Archive for December, 2006

yet another bad experience with prince movers

December 23, 2006 at 9:47 pm · Filed under PrinceMoving

This one came from here also:

http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=55318

I am in the midst of my own Prince Moving horror story. I am amazed they are still allowed to operate in any Province.

Here is a copy of my e-mail detailing my horrendous experience with the company.

I was contacted by XXXX from your Vancouver office on Thursday afternoon and arranged to have my furniture delivered between 8:30 – 9:00 on Friday morning. At 9:30 on Friday morning, I was contacted and told there was a “problem” and that my furniture would not be delivered until 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. came and went, so I called XXXX and was told the drivers were in Whistler and could they deliver it at another time. I informed XXX that I had taken the day off work and that I couldn’t ask my employers for another day off, particularly when there was no guarantee that you might actually deliver my furniture when you say you will. I told him that I needed it delivered that day. XXXX said he would call me back and let me know at approximately what time I could expect the movers. I never received a phone call back.

The movers finally arrived a little after 6:00 pm (9.5 hours after the originally appointed time). One of the movers then informed me that he was not going to move my stuff because I lived in a walk up, it was late, and he was tired having spent all day in Whistler and besides there was no mention on his paper work that this was a walk up. All of this information was given to the Toronto office when the move was originally booked. In fact, I was informed by your sales representative that there would be an additional charge of around $160.00 added to the final bill to compensate for the fact that I lived in a walk up. I tried to explain this to your driver, who just became increasingly belligerent and kept saying he wasn’t going to do it. He then threatened to dump all my stuff in the lobby and I could move it upstairs myself. When I told him I expected him to do the job that I contracted Prince to do. He said it wasn’t his company and he didn’t care whether I got my stuff or not. I then asked him to phone his supervisor, and I spoke to someone named XXXX, who I believe is from your Toronto office? I tried to explain the situation to XXXXX who assured me that I would get my stuff and he asked to speak to the driver. The driver and XXXX then proceeded to have a conversation in a language other than English, so I was unable to follow what was being said. Your driver got off the phone from speaking to XXXXX and said they weren’t doing the job unless I gave him and the other mover each 50 dollars in cash. His exact words were “then we will call it even.” After 45 minutes of arguing and phone calls, I was given little choice. It was 7:00 pm on Friday evening, I am a single woman, living alone, which I am sure is why Prince’s movers thought they could get away with behaving like bullies and thugs, so I had to pay the money in order to get my possessions.

The movers then proceeded to do an extremely half-hearted job of moving my possessions into my apartment. One of the chairs on the manifest was not on the truck, and they think it may be somewhere in the warehouse, but they assured me I would get it the next day. I didn’t. By the time they left I was extremely upset and exhausted by the whole experience. The next day I awoke to discover that there are huge scratches all over the newly refinished hardwood floors in my apartment, from where they dragged my furniture into my apartment. I then sat on my couch and proceeded to flip backwards as the back leg of the couch snapped off…obviously damaged during the move but no noticeable until it was actually sat on and weight was put on the back leg. I then tried to assemble the stacking tables only to discover that the larger of the two had a huge crack along its base. Your movers managed to damage practically every piece of furniture I own, and I am not optimistic that the “missing” chair will arrive in a timely manner or in an undamaged state, if it is finally found in the warehouse.

I have since left 6 phone calls with the Vancouver office and received not one reply, I have faxed my claim through to the Montreal office within the 15 day limit but have received no reply, and the Toronto office was very nice but basically told me they could do nothing to help me rectify the situation and I needed to deal with Montreal. I suspect they were hoping I would exhaust the 15 day period within which to make a claim so they wouldn’t have to deal with me.

I have contacted the BC Better Business Bureau and the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority but am not optimistic about receiving assistance from either.

[name removed]

I have since left 6 phone calls with the Vancouver office and received not one reply, I have faxed my claim through to the Montreal office within the 15 day limit but have received no reply, and the Toronto office was very nice but basically told me they could do nothing to help me rectify the situation and I needed to deal with Montreal. I suspect they were hoping I would exhaust the 15 day period within which to make a claim so they wouldn’t have to deal with me.

I have contacted the BC Better Business Bureau and the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority but am not optimistic about receiving assistance from either.

[name removed]

Leave a Comment

another horror story from a Pince Moving Customer

December 4, 2006 at 6:39 am · Filed under Prince Moving

The below was written by user ‘kits’ in the Discover Vancouver Forum

This is my experience with Prince Moving. It is a nightmare that has lasted nearly nine months and is continuing still.


I was moving from Mississauga to Victoria and went about obtaining a number of quotes from various moving companies. Prince was not the cheapest, nor were they the most expensive. I chose them based on the information given to me by the salesman and the fact that I had not been able to discover anything negative about the company through the usual means. I have since learned a lot!

The salesman came to my house and gave me a quote of $ 4526.10 to move the contents of my home from Mississauga to Victoria. He estimated that I had 6000 lbs of furniture, including boxes. All of the boxes were already packed and stacked in the dining room when he came to give the estimate. He said 6000 lbs @ .50 per pound would be $3000.00. He then added a scale charge of $30.00, a pick up charge of 300.00, an admin fee of 200.00, a ferry charge of 400.00, a fuel charge of 300.00, bringing the total to 4230.00. Add GST of 296.10 and the total is now 4526.10. I gave a 500.00 deposit to guarantee pick up. My new total should now be 4026.10.

Fast forward to Feb 27/06. The movers are supposed to be at my house by 9 am. I have a flight to Victoria that night departing Toronto at 8:45 pm. They arrived at my house at NOON. They wore their muddy boots all through out my house, no booties to protect carpets or floors. In the grande scheme of things, all of that would later seem trivial compared to what happened. When they were finally finished loading the truck and shut the doors, the driver told me that the price had now suddenly gone up and my new total would be $ 6808.10. WHAT?????? I dispute this, as I have a written quote from the salesman. Who, BTW, can no longer be reached on his cell phone. The driver says there is more than 6000 lbs on the truck, yet he has NOT weighed the truck. He also takes this opportunity to inform me that if I don’t sign the contract for the new price he is going to unload all of my furniture right there. At this point, I have to be out of the house(someone else was moving in) and I have a flight that I have to be on as I had to be work in Victoria the next day. I had three hours before my flight was leaving. I didn’t know what to do…I was hysterical. So, I signed the form under duress and hoped that I could rectify this horrible “misunderstanding” upon my arrival in BC. In hindsight, I should have just told him to take everything off the truck as it was likely a bluff, but I was reeling from the shock of what he said.

Upon my arrival in BC, I telephoned the Vancouver office and was told I would have to discuss the issue with Toronto. I called the Toronto office and got absolutely no where. Basically, my furniture was being held ransom until I paid them. And now, they were going to add an additional 300.00 per month storage fee.
It took until November for me to afford to get my furniture back. It was delivered to my house on Nov 16/06. Prior to delivering it, they called and told me I had to pay them BEFORE they brought it to my house. PARDON???? Not a chance. I told them they better be in my driveway on that day with my furniture or my lawyer would be in touch. Diana, from the Montreal office returned my call and told me she had my file mixed up with someone else and there was no need to pay prior to delivery. By now the total counting storage is over 9K that they have made off of this move. I highly doubt that I am going to pay them BEFORE I have my furniture at least in a truck in my driveway. Clearly these are not scrupulous business people. While dealing with the final delivery arrangements and sharing my story with someone, I was directed to call the Canadian Movers Association. I called them and spoke with a gentleman who advised that Prince Moving has had their membership revoked from the Canadian Movers Association and gave me a phone number in ON to file a complaint with the Ministry of Government Services. This I did. He also advised that they have broken a number of laws, mainly a law called the 10% Estimate Rule, whereby a company can not increase the price of a quote by more than 10% of the original. I have since obtained legal advice and will be dealing with this in the courts. On November 16, the truck arrived with my furniture. The young men who delivered it were very nice, polite, and careful of my belongings. The driver was in BC from ON and shared his own horror stories as an employee so it seems they do not treat their employees any better than their customers. Unfortunately, this young man was not one of the fellows who loaded my furniture in ON. It would seem that the 300.00 per month storage fee gets you space in a field somewhere because my sofa’s and my love seats were torn and covered in dirt and feces. My computer desk had the wheels smashed off and the keyboard tray was bent to the point it was rendered unusable. A very expensive brass lamp was dented and bent, a television was ruined and had the casing cracked, my dresser was chipped and marked, and a standing radio had the legs broken off and chunks of wood smashed out of them. Two of my large urns were completely smashed, despite being very well packed. And there are still more boxes to unpack so God only knows what I have yet to discover.


This is my experience. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ******@msn.com. My personal opinion is that I would definitely NOT recommend Prince Moving. My opinion is that there must be better companies out there. These guys are bottom feeding crooks…they will low ball their price and then hold your belongings ransom.

Leave a Comment