Vega Line Moving & Storage Services

Don't make the same mistake I did. This company is disgustingly terrible.
My belongings were picked up July 15, 2011 and were suppose to be deliver about 6 to 8 days later/approximately 2 - 5 days from the departure date (from our warehouse) to arrive in the destination address. At no time did I receive a call for delivery, so I had to call them. I called on July 25, and they informed me that the time frame is given after it leaves the warehouse and I should have it by the end of the week.
I did not receive a call by the end of the week and Monday was a holiday, so I called on Tues Aug 2. She said it would take 2 more weeks and offered a 5% discount on top of my student discount. My delivery was scheduled for Aug 19 (6-8 days my ass). By this time, I had found a new place to live and regrettably requested to have my belongings moved there. Second biggest mistake. I was told delivery for Sept 1-2. Still no calls, EVER.
It is not true that you have weekly departures from Winnipeg to Edmonton. Your service is not fast or reliable and is definitely stressful. I also had one phone call where I was yelled at and hung up on. She was not friendly and very unprofessional.
Finally, delivery was ACTUALLY coming up. I called to confirm and after the lady spoke with dispatch, she told me my delivery date was Sept 9. Yes, you're reading that right, Sept 9; a total of 55 days that I didn't have my belongings. I receive a call from the driver on the 8th giving me 3.5 hrs notice for delivery. What does your website say? "The dispatcher will be calling days ahead of time to make arrangements for you to receive your belongings. This will not be a surprise." BUT, because Winnipeg to Edmonton is an "off-road" move, the driver will be confirm with me. What a joke.
Not only was the driver rude, the 2 men didn't even deliver my items into my condo. I'm on the second floor of a condo apartment building that has its own surface parking. The driver didn't even bring the truck in to the lot even after he was informed that bigger trucks have done it. They left it in front of the elevator and claimed it was too far ($150 for another 20m). What else does my email say? "Placement of your belongings as per your instructions." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think ANYONE will instruct the movers to place their belongings in the hallway. Oh and here's a surprise: my stuff was damaged.
And of course, my bill was all wrong. I was given a quote of $595 + GST ALL INCLUSIVE and 5% student discount. Yes, I understand there are extra charges if I'm over weight but why wasn't the student discount applied or the late discount? Who runs this "business"?
Trying to settle anything with the company takes forever. The claims department is email only. I received excuse after excuse about the delays, bill and damage. I ended up accepting a $150 check to "render the case final" but it does NOT restore any faith in the company. My 10% (student + late) discount was only $12.50 because it doesn't apply to the standard charges: minimum weight, scale, storage, etc... "student discount is a small discount meant to give student's a bit of a break" That's a small break alright! I can buy 15% of a Calculus textbook.
I cannot be more happier that all this is FINALLY over. Please take my advice and don't even consider this company. You will save yourself so much time and stress. Despite what you hear or read, this company is NOT BBB accredited. They actually received an F rating. May this be a warning to you and your family and friends: DO NOT USE VEGA LINE MOVING.

Thank you so muchh VEGA LINEE for everything.

Last month I moved out from Toronto to Vancouver with my family. They got my home in Toronto on time and i got all my stuff on time in Vancouver on time as well.The cost was affordable and the best thing is nothing damaged.They were recommended to me by my car shop, and I would use them again.I dont remember who did i have contact with but he was so helpful..
I was so afraid I could have a lotsa difficulities ,with my 2 year old and 6 months twince kids, moving to Vancouver but luckily Vega Line made everything easy for me..
Thank you guys for everything ..

When I booked the service, I was told my stuff would take 5 days to get from Edmonton to Kirkland Lake. I wasn't going to be at my destination then so the guy re-routed by things to Toronto so it would arrive in a week. On the day it was suppose to arrive, I called because I hadn't heard from them. They told me it wouldn't be there for another 3 weeks. And it was an miscommunication error when booking - it was never coming on the day I was first given. I asked if I could cancel the re-routing to Toronto because it was not necessary anymore. They said I couldn't change that because of organizing/weight of the trucks. I waited another 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, they called 3 days ahead to say it was coming. On the day it was suppose to arrive, I called again to find out that it would be delayed another week. After 5 weeks of waiting, I finally got my things. I had to call everytime to find out it wasn't coming when they told me - they never once called to inform me of the miscommunication/delays. The actual movers that picked up my stuff in Edmonton and dropped it off in Kirkland Lake were great and very friendly but I would not use this company again.

Dear Vega Line Team,

First of all thank you for your great service. I'm almost 40 years old and moved about 4 time till now. I can simply say Vega Line moving helped from booking to delivering with professional service. They moved my stuff from Vancouver, BC. to Winnipeg, MB.

This was by far the best experience we had, they were very frendly and accommodated my tight time needs. Also they were professional about packing as well each of our item individually tagged and received its own number, which was listed in detail on the inventory list. They send me a copy of the inventory list as well as a copy of the contract. This was a great start and made me worry less about potential issues that you can face moving your items across the country. The day before pickup I received a phone call, from the headquarters in Vancouver, they updated me about the exact weight and the final balance. This was a great heads up so I could arrange for a payment method. I was very pleased about the service that Vega Line provided me with so far. When I was doing the booking process with them they told that it could take from 10-14 days. Vega kept their promise and I had my items in exactly 11 days after they were picked up in Vancouver.

I'm really thankful to all the agents who assisted me on my move from beginning to end, everything was well organized and there were no hidden fees or bad surprises. I would definitely suggest Vega Line, it has been a great pleasure to move with them. Michael Green

Vega has a very effective website which attracted my attention. Vega moved my 2800 LB load of household goods (that I packed) and vehicle from Ontario to BC for the same price another mover wanted just to move move household effects. Vega's staff was very frendly and accommodated my tight time needs.

The company lacks a little on their internal communications and the movers were not made aware of changes I made with the office staff.

There was ample evidence of rough handling of boxes. I wasn't impressed that two pieces of furniture were missing casters and the movers wheeled them around like nothing was wrong. The actual move of effects took a little longer than I expected and I only got one day notice of delivery when I called them for an update. The vehicle move was efficient. The problems were easily dealt with by buying two new casters.

Overall, they were OK. They were reasonable and held to thier initial quote with no false, unexpected or hidden charges. I think they should be considered if you're looking for a reasonably priced move.

Jim Van Allen

Our move was booked through Vega Lines and everything seemed fair and orderly initially. The moves showed up right on time and were very helpfull and professional. The appeared to be concerned about our possesions and such.

Initially we were told when we booked the move that the truck that our furnitiure was loaded onto would be the same truck making the delivery. The movers told us at our residence that it was untrue and our effects would be offloaded and reloaded onto a larger truck for delivery.

Our furniture arrived just over 1 week latter which was still fine, as we were ahead of our personal schedual. However as great as the movers were a tremendous about of our stuff was badly damged.

As we own a lot of high end furniture it was very heart breaking for us!! Our daughter's bed was smashed in two, our brand new mattress still in the manufacturer's plastic was ripped trough and stained, and on and on and on, you get the idea, its bad.

The movers offloading kept appologizing, as it was just that bad. Everything was packed by Vega Lines and we paid extra for that, including the now smashed lamps and such.

I can handle that, as upsetting as it is my family is healthy and now here, what I cannot handle is having my emails to their CSR department ignored, their incredible rude attitude on the phone and just their out right ignorant behavior, comparing themselves to ICBC and other insurance ompanies.

I have never been spoken to on the phone like that in my life. As polite as I am trying to be, the people that man the phones at Vega Lines (after your move) are down right dirt bags with no class what so ever!!!

Now its a 50/50 chance your move will go well with these guys, but if it doesnt expect the entire loss to be on your shoulders with no accountablity on theirs!!

I would never reccommend these guys EVER!!

Long story short -- Horrible experience on the delivery, damaged goods and all around gong show. More horrible experiences attempting to deal with customer service after the fact.

Long story -- I signed up via the internet emailing back and forth with Mark to arrange the details of my move. Everything seemed to go great, we set up a pricing scheme and pick up and delivery times for my goods. The pick up (in Vancouver) was awesome, guys showed up 5 minutes early and were very cautious with my goods (even providing extra padding protection free of charge for some items).

The delivery (in Calgary) is where everything broke down. I originally asked for a delivery on a Saturday, which was "no problem" and I was given a time window in which the movers would show up to deliver my goods. I showed up at 8am on Saturday, full well prepared to wait the day as that was the window I was given by Mark for the delivery.

About 2pm I called the moving company to see when I should expect the movers. Of course, no one in the office works on Saturday so I got a machine. I ended up waiting until 5pm that day and NO ONE showed up, NO ONE called, nothing. Monday rolled around and I managed to get a hold of Dianne (I believe) who was actually quite helpful in attempting to sort out the mess. Sadly she had to coordinate with someone in Calgary and that was where the gong show seems to have manifested in full. We scheduled a second delivery date and I was again given a window in which the movers would show up. The second delivery date comes and at 1pm I called to ensure everything was on schedule (having learned not to trust others), at which point I was dealing directly with the Calgary office. I was asked if it would be okay to deliver my goods on another day .... again, no phone call initiated by them, nothing. So I told them that it would not be okay, I have a job and can't continually take time off to accommodate their schedule (which they don't even seem to know!) so the individual I was dealing with (I can't recall her name) begrudgingly concedes to have my items delivered as previously agreed to (later that same day).

Sadly for me (and I have no proof this is where all the damaged occurred, but seems a logical deduction based on the flow of events) my items were delivered as promised (though much later in the day). I say sadly because of the condition in which my items were delivered. The movers were obviously in a rush, despite this move being scheduled, they were not aware of it so I understand why they weren't overly happy and were in a hurry. However as I alluded to before I assume this is where the damage to my items took place, out of their need for speed. I had a relatively new and quite expensive bed frame (about $2000 purchased two year prior) which they managed to mangle quite nicely. They snapped a supporting board for the frame and did some serious damage to other portions (the bed frame is OAK so doing the damage they managed would have constituted quite a serious smashing).

So I got all my possessions, some in more pieces than when they were picked up. Off to deal with customer service to see how we can fix this.

This is where the majority of my angst arises. I emailed customer service, and got no reply for about three weeks (in their defense this was over the Christmas holiday season) so I sent a follow-up email which was responded to. I was asked to send pictures ASAP (this annoys me, as it took them 3 weeks to respond to my email, and only after a second was sent, it could just be my interpretation of the usage of ASAP though, I'll concede that) of my damaged items so my claim could proceed, I did so the same day. I put all the pictures in a ZIP file to make things easier and set it off. One month later I received a reply stating that I needed to resend the pictures in JPG format (I originally sent them in that format, but inside a zip file). Again ... this is ONE MONTH later!!!! So fine, I forgo the zip file and send the pictures again. Time to turn the hourglass and play the waiting game (I'm getting used to it at this point).

Six weeks (yes, one and a half months) later I finally lose it and resolve to cleanse my hands of the situation. I send a final email stating that this companies rendition of "customer service" is absurd and that I'm sick of attempting to deal with them so I will just take my story to the internet in the hopes of saving other people the experience I have had. I get a reply the same day offering me $100 with the stipulation that
"
Your acceptance of this award will be with the understanding that it does “finalize” the matter and you will not pursue it any further (via verbal or documented transmission or reports).
"

That obviously wasn't worth it to me as I'm here now writing a short novel about my experience.

Well, that's about it. As I said in the preview, all in all a HORRIBLE experience on the delivery and customer service (using this term as loosely possible). Hope this saves you from making the same mistake I did.

Hello Everybody,

Vega Line has recently performed my move from Hamilton, ON to West Vancouver, BC for me, and boy was it a pleasure working with this company. I have moved several times in the last 10 years and have never used the same moving company over and over again due to the bad experiences I have made with every single one. Thus, every time I had to move I was struggling to find the right moving company. Finally I found a company that I will definitely use again, in case I move away from my current location. The staff was extremely professional and very pleasant to talk to. They loaded my items into the truck and utilized the space in the truck very well. Each individual item was tagged and received its own number, which was listed in detail on the inventory list. Unlike the other times I moved, I received a copy of the inventory list as well as a copy of the contract. This was a great start and made me worry less about potential issues that you can face moving your items across the country. Only one day after the pickup I received a phone call, from the headquarters in Vancouver, to be informed about the exact weight and the final balance. This was a great heads up so I could arrange for a payment method in North Vancouver. I was very pleased about the service that Vega Line provided me with so far.

Initially I was told that an operation like mine could take from 10-14 days. Vega kept their promise and I had my items in exactly 11 days after they were picked up in Hamilton. I was kind of worried about having to stay in a hotel for too long, since it can get quite costly over time. Thanks to Mert, who assisted me on my move from A-Z, everything was laid out with no hidden fees or bad surprises. I hope this review was helpful for anybody that is planning on moving across the country, and most importantly, choosing the right company to perform this move. Again, I was very satisfied with Vega Line’s professionalism and would definitely recommend anybody to move with them.

Cheers,

Herman

When my husband and I moved cross country from Montreal to Winnipeg several years ago, we used Vega Line Moving and Storage Services and were very pleased with the service. We ended up using them again when we moved to our new house a year later from Winnipeg to Calgary, and that was also a positive experience. And finally I used Vega Line Moving again (3rd time in 7 years) for our move from Calgary to Victoria. I thought I should take some time and write a review after 3 successful long distance moves with the same company.

Our move from Calgary to Victoria was paid for by my husband’s company, and was part of an arrangement with the relocation company hired to handle all the details. We let Vega Line Moving know when we would be moving, and they had a representative get in touch with us. The customer service rep was very pleasant and set up an appointment to come and assess how long it would take for packing and what special things would be needed.

The rep, Tim, talked to me about what would be going and what wouldn’t. He also wrote down things that would need special packing materials and estimated the amount of time it would take for the packers to do their job. He allowed two days for packing and the third day they would load everything, cars included, and drive it away. I knew it probably wouldn’t take two days, but figured it was better to have the extra time should we need it. Tim was professional yet friendly, and had the good grace to compliment some of our furniture.

On the allotted day, three men arrived and got right to work. They put down thick drop cloths over the front door threshold leading into the foyer and taped down large pieces of cardboard over the rest of the slate tile floor to protect it from scratches and gouges. They also laid down cardboard on the highly traveled areas of carpet.

The supervisor seemed quite happy as he surveyed our rooms, stating that this job would only take two days and not the allowed for three. A little later, more men arrived and there were probably about five working in the house. Another man with carpentry supplies showed up at some point and got busy in the garage, making crating for our marble topped table and a marble pastry board.

They did a great job, packing up everything carefully in lots of paper, even if it was some old toothbrushes and a sock with holes in it. My husband and I had tried to do a lot of cleaning, giving away dishes, furniture and lawn supplies. We even hired some guys to haul a lot of useless stuff off to the dump. Yet we still ended up with odds and ends in cabinets and closets. The packers did ask me if they could throw away some empty cardboard toilet paper tubes, so they must have recognized something as garbage.

All the packing was finished on the first day, and the loading took place on the next. We got to meet the driver and talked to him about how long it would take and when we would get to see our goods. We were moving into an apartment for a month until we could find housing, so our furniture would be going into storage (they provide 5 weeks free storage).
Before the truck left, the move supervisor walked through the house with us to make sure that everything left in the house was what we wanted left behind. Then they locked the doors and drove away with almost everything we owned in the world.

Once we had secured a house in Victoria, we called Vega Line Moving Vancouver Branch and arranged for our goods to be delivered. The crew on this end was wonderful. 4 clean men came and start to move our precious goods to our final home in this world ?. They were very careful and professional. It was a rainy day, and they covered our floor with runners.

After the movers had gotten everything in the house and the beds and dresser set up, they went through the paperwork with us so that we could make sure we had all the boxes. They were all numbered and they were checking them off as they brought them in. I had a hard time following it all, but the supervisor seemed on the ball and even went in search of one numbered box that wasn’t checked off on the list. We signed it all, gave the tip and said good-bye. Oh, I should add that the packers were supposed to unpack as well, but they told us that if they did it, all they would do is take the stuff out and leave it where it was. We could unpack at our leisure and call them to come pick up the empty boxes later. That is what we chose to do.

Damages:
We had a big, round fish type bowl that was broken in the trip. The supervisor was going to fill out a claim form, but we didn’t bother since it wasn’t that important to us, having been left behind by my husband’s first wife when she moved out. The biggest problem came when one of the guys was a bit hasty in screwing our bureau mirror onto the wooden frame. The screw holes came through the wood and were visible from the front. We called about that and the person my husband talked to arranged to have a representative come out. The man they sent was able to repair the mirror so well that I couldn’t tell where the holes had been. We also had an antique footlocker style trunk, and one of the leather strap handles was pulled out on one end. Fortunately, the repairman was able to fix that too.

We were very lucky to choose again Vega Line Moving and Storage Services. I don’t think so we will move again (I cross my finger), but if we move we will chose Vega Line Moving one more time.
Thank you for great job for this old couple.

Celine and Jean Beaubien
Victoria, BC

I just wanted to share my unpleasant experience I had with this company so that people would be more careful in the selection of their movers. I had engaged the moving services of this company sometime last year but felt deceived and misleaded. I was shocked to be told to pay upfront full payment fees of over $4000 cash before they even deliver my stuffs to my place. There were many promises of no extra charges in the beginning before engaging their services but things changed entirly after you signed the contract with them.
So, I hope that people should be more careful when dealing with situation like this.