Tender Touch Moving & Storage

Our experience with Tender Touch (TT) (TODAY! June 25th) got off on a fine footing but went horribly awry after they loaded their truck with our belongings and made their way from Toronto to Burlington. I am typing this message from the Burlington Travelodge with my 2 sons ages, 4 months and 2 years struggling to get to sleep in hotel playpens.

Our stuff hasn't made it to the new house. It's sitting in the truck at a Petro Canada Station in Oakville.

Rough timeline (I'm sure their trusty GPS records will tell us otherwise):

1:45pm - TT leaves for B-town with our stuff. One employee says "it takes about 2 hours to get there, right?" "No, not at all," I reply. "It's just under 1 hour."

They are slated to stop at my parents' home to pick up 2 bed frames, a double mattress and approximately 6 Rubbermaid bins. They say they should be able to fit it in without having to unload at our new house first.

2:05pm - My husband and I hit the road for Burlington making a stop for baby formula at the Lakeshore and Leslie Shoppers Drug Mart * Note: we leave 20 minutes AFTER they do with a 5 minute stop enroute. Experienced poor traffic around the Ford plant in Oakville.

3:10pm - Arrive at the new house to discover the seller is still moving her crap out (Sucks because we think this means our guys (TT) will have to kill time while they wait for the driveway to clear and this will cost us unnecessary money). We go to my parents' to see how the secondary move is going.

3:45pm -- But guess what? They haven't even arrived at my parents' house yet. (2 HOURS AFTER THEY LEFT OUR PLACE) I call TT and ask for a status report. They say the truck may have been stopped at the scales but they do their best to avoid this. "Maria" says she'll look into it.

4:15pm -- We find out roughly half an hour later that they're stuck in traffic and have been instructed to take the Trafalger Rd. exit.

This was peculiar in that we were a good 25 minutes behind them
(and FYI: they said they would have their lunch on the road).

But fine. Whatever. A bit of a wait. We're in no rush because the seller is still clearing her crap out.

But wait. A few minutes later at roughly 4:30pm, Maria calls and tells us the breakline is down/broken and there's leakage. They've had to stop at the Trafalger Rd. exit and wait for a mobile mechanic. We're also told they've "stopped the clock" at this point.

6:00pm --- We get a call from Maria with more bad news. The news that really doesn't impress. The service response even more so. There is a broken part that needs replacing. It can't be replaced for 3 days.

It is at this juncture that one would hope client service would be of prime importance. This is a case of lost luggage times 10. A family moving to a new city with 2 children under 2 years old. A day that began at 5am and was hoped would end at 8pm by settling/transitioning the 2 year old into his new bed in his new house, and maybe if we were lucky, a couple of unpacked boxes, including one with pizza in it.

But NO. Oh NO. I'm told by Maria that we must wait until tomorrow and hope that another truck would become available to offload the contents (OUR contents) from the broken truck. She tells me they won't even have a sense of availability until noon-ish when she plans to check in with the men who did our move today (Oh yeah--they're booked for OTHER jobs tomorrow).

It did not occur to Maria that an instance like this is not an act of god and therefore a "put up and shut up" scenario, but rather an incident of massive inconvenience (arguably caused by insufficient upkeep of their vehicles) that demands much more than a simple apology. Herein exists an opportunity to lessen our inconvenience and in turn, mitigate the damage their reputation could suffer by offering compensation on some modest level---starting with a hotel room perhaps??

But no. I have to go digging for this. "Um, I'll check," Maria says. 30 seconds later she says they'll reimburse us for up to $100. Thanks. So generous for a family of 4.

And that's where I'll leave it. Because that's as far as we've got. The Travelodge for $134/night. Check-out of course is at 11am---an hour before we'll get the call from Maria letting us know if our stuff can even be offloaded at all.

Stupidly gave them an imprint of my credit card when they arrived this morning. Stupid.

Unbelievable day we just had. And it ain't over yet.

I moved from a single bedroom to a one bedroom apartment. Everyone told me it would be a total waste of money to get movers. For a few weeks I was on the fence about hiring a moving company. After a lot of research I found Tender Touch. My advice is that no matter how big or small your move is, hiring a moving company reduces overall stress. However, it's all about finding the right movers ... some can be a nightmare. The service I received from Tender Touch was exceptional. The movers were respectful, professional, and very cautious about protecting my property. There is no doubt that I will recommend Tender Touch to friends and family. Among the various companies approved by the Canadian Association of Movers, Tender Touch was the most affordable (especially if you are moving mid-month). Customer service is great but I suggest calling them rather than emailing as I got a faster response by phone. I spoke with Maria who is so warm. She understands the stress of moving and immediately put me at ease. I read a few negative Tender Touch reviews on this site so I was a bit nervous to go with them. But I have no regrets. Thanks Maria and Tender Touch. This is a company with integrity so feel confident hiring them.

It was my first time doing a long haul move in Canada and was pretty concerned about all the "problems" that can pop-up, especially after reading many stories about moving companies on the web. Well, Tender Touch was exemplary in the way they dealt with my move. They could easily serve as a text-book excellent example of how a company should treat its customers from the first phone-call to the last one (where everything was confirmed).

My stuff got to the destination in the promised time. They went out of the way to deal with my really tight pick up and receiving schedules. They professionally dealt with an elevator issue at pickup (very friendly too!) and made the effort to deliver way after hours just to accommodate my schedule at the receiving point. My boxes got to the destination all in once piece and good shape. The price ended up being a bit lower than the estimated one (if provided with the right info, they will give you an excellent detailed price estimate). And most importantly, their workers are WSIB insured - most people don't realize that many moving companies do not have WSIB insurance for their people which puts all the accident risk on the customer (i.e. if a worker gets injured during the move, the customer pays hospital/recovery fees!). Also, Tender Touch has the highest rating with the Better Business Bureau, which should come as no surprise. And, on top of that, everyone's very friendly attitude - from agent on the phone to the truck drivers and workers - made the move way less stressful and dealing with this company a pleasure (really!!!).

I very strongly recommend Tender Touch to anyone for any move!

This most recent move was my 2nd time using Tender Touch, and as always they are friendly, curteous, safe and personable. From their phone staff to the movers themselves (mine were Wayne, Kristian, and Nick) everyone is there to find the best move date, equipment and suggestions. I recommended them to friends who have a cross-town move coming up, and 2 little kids to deal with too -- I can only hope they have as good an experience as I have had -- and they booked with Tender Touch right away!

Hired them for a small move, they were very good at protecting the furniture, floors, railings etc. Quick, efficient, friendly service for a good price. They did arrive 30 minutes after the 1 hour arrival window, but managed to get everything moved within the time frame.

I used Tender Touch moving service for my recent move & storage. Every item going into storage was efficiently wrapped & inventoried; all items were reconciled at the new place. I felt rushed during the recon process - too busy checking off tag numbers to inspect the condition of my items.
I suspect that the great rush during unloading and recon was due to the movers being pressed for time. The anticipated start time for my move was between 9am - 1pm. The movers showed up at 6pm. I was given a discount rate by $10 per hour for the trouble.
After the movers had already left, I discovered two pieces of furniture were damaged during the process; a large cheap IKEA dresser (which I didn't care too much about), and my formal dining room table. I suspect the dining table was damaged after unwrapping and laying it face down on the hardwood floor (with nothing protecting the surface). Unfortunately, my table is now deeply scratched and dented to the point that I need to cover it with a table cloth.
Overall, the physical moving and storage was a success....but it's a far stretch to call the handling of my unloaded items "Tender". I would likely not recommend the service to a friend.

This is the second time we used Tender Touch and were very happy to work with Phil and his team of professional movers. Moving is one of the most stressful experiences in life and dealing with the right people can make or break moving day. As usual, Phil arrived with a big smile on his face and provided immediate reassurance. His team including Christian, Carlo and Joseph carefully wrapped and packed every item, big or small, expensive to trivial. The biggest challenge was unloading at the townhouse which was on 5 levels! We had some large pieces like a king sized mattress, heavy 12-seater oak table and art of every size and weight. To compound this challenge, they could not park their big truck at the front door (largest entry) given traffic constraints. Again, no problem, they walked these items around the corner to the front door! Even at the end of the day (it was a hot one), their sweaty smiling faces showed how much they loved their job. Phil and his team did a great job. I will definitely use them again! Thanks again Tender Touch!

Due to my already scheduled movers not showing up for my move date, I was walking by when i saw a tender touch truck drive by my condo.
I called and spoke with Lynn who was able to send me a truck with 3 guys at the last minute. Although I only had a one bedroom move, it still took 3 hours of diligence and care from the movers to pack, dissemble (which I totaly did not expect)from my one bedroom condo.
Once they arrived in my new house, they took good care to not mark up my floors, dirty my carpets and moved in all my boxes and furniture and all while i stood there supervising not having to lift a finger. Wayne was fantastic and took good care of me. As this was my first time using movers, Tender Touch took me by surprise! Although it was more expensive than what I originally budgeted, the guys gave me the sense of security I needed after dealing with the original disastrous scheduled movers and they have a great sense of humor too.

General -
- local move 4 bdrm townhouse to 4 bdrm detached
- we packed everything ourselves (except furniture)
- our new house was only a 15 minute drive from the old

Consultation -
- Jason came out to our place on a Sunday
- he took the time to do a thorough walk through of our house
- he explained the process and contract fully
- he listened well and did his best to address my concerns (of which there were many )
- he provided timely and thorough responses to some questions I sent via email a few days later as well

Move day:
- The team of 3 showed up on time, and began their work immediately
- Runners and bannister protection were used throughout
- Ali, the team lead, was pleasant, hard working and a strong communicator (both with us and his team)
- Jason stopped by on his day off to make sure everything was going alright
- The team wrapped all our furnishings before taking them to the truck
- A second truck was sent to pick up a few last items - at no charge to us (there was some internal debate as to whether the full load should have fit on the first truck so, they authorized a second at no cost)
- It took approximately 5 hours to load the truck
- One hour wait for the new keys - but everyone had to have lunch anyways, and the second truck was loaded at this time
- It took approximately 5 hours to unload both trucks
- The team let me do a quick clean up of the new house before we put the runners down (so nothing scratched our new floors!)
- Runners and bannister protection throughout again
- We are almost unpacked and have not found any damage to any of our property so far (4 days later)

Things to consider...
- I did pack a few boxes that were labeled 'pack last, open first' so that we would have things at the house, and those got packed in the first load in the haste of the work. When I asked for them, they went back into the truck to re-jig everything and get them out. Reading the labels would have saved that 20 minutes of work...
- I was told the unloading would be faster than the loading, but it took about the same amount of time -- and after long nights of packing, very little sleep, and a very long day...you just want it to be over. The unloading went slower than the ferver of the loading, but the team is also human and had been working for 7 hours already...so makes sense I guess...
- Insurance coverage - make sure you understand a) what your personal household insurance covers, b) what the moving company covers, c) not only how much is covered but what they are really liable for (read terms and conditions) and d) is it all different for a local move vs a long distance haul??

Overall, I figured this move would be a disastrous experience in one way or another...and I am very happy to report that the Tender Touch team did a fantastic job. I would use them again...and I would encourage other "type A's" to as well :)
It was a very long day, but I think we got the best possible results with this team.

On short notice I needed people to move everything out of the basement of my house so that we could do renovations. The job would only take a couple of hours. They were willing to take on this small job at a reasonable price. The booking agent was extremely helpful and efficient. They confirmed arrival time the day before. They arrived exactly as promised. They spent time finding out exactly what needed to be moved and where it was to go. They made every effort to be sure that my floors and railings were protected. They were extremely pleasant, very efficient and professional. They really did do the job with a "Tender Touch". I would recommend this company to anyone who needs someone to move things in the house, out of the house, from one house to another, even for storage while renovating or waiting for the next house.