City Wide Movers

As I was moving out of my Calgary apartment back in 2011.
I had a great concern:a big dresser of red wood (my grandpa brought it from Africa-so apart from it's actual value,the thing was of sentimental one as well) .Thing was that the dresser was 1)heavy i.e. not very manipulable;
2)had to be taken out through narrow,curvy corridors.
3) expensive (not to be scratched further-scratches it had from previous movers,when moving in,were bad enough)
So I called several companies ,explaining the situation, to find out,whether they could take it out safely.
After some further questions,some turned me down directly,
while others quoted rates so high "due to extra strenuous work",
that I refused the offer myself.
One of the companies I called turned to be City Wide.
They did not turn me down or frighten with extra charges, but sent in an employee,Walter to see the place.
The verdict was:impossible to take it out without inflicting further damage,hearing which did not make me jump for joy ,as you understand.
However,luckily for me ,after a telecom with his office,
he and/or his bosses came up with an ingenious solution:
they craned it out of the window.Not a scratch!
Moreover they charged a very small premium (negotiated in advance)for the extra job and use of the crane.
Also,the helpers, Jessy and Ali , were quick and efficient,
while taking out the rest of my staff.One of them was even thorough enough as to suggest to put extra protective material on some of the fragile items.
Another think-even though it was getting late and they must have wanted to go home.
The driver ,Elliot was driving slow enough as to ensure my precious dresser and some of the other fragile items make it one piece.
Oh, and the dispatch person, Tomas had such a pleasant and professional telephone manner.
The bottom line is: extremely satisfied with their engineering sense and overall attitude.
Keep up the good job,guys!

This company needs to think some things threw. The two workmen couldn't read english. so ended up just throwing our boxes around that had breakables in or glass. My flatscreen tv came back smashed and they told me and their boss that it was like that before they moved it. They wouldn't take the washing machine or dryer. They charged for 8 hours of work when it should have been 4. I don't know how they got in the BBB booklet.

The move itself went decently, it wasn't fast...was quoted 3 hours and it took 6. My biggest issue is that we were never offered the opportunity to see the inside of the truck to be sure everything was out. As a result of this a painting we had ended up in the back of the truck for 3 weeks while I fought with Mila to get it back. At first I was told it was on the back of a truck and they were being used and she couldn't get a hold of anyone, I was given that story for about 2 weeks until I threatened to call the police and report theft. They then contacted me fairly quickly and I had it just today. It was damaged, damage that likely would not have happened had it not been joyriding in a truck for the past 3 weeks and their insurance doesn't cover paintings, conveniently. I then called and asked to speak to her manager, all she did was quote the contract to me and demand any complaints be sent in writing...I have not done this yet but I have no illusions that this will bear no fruit. This company is full of shady people, they use any means possible to not be responsible for their actions...I wish I had never used them, this has been a truly miserable experience. My recommendation is to STAY AWAY FROM CITY WIDE!!! They promise you will pay less but you will most certainly pay far more with this company than with another, more reputable moving company.

My experience with city Wide in Calgary was unsatisfactory to say the least. When the 3 movers arrived we were advised all contents of the house would fit in the truck with no difficulties. By the time the truck was loaded, we still had a third of our house left to load. Absolute amateurs. They left our old house at 1:30 to leave for our new house, which is a 15 minute drive (max), and didn't arrive at the new house until almost 4pm. They claimed my husband and I both gave them our wrong cell #'s and they got lost and couldn't get a hold of any body. When they did arrive and opened the back of the truck, I was agast at the room that was still left in the truck. I have since had to do about 12 loads in my car and friends cars that could have fit in their moving truck. All 3 guys were on the absolute defense when they arrived at my house insisting I pay for their lost time for getting lost. On top of that, when they arrived at the new house, they were adamant that they had to unload quickly because they had another appointment to get to. Needless to say, any of the items that they disassembled, they did not assist with assembling back together. Also, they did not even consider taking off their shoes or offer to put covers on them. I thought they were all terribly unprofessional.

Note: I have forward this email to the Manager 2 weeks ago and have yet to receive a response:
*The movers “moved” incredibly SLOW! They would pick up one small box or one small item at a time and move a snail’s pace. There was a lot of standing around and watching and sauntering. Mohamad had to call in a 3rd mover in the afternoon as the move was going so slow. They said I had a lot of small stuff which takes more time. I had 80% of stuff in my garage and on the main floor by the front door. Only a few boxes in basement with a few pictures; and beds, dressers and a desk upstairs.

*Movers only had 5 small wardrobe boxes for all of my clothes. Said he had new boxes but I would have to buy them. I had to move all of my clothes myself taking trips with my car. Mohamed dismissed me by saying I had too many clothes (I’m one person…my 2 kids had no clothes on hangers) and dismissed me by informing me he doesn’t deal with customer service and it wasn’t his truck.

*I had boxes clearly labeled…we found them all over the place the next day…apparently they didn’t care where they went.

*I called the company in the afternoon to complain about the workers; that they were moving slow and standing around a lot. I was told the manager wasn’t in and I only got excuses from the lady that answered the phone such as “they were probably moving slow so they wouldn’t hurt themselves; and it wasn’t unusual to take so long; and that they have never received complaints”. I was dismissed and disregarded. POOR Customer Service! Perhaps a little assurance that Citywide would talk to their workers would have helped.

*When we got the first load to my new house my mom was there and “lit a fire” under them so to speak and got them moving faster by “encouraging” them.

*The move took 2 full loads; leaving me items that I had to go back and move myself the next day. The first load took 11 hours which included all of the big furniture. The excuse I continuously heard was “the small stuff that took more time to move than the big furniture” which was their excuse for taking so long. Ironically, the second load only took 4.5 hours to move and there was ONLY “small stuff”. Apparently the late hour and the fact they wanted to go home motivated them to move faster as they did pick up the pace for the second load.

*When I originally described what was in my house, I was quoted 4-6 hours. I don’t want to hear that I had “too much small stuff” and that is why it took so long to move. The guys were slow and unmotivated to work hard as it is quite evident in the time taken for the second load. I would be more than happy to have you come to my house and see for yourself how much “stuff” I had to move. I have moved in the past (a 4 person home) that didn’t take half as long as moving only 3 of us. Nor have I ever experienced such incompetent movers…EVER!

*Your website indicates Fast and hardworking movers. I got Slow and lazy and unmotivated. This move ended up costing me an astronomical amount of money and more importantly a waste of my family’s time and extreme frustration.

I had a terrible experience with this company. As another poster stated they sent a smaller truck than I had requested and ended up having to do two trips instead of just one which of course costs more money since they're paid by the hour. They also sent three people instead of just two and made me pay for an additional hour to cover the cost of the extra person who didn't actually help with the move and just stayed in his car by the truck. The extra guy they sent started yelling at me almost as soon as they got there because it was a difficult moving situation and parking was a hassle. I acknowledge that it is a frustrating place to move from, especially given some construction going on nearby and having to move the truck on a number of occasions for the City’s construction vehicles to get through, but I had forewarned them that I lived in an apartment downtown and asked if they had experience with downtown moves as I realize they can be much more difficult and I was told that it wouldn’t be an issue. The issues they had were things that I had no control over and as a professional company they should have been able to handle it without taking it out on me.

They then didn’t park where they were instructed to park and received a parking ticket which I was then required to pay (even though myself and the building manager had told them not to park there).

I also requested that they take their shoes off before going on the carpeted area in the apartment which one of the movers disregarded and left dirty footprints all over the floor. Once all of my items had been moved to the loading area, which is a public area in the apartment building, they realized they couldn’t fit everything in one load so when the movers brought my stuff to the new house I had to stay behind with my remaining items and I sent someone else to let them into the house to unload.

At the new house the movers apparently started unloading but were told to stop by someone from their office. A woman from their office (I believe her name was Mila), then called me and told me that I had to pay them before they unloaded anything further from the truck even though I had an email from her which previously stated that payment was due upon completion of the job. Due to this I had to find someone to watch my remaining items and take a cab to the new house to pay them upon threat of having my items taken to storage, which I would also have to pay for, if I didn't get over and pay them right away. They basically held my items hostage. Once I got there to pay they said they wouldn't take debit (which they previously said they would) and I had to pay with my credit card (which thankfully I had). I will acknowledge that I had previously stated I would pay with debit or credit card, so they at least knew that I did have a credit card, but at this point I didn't want to provide them with my credit card information and would have preferred to pay with my debit. I was also told that they had another job to get to and that mine had taken longer than anticipated so they would not be able to go back and get my remaining items until that night. As I stated earlier, all of my items were sitting in a public area in the old building so clearly that was unacceptable. I told their office that my remaining items needed to be moved right away and I ended up going with them in their truck to ensure that it was done.

Further, one of the items I had left for the second trip was my BBQ with a propane tank. I know from past experience that some moving companies won’t transport propane tanks so the day before my move when I confirmed my address and details with their office I specifically asked whether or not they would take it or if I would have to move that over myself. I was assured that they would handle everything I had and that I didn’t have to worry about a thing. However, when it came time to load it they stated that they wouldn’t take it. I insisted that they load it because I don’t have a car and now had no other way to take it over (which I would have previously arranged if they had told me they couldn’t) and eventually they ended up taking it.

Also, I have no problem with them speaking another language when just chatting amongst themselves, but I found it to be quite rude when I would speak to them about issues and they would then turn to discuss it in another language which I was unable to understand.

Overall it’s not even the length of time that it took to actually do the move that I have an issue with, I acknowledge that it was frustrating and difficult, my issue is that they consistently contradicted the information they had previously provided me, they were rude (mostly on the part of the office) and they had no consideration for the situation they put me in by not providing the services as they said they would. I would never recommend this company.

We had a horrible experience with these movers. They sent a truck that was too small and could not accommodate all of our boxes/furniture. It took three times as long as they said it would and they left before they finished putting our furniture back together. I would never recommend these movers. Neither Mila nor her husband cared about the fact that the job was not finished. All they want is your money.

Do not make the same mistake we did. Use another moving company. We spent another two hours after they left moving boxes and we filled up six cars. And days after moving, we are still putting together the furniture that they neglected.

Mila and City Wide Movers were nothing short of fantastic and I recommend them whole heartedly. My daughter is a university student in Toronto and I live in Vancouver. She has never had to use movers before so I was helping out by making arrangements from across the country. We were both a bit nervous but Mila was patient, understanding and promised they would take great care. This promise was fulfilled on every level. My daughter said the guys were extremely nice, showed up on time, were efficient and she felt very comfortable. An added bonus for her was that they were both nonsmokers.
Many thanks again to City Wide Movers.