Phoned up some companies in the montreal area, got some quotes, decided to go with a company called Demenagement Latour. I was quoted $80/hr for 3 guys or $60/hr for 2. I chose 3 guys because it just made sense.
I then explained what I had in detail, how many rooms, what floor, etc for both the departure and arrival locations. I was quoted on the phone 4 to 5 hours with 1 hr as transit time. So, at worst case, 6 hours. A mistake on my part for not getting that in writing. So, the movers were scheduled for Dec 3.
Dec 3 comes, and with it, 30 cm of snow. They were scheduled to arrive at 8:30, but said they'd be late which is understandable. Well, 10am came, then 10:30, then 11am. At 11am, the truck driver called (from a payphone at the Shell gas station at the end of my street). Says, my street is not ploughed..told him, nothing I can really do, but a jeep cheroke went down the street and didn't get stuck. So the guy said, he'll try. Well, 11:30 came, 12, 12:30, and so on. After many phone calls, every half hour, they kept making excuses like "the guy's probably on lunch", "he doesn't have his cell on him", "we are supposed to hear from him soon"..well, 4pm came, and the roads by now were nice a clear. We get a call, no trucks available. They can only come betwen 8 and 8:30 am on Dec 4. I ask what if this happens again? They say, it won't happen again.
So, 8:30 comes on Dec 4, then 9, then 9:30, finally 10am they show up. There's only 2 guys... the 3rd guy never showed up. Only 1 of those guys was really working... it took 5 hours to load the truck (2 bedroom apt on upper duplex), with about 60 boxes (all the same size with handles). The truck was loaded at 3pm. They then go to get a bite to eat at Wendys. They arrive at new location and start unloading at 4 pm. They finish the unload at 7pm, but the bill says 10 to 7 (so we are supposed to pay for their lunch hour).
They made sure to discuss the bill while keeping the appliances (washer/dryer/fridge/stove) which of course are the expensive items. The total time charged was 9.75 hours, not 5 to 6. The amount was 300 dollars more than anticipated. I was expecting 6hrs x 80/hr = 480 (with 100 already paid), not 897 dollars less 100 we already paid. I had 500 dollars on me. So we had to come up with the other 300, or they drive off with the appliances (is this even legal?). So we manage to get the money by using a credit card which we really should not have used... We had asked for a discount because of the fact that the move didn't happen when it was supposed to, the # of men was less, they were late on the second day, the fact that I lose a day of work extra, not to mention my current landlord freaking at me.
The guy says, you have to call tomorrow, but you must pay the bill in full. In other words, we have no chance of getting anything back. We've called several times over and over and it's the same excuse, the manager is not in, the manager works nights, the manager is on vacation, etc etc.
One of the movers (the one that actually worked his butt off), tells my wife that the company's office is a guy with a laptop in his car. Also, it turns out that the phone is not actually through a telecommunications company like bell, etc, but through the internet (VOIP). The same mover also said the company goes by 3 or 4 other names (lepage movers, deschamps or beauchamps, something like that). Sounds sketchy to me anyways to be using multiple names. I called Lepage and got the same guy! Different phone number advertised, but same place. Also, their address (for lepage) is fake... go figure.
Both movers also said that they tend to lose their tips because the company low balls the price and it ends up being quite a bit more expensive...
ASo if anyone in the montreal area ever looks online for movers... DON'T CHOOSE LATOUR.
I'm really upset that I have no recourse... there was no written contract, and what's worse, because I was upset and flustered during the end of the move, I forgot to ensure a receipt. So they never gave me a receipt, I called requested one, they said they'd send us one, and they never did. I've learned a valuable lesson and am hoping to get this story out to as many people as possible to help others and to help remove slimeball companies like this from our society.
Rorielly
DDO, Quebec
Canada
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