London Office - a scam around every turn
This review is related to the London Branch specifically, but in the end the company as a whole.
Do not use this unethical and over-billing company! Please at least read this warning first.
I started a quote for my brother's move from his small 2 bedroom apartment (no appliances) to his new home that is 395 km away. I made the calls as he has had a stroke, so his speech is poor and his mental function for complex tasks is a bit limited. I outlined most of his belongings and got a quote. (I live 4 hours away) They later went to his apartment to estimate in-person and doubled the quote saying they need 2 trucks and 4 men. Sadly, under pressure, my brother felt the need to sign the inflated estimate on the spot. As a side note – when the contents were delivered, I was asked to sign a few things (my brother was not there). Each time the mover handed me the tablet on when to sign, they only showed me the signature page. This page said that I agreed to the “above”. When I asked to see said “above document” he said he didn’t know how to show it to me. I had to take control of the tablet, hit the back button and then access the agreement I was signing to read it. If they tried to pull a similar trick on my brother so he didn’t really even know what he was signing, then shame on them!! Either way, hard lesson for him, but the move is now going to cost $9,366.01. Just imagine the cost to move a whole house with appliances and a garage????!!!!
On the pack/load day, the movers came and did their job. Once his stuff was loaded, they tried to put a charge / hold on his credit card of $10,000. As he couldn't cover this on his credit card, he was told he would not get his stuff back. I was then contacted. I called the London office and when I started questioning where the $10,000 was coming from, I was quickly transferred to their "big dog" who proceeded to threaten me and to threaten to dump his stuff in the middle of London streets. Then when I offered my credit card for the deposit (to protect my brother's stuff and situation) he said (with all the attitude of a playground bully) he wouldn't accept it because he didn't trust me. After I argued with him and threatened legal action and to call the police, he then insisted I sign a form of Authorization for Credit Card Use. I did fill out the form, authorizing $5000 to 2 of my credit cards for a total of $10,000. What choice do I have? Everything he owns is now being held hostage.
On move in day, we didn't have the keys early enough and had to off load to a driveway ..... so no carrying items into the house and both my other brother and I helped to unload the truck.... you would think this would save on time and reduce the billing amount. But the biggest issue was that neither of the trucks were full (as per the picture). This move could have been done with one truck. But want a great way to pad the bill. Go from 1 truck, 2 men to 2 trucks and 4 men! Remember, this is for a small 2 bedroom apartment, with no appliances.
Now I'm at home and checking my credit cards...... they've billed me $5000 on one credit card and in two separate transactions on my other card $5000 and $652.83. According to the printed signed estimates the total for the 2 days should have been $9366.01 not $10652.83. So, now they think they're going to further try to scam us out of another $1286.82. Not to mention they're billing my credit card $652.83 over the limit I legally authorized.
I called head office to discuss the current credit card charges with a high-level manager, the receptionist would only pass on the message to the London office, and assured my they would be “able to explain away the charges”. SERIOUSLY? Looks like I’ll have to pursue legal action at the vary least related to the over billing of my cards. And I’ll be putting together a comprehensive package of supporting documents to give to my credit card companies to dispute at least the transactions above the $9366.01.
Imagine If you have a whole average family house to move….. in the end you’ll need 6-8 trucks, 12-14 men and you’ll have to take out a second mortgage to pay for your move. Unless, of course, they only try this with those in the community they feel they can take advantage of. It’s also worth noting that when the “big dog” was talking to my other brother…. Insisting he had to go to a bank and get the cash out immediately to pay the deposit, he also commented that “he was easier to deal with then his sister”. I guess dealing with a female that won’t tolerate this game and has the mental capacity to beat him in the end really gets under this guy’s skin.
As always, the choice is yours. But I’ve moved 4 times in my life and never experienced something like this. I wish someone had written an honest review. It’s so easy now for a company to post a large number of fake reviews to make the google rating look like 5 stars.