I have never written a review before but felt compelled to warn consumers about this company. We hired Centennial Movers to move a 2 bedroom bungalow from Toronto to Vancouver Island. We dealt with Xavier who quoted us $4900 for approx. 8000lbs with an expected delivery date around the beginning of April. On move out day, the movers were efficient but did manage to break off a large piece of stone from the front porch with their dolly and didn't bother mentioning it. I did relay what I witnessed in an email to Centennial but nothing was done to rectify it. We received a bill later that day which was significantly more than the original quote (like $3,000 more) with the final weight of 12820! I was floored. We have a 2 bedroom, 900 square foot bungalow! When I asked for the waybill documenting the weight, I got a weight typed on company letterhead...nothing official. Since net weight is such a point of contention, you would think that they would be able to provide an actual waybill. Move in day came and went. Follow-up phone calls and emails with Xavier had me trying to track down their dispatcher directly whom could not even provide a ballpark date when our things would arrive. Fortunately we had brought camping gear with us so we were not completely without. Finally, three weeks after the estimated delivery date, only HALF of our items showed up. We were made to pay the full amount or they would not unload. The movers were very nice and pointed out damage...there was a fair amount of it. The movers tracked down the other half of our items to a warehouse in Vancouver and sent us photos. I was horrified to see some of the boxes ripped and stacked in a way which completely neglected the instructions on the box. Some damage is to be expected with a long-distance move but after seeing the way in which our items were handled, I attribute a lot of the damage to a total lack of care. We received the remainder of our items a week later and fortunately despite some damage everything was accounted for. We did receive a box that did not belong to us but the movers picked up on it quickly and put it back in their truck. After inventorying the damage, I provided the necessary information to the claims department but was told the damage would essentially be the cost of the $300 deductible ( the damage was far greater). They were willing to offer me a $70 reimbursement on the condition that I "opt from pursuing further with legal complaints or claims, posting online reviews related to Centennial moving that will negatively affect the company's reputation". I thanked them for their hush money but said I would rather have the ability to post my experience online to caution others who are looking for a reputable moving company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $7,700.00
- Company Response
Dear Yolanda, we are terribly sorry for the unpleasant experience you had with us. Whilst an apology will regrettably not alter the outcome of your experience on this case, we do extend it with sincerity. In case if your porch was damaged, you should have notified our movers at the time of pick up, while there were still there, so they can witness it and take a photo of it, as well you should have sent us the photos of it as well, so we could process it. Based on our Claim Policy - Property Damage: Our insurance liability is limited to up to $100.00 for damage to floors, walls, ceiling/roof, doors, and painted surfaces. So we could easily compensate it back to you. Your price is solely depends on the actual weight of the items, since we do scaling twice on the pick up day to get the actual weight. If you had more items, the weight increased accordingly, all depends on the weight of the items. As an example you can have just 5 boxes of books, but since books are heavy, the weight won't be just 10 lbs. for all of these boxes. We scale the truck at an MTO weigh station and they do not issue tickets due to the pandemic that do not allow anyone inside of their office. This is why, we collect the information from the weighing and in-print it on our letterhead. As well we offer the rescale option on the delivery, so you and the movers could witness the scaling again and both check the results, you could have just requested it from the dispatch during confirmation for the delivery. We never advise the exact delivery date, since all depends on the schedule of customers we have on the way, as well as it was mentioned in the booking agreement, we experience the delays due to the COVID and the result from it is a shortage of staff members. It's something we can't control, as weather conditions, but we're sorry for being late, we moved as fast as possible. Indeed losses and damages might happen throughout the move, some of them happen due to the weather conditions, temperature change or pressure, which may result in damages to such things as plastic, glass, dishes or even wood. We always take all items with big care and have a separated space in the truck for each customer, so items aren't being moved inside back and forth. Based on your Claim details and basic coverage plan that you've chosen, you didn't even reach the deductible amount, but we still made an exception for you as a valuable customer and offered some compensation. Prior the move you were advised that we have 3 types of coverage and how each of them works, so you could choose the one you preferred the most. Once again, we do apologize and in case of anything, please contact our team back. Sincerely, Centennial Moving Team!