Greenland Van Lines

On September 29, 2012, I contracted with Greenland Vanlines to move my household furnishings from North Bay, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta at a price of 52 cents per pound. I was assured by Samantha that this price was all inclusive and that there were no additional fees. Pick up was to occur on Friday, October 12th, 2012 and deliver was to be November 1st, 2012.

The agreement was made with Samantha through e-mail and phone conversations. Original e-mails stressed that a weekday was needed so children wouldn’t be present on moving day. Subsequent conversations revealed that there was a 5% discount for government employees and that this would be applied to my account. On October 1, 2012 I paid a $200 deposit. I was informed that Greenland would call me 1 to 2 days prior to my move date to give me a specific time. I expressed concern over my 52” TV and was informed by Samantha that since this was the only item requiring additional packing that they would do it free of charge.

On October 5th, 2012 I requested a copy of the contract from Samantha via e-mail that was supposed to be sent to me. I have never received a response to this e-mail. This was the beginning of the communication problems.

On October 11th, 2012 at approximately 4:30pm (day before scheduled move) I had still not received a time from Greenland. When I called Greenland I was informed that my move date had been rescheduled to October 13th, 2012. A manager from Greenland apologized for their oversight and promised that I would be compensated for my final bill, which I was not.

On October 13th, 2012, the movers (subcontracted, not Greenland employees) showed up. No runners were put down over the stairs which were beige carpet. This led me to having to borrow a vacuum and cleaning supplies after the movers left. I was informed that they needed to use 8 mattress bags to cover our mattresses and couches at a cost of $15 each ($120 total. When I said that there weren’t supposed to be any additional charges they said to take it up with Greenland. I was told that packing the TV would be $150 extra. Again I informed them that Greenland said that there would be no charge and again they said that they had no record of that and that I would have to take it up with Greenland.

On October 18th, 2012 I called Greenland to give them my new address and ask what the weight and cost of my shipment was. I was told that they would have to look it up and would get back to me in less than an hour. I did not receive a return call.

On October 20th, 2012, I e-mailed Samantha over several concerns. I mentioned the change in the pickup day and that I had not received any credit for this. I mentioned that I was charged $150 for the TV, even though she had said that there wouldn’t be a charge. I mentioned that my 5% discount had not been applied. Samantha has never replied to my e-mail. I eventually got a hold of her by phone and she said it would be taken care of. I wasn’t given my bill total.

Greenland was unable to schedule my move in; instead they provide me with the contact number of their contractor and asked that I do it myself. I discussed with the contractor that I was getting my keys the evening of Thursday November 1st and would like to do the move in as soon as possible after that. I received a call at approximately 9am on November 1st, saying that they had a window of 2-5pm where they could deliver my stuff; otherwise it would be at least the eighth before they would be able to. I called my landlord and arranged to meet her at 12:30. I received a call from the contractor at 3:30pm saying that they were running late and asked me if I had cash for my move. I told them that I wasn’t told I needed cash or even what my bill was from Greenland. I was told that the final bill was $4,688.04. I went to the bank and withdrew the cash. I received a call from the driver at 5:30pm saying he was late but that they were still coming.

The movers showed up at 7:00pm on November 1st, 2012. I pointed out several problems with the bill, no 5% discount, various extra charges, no credit for change of pickup and my deposit wasn’t credited. They said that that they didn’t care and either I paid in full or they drove away and I would be charged for an additional deliver and that he didn’t know when they would be able to come back. I was also told that I needed to sign the inventory sheets before he was opening the truck. I said that I wasn’t comfortable with that and wanted to do it after checked my items. I was informed that since it was late, that there wouldn’t be time to check things and that I had 10 days to check and file a claim. Again he said either I sign or he was leaving. As it was impossible to reach Greenland that late at night, I reluctantly signed but wrote on that a final inventory check had not been completed. I was informed that all boxes would be left on the main floor (even though they had all been labeled for a specific room) but that they would place furniture in the proper room.

The 4 movers started to bring things in, they were quite quick which was good given the late time, but I was unable to check things off against the inventory listing. I lot of the furniture was wrapped, so the inventory numbers were removed when the blankets were removed. I noticed that the long dresser to our bedroom set was damaged and noted it on the inventory listing but didn’t get a chance to see most items.

I called Samantha about the overcharges and asked that she refund them. She said to file a claim and that she didn’t want to discuss it.

It took a long time to go through everything as the approximately 200 boxes were all put in one room and stacked to the ceiling. It quickly became apparent that my stuff was not in good condition. Boxes were ripped open, plastic Rubbermaid totes had been written on in permanent marker, the knobs on the dresser were bent and unable to be removed, office chair was missing a wheel, shelf had large chunks out of it (they were on the floor beside it, but unable to be repaired), treadmill was damaged and top was missing, table and chairs were damaged and table leafs were missing, couch was broken.

I filed claims for nearly $2000 On November 11th, 2012. I was informed the next day that the process would take 2-4 weeks. On December 4th, 2012, Brock finally agreed to refund $401.20 for the $200 deposit and 5% discount that had not been applied. Funds were received on December 11th, 2012.

On November 28th, 2012, Brock sent me a picture of the missing piece to the treadmill and asked if it was mine. I said that it was. He informed me that it would be sent that week and “within 10 days from its departure it will get there and our dispatch from Calgary will get in touch with you to schedule the delivery”. I’m still waiting and hoping that I will receive this, although my optimism decreases with each passing day. Again Greenland has failed to meet its commitment.

On December 10th, 2012 I received a settlement offer from Brock for $200. I told him that the offer was unacceptable and I wasn’t accepting it. He informed me that Greenland was losing business due to a negative review that I had posted online. He offered to pay $400 if I removed the review. I asked if the ad contained anything that was factually inaccurate. He was unable to provide anything untrue about the review. He said that it would be sent via courier and received in 2 days. I reluctantly signed the settlement offer, stipulating in the document that if the $400 was not received by Friday December 14th, 2012 or if the treadmill piece was not received by December 21st, 2012 that Greenland would be in breach of the agreement. I still have not received either as I write this.

- Greenland does not give a physical address anywhere
- They requested that I remove reviews as part of the settlement process
- They are numerous reviews that: they have flagged as inappropriate; were modified; were removed. This demostrates that they are trying to remove negative feedback to improve the image of the company