Great Canadian Van Lines
Reviews and Complaints

I would give them zero if I could! Great Canadian Van Lines turned out to be the complete opposite of what their ratings suggested. After moving 26 times without a problem EVER, without any breakage or anything lost, I chose this company BECAUSE of its ratings. I am an older lady and wanted an easy move. This is the first time ever that I end up with ANY problem during a move but here it is: they lost 6 boxes, broke upwards of 45 items, didn't weigh their truck before pick-up, etc., changed trucks 3 times (increasing the chances of breakage and loss every time). The entire process was a nightmare. It's been over 14 weeks and I still haven't been paid in spite of having insured the move through them! An example of the settlement they propose: for a box with over 80 CDs, they want to pay a little over $100. For a box full of shoes, purses and belts, the same! For the majority of the lost and broken objects, they don't want to pay anything at all! Do yourself a favor: any other mover would be a huge improvement over these guys!

Given the horror stories I had read regarding the moving industry, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I began planning our move from Victoria to Ottawa. Clearly these stories were not about Great Canadian Van Lines...from my first contact and immediate response, to the delivery of my household effects to my new home, everything was first-class. Front-end staff were professional and upfront with the estimate...what they quoted was exactly what I paid. The moving crew, Wade, Robin and Jay were outstanding! They arrived on time, were extremely friendly and couteous, and expertly packed and moved our things. While doing the inventory with Robin, I was greatly assured when I learned that their team would be driving my shipment across Canada, and would be doing the off-load in Ottawa. When my new house was ready to receive my shipment, I contacted the warehouse and made arrangements for delivery...my shipment arrived promptly, undamaged and complete. Joel and Wessley the team at the Ottawa end were as professional, courteous and friendly as everyone else that I met or spoken to during the moving process. What more can I say? Anyone looking for a great and affordable moving experience need look no further than Great Canadian Van Lines. Thanks guys...you were great! Hope you all enjoy a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2023.

I used this moving company in July based on reviews from ComplaintsBoard.com. I was disappointed with the service. Pick up time was supposed to be between 10am-1pm and they came around 230pm to pick up my stuff. During inquiry stages, I checked with the booking office a few times and they assured me that the moving truck had a scale where they can weigh the stuff and let me know the actual weight "as I go" so I can decide the amount of stuff I can move. I have never used a long-distance mover before so I am not familiar on how it worked. When the movers arrived and I verified if they had a scale (on the spot), they laughed and said absolutely not. I guesstimated the weight and of course, I was 300 pounds over and was billed extra. Also, at the beginning of the booking process, I had provided the exact address of the pick-up location in [insert location], BC and the drop-off location in Quebec. On the day of drop-off, I was charged an additional $281 as they needed to transport my stuff through a smaller truck as the big moving van did not fit in the front access of the condo building of the destination address. This amount was not communicated to me during the booking process and was a shock to me on the same day of delivery. I had no choice but to pay it, or else my stuff will not be delivered. I paid a total of $3,130.33 CAD to move my stuff weighing 1,323 lbs from [insert location], BC to Quebec. Oh, by the way, the scheduled delivery time was between 12pm - 3pm and they delivered close to 530pm. Not worth it!

I used Great Canadian Van Lines (GCVL) for a move from one city to another in 2021. This was my first time using movers, and it was a terrible experience. Here is a short list of the problems with GCVL: 1) The salesperson was very hands-on and made lots of promises, but as soon as I had paid I never heard from her again. 2) GCVL called me 30 minutes before my movers were supposed to arrive to tell me they would be a few hours late. This was a problem because we had booked the moving elevator and there were other moves going on in the building. 3) GCVL and/or the movers lied about the cause of the delay. GCVL said a mover was injured, and the movers said it was because a previous delivery was delayed. 4) The movers ended up being over 6 hours late and it went on well past when we were supposed to do our key handover to the new tenants. 5) When the movers arrived, they were rude and unprofessional. One refused to wear a mask, bragged about not getting a COVID vaccination, and made inappropriate jokes towards me and my partner. 6) The movers dragged a wooden bed frame across the concrete parking and scratched it up. They would not let us look at the inventory of items they wrote so who knows if we even received everything. 7) When trying to book my move-in date it took 3+ weeks to receive a response. 8) The day of my move I received an email 45 minutes before they arrived to say they would be 5 hours late. They told me that there was only one person with a key to the storage unit and he was late. (I was extremely frustrated and disappointed with the service provided by GCVL. That wonderful experience cost $6,000+. I had always heard that moving companies were a hassle, but this was far worse than I expected.

Dealing with Great Canadian Van Lines was an interesting experience for me and I hope that sharing my problems will better prepare others for what to expect. As the costs were being negotiated, I was charged a double ferry expense, which was revised to one when this was questioned. Last day when I was about to agree to the contract, 3 new charges popped up: 1 â€" and elevator charge 142. 2 â€" shuttle at loading $500 3 â€" shuttle at unloading $500 When I questioned if shuttles were necessary and what distance from building was allowed. I was told 50'. The building superintendent helped me measure from the sidewalk to door â€" 49'. In the contract fine print, the actual allowance is 100'. We were told the truck would arrive for pick up between 9 & 10; remember we had extra vehicles in to shuttle to street. Again we were left sitting at our expense. As I was packing Candace called to check the contents and one item was added, which was not listed on the inventory sheet. I really thought when GCVL was so concerned about charging me the most possible, that they would be fair with me and the service would be 4.7 â€"hmm! But again not so: the actual delivery was Oct 1. â€" 2 tables missing, that were delivered 2 weeks later and an extra box brought in, which I noticed in time for it to be returned back to truck. Again - what does the contract say about late delivery: renders the carrier liable for reasonable food and lodging expenses. I've received zero. Reference from contract: delivery was to be from 9/18 to 9/27 and arrived on Oct 1 When I mentioned to the apartment superintendent if the movers were considerate, I was told about the truck's broken window and the glass left on the pavement for someone else to sweep up. When considering the possibility of another move, my sincere desire is to find another means of moving without the torment of GCVL. I'm sorry for not checking other places with more interesting reviews that I truly relate to.

We had Great Canadian Van Lines do our move from Toronto, Ontario to Moncton, New Brunswick and are we glad we did. We were given the best crew in the business without question! I've done quite a few moves with big van line companies, but have never had the service that we received from this company. They explained every detail, worked with us through any and all possible snags that we encountered, from the sales agent to the dispatch crew. Not to mention that they gave us a crew that were very professional, fun, timely, thoughtful and very caring regarding our belongings. They even had a back up plan for us when we found out at the last minute upon arrival, that we wouldn't be able to access our new home as planned. Upon pick up and loading these guys worked diligently and quickly while seemingly enjoying what they were doing. Another shocker is that when they said they would be there they were on schedule as stated! The best part is they knew exactly what to do and how to do it with accuracy and swiftness. Upon arriving at our new home we hit a 4 and 1/2 hour delay in getting into our home and they hung in there with us the whole time. When we did finally get the access they went to work efficiently, quickly and caringly. The time they took in wrapping our precious clocks and large items was something I had never seen a moving company do before and the inventory system they had was terrific when they were loading up the truck originally. Everything was accounted for when it went onto the truck and when it came off of the truck. John and his crew were absolutely fabulous at their job and we were so appreciative to have had them with us. All we can say is BRAVO to these guys and to the tremendous job that everyone did in aiding our move. I would absolutely recommend Great Canadian Van Lines to anyone that asks about moving and I would absolutely recommend Toronto as well. A special thanks to Lisa P who was the contact for everything. A terrific experience! Thank You So Much for Everything; *** October 6 to 8, 2021

1. Need copy of scale weighing not yet received but asked for.
2. Specifically asked they not use inexperienced local movers to pack up our belongings in Vancouver. Great Canadian Van Lines assured us they wouldn't, but they did so anyway.
3. Screws for furniture items: missing.
4. Workstation table legs missing. Maybe other items missing. Will update if further missing.

Dear ComplaintsBoard.com, this complaint is about our move from [origin location] to [destination location]. Around May 20th my wife [wife's name] asked a quote to Great Canadian Van Lines - it was at 4500lb. In the next days we updated our List of Goods to make sure we had a better estimate. However, at the phone (Lisa) they gave us only one option, the "Minimum weight 4000lbs" and delivery on June 12th. We are first movers and we trusted the person, especially around the weight, and we accepted (unfortunately). It turned out that our real weight was around 2000lbs! Additionally, we discovered on a call on June 14th that there was another option - cheaper and with longer delivery. This option was never mentioned. We ended up paying, in our estimate, 1500 CAD more than we should have because of A) Great Canadian Van Lines only mentioned the most expensive option, conveniently hiding the cheaper B) the estimated weight (over the phone) was double. Great Canadian Van Lines rejected a refund and encouraged us to go to ComplaintsBoard.com: "you accepted and that we honoured". We claim misleading and dishonest behavior on it.