Let me start out by saying that I feel people have unrealistic expectations of long distance movers. It is a really stressful time/process, and people are quick to point fingers. I read tons of reviews and had some basic observations on people's feedback, and I definitely psyched myself out and prepared for the worst. If you educate yourself and prepare things accordingly, things should go fairly smoothly.
In a long distance move, people expect their goods to basically be teleported from once city to the next, and that simply isn't the case. Your goods are moved multiple times, transferring to company warehouses, other trucks — usually 3-4 times — so your stuff needs to be packed to take this kind of physical movement. If you are packing your own stuff, PACK WELL, make sure your breakables are appropriately padded, and don't use cheap boxes that will crush or fall apart.
When you are getting a quote, be fair and honest in giving them realistic information. If you say you have a small 1 bedroom, but really have a large, heavily furnished 1 bedroom with lots of stuff, SAY THAT. If you give an inaccurate description as to the amount of your stuff and the real weight goes way over, you only have yourself to blame! Just because you say you have a small amount of stuff, doesn't mean you will get charged for that amount if it isn't true.
And one last thing... you are given windows of time and dates for a reason. If they say between 1pm and 5pm for a pickup, don't be mad if they come towards the end of that window. If they say 5-10 days to get across the country, if it takes 10 days, yes it is at the end of that date span, but it is still on time! All of this stands for ANY moving company! Be realistic!
Anyways, on to my experience with Troy. I chose Troy for our move after getting quotes and reading reviews for about a dozen moving companies. I felt their ratings and reviews vs the cost was fair... not too cheap that it was suspect, but still a very competitive rate.
••• INITIAL CORRESPONDANCE •••
Dealing with Alice and Naomi at Troy was easy and fast. They were quick to respond to emails, both before and during our move, and were quite friendly and professional.
••• THE PICKUP •••
The day before our moving date, we were given a pickup window of 4 hours. The truck arrived, on-time, towards the early side of this window. The movers treated our stuff with respect, tagged everything appropriately, and use moving blankets to wrap furniture where needed. The whole process took about 2 hours for a fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment. It was pleasant and painless. The weight of our stuff was almost exactly the same as our quote. We were quoted 1000-2000 lbs and we had 2100, which was fine and expected as I expressed that our 1 bedroom was on the heavily furnished side.
••• THE DROPOFF •••
We were given a window of 5-10 days for our stuff to arrive. About 7 days into that we were told that our stuff would be arriving on the 10th day, so right on time. The movers arrived exactly when they said they would, at 9am on the dropoff day, and everything was there — nothing misplaced, nothing extra, and everything was in good shape. You can image how relieved we were :) We were moving some extremely breakable, thin, fragile glass items, and NONE of them were broken. The only damage was a small chip on one large item which was entirely due to me preparing it poorly for the move (remember to pack well, people!)
••• OVERALL EXPERIENCE •••
Our moving experience was really great, fairly priced, on time, professional and easy, with no surprises. Troy Transportation were great and, for the price, I really don't think you could expect a better move. **My only comment** would be that our move was subcontracted on the dropoff end (Real Canada Wide Moving, a company out of Edmonton, did the delivery). They were fantastic, but in recommending Troy to other people this would be my only hesitation as it is an unpredictable variable — you have no say in who it is subcontracted out to, and if it is a good company, you're in luck! If not, it is out of your control :(
All in all, thanks to Alice, Naomi and the movers at Troy, and the two nice gentlemen from Real Canada Wide Moving :)
••• P.S. If your movers are doing a good job, don't forget to tip them! $20 per mover seems appropriate. Let them know they're doing a good job, so they continue to do so in a line of ungrateful, hard work!
