Number 1 Movers

Reviews

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1. R

   Remain A.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Calgary, AB to Victoria, BC

   6 Jan 20231-bedroomPaid C$11,500

   MOVING SCAM

   This company is a scam, similar to those companies that have been recently charged in Ontario. This was a dreadful experience. I urge you to find a reputable company, I wish I had more tips on how to do this. Some tips here (also helpful if you’re caught in a scam already): https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/office-consumer-affairs/en/buying-and-leasing-big-ticket-items/moving-advice https://www.ontario.ca/page/hiring-mover DO NOT just google “best moving companies”, this will lead to false articles/lists of “good moving companies”. DO NOT just read their reviews, and they bury the real (1-star) reviews in fake 5-star empty reviews. Number 1 Movers are littered with red flags when it comes to moving scams: - they provide a quote online, on a form which can be modified by them and is NOT a pdf (you don’t notice this as the consumer) - great customer service when you are looking to book, and then impossible to contact once you book - you agree to an estimate, and only THEN do they send you a full “contract” with lots of small print including a “cubic foot policy” detailing that they can charge you for the cubic feet of your items at an outrageous rate (without weighing your stuff at all, which is what the estimate is based on) - an initial low quote, which increases after your belongings are picked up - they are a BROKER, they don’t actually do moves; they hired a third party (who I was able to find separately as a guy who advertises on Kijiji that he has a truck for moving; not a registered company, not insured) - delays, delays, delays when it comes to actually getting your move booked, with things “ready to go” as close to the move date as they can push it (making it harder to cancel and find a new company) I booked a move in March 2022 from Calgary to Victoria, for a 1 bed apartment which was to be stored for 4 months, and then an additional pick-up in Vancouver and move to Victoria. My quote was for $6,800. They assign a “moving coordinator” who is supposed to be in charge of my move. The first pick-up was to be in May 2022. I hassled No 1 Movers for weeks to try to get an appointment with my moving coordinator, she cancelled three times for various excuses which didn’t make any sense. About three weeks out from my move, we finally had a phone meeting where she provided no additional info. On my move day, the movers showed up – who are entirely unrelated to number 1 movers. These guys were actually really nice and took good care of my stuff (which was lucky, these movers could have been anyone) and moved it into a storage locker managed by them (the third party). The second pick-up and move were supposed to be in September. I reached out in July to request a date for this move. I got delay after delay as they had to coordinate with the “logistics team” into August; and then early August my quote increased from $6,800 to $11,500. They reported that this was because I was being charged by the “cubic foot policy” as noted above, in which they charged for the volume of my belongings rather than the weight (as a much higher price). They never did weigh my stuff. They repeatedly delayed in replying to me and I could not get through on their phones, I suspect so that it would be harder for me to find a replacement at the last minute. This led to over 100 threatening emails back and forth, and ultimately, I cancelled the move while my first load remained in storage not knowing if I’d ever get my stuff back. In the end, I agreed to pay for the portion of the move they completed (moving it into storage) based on the initial quote, which they still disagreed with and overcharged me (I paid $2,500 for this move from a 1-bed apartment in Calgary into a storage locker in Calgary), but feel lucky that I escaped mid-way through as I can only imagine there was more scamming to come. I had to book another company about 1 week out from the move, and fly into Calgary from Ontario where I was visiting family, in order to be there when they picked up my stuff to ensure there were no issues. We were haggling over price and I wasn’t sure I would get my stuff until the morning I picked up my stuff, after already flying into town. It was awful and stressful. DO NOT BOOK WITH NUMBER 1 MOVERS, they are a moving scam. If you are caught in a scam, contact your local consumer protection (they are slow to get back to you, but worth reporting). Document everything. If you have to pay them to get your stuff, document that you paid in protest. Do not be afraid to take them to small claims court. Pay with credit card and consider disputing based on the initial estimate. Of note, they make you sign a payment form that says “I agree not to dispute this with my credit card company” but that doesn’t mean anything, you can still dispute.

2. P

   Paula E.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Montreal, QC to Dartmouth, NS

   13 Dec 20223-bedroomPaid C$8,000

   Disastrous long distance move

   BEWARE!! Absolutely horrendous experience from before my move to after my move. Let’s start with before: I’m promised a moving date nearly two months in advance. Kind of important when you are moving to another province as you need to coordinate things like hotels, pet care, etc. Then, less than a week before my moving date, I get told “no it’s not a date, but a RANGE” and finally my move will be pushed up by a day. Excuse me?! Now I have to scramble to find a hotel to sleep in and care for my pets. I also had personal plans for a goodbye party before leaving the province, which I had to move around and accommodate. Moving day: They showed up hours late, forcing me to alter the party being thrown for us. They are supposed to weigh the truck before arriving, so I ask for the weight receipt. The driver has one but they have done a drop off since their last weigh-in, so it’s not accurate to my starting point. When packing up my old home, they did not wrap ANYTHING in moving blankets except the glass cabinet & TV, nor use floor runners, as promised in their sales pitch. They damaged several walls and door frames on the way out. Then, while trying to pack up the truck, they left my belongings strewn out across the wet grass on my front lawn. My light coloured fabric sofa was dragged across the ground with no protection (I have photos). Because they came so late, it was very dark and the workers were using their phones as flash lights to try and see as they packed up the truck. The next day, I get my invoice: with surprise $800 surcharges for travel from the warehouse to my address. How was this a surprise? They had both my old and new addresses when they quoted me. When I called to inquire about this, I was told “well your address isn’t along the route so we had to go out of our way”. I’m sorry, does a moving company not build the routes based on their customers? This isn’t a bus route. Insane. Then we get to delivery. To nobody’s surprise, several of my items had sustained serious damage. Table legs broken off my desk, deep gashes into my wood furniture, a giant hole in my patio box. Somewhat surprising was that these pieces (and only these) came out of the truck with moving blankets wrapped only over the damaged areas. So clearly they saw the damaged that they did and tried to hide it. Again, my fabric sofa was dragged across the ground and into the house. After the movers left, I had a frank discussion with their HQ, and was promised compensation for all of the damages. It took two weeks of calling to finally get a confirmation of the amount I would be compensated, and I was told I would have it within a week. 3 weeks later, I was told I would get it within 48 hours. It has now been 6 weeks since my move and I cannot get in touch with anybody from the company either by phone, email, or text. I suspect they are screening calls and avoiding my phone number. SHADY. Edit: while waiting on hold over 30 minutes, I picked up a different phone and called them and got through right away, while my original call still sat on hold. Seems they were definitely screening my phone number. Now, I’m being told I won’t get my compensation for another month because their claims department needs to do their year-end paperwork??

3. T

   Tracey T.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Cambridge, ON

   11 Nov 20222-bedroomPaid C$7,300

   Lack of professionalism

   Very poorly managed company. My move turned into a nightmare! Lack of professionalism and responsiveness. They do not deliver on their promises. Do not trust your move to this company. Almost every item they moved was damaged because they did not bring moving supplies! I am still waiting for reimbursement due to damages 4 months after my move! They do not communicate by phone and ignore your emails.

4. N

   Nina P.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Rigaud, QC to Calgary, AB

   26 Aug 20223-bedroomPaid C$11,000

   Long Distance Moving

   Stay far away! They are scammers and have held our furniture hostage for payment of more than 3x quote. Had to negotiate a better rate after 3 overblown invoices. Will not release the furniture until we give them written cc information. Will not guarantee delivery date until they have our written cc information. Furniture is currently in Hamilton from Rigaud!

5. C

   Christopher S.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Antigonish, NS

   9 Aug 20224-bedroomPaid C$11,500

   Heartbreaking...

   This place is a nightmare. Please don't trust them with your belongings. Definitely don't believe their lies. Their petty replies are just for show. You will end up heart broken if you let these people into your house. Adrian will not reply to your emails. They won't return phone calls. They lost parts of my record collection, microphones from my studio, Heirlooms, sensitive documents, computers, entire pieces of furniture. Send movers that bad mouth you. I could go on and on. Unless you have a good lawyer and enjoy wasting time, money and your sanity. Do yourself a favour. Find someone else, anyone else...

6. A

   Ali M.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Hamilton, ON to Vancouver, BC

   31 Jan 20221-bedroomPaid C$6,500

   Don't use Number1 Movers

   My experience with number1 movers was anxiety-inducing, frustrating, shocking, and needlessly expensive. That star is for the West District Manager who was assigned to my job to find my missing furniture (and has found three out of six missing pieces of furniture that had been left in the storage warehouse). Zero stars for the rest of Number1 movers. I was naive and trusting. I wish I could go back in time and do more research and read more review pages. I hope you see my review and the other reviews before you book Number1 Movers for your move. The scenario: Packing and storage of my things (one-bedroom apartment) in Hamilton, ON (Oct 2021) followed by a move to Vancouver about one month later (Nov 2021). They lost my furniture: They lost entire tables and half of a bed frame. It’s Jan 30, 2022 and I still don’t have all of my things. (And they’re not going to replace them). They dragged my mattress through mud: I purchased a mattress protection bag from them and they put it on. The mattress arrived muddy with the bag ripped open. They broke my things: All of my furniture arrived with some form of damage, ranging from scratches and abrasions to being completely smashed. Boxes were squished and mushed, and one was even open with books falling out when it arrived. They dropped my boxes: Some boxes were perfectly in tact but contained shattered and dented items. The integrity of these boxes and the state of their contents suggested to me that they had been dropped from a height. They walked on my things: Part of my bed frame had dirty footprints on it.

7. M

   Mandy M.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Orillia, ON

   12 Nov 20213-bedroomPaid C$8,000

   Appalling lack of decency

   I wish I could give zero stars. When the truck arrived, my mother's items were mixed in with another person's (or multiple persons') delivery and they kept unloading items that didn't belong to her. When we said the items weren't hers, the two movers said "if you like it, you can keep it." This was said to us several times as they offloaded items. At one point, one of the movers turned to my 6-year-old and said "someday you'll learn the world isn't an honest place." This should be this company's slogan. Boxes were falling apart, soaking wet, like they'd been sitting in a puddle for days. Items were damaged; many, many items. My mom is an antique dealer and knows how to package/wrap things and it was shocking how many things were smashed. Rubbermaid bins were broken and the items inside were crushed, that's how bad it was. Original artwork that had been wrapped in foam and cardboard had broken glass, frames and the artwork itself had been damaged. The mattress was ripped, furniture was chipped beyond repair... The best part? Not all of her items were on the delivery truck. I have no idea how/why someone's move would be split up. When we pressed the issue and finally said we would pick the items up at the warehouse, we were told the warehouse manager would meet us in a closer location, which was a grocery store parking lot (yes, we agreed to this, but seriously?). We collected a TV stand (broken), her luggage (soaking wet to the inside where the contents were mouldy) and a table (broken). She's still missing original artwork and several boxes. I don't have much confidence we'll ever receive them after hearing several times during unloading, "if you like it, you can keep it." She called and spoke with Bella in Customer Service who said the manager, Julianna, would call her back the next day to discuss the damage and missing items. Of course, no phone call. The following day, she called again, and again, and no one would pick up (you can't leave a voicemail). I called and connected with Jenna in Customer Service on my first attempt. (Were they screening her?) Jenna gave me the email address for the claims department, and my mom sent photos of the damage with descriptions of the items. She received a reply stating they would offer .60 per pound and they guesstimate the weight of each item via the photos. So, for thousands of dollars in damaged antique pottery, furniture and original artwork, she was offered $240. She refused this and they 'upped' the offer to $573. She refused this again but there's been no progress since. Plus, still no word from them on the missing items but we were told that they are in a storage unit, behind another person's belongings and that person hasn't secured an address yet, so we need to wait. It's been a month since my mom's move date and now we're waiting for someone else to secure a residence because they can't be bothered to move their stuff to complete my mom's delivery. I've emailed two more times, requesting a date and received no response. I can't get through via phone anymore either. She did finally receive an email from Julianna who promised to make time the following day to call her to discuss. It's been two days since that promise was made and my mom hasn't heard from anyone. My mom is elderly. She moved from Ontario to BC to be closer to her grandchildren. A huge and stressful move for anyone, let alone an elderly person. If they can treat a grandma with this amount of disregard, disrespect and unprofessionalism, they are truly number one at something, that's for sure. I'm disgusted with their lack of concern, lack of organization and competency, lack of care and complete lack of decency. By the way, it you're missing a box of spices and/or the top to an outdoor patio table, I have it...

8. E

   Es M.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Victoria, BC to Halifax, NS

   9 Nov 20211-bedroomPaid C$5,500

   Hire LITERALLY anyone else!

   Hire LITERALLY anyone else! I cannot even express my disappointment with the atrocious state of service rendered by Number 1 Movers with our long distance move. Not only did our delivery arrive nearly 10 days after the quoted date of arrival, but no customer service representatives that I called during the course of the delivery could confirm the state of my delivery, its location, whether items had been collected or even how many were collected. Several pieces of furniture were broken or severely scratched and we still have not received 2 pieces of furniture and it has been more than 2 months. With the millions of moving companies available to help with long-distance moves, I cannot stress enough what an awful experience working with this company was. I have no clue how they have a somewhat decent rating, because every aspect of their business practice is awful: communication, execution, quality, value. Number 1 Movers has abysmal communication, is utterly incompetent, fails to fulfill their deliveries and is as expensive (or more) than other services available. I regret having to continue to deal with this company to return my lost items. Not only have they failed (over the past two months since the delivery!!) to connect me with anyone who can actually provide information on the whereabouts of my items, but they just deny liability on the grounds that they hired subcontractors for their deliveries and pick-ups. I just want this awful ordeal to end. If you are considering hiring this company, instead go and hire literally anyone else. Hopefully you can avoid this nightmare.

9. S

   Stephanie M.

   Source: MoveAdvisor · Calgary, AB

   5 Nov 20211-bedroomPaid $5,263

   Movers

   DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. They don’t answer emails or phone calls which is surprising seeing as they have 8 phone numbers, some of which work one day and not the next. No contact or updates after booking or pick up. Nothing to tell you it won’t arrive on time (we received our delivery 3 days late). Would have been 5 days late if I hadn’t badgered them endlessly. We are missing items and spent an entire day with zero contact. Finally receive an email from Juliana telling me she was “too busy” to get back to me and didn’t realize I needed daily updates. She is apparently the customer service manager. I know she’s not the only one who works there As my mother and I spoke to Andrew, Chris, Maggie, Isabella and Jenna guess they didn’t have time either. Apparently they haven’t fully unloaded the truck my mothers belongings were on. It’s been 4 days really? Drivers have no paperwork or manifest or anything to sign. They also demand full payment before unloading anything off the truck. My mother has a couch with no cushions and cushions for a chair she didn’t receive as well as a missing dresser, bed frame parts half an entertainment unit and a tote with irreplaceable items. Her couch ( the one without cushions) and box spring are both filthy. We filed a complaint with the BBB and that was sent to them this morning and amazingly received an email directly following that that they will keep us informed on the status of their search. We also filed a complaint with the ministry of consumer affairs and urge anyone who has had issues with them to do the same. They clearly don’t care at all about their customers or the distress they cause. I’m sure following this bad review there will be fraudulent good reviews as that seems to be how they operate. SHADY SHADY SHADY.

10. J

    Janelle L.

    Source: MoveAdvisor · Hamilton, ON

    25 Sep 20213-bedroomPaid C$1,739

    Terrible experience

    My elderly mother recently booked Number 1 movers - Hamilton to move her on September 1, 2021 from a townhouse style condominium to a 2 bedroom apartment in a retirement community. Their quote was reasonable ($914) and all seemed well until moving day. Movers showed up on time, 3 came instead of the 2 booked which was promising. This is where the positive part ends. 1. No floor protection was put down as was promised in the quote and significant scratches were left on the hardwood floors of the home she was leaving. We had to return the next day to repair ourselves. 2. Her dining room table was damaged beyond repair during the move. The top was cracked and large dents and scratches were made. She was told not to worry because a “claim”was started but no claim number or information was provided to her. 3. Her bedroom dresser and mirror were dented and scratched. 4. Her cast iron plant urn was "lost in transit"?? 5. When it came time to pay, she was told the charge was over $1700.... quoted $914?? She protested and was told for every 15 minutes she waited to pay she would continue to be charged. Told that if she paid cash she could avoid an additional charge of 2.5 percent credit charge. Completely overwhelmed, she paid over $1700 cash (counted out in front of movers and her partner) plus $40 tip to the movers. Unbeknownst to her, $150 pending charge was already processed from her credit card. At this point she just wanted these movers out of her house. Called me crying. 6. After multiple unanswered calls, emails etc. Was told she would be paid .60 per pound of loss as that is their insurance. Her $1167 dining room table's replacement value ... under $100???After multiple attempts to contact, she was told via email she would be sent $367 for all loss and damages minus $100 deductible. This was to be sent on Thursday, Sept. 23... as of Saturday, nothing has been received ... when she called to inquire she was hung up on because she raised her voice in frustration and said a bad word !! 7. Told by management that they only received $1500 cash in the envelope which is a blatant lie. She is now out another $150 down payment, even though she has a receipt saying $1700 plus paid on the day of the move. I am disgusted and shocked at the lack of care and attention this company has given to my mother. I feel horrible that I had to work on her moving day and that as a result, she was clearly taken advantage of by this company. If I could give a negative rating I would. Please take our experience into account when considering hiring this company.