The worst experience I could have imagined with a moving company. False estimates, lack of clear communication, poor teamwork within the company and an absence of professionalism when dealing with customer complaints.
Read below for a detailed summary.
1) They charged me significantly more than the estimate they gave me. .
James Alden, (Cactus employee) provided a grossly inaccurate final estimate of our moving costs upon asking him to clarify the total cost expenses in writing. The estimate I received was for $4315 + gst (CAD). This was the last estimate I received prior to Cactus giving us an invoice for the cost of moving my belongings 96 hrs after they had picked up my furniture. By that time I had already driven across the country to the west coast. The invoice sent to us was for $5610.25 + tax. That's a $1295.25 difference. When brought to their attention, there was no effort to refund the $1295.25 or meet half way to refunding this amount. They attributed this mistake to a "common email mistype". Please see below for screenshots of the email exchange.
2) Their shipment arrived outside their "10 day guarantee".
One of the reasons I decided to do business with Cactus moving was because they kept telling me they have a 10 business day guarantee by which they will pick up and deliver my shipment. This "10 business day guarantee" which they claim sets them apart from other moving companies is listed 15 different times on their website, and another 6 times in the emails they sent to me. What they are not quick to point out is that the "10 business day guarantee" is not present in their contract. When planning my shipment with James Alden (Cactus employee) he suggested that they pick up my belongings on June 14th at 0800hrs so that my shipment would be delivered by June 27th at the latest. I had moved out of my apartment 3 days earlier, incurring an extra $200 expense to have my stuff delivered on June 14th. My shipment was delivered on July 29th mid-day, making this two business days greater than their guarantee which was unacceptable given I had already began my new job working 80hr work weeks at the hospital.
When I brought up this concern with their manager Sam Grinshpon, he told me that
A) My shipment was delayed at the CAD-US border which was out of their control. This would be understandable had they began the shipment earlier than 6 business days after picking up my belongings. The delay occurred because they attempted to ship my goods with someone else's package in order to maximize their profit, which ultimately left it being delayed at the border and arriving late.
B) He claimed they did ship the package within 10 business days as the 1st business day and the last business "didn't count" despite my belongings being in their possession for the entirety of the work day on both days.
C) He offered $50 dollar compensation package per day (total of $100) given the late shipment. This is despite me incurring costs of approximately $920 in hotel expenses as my family and I were expecting to stay in my residence, but were unable to given the absence of mattresses and kitchen supplies which were with the Cactus moving company. After going back an forth, he was unable to meet me close to covering a significant portion of these costs, claiming that the company only made $500 net profit on the move, and refuses to refund more than their bottom line. This was exemplary of my experience with Cactus who puts their profit and bottom line above that of customer service and quality delivery as outlined on their website.
3) Lack of professionalism
Throughout the entire process their was a complete lack of communication with me, and other team members. They had subcontracted my shipment from Winnipeg to Seattle with Razel Labrejos the team leader for Huli who was unorganized, at times unreachable and communicated poorly. The team at Cactus moving did not know the whereabouts of my belongings throughout the majority of the move, and were unable to give accurate estimates of the arrival date of my shipment. read more