Across Canada Van Lines reviews (43)

For this particular move, the service for a personal effects relocation was requested in January 2011 for a service date in March 2011 in the Vancouver region. The client filed a claim for damage, and after an offer was tendered the matter remained unresolved, and later became a legal case in small claims court. The disparity between the claim amount offered and the compensation amount requested was that the move was not additionally insured beyond the basic $.60 cents per pound coverage. The difference in this case was that the client went to small claims for his 2011 move in 2013. Though most claims left unresolved are voided after a year, the pending legal issue was attended to and resolved in the amount of $650.00, with a check issued March 28th. After the court had submitted documents establishing the resolution of the matter, and the claim check had been mailed, the client began to call our sales office still requesting status of the claim – a matter that was no longer in the hands of our claims department as it was a court case – and this matter had been resolved to the satisfaction of the court & the client. The claim had already been closed, and the sales office, which has nothing to do with initiating or resolving Freight Claims, began to receive repeated calls during the week of April 1st to 5th with the client stating he didn’t feel he was being treated fairly, once calling multiple times per day requesting to speak to the agent he originally scheduled with who is no longer employed with us, as this shipment is over two years old. The court had resolved clearly resolved the matter, claim is settled, and a check issued.

After reviewing the circumstances of your move, I apologize for the miscommunication between the moving staff and the main office. Normally, if it is a weekend delivery, the movers are instructed to inform clients that they will need to take up issues of damage/missing items with the booking agents directly. In most cases the delivery moving staff are simply the last supply chain of service, having reloaded the goods from the nearest terminal, so they are not directly involved with the damaged or missing items that normally occur in transit. In this case, the claim filing with our Freight Claims Dept. is the next course of action, but as a household goods mover we do not directly provide or sell cargo insurance policies. As per our contract, the transit coverage is based on the weight of the damaged items and is offered at $.60 cents per pound, We Do Not offer value based cargo insurance, and this move, as booked with ACVL, included the standard coverage of $.60 cents per pound with a $350.00 deductible. These terms are outlined in the contract, as signed by the customer at the point of pick-up. Again, I apologize for the poor experience during delivery, and though the movers could have explained the protocol are bit more carefully, it is harder for customers to receive timely service information regarding a delivery issue, whether it's damage/missing item/late arrival on a day when our office is closed. For missing/lost items, we do have a lost & found section for household items that are mistakenly separated from their shipments, and often it requires some time for the freight terminals to fully search for the items that may be left behind. Once again, missing items along with any damaged items can be submitted as part of the claim filing. Sincerely, Jacob ACVL

In regards to this local Vancouver move, I apologize for the miscues on the time arrival. Unfortunately, for pick-ups in this region the arrival times - ETA's - that we advise are estimated based on volume for the day, traffic & weather issues, and the delays that may occur at other delivery obligations. Normally the window for arrival is 3-4 hours, but 5 hours, if this was the case, is excessive and not our policy to keep the customer waiting this long. The drivers do call the customer when faced with such delays. As for any damage to items during the relocaton process, the customer needs to fully document the damage via pictures and a description and submit this information to our Claims Dept., since these items are used, previously purchased household goods. As long as we receive proper documenation of the damage that occured during the move, our claims department can assess from there and offer a settlement amount. Since we do not offer value based transit protection for same day local moves, the transit coverage is $.60 cents per pound, and we advise clients that require additional insurance to use their homeowner's insurance or purchase a value based cargo insurance policy from the many insurance brokers that offer coverage for transportation. For claim filings, our contract states that the transit coverage is set at $.60 cents per pound. Sincerely, Greg ACVL

Hi Melissa, I was forwarded your recent email that you submitted to our general inquiry contact, and wanted to send you a brief note. From the beginning, I would say that the emphasis should have been informing you that Nova Scotia is not a frequent point, and that any shipment delivering there would be held in Ontario for an unspecified amount of time in lieu of an eastern departure. These departures are usually far more frequent in the peak summer months when the volume of goods transported is three times higher than during the winter/spring period. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia/PEI trips were less frequent that expected this past summer season. Had you been properly notified of the possible delays involved for your region, you would have had the option to continue looking for another potential carrier or demand a guarantee of a more specific delivery time frame from our staff. Beyond that, you would have no way of knowing that your shipment would not arrive at a Nova Scotia based terminal prior to final delivery. As a result, I am instructing our staff to ensure that they notify the potential customers, at the time of booking, that our main terminal operations are based in Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, as well as our affiliate agents in Montreal, Calgary and Winnipeg. Our staff will be instructed to make it clear that shipments involving regions outside of these areas are subject to terminal hold times that vary depending on the volume of goods we are contracted to ship. 56 days is not the normal operating timeline for a shipment to Halifax from Alberta, so my response to this scenario will be to make it our policy that regions falling outside of our main terminal reach, requiring more than 500 KM travel or over 7 days potential wait time are transactions where our staff are obligated to notify the client upfront that their goods could be subject to further delay, so there is no uncertainty. One consistent aspect of this industry with inter-provincial moves is that approximately 2/3rds of our household relocations come with client requests for storage granting them time to finalize tenancy arrangements in the new province before final delivery. To meet these requests we now have 5 weeks of free storage available for every move –small or large – into Canada or the US. But unless you specifically requested any storage hold time (and your file shows that you did not) then our agents failed to provide you with the proper (potential) time line for your move, and did so by omission. We should have stated before the pick-up that your goods were bound first for Scarborough, ON., and then, at a time yet to be determined, for Halifax on the final delivery truck I understand this is of no consequence to you now, but I have read your complaint and believe that your situation was unfortunate, unnecessary and entirely preventable had our shipping terms & conditions been conveyed with more clarity, and conscientious concern for customer. I apologize for the poor experience you had, and wish you nothing but the best in the future. Sincerely, Don ACVL Logistics Coordinator

First of all , the customer was contacted numerous times for the delivery but they rejected it by simply saying they were not available. Also at the delivery date they were not present at their residence and we had to convince them at least have a family member present. We do not understand why they are complaining about sleeping on the floor. Most of their complaint is about the time that took to deliver their goods. Also we have provided them with a 12% discount for the inconveniences that they had during their move. Also we have fixed the packing charges where each mattress covers were charged $15.00 instead of $30.00 which the customer claims. The $45.00 scale fee is paid to the scale stations and the customer was informed that this charge will apply if the shipment is greater that 500 lbs. Also the regular price for the scale Fee is $50.00 After all those compensating actions and the goodwill shown by our company , we would like to express our disappointment as the customer is trying to take advantage of the situation and not telling the truth .

In regards to this delivery, we have a field on our moving contracts stating there are fees for navigating stairs when performing household deliveries. In the case of this move to Hamilton the building was not not equipped with an elevator, and it is our policy to charge $100 per floor for every move that involves loading furniture up flights of stairs. This move was the second one of a round trip that started when the client relocated from Hamilton to Calgary and then requested return service to Hamilton via ACVL a few weeks later, noting the desirable price and service for the Alberta portion. Unfortunately, we do not service Hamilton as a daily point, and can only go out on particular days – once or twice per week – depending on volume, and this led to a slight delay for the final delivery, as we have to contact the client and agree on a particular day for service. Troy Moving provides pick-ups for us in this region when we do not have our equipment in the area. The company Door Express has no affiliation with ACVL, and as a Richmond based company, they used to have the same local contact number that we currently have now so their company name is still displayed in links whenever our local phone number is entered into a search engine.

We apologize for the inconvenience the delay may have caused you. Our service terminal for Alberta is in Edmonton, so any freight routed through this area is offloaded in Edmonton unless it is a larger shipment that can be delivered directly on a dedicated truck. Since no deposit is required for any of our household goods relocations and we collect payment upon delivery, we must ensure the delivery party is in agreement with the final charges based on weight or we are not able to load the truck. Again, we apologize for the unforseen delays that occured with your shipment.

We apologize for any inconvenience that we may have caused you. The delay was due to unexpected volume of the shipments to Edmonton. We have delivered all your belongings and we have compensated with maximum monetary refund. We appreciate your patience during this time and once again we apologize for the inconvenience.