Rent A Son

We hired Rent-a-Son based on the wonderful reviews on Homestars alone, so perhaps we should have asked for estimates from other companies. That is, we found that Rent-a-Son was expensive plus they went well over their estimate, which does NOT include GST so that is also a bit sneaky. My wife and I hired them in November 2013 to move us from a 1BR condo to another 1BR condo plus a storage drop off. We had already packed everything into boxes (except our furniture).

On the positive, the sons were courteous and careful. Notably, our furniture was wrapped safely and they protected the floors, walls, contents and elevators etc.

Our estimator Hussein was very responsive with his emails and calls about the estimate. Furthermore, he was open to discuss the issues that we had with our move (see below). He promised a credit for our next move and that we will have a better experience. We appreciated his follow-up.

Here are the negatives, roughly chronologically:
1. There was no need for 3 sons (i.e. 1 foreman and 2 workers). They charge by the number of sons and 2 movers would have been sufficient.
2. They were slow so that meant a bigger bill. At times, I was moving boxes faster than the 2 workers combined.
3. There were a few instances when the 2 workers disappeared for 15 minutes or so, leaving me to work alone. In fact, the foreman said to us that his 2 workers were taking a long time to meet us (before driving to the new condo).
4. Instead of settling the final bill when asked, the foreman kept talking; so, I had to stop him and ask again. But he still charged me for his 15 minutes of talking.
5. The foreman had the audacity to say that they took "no breaks" despite the fact that we bought lunch for them. (I traded emails with the estimator who credited us for 15 minutes; however, I will let readers judge if that is fair.)

Despite the expensive final bill, we would include them in the bidding process for our next move; that is, we are happy that Rent-a-Son accomplished the main goal which is to move our possessions properly, safely and with no damages or losses. However, if we were to select them again, then we will be supervising them closely during that move.