Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Simple Movers contracted with me to provide a "simple move" including all packing and unpacking with the following Terms of Service: "with an in-person consultation with you (i.e. me)" " In any other case, moving cost is finalized after the move". and "Any changes must be approved by the consultant and the promised price changed accordingly". I believe the Moving Consultant failed to follow any of these "Terms of Service" which was attached to his original estimate. * ** ** ***** *** *** ****** ** **** **** *** ** ** *** and inability to do packing and unpacking. The original estimate is given in an undated document without a Home ofice and Management address, The final line states an "Estimated Balance" of $6,604.50. The move occurred on Nov 22, 2022 for pickup with delivery on Nov 23, 2022, with" 2 stops" I have moved many times in my lifetime. My last, similar move cost me only $2,500 with packing and unpacking done by myself. The retirement home I have moved into promised to reimburse me so I chose a company recommended by *** which would cause me the least stress and most physical assistance. As of today, I do not have a final accounting of the service. Instead, to my horror, I discovered Dec. 2 that my credit card with which I used to make a deposit, was credited on the same day of my move with the estimated amount and taxes that did not include agreed upon changes for costs of disposition of some furniture, reimbursement for damages and no final estimate of costs.

  Business response

  08/12/2022

  Simple Moves & Storage provided **** ******** a Fixed Cost contract, and this was not changed before or after the move, despite that **** ******** broke this contract, failed in some of her responsibilities as a customer and on top of that made several refutable claims without providing any evidence on said claims. We have a fair internal customer service resolution process based on the contract’s Terms of Service. So, we spent the last few weeks repeating, answering and explaining the same claims, complaints, and questions, complete with photo proof and *** logs, but regardless of this **** ******** continues to make up her own facts, valuations and pricing demanding Simple Moves & Storage accept them. We have offered a refund of $200, our contract’s maximum valuation for the true and accepted claims, but after our last attempt at resolving these claims, **** ******** proceeded to again break our contract and send a check for the incorrect amount deducting from the amount owed based on her wants. At this point, **** ******** can either accept our resolution based on the contract’s Terms of Service or we will immediately sue her for continued **********.

  Customer response

  13/12/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:Response to Simple Moves complaints message
  Unfortunately I have to reject Simple Moves response to my complaint
   I do agree that we have had many more conversations and emails than I care to count (probably at least 30).  All could have been avoided with an in-person consultation and agreed upon plan for the move prior to my agreeing to accept this mover as stipulated in the first Terms of Service. I was too naive and gullible, and was taken in by overblown and mixed  messaging about 5 stars, rave reviews and three different Terms of Service with inflexible, hard-nosed terms masked under links hidden in the first document which was more flexible and custoner friendly. I feel I was deceived. At my age and experience with other reputable movers, I have no one to blame but myself. 
  To my regret, I accepted the most expensive quotation of a mover certified by ***, thinking  to simplify my move during a time of personal stress unrelated to the move. So because of  my own gullibility,  I am dropping my claim for a fair reimbursement. I leave it  up to the ****** ******** ****** and the mover to do the right thng.  If I had taken time to follow  the links to  secondary and tertiary Terms of Service rules arbitrarily established by the Mover (SimpleMoves ToS and *** ********* I would not have chosen this Mover from the three I had originally selected. It is clear from reading the second Terms of Service  (Simple Moves ToS) that  "Simple" refers to policies primarily  benefiting the mover and not  the customer due to rigid, inflexible rules which make it difficult to make any changes to "the plan"  or negotiate any unjust services
   I  also make these requests of the  ****** ******** ******  
  (1) Please advise ******* to be very cautious when dealing with  this mover  who lacks the skills and empathy to do business with them. As an example, asking me to take cellphone pictures of all the rooms in lieu of in - person contact is something many ******* are unable to do . Approx 30% of the ******* in my complex do not own computers. But in my case, the pictures should have been taken  before an estimate  not after the estimate thus  having avoided  many misunderstandings. Better yet, an in - person consultation - as in the Mover's 1st Terms of Service , and one of his websites, would have helped enormously. The discussion about whether to include  my dining room table, some planters , and flexibility of how and where to dispose of my sofa and a  small three piece Bistro on my deck , could also have been avoided.
   (2)   Considering the amount I am paying for this move, the Mover's  secondary Terms of Service should be more prominently displayed in future estimates and given to the customer  before a customer makes a down payment  
  (3) The mover should  be required to pay more for liability insurance so that replacemnt value reflects true replacement costs,  not a cheaper depreciated value which is offered in cheaper policies. I consider myself  fortunate that none of my more expensive china or crystal pieces were damaged. 
  (4) The mover should be required to give the customer a final invoice reflecting any changes to the initial estimate including revised taxes
  ( 5) The mover should never debit,  or have policies in place that give him the right  to debit,  a credit card without notifying the cardholder first  and having done so, should give the cardholder a statement  of that transaction -  as was done with my initial down payment. 
   I do refute the following allegations in the complaint response from the Moving Consultant:
  1. My failure to recognize that I had a "Fixed Price Contract".   Yes I do admit that  I did fail to recognize that phrase as policy.  I was not made aware that the estimate I was given on Oct 28  was a "fixed price" contract until Dec 1  when I was advised that the Consultant  had already debited my credit card  for the balance of the move without having given me an invoice nor a proper notice of doing so as he did with my initial deposit of Oct 28. 
   After a quoted  estimate based on my  verbal enumeration , by phone,  of  all the major items in each room of my suite, I was asked to provide a down payment of the estmated amount to secure a date for the move. I did so  and on Oct 28 received a raving "WOW" email with another email with an  undated "Your Move Estimate" showing "an Estimated balance" of $6,604.50 including taxes with attached Terms of Service.
  The first Terms of service does not indicate a "Fixed Price, neither does the Oct 28 estimate. It mentions a "Promised Price" . What is the difference?  The original estimate refers to " Your Moving Estimate" and below in very small faint letters "Binding estimate" which is a contradiction of terms. The actual amount is given as an "Estimated balance" And the Consultant's emails  refer to "Fixed price". Which is it? Estimated Balance, Promised Price or Fixed Price?  And when do estimates become fixed prices?
  2. I do not know how I failed as a customer. I  acted in good faith according to my expectations of a simple move as described  in the first  Terms of Service document accompanying  the Oct 28 estimate. There was no " in-person"  consultation - just telephone and email conversations of what should be moved and  the disposal of unwanted furniture. There was considerable  confusion about this because of the original  cost estimate which no longer applied   and a "change in plan" which should not be allowed according to the second Terms of Service , which I had not yet read.
   But the original plan was for me to spend the night in my suite and the van would arrive the next day to pick up my bed and suitcase. I did ask that this  be changed as I had  made plans to spend the night in a guest suite at my new location instead. Strangely, this "change of plan"  seemed to be just fine with the Mover but not taking my sofa to a charity en route to his office location  instead of to a dump  or donating a small deck bistro set to a friend. Also including my dining room set in the move which he had mistaken for the bistro set. This seemed to be another "Change in plans" problem,
  There was also considerable misunderstanding about replacement costs for broken items and services not provided. I did not realize that contrary to accepted insurance practice and other movers I have used in the past, this mover has set a liability ceiling of $50.00 which can only be found after accessing the second  Terms of Service document online. The mover is lucky that I am one of the few ******* who can do this (although belatedly). Most ******* cannot.
  3. Refutable claims without evidence.  What claims? I was asked for pictures which I provided of broken items with replacement costs which I found from online vendors , only to be told, belatedly, that they do not reimburse for replacement of an item but only a maximum of $50.00 regardless of the replacement value.  
  4. Regarding the reference to a  "fair internal customer resolution process" - with whom?  To this day, I am not aware of any "fair internal customer resolution process" other than negotiating with a Nathaniel Niccolato, whom I have never met , and is both Sales Manager and Moving Consultant . I do not know who owns this company although they have multiple locations.
   I have nothing but praise for the packers who did an excellent job packing and unpacking some very fragile items. It is not unusual to have a few broken items and they were very good in showing me  the three damaged items. The Moving Consultant used my tip as being inadequate as an  excuse to  not award any replacement costs because, in his opinion,  the tip should have been $40.00 instead of $20.00.
  I did ask my General Manager about how much to tip. Her advice  was "Considering what I am paying them and their poor vendor relations with the maintenance.Concierge and  and Move in Cordinator, I should tip a minimum amount."
  5. He accuses me of making up facts. What facts? He provides no evidence of this.
  6 Truck loading parking arrangements: There are several references in the email strings  about late arrivals caused by my not making adequate arrangements for truck loading and unloading and loss of time due to inaccessibility to elevators during lunch hours. I did do as much as as I could to make these arrangements but the move did not take place between condos as referenced in the estimate. It took place between two senior living residences where management provides the elevator bookings and the times. At the White Rock location, the Concierge made the bookings for  the elevators, making it clear that the elevators were not to be used during lunch hours for about one and a half hours and that the movers were to come to the Concierge for COVID information and loading dock information.  I relayed all this to the Moving Consultant. I am not sure that he relayed the proper information to his team. because they certainly did not know the loading dock location or name of the Thrift store where they were to deliver the sofa and that the store does not accept donations on Monday.  I had to give this information to the head  of the packing  team who claimed he was unaware of any of this. Furthermore, the truck was further delayed while parked in a breezeway due to a dead battery and did not leave that location until 6:00p.m.
   I used the same process with the Vancouver location but referred him to the Move-in Co-ordinator who spoke with Simple's Moving Consultant and  told me she gave him the information. But I doubt this was relayed to the team because  when they arrived they parked in a fire exit. which purportedly caused the arrival delay. 
  My granddaughter and I  were not really concerned about arrival times, we just wanted to know when they would arrive. All of the *** information we were sent was unnecessary.
  7. There was also some disagreement about the cleanup after the furniture was loaded onto the van. I relayed information to the Moving Consultant that the Manager of my suite did not require carpet cleaning. But I did want the suite vacuumed. The Consultant confused vacuuming with carpet cleaning and said it was not required because his team would use runners on the carpet and would dispose of all moving debris. They did pick it up and stuff a large garbage bag with the debris but left it on the kitchen counter for for me to dispose of. There was no vacuuming but the website for this company  is full of raving kudos for cleanups after the move.
  Note: I will be sending copies of emails to illustrate these complaints as proof of my assertions in this response. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ********

  Business response

  14/12/2022

  The last message by **** ******** exemplifies the kind of emails we have been dealing with for the last 3 weeks. Each time we receive communication there is different claims, different accounts of what happened, and made up “facts”. Simple Moves & Storage did not change the Move Plan or the price. We provided the service laid out during the initial phone call. As well followed our Terms of Service, policies, and procedures after the fact. Simple Moves & Storage has nothing left say.

  Customer response

  23/12/2022

   The
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Simple Moves doesnt understand the complaint. I have nothing more to add about the  rigid, inflexible plan,  multiple Terms of Service and  made up "facts. I do not know  to what" facts" he is referring as he provides no documentation. I stand by my original response which is supported by emails,  my grandaughter, and the managers and maintenance staffs of both senior residences all of whom were witnesses to unacceptable work and  behaviours, 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩