Tippet Richardson

We hired Abbeywood movers after seeing some good reviews to move us from a small house (west end Toronto) to an apartment uptown. We were extremely happy with the service. The movers were careful and attentive with our things. We ran into a couple of issues moving our very heavy King sized bed through doorways, and the movers were attentive and patient. We could not have done it on our own. We will definitely be using them again and recommending them to friends.

Quote...... $1,800
Actual cost........ $3,500
Learning who to never deal with again.......... Priceless.

I booked Abbeywood to pack my belongings, move them to storage and then return them to a new address. Abbeywood sent a salesperson to review and quote the job, which gave me confidence that they were a professional and organized operation. The illusion stopped there.

The staff is not courteous, careful or contentious. The move was on a snowy day, and the staff walked in and out across carpets with wet salty boots. The actual site visit prior to the move notwithstanding, they came unprepared, and unapologetic with not enough staff or packing materials. They required constant supervision and complained for most of the day about how much stuff there was. When they ran out of boxes, it was their intention to leave the remaining articles behind. Some items were lost, others damaged.

Dealing with the office leaves you feeling like you are quite an inconvenience. Not a good experience. You would be way better off hiring 2 teenagers with a U-Haul....... Very unfortunate.

I would not recommend this company.

Thank you so much for having the boxes available for my move yesterday. I must let you know that Mike, Lawrence and Ralph were absolutely amazing!

They were pleasant, polite and extremely accommodating. I couldn't have asked for a better moving experience. I am so grateful that they were so friendly and good-natured.
I cannot say enough about how great they were. I hope you are aware of the quality of the crew that made my move as stress-free as possible.

The worst experience ever!!!! Scheduled two moves with them one month apart. They did my first move, but were one hour late and said their truck broke it wasn't their fault. They didn't show up to my second move!!!! I called them 100 times the day of the move, and someone finally got back to me simply stating, "they forgot to schedule the move" even though I had a confirmation email from them 3 days before. Disgusting!!!! No one even called to apologize!!!! I've called the company a few times to hear an apology and get my deposit back - didn't get either. They did rush to pick up all their rags. Will never ever use again and will continue to post this review wherever I can!

Abbeywood was dissatisfactory on every level, from rude staff to overcharging and breaking the Consumer Protection Act. As a result of our complaints the Canadian Association of Movers have forced them to apologize and pay back some of the money they overcharged. This can be checked with CAM.

We hired them to move half the furniture of a two story house in Roncesvalles and take it to their storage facility. AbbeyWood estimated the job would take 6.5 hours with 3 storage pallets. They charged us for eight and a quarter hours and four pallets, though the Consumer Protection Act allows only 10% onto an estimate. In our original estimate each pallet cost $49, the price both sides agreed to. They moved the rates up to $55 a pallet and without telling us of this retroactive change. On the day of moving one of their staff was surly, to put it mildly.

When we asked for a quote for the return leg the general manager, Randy, quoted 10 hours and over $1,000 for three men to do a job that they had once estimated for six and a half hours. I believe they thought we would accept because they had our goods. We went with Your Action Movers, who took four and a half hours with two guys at a cost of less than $500. That included the hour and a half it took to check off our gear at AbbeyWood’s warehouse. Your Action Movers were professional and courteous throughout.

AbbeyWood charged us $500 to retrieve our gear. They broke this down as a $200 ‘access fee’ and $300 ‘foreign dockers’ fee.’ They say it took four hours to clear our goods from their warehouse, hence the $200 charge. It did take almost two hours for us to check the goods off, I was present. But did it would take an hour to bring four crates out and unload the goods? An hour to put away empty crates and fold up their padding, as they claimed? CAM concluded not.

While the access fee was in the original contract, the foreign docker’s fee was not. According to the Consumer Protection Agency the foreign dockers' fee should have been in the original contract. Had it been in the original contract we wouldn’t have hired AbbeyWood, as any consumer wants the option of choice for the second leg. When I mentioned that this fee was illegal, I was shouted at by the dispatcher at AbbeyWood and he threatened to not release our goods. When I told him I would bring in a lawyer he shouted and threatened again.

CAM concluded that they had overcharged us and told them to pay back a large sum of money. The moral is: go with a CAM mover and if that mover turns out to be poor, like Abbeywood, follow up with CAM.

Everything I say above can be backed up by email correspondence, contracts and through my dealings with CAM.