Metropolitan Movers

This company was HORRIBLE to work with, with very few highlights.
The woman who booked my move over the phone was pleasant and easy to deal with. During the initial call, she asked where I was moving from (condo), how many bedrooms would be packed up, and how many boxes I estimated. There were no boxes, just furniture. She then asked me if I was moving appliances or anything heavy. I advised that there were no appliances to move, however there was 1 piece of furniture that was solid wood and would be very heavy. She informed me that anything over 200 lbs. would be an additional $45 charge. I understood and agreed.

I originally planned a move in date a few days after my move out date (closing dates on new home vs. old home). I was told at the time of booking that changing the date of the move is free, and it was free to cancel as long as there was at least 7 days notice.

I was also offered 2 months free storage as part of my booking.

I called back within a day or two to change the move in date, and was told I will only now get 1 month of free storage. When I asked what changed, they told me I booked previously during a 'promotion' (but was never informed of this, or advised that it would not apply if I changed the date). I kept the original move out date, so technically I still booked during the promotion.... Anyway, I chalked it up to a miscommunication and moved on.

When I originally booked the move out date, because it was on the 28th of a month, I was told there were higher fees than if I had moved closer to the middle of the month, which I can understand. After I changed the date to the 19th the company emailed me my new contract, but had NOT changed to the less expensive fees. I had to call them again and ask them to change it.

When the move-in day arrived, the contract said "arrival time between 9-10am" and the woman who called me to confirm the day prior said the movers would be arriving at the storage locker at 9am, and then would head to the house (19km away). I got to the house at 9:15am, eventually called the company at 10:15am, and was advised that the movers got to the locker at 9:30am and could be a while yet. They arrived at 12:15pm.

Two movers arrived who were nice guys. My only complaint about them is that one of them was not wearing his mask properly as it was often under his nose only covering his mouth, and was very loose and his mouth was often exposed. I am pregnant and have an elderly mother with compromised health, so I found this behaviour to be concerning.

The two gentleman informed me that one piece of furniture was too heavy for them to move (although, they had previously loaded it into the truck that morning from the company storage). They said they'd have to get a 3rd guy to come help or they could take it apart. It was a solid wood piece of furniture, so that was not an option. The piece was destined for downstairs.

They had their manager call me, who was extremely rude and condescending on the phone, continuously cutting me off, talking to me like I was stupid, and sounding very exasperated on the phone.

His solution was to leave it in the garage, and they would send 3 guys out during the week to move it downstairs at the cost of $170/h x 3 hours (minimum). I found this unacceptable as I had already hired them to do the job and it was not my problem that they were understaffed for the job. I didn't think it was fair to have to book an entire new job to move 1 piece.

He tried to say that they didn't know that was going to be so heavy and blame me, even though this company had already moved it once out of my condo, into their storage locker, and back into the truck that morning. He even read aloud on the phone the notes from initial booking that said "murphy bed, heavy item". He said this job should have been booked for 3 men from the beginning, again, insinuating that it was my fault it wasn't. That was never suggested to me, I was never asked about where this item would be going, I was only asked what type of residence I'd be moving it into, to which I replied 'a house'.

He said he would have someone from the office call me on Monday. By mid-day Tuesday I had not heard, so I called him back. Polly from the office emailed me offering me a flat rate of $500 to do the job. (Keep in mind that $170/h x 3 hours = $510, so they were offering me a $10 discount).

I explained that I found it unacceptable to have to book a whole new job when I had already booked this 'professional' moving company to do the job once and they dropped the ball on the whole situation. The first set of movers should have communicated to the office that the piece of furniture was heavy and might need more manpower.

Polly told me that if there were "special requests for moving large pieces of furniture downstairs" I should have notified them earlier. However, the two movers who were there moved a huge 9 x 9 foot sectional downstairs no problem. What constitutes large?

I was blamed for not "presenting the information" so they could prepare. What kind of 'information' should I have 'presented'?

If the company needs to know WHERE in a home items need to be moved, then they should ask that as part of the booking. They're a professional moving company that I hired to move furniture. How is the onus on me to explain to them how to do their job? Remember, at the time of my initial booking, I informed them there was a very heavy piece to move.

The next offer was $450.
I countered and offer to pay the difference between what the job SHOULD have cost with 3 movers from the get go, plus the additional $45 heavy item fee, and the cost that I DID pay for 2 movers to do an incomplete job.

I also informed her that the movers would have had to move it up 4-5 steps to even get in the house. She said that would have been no problem, but moving it to the basement was not possible. So 4-5 steps is fine, 9 is not? Is that the information I should have presented? I find it absurd to put all of the logistical planning on the customer, instead of sorting these things out as a 'professional' moving company.

Polly then replied using my words from a previous email and refused to do the service.

From start to finish this company terrible to work with, and their customer service is atrocious.

The woman who did the booking on the phone was lovely and helpful, and except for the mask issue with one mover, both the movers who did the job were great and I have no complaints about them.

Go with a bit reputable moving company who prides themselves on good customer service and save yourself a HUGE amount of hassle.

I'll happily pay the full price to hire a new company for a full move just to move this one piece of furniture, as long as Metropolitan Movers doesn't get another dime of my money. Terrible, terrible, terrible.