispatcher to say he wanted to change the delivery date again to Sept 4 because the truck was coming from Victoria and missed its ferry reservations. I told the dispatcher this was not acceptable as we flew out to Calgary to assist my daughter with the move and this would not give us enough time before our flight back. We were then assured that the truck would be loaded and leave Vancouver on the morning of Sept 3 with delivery likely between 6 and 8 pm that evening. This was confirmed at noon on Sept 3 when the truck was apparently at Hope. We were given the cell number of the driver and attempted to call him several times during the day but got no response. When no one showed up by 9 pm we tried calling the dispatcher but again got no response. The driver phoned soon after to say he was still at least 5 hours away but would deliver the next morning at 8 am. We were originally told the truck left Vancouver at 6:30 am and the drive took about 11 hours, so someone was not giving us the straight goods. We then had to scramble to find a hotel on the Labour Day long weekend which was no easy feat. The next morning we got a call from the driver to say his truck broke down 20 km out of Calgary and he was calling a tow truck - he was not sure when he could deliver. Numerous calls to the dispatcher were made and none were ever returned. In the end a rather sad looking elderly truck from Riverbend Moving arrived via tow truck at 11:45 am. When it finally left, a large puddle of oil remained as the final reminder of our move. We incurred 2 extra nights hotel expenses and extra expenses to change our flight back to Vancouver.

As a follow up to this - Great Canadian offered us compensation to cover most of the cost of the 2 extra nights accomodation in a hotel which we accepted. Other out of pocket costs associated with the delay did not qualify for reimbursement. They assured me that my move was not typical and they get few complaints. All I know is that unfortunately our experience was not positive.

Every single thing they have done was perfect! On time and very cautious. Moved many places and used many many companies. This one was exceptional! I didn't have to worry about anything. They were very polite and very good.

I had this company deliver some of the stuff another moving company forgot to deliver. The driver was awesome, he was nice and smoothed over the experience of the last moving company. He moved our furniture quickly and efficiently!

They arrived on time, gave us a lot of heads up before they arrived. The driver was very courteous and very communicative. Very helpful. I felt we had good communication with them throughout the move. A little damage on the furniture, but otherwise small enough not to be bothered with. I really liked the guy who was a mover, very friendly and easy to talk to.

They came on time, phone in advance. I never used a mover so didn't know what to expect. They kept us informed all the way across 3 provinces. Told us how they would load fragile items such as a piano. Everything arrived very well it was all a good experience for us.

Great Canadian kept me very well informed throughout the move with lots of notice. They followed through with that by doing what they said they would do when they would do it. Their personnel were always courteous, industrious and careful with our belongings.

It was a new experience for me. The crew arrived on time, everything proceeded smoothly. In terms of getting the goods we both met here in Vancouver. This move was to a condo building so they had very specific rules to adhere to but we worked together to adhere to them. I personally had to help with the move because of time constraints but I'm still happy with the time it took as it was very reasonable.

It was a good move. Perfect move. The move from Vancouver to Calgary only took 4-5 days, very fast. I definitely recommend this moving company to anyone looking for a prompt move.

NB: this is in relation to the cross-country part of a long-distance move. A local moving company was used as Agents of GCVL on each end so the actual packing and unpacking aspects have been reviewed elsewhere. Unfortunately mentioning another company, even when they have worked as a team on a service, is technically against the reviewing rules of this site so I cannot say who.

The driver (and 'crew chief' for the local guys on each end) was superb. Answered my questions, did the job thoroughly, ensured I understood all the forms I was signing etc. No hesitation recommending the quality of the 'on-site' staff for GCVL. The admin side however was less ideal - we ran into issues with accuracy of the quotes and lack of communication, plus the company decided to reroute our driver to Montreal (not exactly en route to Vancouver from the GTA!) for a pickup which delayed our delivery by 3 days past the deadline. That caused us some hassles with booking our building elevator at the new place, but to be fair we were compensated for the delay.

If we have to move a long distance again, I would be quite willing to use GCVL again - but those less tolerant of imperfect service should think carefully how stressed they would get if their stuff was late...

They were courteous and came on time. They were very professional. Clean and polite, they handled everything well. They were very gentle and didn't drop or smash anything. I thought that the inventory system was very good (had a checklist for every single item which I checked as they worked). They were good people. I regret not tipping them so they could go buy lunch. Don't know what I was thinking.