ComplaintsforTake a Load off Moving Ltd.

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I used this moving company previously, and they were great. This time they moved everything out great, and they were waiting after to get us a bill to pay. They were standing around and one guy was even lying down in the driveway while they waited for about an hour. Finally, they came up to my husband and told him the bill was going to be sent to us later, and requested a credit card number to hold it. My husband told him we wanted to etransfer, and they told us not to worry. Two days later they were set to move us in. I never did receive a bill, which I thought was weird, but I assumed we’d get one after they moved us in. I had to work that day, but my husband was home. During the move in, a wall had a chunk taken out, and two furniture pieces were broken. None of this was bad, but I was a bit upset. They told my husband they would send him a bill and they left. There was no walk through after like the contract said. My husband said that they were there, and then he looked and they were gone. Anyway, it was wired we never got a bill so I was going to give them two business days and then reach out. My husband checked his credit card for something unrelated, and over ***** had gone through. We had no bill, no communication, and we told them specifically not to use that. I texted the manager and told him to explain how this happened and to complain that we never received a bill. He told me I’d get a bill later. I requested a refund, a bill, and then I’d pay by etransfer, but he ignored me. I received a bill later by email, stating paid. The problem is is the bill was detailed for everything done, but I had already paid over ***** in a deposit before the move and that wasn’t taken off even. I tried to remedy this and requested a refund to pay by etransfer, there is a surcharge for credit card fees, but the manager is refusing. I don’t think it’s ok to just bill whatever with no permission.

  Business response

  17/07/2023

  Hello Tania, 
  
  
  I want to start off first by apologising for the misunderstanding and the route this move and experience has gone for you. We do our very best to try to keep everything as organized as possible as well as making sure the customer has an understanding of the whole process of the move. We are extremely open with the whole process of the move from start to finish and we always welcome feedback to improve as we believe listening to our customers is very important to us and we are saddened by the situation we are in as we do really value you as a customer. 
  
  
  I want to provide you with all these important details of our policy that we followed so you dont think we are ripping you off or over charging, We are just being paid for the services we provided. 
  
  
  For the damages, can you please send me photos and all the details of these damages so we can send it to insurance and see what they can do for us. Please review the terms and conditions attached to this email and the damage policy attachment. 
  
  
  ·      "  A full walk through before and after the job is a must and the client is liable to notify the movers of the unlikely event of damages to property of any kind, and to provide them with proper proof of said damage before they leave the job to be covered under any insurance coverage. (Failure to do so in that time will result in forfeiture of right to secure damages from the mover.) "
  
  
  " ·        Insurance does not cover any damages after the crew leaves. Please provide any damages before the end of the job! This needs to be written and signed upon on page 4 of this bill of lading. "
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is our damage policy, We do walkthroughs if the customer requests us to and or if they find any damages. Sometimes we are denied this process to go over all items in the home as some clients of ours dont want to pay for the process. So we leave it up to our customers to provide us in writing ( page 4 of bill of lading ) that they want this done. Then our crew will spend the time to look and photograph/document any damages that occurred during the move. If this is not done before we leave, then our insurance voids any claims once we leave. But in this situation we are going to do what we can for you to see what insurance can do for us!
  
  
  
  
  Moving on to the process of your credit card, We are more than willing to refund the credit card we had on file, But we would need you to etransfer us the amount without the credit card fees. Since we black out the credit info once processed for the protection of our clients credit info we would need you in store with your card to do so with the etransfer received.  Please review the credit card authorize attachment. 
  
  
  " By signing this page I authorize Take A Load Off Moving LTD. to charge my credit card the final full amount for the Services, Supplies, Fees they had provided. "
  
  
  
  Once our services are complete we process the payment, Since we were provided the credit card information that was the method of payment we used. We charged only for the services we provided with the credit card fee. We do apologize if this wasn't the method you wanted to pay. As said above we would be more than willing to change that method for you. We get this payment as soon as possible to avoid our clients with added fees after the move. We dont have a net 30 for payments, Payments are due once the job is complete. Since your move was quite involved the staff wanted me to review it to make sure 100% it was correct before billing you. This is why we didn't request payment when the guys were at your location.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Moving on to the final bill, The final bill was more than estimated, Which we dont want ever happening. But unfortunately since we send so many estimates out per day we cannot view every home as an in home estimate. We rely on our in depth estimate form. The form requested a 32 foot truck, Our booking staff had sent an estimate for a 32 foot and a 17 just in case. This was approved by our client ( you ) so we proceed with booking and deposit etc. Once we showed up the Manager Justin was worried that the current 2 trucks weren't going to be large enough to safely move all your items. This is when he pulled you guys aside, showed you the truck and suggested a 3rd truck to make a total length of 63 feet worth of truck and 5 men. This was approved by you and we weren't given any denial of the extra truck.
  
  
  The 3 truck rate is going to raise the price difference majorly. As well as the extended time of the move to move furniture into 63 feet worth of truck. That is 11 feet larger than a standard size semi. The total hours loading and unloading = 19 hours of time which is average time for this size of move. Statistics say every home gains 1500 pounds of items per year on average. This doesn't affect us at all. We are pleased to make sure you are taken care of to make sure this move is completed for you even if extra trucks are needed to be added. We try to go above and beyond to make sure we are flexible during any of our moves as some do end up being much larger and take longer than expected. Added to the hot summer heat, 5 crew which should have been 6-7 men and long hours and heavy items it takes a while to move these size of homes.
  
  
  As per the 4th page of the bill of lading ( damage policy attachment ) the crew wrote down that there was some areas not fully packed or taken apart yet, Which also isn't a huge problem but it also does take extra time.
  
  
  I want to note we aren't given a budget in writing of the total cost during the move. As you know in our paperwork we will work until the job is finished. We dont know our client's financial situation so we leave it up to our clients to tell us when to stop and or only do a certain amount of time of labour etc. We are unsure what our clients are able to afford or willing to pay we just provide our services and expect to be paid for the services we provide.
  
  
  I want to note we aren't here to rip anyone off ever, We take pride in our work, our professionalism and our services. We only will ever charge for what we do.
  
  
  
  
  I want to provide the notes I mentioned above if you can review the ( terms and conditions ) file that is attached so you can see the policy the crew has been following during this move.
  
  
  ·We are hired on an hourly bases not by a job itself. The bill will be charged for the hours worked not based on the items moved.
  
  
  ·        We charge from when we leave our lot (Yard) until we return to the lot (Yard)
  
  
  ·        You must notify the movers if you need to remain within the initial estimate (We DO NOT send Quotes), We will continue working and billing the client until the job is done unless we are told otherwise.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  If you have any concerns about the billing please let us know, We have attached the payments and the final invoice for your viewing. I want to apologize again for all the confusion, we want to do what we can to make this whole process better for you and a better understanding of what was charged and why it was charged. We hope this email provides all these details. And we look forward to hearing from you! 

  Customer response

  17/07/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:

   

  my husband never authorized anyone to use the credit card, and actually told them very clearly we wanted to do etransfer.  I do not trust this company to etransfer before we get a refund and have never heard of this before.  We are not upset it was over the estimate but we are shocked and felt it was very shady to bill someone double the estimate without any notification or bill.  We also already paid over $1000 in a deposit which was not applied to the bill we got when afte to complained we never received one. 
  

  
  

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